Fighting Destiny (27 page)

“No
, I’m not going to try to understand it Candasee, and before we say anything more, let’s go!” With those words he strode outside and made his way back into the deserted ball room. All that was left were the tables, chairs and settings. Even the catering team had packed up the dirty china and left food in the refrigerator as planned.

Darius sensed that some
how he was beginning to lose Candasee and that feeling was all too familiar. He simply didn’t lose and certainly didn’t lose the most important relationship in his life, not twice! He made it as far as the centre of the dance floor before turning around unable to contain his thoughts any longer!

Candasee knew that he was hurt and angry by the speed at which he’d left the room and she followed him out as well.

“I’m not taking you back because I’m giving up, and I am certainly not returning you to Nathan. Let me make this clear! I am doing it because of your love for your dancing and the fact that my message might not be received in time to ensure that you will be allowed to continue doing your job here this week! I meant every single word I said to you Candasee and I am not giving up not tonight, not ever!”

Candasee sensed a chill pass down her spine as the intensity of those words passed through her! When Darius promised something he usually followed up on it with determined aggression until he owned it. Sometimes she’d called him “
the force to be reckoned with”
to herself as she observed him at work but now that his focus was being directed at her, she wondered if she would survive it.

Darius held out his hand for her to take it when suddenly
they both heard a phone ring!

There was a phone here! Wait a minute, she thought, that was her ring tone. It must be coming from the closet where she’d left her wrap and her bag! She completely
forgot that she brought her phone with her! She ran to the closet trying desperately not to entangle her dress with her shoe heels.

By the time she got there it stopped ringing! She took it out of her b
ag and true to her expectations there were ten missed calls from Nathan!

She
was about to press redial when she looked behind her and saw that Darius was no longer standing there anymore. She’d left his outstretched hand hanging to come and answer this phone! What was she running from? She knew she cared deeply for Nathan but compared to what she’d always felt for Darius, it wasn’t even comparable. Nine months compared to six years was inconceivable.

Just being with Darius caused her to feel so nervous and out of control and s
he just didn’t like that feeling anymore. Her mind wasn’t in charge and she acted too much on how her heart felt. She’d done that once before and look where it got her. She became blind and way too trusting.

She pressed the dial on her touchscreen
and leaned against the wall in the closet and waited as it dialled. She did not have to wait long because Nathan answered on the second ring.

“
Candasee, where are you? It’s after two in the morning? I was so worried when I couldn’t get through to you!”

“I’m still at the party and I am okay, don’t worry about me!”

“How can I not, I am
going out of my mind missing you terribly here in our bed and I don’t like how we left things between us this evening. Has Darius been on his best behaviour? Candasee I need you!”

“
Yes, I’m fine look, get some rest and I will be back in a few hours okay!” she said, struggling not to cry. She was lying again and she hated herself for having to do that.

“A few hours? It will be sun up by then! What kind of engagement party for senior
citizen’s lasts till sunrise?” asked Nathan harshly.

“I guess this one is
kind of unique! Look I will be back before you know it, okay!”

“I can’t wait to see you! Should I order in breakfast for us in the room?”

“Sure, you decide, I have to go!”

She disconnected the call and once again looked behind her for Darius. He was still nowhere in sight!

“Darius?” she called out. She waited another minute before going back to the room they were in before but there was still no sign of him there. This was a really big house and she didn’t want to get lost. She thought about waiting for him in the ballroom but she was curious about what he’d prepared for them upstairs. She decided to take a look wondering if he went up there to retrieve something. At the top of the staircase she saw six doors surrounding a sitting area in a hexagonal shape with a banister which overlooked the great room below.

She tried the first door and it was locked. Then she noticed a sliver of light emanating from beneath the door at the other end of the sitting room. She turned the knob and this time the door swung open revealing a room reminiscent of her honeymoon
in Bali with Darius. The large four-poster king-sized bed was covered in red rose petals and the lamps on either side of the bed cast a warm glow on the room. There were flowers and even soft Polynesian music playing in the background!

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Candasee recognizing what Darius hoped would be between them tonight. Her mouth hung open
and her heart clutched painfully in her chest as she gaped at the sheer beauty of the room.

Quick footfalls b
ehind her told her that she wasn’t alone anymore but she was so transfixed that turning around was impossible.

“I didn’t want you to see that! Please close the door!” said Darius
in a cold tone.

“I had no idea!”
she said looking over her shoulder and then back into the room.

“Yes how could you know, right? Did you get to make your all important call?”
he asked with a touch of sarcasm.

Darius stepped around her and went inside to turn off the lamps and the music and after doing so he closed the door.

“Yes, I did.”

“Well let’
s go, I went to retrieve the golf cart from the garage. It will be about a ten minute drive to the bay where the yacht is moored!” he said barely looking at her.

How man
y nights did she dream that Darius would come to her and sweep her off her feet with an apology, saying that he couldn’t live without her, that it was all a huge mistake? How many nights did she dream of making love to him in a room just like this one again, missing being with him with every fibre of her being?
Now that she had what she wanted, why she was running in the opposite direction?
Obligation
?

The trip back to Derrien Island was uneventful and Darius hardly said anything to her at all. They docked at the marina in the city around
six o’clock and got a taxi back to the hotel.  Darius bid her a stiff goodbye before taking a separate elevator up to his quarters.

It was strange seeing how the sky changed from the purplish blue of night to the fiery orange and gold in the morning, thought Nathan, now
totally exhausted in his vigil on the balcony, waiting for Candasee.

He would be tired today, of all days when they needed to be at their sharpest for the recording of the performance night at the hotel. It was worth it though, to know that Candasee had returned to him
safe and sound.

The lock sounded its characteristic click and the soft thud indicated the door was closed. She was back.

All of the tension simply drained out of him as he immediately got up and entered the room and opened his arms for her to come to him. All the desire to argue and fight was gone and now he just needed to hold her, to know that she was still his and that she had come back to him.

Candasee allowed Nathan to hold her
but she did not know if she could trust her feelings anymore. He was lying to her and she was lying to him. It was hardly the basis of a strong relationship. She was so tired and she had to teach a class in about three hours.

“Nathan, I just want to sleep, Can we talk later?” she asked
tiredly.

“Sure, I’m just so relieved that you are back safely,”

Candasee smiled slightly before lying down fully clothed on the bed and within a minute she was soundly asleep. Nathan lay down beside her and set his alarm to wake them up around ten. When he realized he wouldn’t get any sleep and neither would Candasee he had asked two instructors to take over the rehearsals until he arrived later. They were willing to do so, at least giving him and Candasee a four hour nap. He took off her shoes and climbed into bed beside her, wrapping her in his arms under the comforter before finally allowing himself to sleep. She had come back to him and for now he would be satisfied with that.

“You are back already?” asked Ramon into the telephone in surprise as he looked across at his wife who was seated opposite him at the breakfast table. Courtney raised her eyebrows in surprise as well.

“Don’t ask, I just wanted to give you the all clear to go in and have your crew do the clean up,” Darius replied flatly. He’d never gotten the chance to show Candasee
the entire plan. This was a mess and all he wanted to do was to cancel all of his appointments and stay in bed for the rest of the week.

“Darius, what happened, I thought you guys were looking pretty close out there on the
dance floor?”

“Look
Ramon, I really don’t want to talk about any of this right now. I’ll see you tonight at the show,” said Darius wearily and hung up the phone.

He could be pa
tient but knowing that time wasn’t on his side here did not give him any comfort. She would be gone again in four days and he’d only made marginal progress with her. It was also clear that he’d grossly underestimated Nathan too. Who thought he would know how use his relationship with Solange to fix a false impression in Candasee’s mind? He was a liar and a manipulator and he was not going to get away with anything, not now that he was onto him.

He stood at the glass wall and dialled Mitchell’s number.  It was
too soon but Mitchell was a beast when it came to sniffing things out. He might have some information by now.

As usual when Mitchell answered his voice was bright and alert and long ago Darius g
ave up wondering when and if the man ever even slept.

“
Have you made any progress on the Carthswright Academy report?” Darius asked.

“Yes, and you are going to find this interesting. The Academy just lost an important
government grant which they used to subsidise the main cost of running the Academy’s programs. It seems that someone was skimming off the top of the fund and the donor got wind of it and pulled the support. So the Academy is practically dead in the water and they may have to close their doors within the year.”

“But how then can they be offering such a
n expensive scholarship through this intensive if they have no money to even support their existing students?”

“Maybe they have another silent donor in the wings?” Mitchell suggested.

“Who is Graeme?” Darius asked.

“Graeme is the eldest brother and the chairman of the Grace B. Carthswright Foundation, named after their late mother. His brother Nathan sits on the board as a trustee and he is also the Principal of the Academy. There are three other siblings but none of them are involved in the Academy.”

“Okay send me your report so I can read it through and I have another angle that I want you to investigate for me. There is a delegate here by the name of Eve Samaroo from Trinidad and she has been receiving inordinate favours from the administration of the academy. Find out more about her and about her family and if there are any links between them and the Carthswright's. I have a hunch that something illegal is going on here.”

“Okay sir, I will get right on that and get a report back to you within the day.”

“Thanks Mitchell, I appreciate it.”He ended the call and looked out at the first rays of light as they coloured the sky. He might not be able to have Candasee himself, but he sure as hell wouldn’t allow her to be fooled by someone as untruthful as Nathan Carthswright. She deserved to know exactly what she was getting herself into! He walked out to Portia’s desk and left a note for her to contact Nathan and ask him to meet him here at one in the afternoon. By then Mitchell should have found out and confirmed all that he suspected. He would go and get some rest, because today was going to be an interesting day.

It was almost one o’clock and Darius sat quietly behind his desk processing all that he’d learned from Mitchell thirty minutes earlier. He knew one thing for sure that he couldn’t let Candasee end up being hurt by all of this. Nathan should be arriving in a few minutes and he decided that he would try to apply to his reason first and see where he stood on the issues.

“Mr. Brogan, Mr. Carthswright is here to see you!” said Portia through her intercom.”

“Yes, ask him to sit in the conference room, I will be there shortly.”

Darius stood and finished the glass of water he was drinking. He would stay calm through all of this.
Deep down he wanted to see the man ruined but doing that would hurt Candasee as well so he would tread carefully. This was to help her and not to destroy anyone, besides he’d never stooped to doing that and he wouldn’t start now.

He opened the adjoining door to the conference room and Nathan’s back was toward him as he stood at the glass panel looking out over the sea.

“Thank you for taking the time to come Nathan, I know that today is a busy day for you,” Darius began diplomatically. “Would you sit, there are some matters we need to discuss.”

“
Cut the bullshit Brogan and no, I’m not going to sit because I don’t plan to be here long enough for that. I came for one reason only and that was to make something abundantly clear to you.” He turned around slowly at that point. “Stay away from Candasee. Every time she sees you or talks to you she comes back hurt and bruised and the light and joy has gone out of her eyes; joy and light that she found again by being with me. You took advantage of her trust and mine last night with your supposed all night party. How stupid do you think I really am? I know that the party finished a lot earlier and even though she won’t tell me what really happened, I know you tried something with her. She’s already made her decision and you need to live with that and let her move on with her life!”

As Nathan spoke Darius could see that he’d underestimated Nathan
’s feelings for Candasee. He recognized that agonized look in his eyes and the way his voice sounded because it mirrored exactly what he felt. He did love Candasee and he was fighting for his life with her, but would she still choose him if she knew the truth about what he was doing here this week?

“Would she still choose you if she knew that you are a liar and a cheat?” Darius asked simply, his eyes hard and cold as steel.

“What did you just call me?”

“She already knows that the little scheme you cooked up with Solange was a total lie but that isn’t
the half of it, is it Nathan?”

“What are you getting at Brogan?”
said Nathan unsettled by the direct nature of Darius’ accusations.

“When I first heard about your Academy from Solange
, I was truly impressed with your website, your programs and the many success stories. I thought after watching your videos and your performances that you deserved the many awards your company received over the years and so I readily opened to the idea of us working together to make this international recording a success. I would fill the gaping hole in the final day of my program and you would gain amazing publicity for your Academy and so far that aspect has been working because well we are business men and we both know what we want.”

“Get to the point Brogan!” Nathan seethed hating to be reminded exactly how much he owed this man for saving the intensive.

“When are you going to tell your staff that the Academy is teetering on bankruptcy and that this whole exercise is a joke? How are you going to tell your delegates who have been working as hard as they have been that you already have a winner decided beforehand? A winner who does not deserve the scholarship she will receive?”

If Nathan’s
irises could have blazed red, Darius was sure that they would have at that moment as pure waves of rage poured off the man; waves of rage and also of shock.

Yes, Mitchell found out who Eve Samaroo’s parents were.
They owned two of the largest casinos in Trinidad which were currently being investigated due to two unnatural deaths which occurred on the property in the last year. Both persons were employees but police had so far been unable to link Eve’s parents or anyone else to the crimes. They were the kind to throw their weight and money around to get exactly what they wanted. Eve had also been kicked out of the university there for being involved in a drug ring and was barred from re-entry.

The memory of his own betrayal
to Candasee twisted in his gut painfully when he realized how much he’d cheated her of the opportunities she’d wanted too. Eve’s parents needed Carthswright’s Academy’s seal of approval to get her into another university. He wasn’t sure but he suspected that the Academy would be doing more for the Samaroo’s than just schooling their daughter. Mitchell suspected that they might also need a front to move their money around now that they were under so much scrutiny by the police and who would think about their supposed donations to an arts foundation. Graeme his brother took regular trips to Trinidad and Mitchell suspected that perhaps he had some shady connections with the Samaroo’s or even unpaid gambling debts. Whatever it was, the Samaroo’s had something on the Academy that they were able to use to force their compliance as well. It was farfetched but Darius suspected that he was very close to the truth.

Nathan had yet to respond to him and then he did something surprising. He sat down.

“You’ve been having me investigated?” he asked in a low voice.

“I told you
before; I always make it a point to know everything about those I do business with.”

Things couldn’t be worse, thought Nathan as he looked at Darius across the table and cursed his brother in his mind. Where
was Graeme now that his life was crumbling before his very eyes? He never wanted a part in this but now he was the one who looked the guiltiest before the man he hated more than anything else in this world. He couldn’t deny it because Darius obviously had hard cold facts and figures at his disposal and just as easily as he was summoned up here, he could do the same to contact Candasee and then it would all be over. No, he needed to buy some time.

“What do you plan on doing with this information?” Nathan asked steepling his fingers in front of his face.

“Ahh, now that’s the million dollar question. I have two requests and both have to be complied with or I will make sure Candasee and your staff knows exactly who you are.”

“Don’t threaten me Darius, you know nothing about me!”

“I know enough to know that you don’t deserve Candasee’s love or the trust she places in you.”

“And you do
? You are the one she ran away from and the one she didn’t want to come within a ten mile radius of? You are hardly the poster boy for what love and trust should look like.” blurted Nathan with a dry laugh.

“I admit that is true
, but I’ve long since seen the error of my ways and I left that part of me behind a long time ago.”

“Who the hell are you to judge me?
You are a billionaire and God knows how you came about that scandalous amount of money. I’m sure that all of your deals weren’t as crystal as you would like everyone to believe either. Sometimes people need to make hard decisions to live and to survive and I wonder how you would feel if I sent an investigator to dig the skeletons out of your closets?” Nathan shouted.

“This isn’t about me Nathan so don’t try to deflect anything
my way. My business affairs are handled between myself and other adults who know exactly what they are getting into and I pride myself on running everything legit. You have delegates here ages eighteen to twenty two , some of whom could barely afford to be here but they scraped something together so they could have a fair chance to have something more and you are trampling all over that. They don’t know what they are getting into and that is the issue!”