Forbidden Lust (13 page)

* * * *

“Wow.” Devon slumped back in his chair, mouth open, after Darius finished his story. Not one of them had disgust in their eyes, only shock.

“Well, that sure does explain a few things,” Dane said. “Like why you are always so aloof.”

“Would you want your friends to know this shit?” Darius asked. Dane lowered his eyes. “Thought so. And I have this nagging feeling that this shit aren’t the only secrets being hidden. Something else is going on.”

“When was the last time you saw your mother?” Blaine asked.

“The day she stabbed me,” Darius answered. “My father had her committed, and to keep my mouth shut he shipped me off to school.”

“Hate to say this man, but I think you need to go to this institution and see her,” Blaine said.

“Why the hell would I want to do that?” Darius snapped. “The woman tried to kill me.”

“Because sometimes the crazy tell the truth,” Blaine told him. “You might get those answers.”

“Blaine I don’t really want any answers, I want to forget I even have a family left.” Darius rubbed his face, feeling that familiar dead weight settling on his shoulders. “As far as I am concerned, you guys and Makayla are my family.”

“And we understand that,” Devon said. “But he’s got a point. If your father put her away, then I’m sure he made the arrangements for her care for life. If so, then ask yourself why your uncle is trying to get money from you.”

“I’d see if she’s still there,” Dane finally said. They all looked at him and he shrugged his shoulders. “He could’ve taken her out and been pocketing the money for her care.”

“I never thought of that,” Darius said.

“Okay, guys, how would you like some real food?” Samara came in then with Makayla behind her, carrying trays loaded with food. The men got up quickly and took the trays.

“What’s this?” Blaine asked.

“Dinner for Shyla,” Samara answered. “Kera has her in the shower and she’s going to be down to eat.”

“Got to love, Kera,” Blaine said, giving Devon a smile.

Kera and Shyla joined the others. The moment Blaine saw her he strode to her side and pulled her tight into his arms. Darius saw the love and knew then he felt the same way about Makayla. But did she feel the same for him?

Everyone sat and ate. Blaine kept touching Shyla, holding her hand, and smiling at her. Everyone talked about different things. Devon talked some about his horses and how the ranch was starting to get a bit cramped and he might need to expand. Dane mentioned to Makayla about stopping by so Nana could see her. The woman hadn’t stopped complaining about her not being there since the night she was summoned to the Compound.

Makayla saw the bruise on Darius’s chin and she chewed Dane out. He laughed at that, kissing her on the cheek once she finished. They stayed for a few hours, relieved to see Shyla seemed to be feeling better, and then they called it a night. Once home, after the long, tiring day, Darius and Makayla headed up to their bed, hand in hand, Makayla still smiling.

Darius had a lot on his mind still, but he felt so much better when he had her in his arms. In bed, Darius held Makayla close, letting sleep take him. But before it did, the one thing that Dane said came back to haunt him.

He had to see if his mother was still where his father put her. It all made sense. Only with her removal would his uncle be trying to get money out of him. Come morning, Darius would take a trip to find out if his mother was still in the institution, or if some conniving bastard took her away, and if so, why, besides the money.

Chapter Ten

He hadn’t been here, he hadn’t been here, he hadn’t been here.

Darius kept telling himself that as he walked down the clean white, sterile hall of the hospital where his father sent his mother more than fifteen years ago, and yet he had this strange feeling he had.

Because you have!

Darius stopped in the middle of the hall, closed his eyes and let the buried memory hit. Yes, he had been here once and only once. The one time he needed to see his mother’s eyes to confirm that she indeed had lost it. He’d snuck away from school after hearing some other kids talking about his family. He heard about his father sending his mother away to a mental hospital because she was crazy. Learned that day how his father had enjoyed his new freedom by crossing the boarder where he took up with young girls. Discovering that part was what sealed his father’s fate, in Darius’s eyes. If the man would cross the boarder for underage girls then what happened to his sister could be blamed on his father. So Darius left school with the small hope that his mother wouldn’t be crazy, and that she would look upon him just once as a mother should look at her son.

But she hadn’t.

He walked into her room saw her sitting in the chair in front of the window staring at nothing, mumbling about the sins of the father, sins of the flesh. Her blank expression was enough to have him staying away from this place for a very long time. Now he’d returned.

Opening his eyes, he finished the walk to her room, opened the door and was stunned to discover the room was empty.

“May I help you, sir?” a nurse asked.

“The woman that was here. Where is she?” Darius didn’t bother to look at her, his eyes was fixed on the chair still in front of the window.

“I’m sorry?”

“The woman, Mary Alistair. Where is she?”

“I’m sorry, sir, but Mrs. Alistair hasn’t been with us for over two months now.”

“What?” This time Darius did turn to face her.

“Mrs. Alistair left our institution over two months ago. Her brother came for her.”

“How? He’d need permission!” Darius couldn’t stop from raising his voice.

“Can I help you, sir?” Another woman dressed in white rushed up to them.

“Yes you can tell me how the hell my mother was able to just leave this place.”

The other woman seemed taken aback. “Her brother came and picked her up.”

“I understand that part, but what I don’t understand is how the hell he could do that. He’d need permission. My father made damn sure of that.”

Her face reddened. “Sir, Mr. Verver had permission from his nephew.”

“What?” This time he gasped the question. “I did
not
give permission for my mother to leave!”

Her face paled. He walked into the room, slamming the door in their faces. With his anger boiling over he began to ransack the room, looking for anything that his mother might’ve left behind. He found nothing.

“Mr. Alistair.” He stopped pacing the room to glare at the woman who came in. “Sir, if you’re looking for her things, what was left we boxed up after a few weeks had passed and it seemed that your mother wasn’t coming back. We didn’t want anything to go missing. If you would please come with me to my office, I would like to talk to you about a few things.”

Darius ended up following the woman out of the room and into a small office. He took a seat across from where she had taken a seat behind a small desk. The walk down to her office cooled his anger some, but not much.

“First, I want to apologize for this. Your uncle was very convincing about you giving permission for your mother to leave and I’m afraid I wasn’t here when he took her out. We have been trying to get in touch with him and you, but the contract number we had for you was not in service. Anyway, since your mother had been in our care she’d been doing very well with coming to terms with her past without relapsing. In fact, right before your uncle took her out of here I’m told by her doctor she was making great progress with some of her repressed memories.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The therapy that your father requested for your mother seemed to help her deeply. Long suppressed memories came back to her, and I have to say we were impressed with how well she handled it all.”

“I’m confused...” He held his hand up to stop her. “Handle what? The fact that she tried to kill me?”

“Her abuse.” The nurse frowned. “Surely you’ve been reading the reports sent back to you. We even sent you the letter about your mother being gone all this time. Isn’t that why you’re here now?”

Darius closed his eyes in shame. Yes, the hospital had been sending monthly reports on the progress of his mother’s treatment. After so many of them with nothing new he just stopped reading them all. It felt pointless for him to keep that door open. So all the latest letters he had just tossed in the trash, never opening them.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t,” he said low. “After reading letters with the same stuff, I stopped opening them.”

“I see.”

“What did they say?” He asked the question so softly that he thought he didn’t ask it at all.

“Maybe I should get the doctor that had been treating her.”

“Just tell me!” he snapped.

She swallowed and looked uncomfortable, but nodded. “It seems that her father and maybe even her brother had abused her at an early age. Only bits and pieces came out, but without a doubt, her father had been. In a few of her sessions, it was mentioned that he would have her undress and use her to teach her brother about the female sex.”

Darius thought he was going to be sick. “You all knew this and still let him take her out?”

“With your mother’s state of mind, Mr. Alistair, we couldn’t be sure if what she said at the time was true or not. There were days when she talked about your sister but made it all sound like it was her and not your sister being hurt.”

Pieces of the puzzle were finally starting to fall into place. It all made so much sense now. First, his mother had been raised to look the other way when someone was being hurt. Apparently, her own mother did just that, which he couldn’t understand. How could a mother stand by and just let her daughter be hurt like that? He never understood it with his own mother, and now it seemed his grandmother had done the same thing.

Darius stood up and moved to the far end of the small office. He wanted to cry for the first time ever for the pain his mother had endured her whole life. He wanted to go back in time and beat the shit out of his grandfather. What did that man do to her? Deep down he didn’t want to know. He had a strange feeling it would sicken him.

Was his father a savior, or just a greedy bastard? Did he see what was happening to his mother back then and try to save her, or just use her pain and suffering for his own ends? He couldn’t answer that question. From his own memories of childhood, all he could recall was fights and how she would yell at him to not touch her. Even more so, he remembered when he was very little how she cried and screamed late at night. It woke him up. Back then, when he came out of his bedroom to investigate the noise he would see his father leaving their bedroom, clothes a mess, and a shameful expression on his face. A couple of months later, Sara was born. After that, he stopped everything with his mother—and began to visit brothels for his entertainment. Then he just fell into the same pattern as his father in law it seemed, and began messing with Sara. A cycle had started in the family, one Darius decided he’d break.

“Thank you.” His voice cracked out. He cleared his throat and turned. “I’ll take care of this problem now.”

“Oh, there is one more thing, Mr. Alistair.” The woman stood up. “Your uncle said your mother was only going for a visit of no more than a month. Two months have passed, and your uncle still hasn’t returned with her. The income that your father set up was to be used for your mother’s board and care here. Your uncle, somehow, got a hold of a few months of this income before we realized it and we cut him off. He has been causing some trouble here with threats of suing the institution if we don’t hand over the money.”

“How much money did my father set up for my mother’s care?”

“Two million. And he also gave instructions that should she pass away, the remaining funds would be given to the hospital. Your uncle is trying to get a hold of it.”

“I see.”

“I thought you should know. We have stopped payment and have put a freeze on the account. We do care about your mother, Mr. Alistair, and if by chance her statement about her brother being there during the abuse is true, well we would like help in getting her back, and away from him.”

“How long has this little battle been going on with you and him?”

“The hospital has been in a legal custody battle not too long—established after we realized your uncle wasn’t bringing her back. It seems that the one who has any legal claim to her care would be you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, sir. Your father stated that, in the event of his death, you would become her guardian. It’s why we’ve been sending you the reports, and not her brother.”

Darius took another deep breath and nodded. “Well, please have her room ready once more with the things you stored away. I plan on bringing her back.”

* * * *

“Hey, are you alright?” Samara walked into the house and instantly Makayla grabbed her for a tight hug. “What’s wrong?”

“Darius hasn’t come home yet,” she mumbled against Samara’s shoulder. “I’m worried something’s happened to him.”

Samara pulled away from Makayla and looked her in the eyes. “What happened? You two get in a fight?”

Makayla nodded, turned and hugged herself. She never thought she’d be so worried about anyone like this, besides her sister. “He left this morning, early.” She turned back to her sister. “Said something about checking on his mother. Samara, he hasn’t wanted to do anything with his mother since the night she tried to kill him. Why would he go now?”

“Dane said they had a long talk last night while we were up with Shyla.” She took Makayla’s hand and walked over to one of the long sofas in the main room. They sat down together. “Dane also told me he suggested Darius go and make sure his mother was still in the institution where his father put her. Maybe he’s just finally, I don’t know, spending some time with her.”

“I don’t think so,” Makayla whispered. “I think his uncle has something to do with this.”

“What could he have to do with this?”

“He’s trying to sue Darius.”

“That doesn’t make any sense”

“None of this makes any sense,” Makayla sighed, standing back up. “Samara, I’ve got a bad feeling here. Something’s wrong.”