Shattered Hart (16 page)

Spencer
doesn’t
need to be asked twice. 
“Fuck
no;
you’
re not leaving them alone!
 
Tell the girls
I’ll be there within
thirty minutes
.”

I haul ass back out on to the dance floor and grab Brooke to let her know that I’m taking Sabrina home.  I’ve no choice but to bring her in close to me as I bend and speak in to her ear, and even in this time of crisis I can still feel my heart start beating a
rhythm
for her. 

I tell her that Sabrina has a headache and wants to leave, pushing all of Brooke’s attempts to leave with us
aside
.  Eventually she surrenders, and I head back to the ladies room to see if Sabrina has come out yet.

Just my luck,
she
’
s
still in there. 
Steeling my nerves for the sound of women screaming
for me
to get the fuck out, I open the door and make my way inside.
  Fortunately shock seems to be holding the vocal chords of the women
present hostage.  Only
one stall door
is
closed, so I know just where Sabrina is.  Knocking on the door
,
I tell
Ri
na
that
I
’m there.

When she flings the door open,
I’m relieved to se
e that she’s
holding it together and
is
n’
t
crying.  Staring at me exasperatedly she says, “I’m
OK
,
but honestly Damien. 
You
’
re
in a ladies room!”

I shrug my shoulders at her. 
“Honestly, I
don’t
give a shit. 
You’re
upset, and you’
re hurting. 
You
need a friend, and I’m here.  I’m assuming
you
don’
t want Brooke or the girls to know about this.  That being the case, I told them that
you
have a migraine and want to go home
.
I
’ve
arranged for Spencer to come get them. I’ve still got your ID in my pocket, and I already gave the Brooke and the twins theirs back, so we’re able to go.”

She
nod
s her consent to my
plan, and we make
our
way out of the club. 
Within minutes
,
I am helping her in to the passenger seat of my Escalade. 

The drive to
Sabrina’s
is made
in silence.
  No music, no conversation.  Thirty minutes later we are pulling in to
her
driveway. 
I hop
out and hurry around to her door so that I can open it for her.

Once in the
house, we both make
our
way to her
living room. 
As she takes her shoes off I take the opportunity to look around.  There are pictures of Sabrina, Broke and their parents everywhere.  My stomach clenches as I take in the beautiful family with the loving smiles
. 
This is
just another reminder of why I’
m no
t
suitable
for Brooke.  Forcing myself in to the here and now, I waste not time addressing Sabrina.

“How long did this go on?”

My tension eases a bit as I watch her make the decision
to
confess
. 

“The first time was the night of my dance competition.
It ended the morning you
came over and I was
leaving his house.”
 

I try hard not to telegraph to
Sabrina
that I am stunned
by her revelation.  Their affair
went on for so long.
  What was my brother thinking?

“Shit.  Yeah, that makes sense.
He
ha
s
always been attracted to
you
, and I knew he was hanging by a remarkably thin thread the day of the competition.  I just assumed he reeled it in, like he always did.  Guess I was wrong.”

We stare at each other in silence for a moment before
Sabrina nods her head at me
.

“I only found out later that he
was attracted
to me.  I never even suspected until that night.”

Christ, she still
does
n’
t
see it.

“He
was a lot more than attracted.
Still,
he damn well knew to steer clear of
you
.  I’m furious with him right now.  He knew doing this could only hurt
you
.  I’m going to knock his ass out for that.”

My gut clenches when she shakes her head at me in frustration.  Dammit,
she
i
s
going to defend what
he
ha
s
done.

“No! Damien. 
No.
  This is my fault.  He gave me the out, more than once.  He was never less than honest with me.  He told me from the get go that he
would
never, could never, commit.  I was a fool for thinking I could handle what that meant.  I went in to this with my eyes open.  I’m just paying the price now for not realizing what that would feel like.”

Just like that, the other shoe drops. 
I knew this was a ser
ious problem, but it’s
a lot more than that.
  This is going to destroy her.

“Oh hell Sabrina…  Shit. 
It
’
s
worse than I thought. 
You
aren’t
just suffering because it is over. 
You
’
re
in love with him.”

My heart feels uncomfortably tight in my chest as Sabrina’s
fa
c
ade
crumbles and tears start to leak out of her eyes.  I’m out of my chair and on the couch with her in seconds.

“I
’m…fine
…
I never
cr
-cry in front of people.
  I’m ok.”

“
Shh
.  Let it out. 
You
need to let it out.  Let yourself go for a minute.  I’m here.”

I let her cry it out as I rage on the inside at what a fucking moron my brother is. 
How could
he
ignore the
baggage
that
we come with?
  There is no excuse for this!
 

Finally, I sense that she has wound down and is no longer as fragile. 
Grabbing
a tissue from the side table, I dab
away her tears
.
 
Sabrina has a lot of the same qualities that draw me to Brooke, and I understand why my brother found her irresistible.  It
does
n’
t
make it right, but I get it.

“
You
truly are lovely. 
You
manage to be beautiful even when you cry.  Got to say, if Dante had not figuratively put up
‘no
trespassing’ tape around
you
the second he met you
, I’d have come after
you myself
.  Of course, then I wouldn’
t have
you
as an honorary sister, and that would be a loss. 
He
i
s
a damn fool for not locking
you
down.”

She shakes her head
sadly
at me, looking as though I’ve just broken off another piece of her heart. 
 
“Oh please
Damien.
 
You
’
re
even less likely to commit than he is.”

Ouch.  She packs a punch, just like her sister
. 

“You’re right. 
Dante and I both learned early
in our lives
that commitment in our family is a death sentence.
  It just isn’
t possible.
You
a
re
the real thing, and I’d have run from you at lightning speed long before it ever got to where you and Dante wound up.”

I see
the gears turning in her head
,
and
I know what’s coming before she even opens her mouth. 

“Damien.  I need
you
to be honest with me. 
It’s
time for me to know what made Dante the way he is.  Can
you
please
tell me why the two of you don’
t believe in relationships?  What happened that
you
both feel this way?
”

Tilting my
head back,
I let out a breath and close my eyes.  Internally I struggle with the decision. 
To disclose or not to disclose?
  How angry would Dante be?  Will this help Sabrina?  In the end, I decide that if it helps her at all, I have to do i
t.  Opening my eyes, I nod
at her
.

“Your parents
died
before we met, but there are pictures all over this room of
you
all as a family, smiling and laughing.  I've also heard
you
and Brooke talk about them enough that I know that you all loved each other.  They valued
you
both, treated you well, too
k care of you and
parented you.  What Dante and I grew up with was… the exact opposite of that.”

“I was four years old the first time I can remember
our
parents l
eaving us home alone.  It wasn’
t the fir
st time, and it certainly wasn’
t the last.  They packed up and rolled their luggage out of the house. 
Our
mother was kind enough to tell
us
that
they
were going to Mexico for two weeks because she could not stand to look at us.”

“The reason this incident stands out in my mind is because
our
father broke two of my fingers when I begged them not to leave us.   Broke them, told me to get the fuck out of the way, and then they left.   Dante set my fingers using tape and
our
mother’s nail files.  Can
you
imagine?  He was six
years old, and he had to take care of us both because
our
par
ents wouldn’
t. ”

It
’
s
a struggle to maintain calm as I tell her this story. 
It
’
s
humiliating
,
and
it tears at my heart sti
ll that my parents never cared. 
“We
were told
on an almost daily basis that we were ugly, unwanted, disgusting brats.  They were
both cruel and vici
ous and angry, and they made us suffer.”

“They
were drugged
out freaks, and they had sex parties in the house.  I
can
't
even begin to tell
you
how many nights we had to sleep in the
garden
shed because all of the bedrooms needed to be available.”