Conquest of the Heart (31 page)

Gavin hugged her close. “I’m glad you’re
here. You’ll have to bear with me for a little while,” he said
pulling away slightly to look at her. “I might be a bit
overprotective of you for a few weeks. I ask for forgiveness in
advance.”

“Forgiven,” she smiled.

Pulling her in again he said, “I don’t know
what I’d do if anything happened to you. I’m a wreck right
now.”

So much had just happened. Faith finally knew
why Gavin was so angry with Carter, and with good reason. Gavin
laid back on the couch, while she rested gently on his chest with
his arms wrapped around her. She could think of no other place
she’d rather be during this difficult time.

“I’m sorry that you were hurt by two people
you thought you could trust the most,” she said, stroking his arm.
“I hope you know I would never hurt you like that.”

He kissed her head. “I know you
wouldn’t.”

Shortly thereafter, Faith fell asleep. Her
body was still trying to recover from the stress of the attempted
rape. Gavin knew the worst was over, but the matter of whether or
not she would press charges remained. Until then, Carter was a free
man, and could very well be a flight risk. His biggest concern was
that Faith would be merciful. He wanted Carter to pay, even if it
was only an attempt. Not wanting to think about it anymore, he
reached for the remote and turned on the television to preoccupy
his mind, keeping the volume low.

At the beginning of the week, Faith seemed to
be getting better. She wasn’t sleeping as much, and her soreness
had subsided. They shared some fun, relaxing days together. Since
Gavin was a gourmet cook, he agreed to give Faith a lesson each
day.

One particular day, Gavin had to go get
groceries for dinner, and Faith opted to not to go. It gave her
more time to explore in his house while he was gone. She found his
collection of jazz CD’s hidden in a huge cabinet along a wall in
the living room. There had to have been at least five hundred discs
stored in there. She randomly pulled out a disc and popped it in
the Bose player. As she listened, she continued to study the
collection. Gavin walked in to his favorite artist.

“You found my music,” he said, taking the
groceries to the kitchen.

“You have so much,” she said. “Do you have a
favorite?”

“You’re listening to him. Charlie Parker.
John Coltrane is pretty high on my list, too,” he answered, putting
things away.

“Do you have all of their music?” she asked,
still looking, in awe of his set.

“No. I’m missing the Savoy sessions from
Parker. I know I can easily get them, but I always have something
else to do,” he said.

“This is nice. I like it,” she commented as
she listened.

“Feel free to add whatever you like to your
iPod. I know you take that thing everywhere.” Gavin had an
opportunity to take a look at what Faith listened to while she was
sleeping one day. She had quite the range of music stored on it,
from country to alternative pop and rock.

“It’s convenient. I’m all about what’s easy,”
she smiled as she walked to the kitchen. “What are we making
tonight?”

“Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe. It’s a pasta
dish, extremely simple, and extremely delicious. You’re going to
love it. We’ll get into more difficult dishes later. I don’t want
to spend all of my time in the kitchen. I want to spend it with
you,” he smiled.

“You are spending it with me,” she beamed.
“What do we do first?”

Faith boiled the pasta and the rabe. He
explained to her that broccoli rabe is not related to broccoli at
all, but to the cabbage and turnip families, and is bitter in
taste. They sautéed some onions in olive oil, adding garlic and
chili pepper. Once ready, they drained the pasta and rabe, and
added it to the sauté pan with half a cup of reserved cooking
liquid, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. It was tossed
well, and ready to serve. Gavin turned the stove to a lower
setting, and Faith set the table. He pulled out two glasses for
wine.

They lit two candles and enjoyed a wonderful
dinner in the dining room.

“Another tasty meal,” smiled Faith. “Keep
feeding me like this and I won’t go home.”

“That wouldn’t bother me one bit,” he
grinned.

“Awkward moment,” she blushed.

“You know I’m not one to hold back how I
feel. I’ve enjoyed waking up and seeing you every morning,” he
said, taking a sip of his wine.

“I have, too,” she said.

“You’ve enjoyed waking up and seeing yourself
every morning?” he joked.

“Smart ass,” she laughed, throwing a napkin
at him.

He dodged the napkin. “I couldn’t
resist.”

She grinned, “I’ve enjoyed being with you,
too.”

Gavin stood and walked to her end of the
table, helping her up. Light jazz continued to play in the
background as they ate.

“Dance with me,” he said, leading her to an
open area in the living room.

Faith stood and put one hand in Gavin’s,
resting the other on his shoulder. They glided all around the
space.

“I should have known that you dance, too,”
she said. “Very well, in fact. Is there anything you do poorly?”
she asked as they kept moving and looking at each other.

“No. I do everything very well,” he said
flirtatiously. He wanted to kiss her, but knew it was too soon. He
chose to kiss her cheek instead.

Faith rested her head on his chest and
enjoyed this moment. After they danced, they both got comfortable,
ate snacks, and talked until they were too tired to talk anymore.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms on the couch. Later in the
night, Gavin woke up, and carried Faith to her room. He watched her
sleep for a few moments. Tomorrow she would have to make a big
decision. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then retired to his
bedroom for the night.

CHAPTER TWELVE

As they approached the end of the week, Gavin
took some time to talk to Faith about whether or not she wanted to
press charges against Carter. She was sitting in the living room
reading through a magazine as he cleaned up after lunch. It had
been his turn to clean up, and he had just finished.

He went in and sat down next to her. He took
the magazine away from her so that he would have her full
attention.

“What are you doing?” she asked looking
directly at him.

“We need to talk,” he said seriously.

“What is it?” she asked. She had a feeling of
what this was about, but didn’t offer up that information.

“You need to let the police know if you’re
going to press charges against Carter today. They’ve already
arrested him and can only hold him for seventy two hours. It’s up
to you if he stands trial, or walks away scot free from this.”

“You want me to press charges, don’t you?”
she asked, afraid of how he might react.

He shook his head, “I want you to do what you
feel is right. You have a very big heart, Faith. I’ve been
anticipating a different outcome than what I would prefer.”

“Carter needs help. I would rather see him
get the help he needs than waste away in prison for being messed up
and confused,” said Faith.

Gavin was afraid of this. He rolled his eyes
and stood up. “Okay, so you don’t press charges. What would you
like us to do about his job? Would you like him to keep it? Maybe
we can give him a raise while we’re at it.” He was beginning to get
angry.

“You’re angry with me, aren’t you?” she
asked, disappointed.

Gavin clinched his fists and turned around to
face her. “I can’t stop imagining what he would have done to you
had I not had to come back and get my phone. I’m sorry, Faith. I’m
not as forgiving as you. He was unsuccessful this time, but who’s
to say he won’t try again. I will not allow that. That’s
unacceptable.”

“That’s exactly why he needs to get help. If
he refuses, he loses his job, and I’ll press charges,” she said,
standing up pleading with him to hear her.

Gavin took a deep breath. “Carter has had
help before, Faith. We’ve had to send him away for his gambling
habits. How much longer should we, as a company, have to deal with
his issues? We’re enabling him. Hurting the woman that I care about
is where I draw the line.”

Faith approached him and gently touched his
face. She looked into his beautiful green eyes and said, “I know
this doesn’t make sense to you. I don’t think Carter meant to hurt
me. I think he’s sick.”

“Oh, he’s sick alright. Faith, I could have
killed him. This is not just about you. What if he gets fixated on
someone else in the office? He could potentially hurt another
woman. Do you want that?”

“Of course not. I just want to give him an
option. He can take it or leave it. He can either accept that he
needs help, or go to jail,” she said.

Gavin put his arms around her and sighed. “I
don’t want him to hurt you again.” He hugged her close.

“I know.” She held him as tightly as he held
her.

Keeping his arms around her, he pulled away
slightly to look at her. “What am I going to do with you, Faith
Scott?”

She just smiled as they stood, leaning their
heads together.

“I should get going. I want to get this over
with. Are you sure you don’t want to come?” he asked.

“Positive. I can’t face him right now.”

Gavin kissed her tenderly on the cheek. “I’ll
be back in a little while. Maybe you can get some packing done. You
know how early we have to leave for the airport.”

“Don’t remind me,” she called out as he
left.

Gavin arrived at the police station where
they were holding Carter until his arraignment. He had already
admitted to the offense. One of the officers took Gavin back to the
room that he had been questioned in. Gavin opened the door and
walked in.

Carter looked up, “Gavin. I never thought I’d
see you here. I figured Adrian would come and deal with me.”

“For whatever reason, both Adrian and Faith
thought it best that I come and talk to you. I’m not quite sure
what they were thinking.”

“How is Faith?” Carter asked, looking down at
the table. He was remorseful for what he had done.

“She’s as good as she can be. She seems to
think you didn’t mean to hurt her. That’s where we disagree. I knew
something was awry the instant you showed an interest in her.”

“Please tell her that I’m sorry. I deserve
whatever punishment I’m given,” Carter lamented.

“I agree. If it were me, you’d be as far
beneath the surface of the earth as they could put you,” Gavin
snapped.

“I gathered that given the condition that my
face is in. You must really love her.”

“My feelings are very strong. I care for her
deeply,” Gavin said. He was walking back and forth in the room,
refusing to sit down.

“No, it’s more than that. When Aubrey and I
were sleeping together, you didn’t lift a finger at me. You told me
to leave and that was that. However with Faith, I didn’t think you
were going to stop hitting me.”

“I wasn’t,” Gavin said flatly.

“That’s why I believe you love her. More than
you ever loved Aubrey.”

“You slept together for an entire year
without saying a word. I didn’t think I’d ever recover from that. I
almost didn’t.” Gavin paused for a second before continuing. “I
know I shouldn’t ask, but why did you do it? Why did you sleep with
Aubrey?”

“It just happened. Maybe she planned it, I
don’t know. When you were still in class, Aubrey would come over
and just wait for you. One day when we were talking, we just gave
in to our temptation. The day you found us was supposed to be the
last time. My suspicions were that she wasn’t telling the truth
about that.

“Gavin, I’ve had some time to think about all
of the things that I’ve done over the years. I wasn’t a very good
friend to you. You’ve been right not to trust me. I am so sorry for
what I did to you almost seventeen years ago, and I’m sorry for
what I did last week. Even if you don’t forgive me, I needed to
tell you that.”

Gavin stopped pacing around and faced Carter.
He almost felt sorry for him, but couldn’t bring himself to do
so.

“Why Faith?” asked Gavin.

“I got jealous when I saw the two of you
hugging at the airport. I’m sure she told you.”

“Yes, she did,” Gavin nodded. He was leaning
against the wall as he listened to Carter explain.

“I was a real ass to her on the plane. She
probably told you that, too.”

Gavin perched his lips and said, “No, she
left that part out. Probably because she knew it would make me
angry. I assume she had no issues dealing with you?”

“Not at all. She shut me down pretty quick,
and then shut me out by plugging in and listening to her iPod the
entire trip. When we got to Denver though, I got myself worked up
by following her around if we weren’t in meetings. I pretty much
stalked her, and tricked my mind into believing that she was
inviting me to be with her. She managed to keep to herself, though.
Outside of running, and some shopping here and there, I couldn’t
get to her. That’s when things started going crazy. I would have
visions of her and I couldn’t sleep. She was always in my head.
Finally, I had to have her. I wasn’t going to take no for an
answer. That’s when I attacked her.”

Gavin tried to hold his composure. He was
ready to start punching again.

“My head isn’t on straight, Gavin. Even now,
I think about Faith. She’s like a drug or something.”

“Have you been taking any drugs, Carter? What
you just told me is really sick and twisted.”

“No. She’s just different. I’ve never met
anyone like her. I can’t say what it is, but I know she’s yours. I
can see that, though I’m surprised. I thought this was just about
sex for you.”

Gavin looked off into space for a few
moments, ignoring what Carter had just stated. He wondered if Faith
had told him what Carter had said and done, maybe this whole
incident would never have happened.