Her father looked at her in shock, then back at Damien before he scurried off like the rat he was. Sierra wanted to fall to her knees, thanking Damien. She had a feeling that her father was truly out of her life for good.
“Thank you,” she offered as her sobs began. She couldn’t say anything more than that.
Damien held her, brushing the back of her head with his hand, making gentle hushing sounds. Sierra couldn’t believe what had just happened and that Damien had come to her rescue. All her life she’d wished for someone to deliver her. It was almost too much of a fairytale to believe. As her sobs subsided, Damien led her back inside, straight to a private restroom where he washed away her tears. Her cheek was red with a slight bruise beginning to form. Out of old habits, she always carried thick cover up to mask her father’s abuse. She grabbed the compact and applied it, and only upon close inspection would a person see the results of her father’s hand.
“Do you want to go home?” he asked.
“No. I want to forget all about Douglas Monroe and just focus on the fundraiser.
With that, Damien gave her a gentle kiss and led her back to the ballroom where the party was in full-swing. A couple hours passed and Sierra forgot about her worries and started enjoying herself.
Damien disappeared with a group of men who wanted to discuss business, promising he’d come back soon. Sierra wandered around, looking at the items up for auction. She found a beautiful sculpture and decided to bid.
“Are you seriously going to outbid me, Sierra Monroe!”
Sierra finished filling out the bidding paperwork, then turned with a huge smile on her face.
“Every chance I get,” she responded before she leaned forward and gave her best friend a hug.
“Well, I was buying it for you anyway. The second I saw the figurine, it reminded me of our weekend in Canada. That was when I knew we’d be friends the rest of our lives. When you abandoned me on the dance floor with three guys trying to get down my pants –”
“I was drunk, and I’ve apologized a million times,” Sierra said with a laugh.
“Okay, I guess I can forgive you, but really, that weekend was one of the most fun times I’ve ever had. I honestly did know I wanted to be friends forever after that trip,” Bree said.
“Bree, I have to talk to you,” Sierra told her as her eyes welled. She’d put it off because she didn’t want to betray either of them, but if Damien did actually follow through on his threats, and Bree was harmed, Sierra could never forgive herself.
Sierra also knew that once the Anderson’s found out that Damien was their lost relative, they’d embrace him with open arms. He needed them – he just had to realize that. The first step was talking to Bree.
“What is it? You’ve turned as white as a ghost. Let’s go sit down,” Bree said as she took charge, like she always did. Their friendship had worked on so many levels because Bree had been the only person, until Damien, capable of bringing Sierra out of her shell, allowing her to have fun without guilt.
Bree led her to a quiet den and before Sierra could lose her nerve she told her the whole story of how Damien was her relative and what he thought had happened, and what he planned to do.
“I love him, Bree, really love him, and I don’t want to betray him, but I could never betray you, either, because I love you. I’ve been so torn over this whole situation or I would’ve come to you sooner,” Sierra said. She was so afraid Bree would be disappointed in her.
“Hey, stop that! You’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t feel guilt over it. I can’t believe Damien is Neilson’s son. Seriously. Not very long ago, remember me telling you about my Aunt Katherine telling us the story of how she and Joseph met. She also told us about Neilson. Damien’s got it all wrong. His mother wasn’t rejected. She showed up on the front porch, yes, and Aunt Katherine was there all alone. She invited her in, fed her, and gave her a bed. The next morning when she went to find her, she was gone. They searched for years, until they finally had to accept she didn’t want to be found,” Bree said.
“I don’t know if he’ll believe you, Bree.”
“We’ll make him believe – he’s family.” Right there was why Sierra loved Bree so much. She didn’t focus on the fact that Damien wanted to destroy them, take away everything they had. She focused on the happiness of finding a lost relative she never thought she’d find. “I have to tell my dad. Come on,” Bree said with excitement as she pulled Sierra to her feet and the two of them rushed from the room.
Chapter Twenty-Four