Damien

“Oh fucking hell!” Jonathan curses aloud, once I finish recounting my meeting with my mother.

“So, you are the legitimate heir of the Kittridges,” Gabe states, then shakes his head in disgust. “That asshole David was never worthy of all this anyway. He must be rolling in hell now that you’re in the place you were rightfully meant to be in.”

“But your mother! How could she do this?” Jasmine expresses in outrage.

“Yeah, well, that’s the unfortunate reality of my life,” I say.

I’m way more composed now and definitely a lot more accepting of my situation than I was before Aaliya found me by the pool.

“But, Damien,” Jasmine cuts through my thoughts, “If all is as you say then maybe Mike ought to keep a watch on your mother too. If she hated you so much then she could want you dead, don’t you think? Shouldn’t we consider her as a suspect?”

Mike frowns hard like he is definitely considering that thought.

“No!” I reject. “If something were to happen to me, then the title and everything would go to some insipid cousin down the family line, who would then control her finances too. At least with me, she knows for a fact that I will never be cruel enough to stop her allowance. Besides, my mother is all about duty to the title, status, wealth and privilege and she’d lose all that if I weren’t in the picture. And everything we’ve learnt so far indicates that whoever is after me killed my father and brother as well. My mother would lay down her own life for David if she had the chance. So, it’s not her for sure.”

“All the same, Sir, we need to keep an eye on Lady Sarah,” Mike advises. “I will ask someone to look into her more. So far, she was never in our radar, but considering what she feels about you and what we’ve just learnt we cannot rule her out as a suspect until it is proven otherwise.”

“Fine, Mike,” I accept. “Although I’m certain my mother isn’t involved in all this.”

Jonathan puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“I say, fuck all this and let’s celebrate,” he announces. “Forget about your family, they don’t matter. They didn’t deserve you then and they definitely don’t deserve you now. We all,” he splays a hand looking at everyone in the room, “are your family—all of us. So, let’s celebrate leaving that part of your life behind. Good riddance to them all!”

My heart warms at his words. He’s been nothing but a true friend to me and yet I disappeared from his life without informing him. I only hope he forgives me when I now tell him why that was.

I squeeze his hand and face him.

“There is something else I have to tell you, Jonathan. Many memories came back to me while I was talking to my mother. And I need to give you a long overdue answer.”

His eyes widen and his hand drops from my shoulder, as he understands the implication behind my words.

I turn to look at Aaliya. She gives me an encouraging nod and I heave out a breath before I begin.

“Five years back, Gabe and I had been talking about expanding Gamma Inc. to Asia, and we had considered Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore as options to set a base. But we hadn’t made any decisions.”

“Go on,” Jonathan instructs, his face devoid of any expression whatsoever.

“Well, I found out about the reality of David and my birth by chance. I wasn’t supposed to be at Heaven’s Gate at the same time as my mother and he. You know how I avoided visiting there when they were around. But that one weekend, five years back, we all happened to be under the same roof and I overheard my mother and David arguing in the library. He was demanding the truth about a bunch of letters he’d found in her room and she was wild with him for going through her things. I was going to ignore them and walk away until I heard my mother burst into tears and tell him the shocking tale behind our births.”

That incident plays in my head, like it had occurred just yesterday.

“Then what happened?” Jasmine prompts.

“They both found me standing at the door because I burst out laughing after she told her story.” I wave a hand dismissively. “Honestly, it was too bizarre to be true and if it were, then it would have shifted the dukedom from its axis. My mother was furious when she realized I overheard her secret. And when I expressed my disbelief of the fact that she was capable of loving someone else other than herself, she snatched the letters from David and threw them at me. They were old love letters written by her lover. I read the first one in my hand and in that he had expressed his regret and how much he missed being a father to David. It rocked me back and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. David was furious and tried to grab the letters from me, but I shoved him away and left Heaven’s Gate immediately.”

There is pin drop silence in the room and all eyes are fixed on me.

“Anyway,” I continue, “a few days later, David came by Gamma Inc. to meet me. You see, I’d been refusing his calls, as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I distinctly remember having the urge to tell my father just to spite the two of them, but I’d decided against it. David could be highly vindictive and I honestly didn’t want a lifelong battle with him on my head if I acted on that urge. What I didn’t realize was his inherent need for power and control.”

I sigh. “That day, however, David barged into my office and said, ‘The Kittridge inheritance is mine. I will never give it up and never to you. I will destroy you if you ever try to claim it.’ His arrogance had no bounds and despite knowing the truth, he still had audacity to threaten me. I’d faced enough of his cruelty, nastiness and unkindness while we were growing up, until I’d cut him off my life after I went to live with Aunt Sylvie. And since this time I had the upper hand because I had the letters, I decided to enrage him. So, I reacted even though it was petty and stupid.”

‘Actually, it’s all mine,’ I’d told him. ‘You however are a bastard—an illegitimate child who most probably doesn’t even know who his father is.’”

“Good on you,” Gabe beams. “He was a dick.”

“Yeah, well unfortunately, I only managed to infuriate him further because he made a call—the first of two calls that he made in front of me—and spoke softly into the phone. That was his response to me egging him on. And then he threatened me again. He asked me to give him the letters and disappear from London to never return, else he would kill the people I care about.”

“I didn’t believe him at first.” I shrug. “In fact, I laughed at his face because I wasn’t dating anyone, there was no one special in my life, no one I cared about, except...”

“Gabe and Jonathan,” Aaliya interjects. “He threatened he would kill them, didn’t he?”

Jonathan pales and Gabe’s mouth drops open because even though I had told him five years back that I wanted to disappear and he’s been a part of my life since, I’d never told him this, until now.

“So, you left without telling me?” Jonathan yells. “He threatened Gabe too, yet you told him, didn’t you?”

“Jonathan,” I interrupt him, but he’s simmering with rage.

“I could have taken care of myself,” he shoots back. “I wasn’t a child. I was an Earl then too. You were my best friend and yet you left me thinking something awful had happened to you. You and Gabe never thought I was important, did you?”

“Jonathan, enough,” Gabe snaps. “It’s not like that.”

“Then what am I supposed to think?” Jonathan throws him an angry glare. “You both kept me out for five years and Damien is telling me that David threw some lame threat at him because of which he disappeared. The truth is the two of you didn’t trust me enough.”

“Jonathan,” I growl. “Enough. Stop yelling at Gabe. I never told him the reason why I wanted to keep you out of my decision to leave and you know that.”

“I’m done here. I’m going,” he tosses at me, before walking away.

“No, wait,” Jasmine yells as he storms towards the door. He turns to face her and addresses her in a softer voice. “I can’t do this now, Jas.”

“Jonathan, I need you to listen, please,” I plead. “Stop and think. Where were you the week I disappeared?”

He squints and then his eyes widen. “Switzerland. I was skiing in the Alps where I...”

“Where you met with an accident. What was it? The driver of a ski mobile lost control and rammed into you. You broke your leg, didn’t you?”

“Fuck!” he swears, his hand clenching into a tight fist. “David orchestrated that?”

“Yes,” I accept. “And that was the first call that rang on my phone when David was standing in front of me. One of the guys with you called from your cell to inform me they were taking you to the hospital because you had been hit by a ski mobile while skiing.”

“You received another call too, didn’t you?” Gabe asks. “It was my mugging, right? I was leaving home and someone bashed my head and robbed my wallet. It never made sense to me why they’d only steal the few hundred pound notes and leave all my cards behind until now. I called you shaken up that someone had tried to hurt me.”

“Yes,” I respond. “That was the second call I received while David stood there gloating in front of me, proving he had absolute control over me. He had organized to hurt the only two people in the world I cared about. And the reason you weren’t hurt so drastically, Gabe, is because you were inconsequential to him—you came up the hard way in life and you had no title. And David was stuck up about friendships between equals and such. Jonathan was an Earl with a strong family background. Needless to say, David was way too jealous of Jonathan and the friendship I shared—still share—with him.”

“I remember this, Jonathan,” Gabe concurs. “Back then, Damien and you were quite a pair. Everyone spoke about you two and your love for extreme sports. You both were labeled The Devil Lords, have you forgotten that? The media loved you two and your antics. Of course, David would have been jealous, you know how he was. In those days Damien was getting all the attention every time he stepped out and it largely had to do with you Jonathan, and your friendship with him.”

“That’s why David specifically threatened you, Jonathan,” I stress further. “Of course, he threatened Gabe too, but not so vehemently as he did about you.”

“So, David made you give up your life in exchange for both of theirs,” Aaliya states, cleverly deducing everything.

“Fucking hell,” Jonathan mutters. “That bastard. I could have killed him had he been alive right now.”

“Yeah, you and me both,” Gabe concurs before addressing me, “I wish I’d made the connection between Jonathan’s accident and my mugging that time. I’d have never let you leave.”

“And that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you this,” I state.

“Finish the story, Damien,” Gabe demands.

I begin to pace. “David had my attention after I got the news of Jonathan’s injury and Gabe’s mugging. He told me the same person would kill Jonathan in the hospital if I didn’t disappear immediately. And he warned me he would kill Jonathan if I ever returned or ever told anyone where I went. I had a week to decide what to do. And he threatened to keep an eye on you, Jonathan, because he was certain if you knew where I was then you’d contact me. And he’d wait and watch for that to happen.”

I pivot to face Jonathan. “I couldn’t do that to you. With all my money and my status, there was no way I could protect either of you from him and his viciousness.”

“Then you should have confided in me,” Jonathan argues.

“I had a week, Jonathan, with him threatening me daily. You were lying injured with a bloody broken leg in a Swiss hospital because of me. Gabe was mugged because of me. Do you think I wanted to leave everything behind?”

“Then why tell Gabe where you were going?” he shoots back, still sounding peeved though he looks much more in control of his emotions now.

“Weren’t you listening to what I said, Jonathan? David threatened you the most. Gabe was like an afterthought for him. He threatened to have you killed in that Swiss hospital you were recovering in. He threatened to keep an eye on you to check if you ever contacted me. I had no options, Jonathan. I confided in Gabe only because I needed help to disappear. And we hatched a plan for me to go to India. David could never find me there, even if he wanted to.”

“And so you left,” Jonathan expels a harsh breath. “You had no right to decide on my behalf, Damien. We could have dealt with David together.”

“David had a lot to lose, don’t you see that?” I point out. “I couldn’t take his threats lightly. And if I had to make this choice to keep you safe again then I would still take it. You are my brothers, both of you, and I would do anything I can to keep you safe.”

Jonathan looks away from me and I tug his arm to face me again. “Answer me, would you have been able to keep your distance from me, knowing I was in India? Tell me you would never have called. Tell me you would never have visited.”

He ponders over my words.

“You are right, Damien,” he finally accepts. “I wouldn’t have been able to keep away. I would have tried to stay in touch. And if David, that asshole had been watching me, then you leaving would have been an utter waste and dangerous to probably all of us.”

He reaches forward and pulls me in a bear hug. “I’m just glad you’re back here, and though I was extremely hurt that time, now I only want to put this behind me.”

“Me too,” I whisper, patting his back, glad that he’s finally understood my reasons and is at peace with them.

“Don’t you or Gabe dare keep me out of your lives ever again,” he says releasing me. “Anything significant happens, I have to be the first to know. Deal?”

Gabe comes forward and holds Jonathan’s arm. “It’s a deal.”

“I’m so sorry for hurting you, Jonathan,” I express. “But like you said, let’s all move forward and forget all this.”

“What about the letters?” Jasmine asks.

“David didn’t even care about the letters, Jas,” I respond, facing her. “He just wanted me gone so I would never be a threat to his inheritance. You see, I was one DNA test away from him losing everything—those were his exact words to me.”

“But then, why not kill you? Why not just force you to leave?” Mike asks, speaking for the first time after I started my tale.

“During my years in India, I’ve wondered the same,” I reply. “My only conclusion was what if my mother had a change of heart at my death. David didn’t know how she would react after I died. What if she’d told my father the truth then? David had no way of knowing how my father would behave if he ever learned the truth. My father was quite unpredictable and yes, he loved David, but he was way too conservative and a stickler for propriety. So, when it came to his legacy, no one knows how he’d react. So, making me disappear with threatening to kill my two closest friends was the easier and the less messier option I suppose. And my father didn’t care enough for me to even consider why I’d disappeared. I’m most certain David told him some tale and he believed it without a second thought.”

“But one thing I don’t understand,” Jonathan muses. “I get that you left to keep Gabe and me safe. But why stay away for so long? Why not return and face him after a while?”

“Because of me,” Aaliya replies. She rises from the sofa and stands in front of me. “You stayed because of me, didn’t you?”

“You are right.” I give her a soft smile. “Initially, my plan had been to stay away for six months, maybe even a year and then return to face the music. I don’t know, I hadn’t thought that far ahead, to be honest. But then I met you. I fell in love with you so quickly and I knew then I could never come back.”

I cup her face. “And I never told you about my family because you didn’t need to know them. You didn’t need to breathe the same air they did. They were amoral and corrupt while you are everything good, pure and perfect. And once Rian was born, returning here was no longer an option because then I had a lot more to lose. I could never let David hurt you ever. Rian and you are the center of my existence—the reason for me breathing.” I sigh. “Unfortunately, fate had other plans, though.”

“Yes,” she says, her eyes moist. “Fate works in mysterious ways and so here we are.”

“Here we are, indeed,” I repeat, drawing her in my arms. I kiss her forehead and keep an arm wrapped around her as I address the others.

“Now what?” Gabe asks. “Do you remember everything? Do you remember who you suspected to be behind everything?”

“Unfortunately, no,” I answer. “I have recovered all my memories except from the time I left India to attend my father’s and brother’s funeral.”

“Oh!” Aaliya remarks, her forehead wrinkling.

“Don’t worry,” I reassure her. “That will come too. I feel it in my bones that someday soon, something will click and the remainder of my memories will come flooding back.”

“I hope so,” she says. “We need to find the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle and end this fear plaguing our lives. But until then, we all need to be safe.”

Over the top of her head, I lock eyes with Mike and he nods, understanding my desire to keep my family safe.