Damien smiled as he attempted to comfort Trinity. He thought it amusing she was so bad at staying strong. Her greatest appeal, in his opinion, was how she had the softest heart of anyone he knew.
“What would I do without you in my life, Trinity?”
“You’d fall to pieces. Speaking of which, I should ring your neck. I can’t believe your harebrained scheme, and what you were planning on doing. The only thing saving you right now is that you realized you were being a fool,” she said as she pulled back to give him a watery glare.
“I knew all along how stupid I was being, which is why I didn’t share my plans. I didn’t want to face you – you’re the epitome of goodness. I’m starting to love them, Trinity. Joseph is so full of life, his voice could wake the dead. George is just as stubborn and willful as his brother, but he’s quieter, more the comforter. My cousins, wow, I don’t even know where to start with them. I have to say I truly enjoy Bree. She’s hell on wheels and so loyal. You should’ve seen her when she was protecting Sierra.” Damien smiled with affection.
“I know the Anderson’s a little as my husband and his brothers do business with them on various jobs, but I’m looking forward to getting to know them a lot more now that they’re your family.”
“You know, you’ll always be my family, right? I wouldn’t have made it this far in life had I not met you. I’m so glad I have you.”
“I feel the same way, Damien. We’ll stick together no matter what,” Trinity said as she instantly forgave him for being a fool.
“I need to see Sierra,” he told her as she wrapped her arm in his and they began walking back to their cars.
“Yes you do, but don’t be an idiot. Tell her you love her, buy her a million roses, and beg her on bended knee for forgiveness. Don’t just demand she submit to your will,” Trinity warned.
“Ah, you really know how to wound my pride. I don’t crawl, Trin,” he said with a pucker between his brows.
“Then you don’t love her enough, Damien,” Trinity said, stopping to look him in the eye.
Damien thought about her words. He did love Sierra – even enough to crawl. The realization was staggering as he stood rooted to the spot with Trinity giving him time to sort out his emotions.
“She’ll be at the Anderson’s party tonight,” she said.
“I guess I’d better go and get ready for a dance then,” he said as a smile took over his face. He wasn’t willing to take no for an answer this time, even if he did have to ignore Trinity’s advice and carry Sierra from the room over his shoulder. That thought actually excited him.
“Should I be worried? You two always seem to have your arms around each other,” Drew said as he stepped out of the car he’d been in while waiting for his wife.
“Of course you should be worried. I had her first,” Damien goaded Drew before bending and kissing Trinity on the cheek.
“Now you realize I’m going to have to defend my honor and challenge you to a duel,” Drew told him.
“Anytime, anywhere, Titan,” Damien said before the two men laughed.
“If you brawny men are finished, there’s a party tonight we all have to get ready for,” Trinity said as she let go of Damien and walked over to her husband.
Damien watched the two of them drive off before he got in his own car. The wheels in his head slowly started turning as he made plans for the evening.
∞∞∞
Sierra stepped inside the Anderson mansion, nervous as she looked around the familiar ballroom. She’d been inside Joseph and Katherine’s home a few times with Bree, but she knew Damien would be at the party, and she didn’t think she was ready to see him yet.
Even though it had been three months, and six days since their last brief moment together in the hospital, her heart still hadn’t healed. She received regular updates from Bree and was very happy Damien was getting to know his relatives. She truly wished him a happy life. He deserved it after everything he’d been through.
A small part of her insisted she deserved happiness, as well, but she pushed that down. She’d someday find her own path. She just had to find the will to get over Damien and move on with her life.
“You’re late. I thought I was going to have to drag you here, Sierra,” Bree said with exasperation.
“I’m only a half hour late, and that’s actually on time for one of your Uncle’s parties, because it takes him two hours to greet everyone before anything actually begins,” Sierra replied with a smile.
“You are certainly correct,” Bree said as she led Sierra into the room.
There had to be a couple hundred people there, all dressed to perfection. Sierra was wearing a new dress she felt confident in. She was working for a small marketing company, making a great salary, and had spent the entire afternoon shopping for the perfect dress. She tried to convince herself she was doing it solely for her own pleasure and not because she knew Damien would be in attendance.
She’d told herself repeatedly that she’d be polite if they ran into each other, offer him well-wishes, then confidently sashay in the opposite direction. She didn’t want him thinking she was pining over him after three months.
The music started and couples began filling the enormous dance floor. Sierra’s stomach tightened as her gaze roamed the room. There was no sign of Damien anywhere. She told herself that was a good thing.
“Would you care to dance?” a gentleman asked as he approached.
“That would be lovely,” she responded as she followed him to the center of the dance floor. One dance let into several others as she was asked by different strangers, and a few acquaintances she recognized from other functions.
When the song, You Are So Beautiful, came on and a man asked her to dance, she paused as her throat clogged with tears. It was the first song she’d danced to with Damien when she’d been slowly falling in love with him. He’d glided across the floor with her, her feet barely touching the ground as his hands caressed her back.
She couldn’t accept the man’s invitation; the song was much too personal for her. Before she had a chance to reply, he was interrupted.
“She’s already taken for this dance.”
Sierra looked up into Damien’s intense face, his features so familiar, so stunningly handsome. He was wearing his tux, looking even better than she remembered. Her breath hitched as her body reacted. She felt herself wanting to fall into his arms.
Without giving her a chance to refuse him, he pulled her into his arms and started moving in a slow circle, his hands positioned on her hips, his fingers caressing the sensitive dent of her back. Goosebumps appeared on her skin as his breath whispered across her face and he looked into her eyes, his own filled with intensity. The room faded away until it became just the two of them, the sound of the music guiding them along.
When he started singing the words of the song while still looking deep in her eyes, her knees nearly buckled. She’d done so well at convincing herself she was healing, and in the matter of a few moments, she was falling over a cliff – ready to crash in a heap she’d never be able to stand up from.
The song ended and the room grew quiet as Joseph walked to the stage and stood gazing out at the crowd with a microphone in his hand. He spotted Damien and smiled.
“As you all know, we have much to celebrate with the spring of a new year upon us. My long lost nephew has been found, and we’re so pleased to have him as a part of our family. He’s been in Seattle the whole time, but circumstances kept us from each other. Because of a beautiful young woman in the crowd, we connected and have spent the last few months getting to know each other. It’s been a joy and filled this old heart of mine with overwhelming happiness. Whenever I think my life can’t possibly get any greater than it already has, our family is blessed with even more,” Joseph said.
Sierra felt tears sting her eyes as she listened to the joy and pride in Joseph’s voice.
“I’ll be back,” Damien whispered before he released her and moved toward the stage.
Sierra decided not to stick around. She couldn’t bear any more that night and still have any of her heart left intact. Before she was able to make a retreat she was caged in. She looked up to find Damien’s best friend, Trinity on one side of her, and Bree on the other.
“I need to use the restroom,” Sierra told them in a desperate attempt at escape.
“It can wait,” the two women said in unison before they looked at each other and giggled.
Damien approached the stage with confidence and gave Joseph a hug before he turned to the crowd. His eyes scanned the room before settling on Sierra.
“I’ve made many mistakes in life. I don’t regret them, because they’ve shaped me into the man I am now, however, I wish I wouldn’t have been such a fool for so many years. My best friend gave me some beautiful advice, of which I took some, and ignored the rest,” he said as he sent a wink toward Trinity.
“It gets better,” Trinity whispered to Sierra who looked at her with confusion. What was she talking about?
“You see, I’ve done many foolish things in my life, held grudges that weren’t warranted, sought revenge that wasn’t called for, and the most ludicrous of all, let the woman I love escape.” Damien’s gaze connected with hers and she looked back with uncertainty and…hope.
He wouldn’t be so cruel to say those things about another woman, so maybe…” she was afraid to even think the thoughts.
The room started to stir as people shifted. Sierra was so focused on Damien she didn’t notice the men and women coming toward her. She was suddenly lifted into the air and placed in a chair which was then picked up, as the group of men carried her to Damien.
“I’ve only loved one other person my entire life, and she saved me when I was a child. I’ve only ever been in love once, and you saved me as a man. Please forgive my foolishness, my faults, and my insensitivities. I can’t live in a world where you’re not by my side – I’m just a shell of a man without you in my life.”
Sierra’s convoy placed her on the stage and she was quickly pulled into Damien’s arms. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked into his eyes, the truth of his words shining from him.
“Damien –”
“Wait, there’s more,” he said as he placed his finger over her mouth.
There was a collective gasp as dozens of people stepped forward, each with a bucket filled with different colored rose petals. They filled the stage with the fragrant pieces, creating a romantic bed of color.
“Take a seat,” he told her before he helped her sit, and then walked off the stage. The crowd parted and there was a stage in the center of the room with a microphone and guitar.
Sierra looked at the men standing along the back of the stage, it was all the Anderson and Titan men, dressed to the nines, looking amazing as they gazed back at her and winked.
Damien joined them, then picked up the guitar. She watched in awe as music started drifting through the room and he stepped up to the microphone and began singing, I Won’t Give Up by Jason Mraz.