Destiny Undone: The Complete Series Box Set (32 page)

“Hush! Don’t make a scene out here.”

My arms flew into the air—I was livid. “Why not! You’ve got the whole fucking floor to yourself. Who’s going to hear us?” Then I pushed my way into her apartment as the security guard came running down the hall from the elevator.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. This lady pushed past me downstairs. Everything okay, here? You want me to escort her from the building?”

“No. Everything’s fine, John. She’s just a little upset. I’ll be all right.” He turned and walked back towards the elevator and she closed the heavy oak door behind her. I’d been here a few times since this was her hangout whenever she came to town. Normally, her visits only lasted a couple days and I guessed she was sticking around this time in the hope that she’d get more money out of my daddy.

“This isn’t a good time, Pepper. Wait, are you drunk?” She pulled her avocado green robe tighter around her and I guessed she must have just stepped out of the shower.

“So what if I am?”

“And you’re driving? I’m calling your father. He’s supposed to be watching you.” Then she walked to the phone and picked it up.

“Watching me? Hah! That’s funny. How old do you think I am? I'm a fucking adult! Or is that a topic I’m not supposed to talk about? What a bitch you are! Just adopt a child then pass me off to Daddy and you wonder why we don’t get along?”

“Yes, let’s talk about how old you are, Pepper. You’re almost twenty-four. That’s old enough to know you shouldn’t be drinking and driving. Now sit down and I’ll call you a cab.” Then she put her hand on my arm, as if she were going to lead me to the couch.

“Get your hands off me, you crazy bitch. I’m not going anywhere until I get some answers!”

“Fine,” she whispered fiercely.

“Everything okay, baby? What’s all the yelling about?” A half-naked blond man stood in the doorway of her bedroom and stroked his bare chest. “Oh, who is this beauty?” he smiled, showing off his perfect, Nordic looks.

I should have known. So that’s what she meant about it not being a good time. I should have expected nothing less from this slut. Fucking Church one minute, then it’s on to her next fuck buddy.
Geez!

“You take one step toward me and I’ll snatch that towel off your waist and shove it down your throat! Time for lover boy to go, Mother!”

“Mother?” He looked puzzled and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m sorry, Rafe, family matter. Perhaps you should leave and I’ll call you later.”

“What about our time together?”

“You heard her. Get lost, Rafe,” I said and flopped on the couch. I felt slightly sick, but I was determined to have this out with her, once and for all.

He rolled his eyes, then disappeared back into the bedroom and Evangeline followed him. She came back out after a few minutes wearing something a bit more modest—a pink satin night gown and matching robe—then Rafe walked out of the suite without looking back—unhappy, but obedient and I had to laugh. She certainly had a way with men and could turn them into blabbering idiots in seconds. When the door closed behind him, she finally spoke.

“What are you doing here, making a scene? Didn’t you think to call first before you showed up, banging on my door and yelling at me? Have you no respect, child?”

“So what if I interrupted your booty call. I have questions I want answered…now!” I spat at her.

“Really. Well, I’ve been here every day for weeks now and you’ve always been welcome, but you choose now to complain that you haven’t been able to talk to me? You don’t return any of my calls or texts. What am I supposed to do? Show up at your father’s place? I went to your work and you threw me out…remember that?”

“Yes, how can I forget how fucking ridiculous you are?”

She stood up abruptly. “I’m not the one driving drunk all over the city. I think you need to get a shower, sober up and calm down before we talk anymore, then I’ll make you some coffee.”

“No, I’m leaving, but I have three questions then I’m gone.” I added, “Please," and she sat back down.

“What questions do you have?” I stared into her perfectly made-up face and suddenly realized that any similar features we shared were purely coincidental.

“Who are my parents? Dad— I mean Doug, says he doesn’t know and that he’s never known which seems impossible to me, but knowing you…”

She clamped her red lips shut and took a deep breath. “I’ll answer your questions, but no more smartass remarks. I don’t need your shit.”

“Fine. Who are my real parents?”

“You’re the daughter of my cousin, Virginia Danielle. She got pregnant in college and didn’t want to keep the baby. Back then, having a kid was all your father talked about so I came up with the idea to adopt Virginia’s baby. She gave up all her rights to you and in return, I paid for her college education. Then she moved to the East Coast when she graduated and I haven’t heard from her since.”

“So, I’m really your second cousin?”

She thought about it and laughed. “Yeah, I guess you are. Imagine that.”

I wanted to slap her for thinking this was funny, but I had more questions and I could tell she was anxious to get rid of me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rafe was hanging out in the hallway like a lost puppy, waiting to be called back in to finish the booty-call. My mind raced to process what I'd just heard. I spotted a crystal bottle of liquor with two crystal glasses on a table across the room and, without asking, I poured myself a small drink then walked back to the couch. I took a sip and put the glass on the coffee table.

“You have another question?”

“Yeah, I do. Did you ever love me, or was I just another toy for you? Like your BMW or one of your Pomeranians?”

She crossed her legs and clasped her hands. “I’ll be honest with you, although I’m pretty sure the answer isn’t going to be what you want to hear. I didn’t want a baby at first. As a matter of fact, I went through at least four nannies the first five years of your life, because I just couldn’t handle being a mother. I know that makes me a bad person according to some, but it’s the truth…and you were never a toy. Toys you can walk away from, but you can’t do that with children.”

“You did. You walked away from me. Now answer my question.”

“I thought I did.”

“No, actually, you didn't. Did you ever love me?”

“I do love you, Pepper, but I don’t know how to love you like you want me to. I’m not an emotional person. That’s Doug’s thing, but do I want the best for you? Yes, of course I do. Do I want you to be happy? Yes, absolutely.”

My heart sank and I threw back the rest of the whiskey. “So the short answer is you don’t love me like a mom should love a daughter.”

She sighed and acted a little exasperated. “I’ve already answered you the best I can, Pepper.”

“What about Mills? How come you seem to love her more than me? Is it because she’s your biological daughter?”

“No, that’s definitely not it. It’s easy to love Mills because she does all the work and I don’t have to prove anything to her like I constantly have to with you.”

I staggered to my feet and grabbed my keys off the leather sofa. “I don’t have any more questions. Thank you for your time. I’ll see myself out.”

“You shouldn’t be driving. Why don’t you let me call for my car?”

“No, thanks. I think you and I are done. I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Pepper, stop being so melodramatic. A lot of children are adopted, probably more than you realize, and they don’t all have bitch fits. You need to get over it. You’re a grown woman, for God’s sake.”

I opened my mouth to fire off my reply to that, and then I closed it again before any words came out. I knew I could tell her exactly what I was thinking, but why bother? It wouldn’t make any difference. She was who she was and nothing I could say or do would change her mind. I looked at her one last time. Yes, I was a grown woman. An adult. And I planned on acting like one.

I walked out of her penthouse and felt strangely sober. I silently hoped that this would be the last time I’d have to deal with my mother—the bitch.

“Destiny Beach Towers? Don’t worry, Mills—I’ll get over there. I’m just a few minutes away…and yes, I’ll call you.” I climbed out of bed, pulled on my jeans and slid my feet into a pair of top-siders. I looked at the clock—it was almost 1 a.m. I grabbed my keys, bypassed the main house and ran down the sidewalk to my car. No sense in risking setting off the alarm system—or waking my parents.

Traffic was ridiculous, and then I remembered there’d been a music festival going on this weekend and obviously it had just ended. The traffic was stop and go on the main drag. Although it was already over, that didn’t mean the partiers were done having a good time. I was so glad I’d outgrown that stage of my life. It made me wonder how many of these drivers were either drunk or high, so I was extra vigilant on the road now.

With one eye on the line of cars ahead of me, I tapped on my cell phone and called Pepper, but she didn’t answer. I swore at the traffic, swung the car onto a side street and drove through a maze of back roads that took me straight to the Towers. When I got there, I saw some dickwad had a tow truck pulled up to Pepper’s car, but hadn’t hooked it up yet. I pulled up beside him and jumped out of my car. “Hold on a minute! Don’t hook that up. It’s my girlfriend’s car. I’ll move it right now.”

“I’ve been called by the building manager to remove it and I’m already here. Too late, buddy,” the tow truck driver said.

“Get out of here, man. I said I’ll move it.” And for a minute, I thought he’d argue with me, so I tucked a fifty dollar bill into his top pocket. He pulled it out and smiled, shrugged his shoulders and climbed back into his cab. As the tow truck moved out of the way, I saw Pepper walking towards me and she was crying, but she didn’t even see me.

“Pepper, what the fuck’s going on?”

She stopped for a second and looked surprised to see me. “I could ask you the same thing. I don’t know how you knew or what you’re doing here, but move out of my way!” Then she shoved me in the chest and hit the button on her key fob to unlock her car.

I stood between her and her car. “Pepper, babe. I know you’ve been drinking and you can’t drive like that. Let me move your car somewhere where it won’t get towed and I’ll take you home.” She wiped her face with the back of her hand then stared at me.

“Gabe?”

“Yeah. Come on, Pep.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and gently pried her key fob out of her hand. “Get in my car, babe, and I’ll take you home.”

“What about my car? I can’t leave it here. They wanted to tow it.” She leaned against the back of her car. “Gabe! I’m so stupid!”

“No, hon, you aren’t stupid. Maybe just a little too much partying. I’ll have a word with the manager here and get your car taken care of. I’ll make sure they don’t tow it then we’ll go home.”

“I don’t want to go home. I wanna be with you.”

I lifted her chin with my fingertips and all her makeup was running down her face now, but she was still the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on.

“I’m here, Pep. Now, you go get in my car and I’ll take care of this.”

She leaned her forehead onto my chest and mumbled, “You’ll take care of me?”

“Yes, I’ll take care of you. Now let’s go sit in my car, okay?” I ran my hand through her tangled mess of hair and pulled her head tight into my chest. This poor girl was going through a lot and, honestly, it pissed me off to see her so upset. I wasn’t mad at her—no, not at all—I was pissed at all the people who’d tried every second of every day to fuck up her life.

Obediently, she climbed into my car and after speaking with the manager, I moved hers to an unused parking spot he’d said I could use for a few hours. When I got back to her, I reassured her that the car would be fine until we could come back later and get it, and once we’d passed the festival traffic, I grabbed my phone and called Mills.

“Hey, it’s Gabe. Pepper’s fine. She’s with me now and I’ll be bringing her home soon. See ya.” Then I tapped the phone and slid it into the console.”

“What! Who was that?” Pepper asked.

“It’s your sister. I’d promised her I’d let her know you were safe. She’s been very upset and worried to death about you.

“No, you won’t! I’m not going back there.”

“Okay, then you’ll just have to stay with me. I’m not going to let you run off and do something crazy when you’re drunk and, by the way, why have you been drinking so much, anyway?”

“Because then I can forget and not have to think about your sorry ass and what you did to me!” she shouted.

“My sorry ass? What did I do?” I really hated talking to drunks, but they say that’s when the truth comes out. She slung her hand through her blonde hair and twisted it up into a bun, then she pulled down the mirror and frowned at herself.

“Oh. My. God! I look terrible.”

“Pepper, please tell me…what did I do?” I didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was, but I was getting frustrated not knowing what was going on so I pulled into the Waffle House parking lot and looked at her. “Tell me!”

She leaned sideways in her seat and looked straight at me with bleary, red eyes then a long strand of blonde hair tumbled down from her bun and hung loosely across her face. “Where’s Sophie?”