Broken (Endurance) (28 page)

"That is staying on until we get to the hotel." He smiled.

"Yeah. Dad was not about to get in that argument
," Makayla laughed.

Fresh Start

Cressida placed her dinner plate on the coffee table at her condo. She sighed as she flopped down on her couch. Eating dinner alone and watching old reruns was not her idea of living the single life. She wanted to be with Maxwell, but fear crippled her. It’d been three weeks since he’d asked her to marry him and she could not understand what was holding her back. She leaned back as tears rolled down her cheek. She missed him and for the past three weeks she’d thrown herself into work.

She was angry that she had to fake a relationship with Ronald.  It was really becoming a problem as Blake became increasingly inquisitive about them as a couple. At times Cressida was sure he knew it was all an act. 

She had avoided Maxwell for two weeks. She was afraid to see him because she knew she would give into him. "What am I doing?" Cressida mumbled to herself. "Chasing away the man I'm in love with."

There was a knock on her front door. Cressida looked at the time. It was minutes after nine and she was only wearing a short nightgown. She’d spoken to Maxwell just hours earlier and he seemed to be very busy working on a new project. The knock came again, this time louder.

She grabbed a robe, yelling to whoever was behind the door that she was coming.

Normally she would look before opening the door, but deep down she was convinced it was Maxwell. Cressida swung open the front door to the shocking sight of Blake Carter in a beige suit.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Cressida. And how are you this evening?"

"What...?"

"Surprised?"

"How did you know where I live?" Cressida was alarmed.  She always kept her home address private. Only family and close friends knew where she lived.

"Can I come in? It's kind of awkward talking to you in the corridor."

"Hell no!" Cressida slammed the door only to have Blake shove his foot in the way and push it back open.

Cressida stepped back. "What are you doing?"

Without a word Blake entered and locked the door behind him. He approached Cressida as he removed his jacket. He grinned at her with evil eyes.

Cressida scanned her apartment for available weapons. Her eyes caught sight of a steak knife next to her dinner plate. Blake followed her gaze and quickly reached for the knife.

"A steak knife can be very dangerous," he growled.

"Why are you here?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

"Oh, you will find out soon enough."

"Look, if you need money, I can get you whatever you need, but please just leave me alone," Cressida pleaded.

"Money is the very least of my concerns," Blake said, smirking.

He lunged at Cressida as she quickly ran away.  She grabbed a book and threw it at him.

Blake grinned as he came after her again, this time tackling her to the floor. Cressida fought him fiercely as he ripped away at her clothes.

Suddenly she could feel his weight being pulled off of her. Maxwell stood over them. He had Blake by the neck as he began pounding his fist into him. Blood began to spill on Cressida's torn night gown.

"Maxwell, don't kill him!" Cressida screamed, realizing Maxwell had no intention of stopping.

Upon hearing Cressida, Maxwell gave Blake one more blow to the head then shoved him to the floor. Maxwell’s security guard had come up with him and now grabbed Blake and dragged his bloody body out of the condo.

Maxwell looked down at Cressida. Taking a deep breath he reached down and helped her up. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, how did you get here?  How did you know?" Cressida was baffled.

"Go pack your stuff, anything you may need, if it's important to you, pack it up now," Maxwell said, ignoring her question. He was too angry to have a normal conversation. He walked into her bathroom and was about to wash the blood off his hands when he heard a voice telling him to save that blood. "Cressida, do you have a sandwich bag?" he asked while he grabbed some swabs off the bathroom counter. He quickly swabbed up as much of Blake’s blood as possible.

When Cressida entered the bathroom, the first thing to catch his eye was the drops of blood on her gown.

"Come here, baby." He pulled her into the bathroom, his gaze fixed on her gown. Her robe had already been torn. Maxwell closed the bathroom door and gently pulled Cressida's night gown over her head. She quickly realized why when she saw the blood stains.

"Maxwell, do you think he is guilty?" Cressida asked.

"I spoke to my brother earlier this afternoon and he kind of made a suggestion about Blake. I spent the whole afternoon researching it and trying to wrap my brain around it. Blake Carter is a Chimera. His brother is inside of him."

Cressida stood there puzzled. She had only heard of a Chimera in Greek mythology. "You are going to have to explain this to me."

"A chimera is basically twins, like joined twins, very well joined. There are different types. On some people you can see a line down their stomach. Then there are others who you just can't tell at all... like Blake."

"Blake is his own twin if I understand you correctly, but how does that work when it comes to DNA?" Cressida asked,

"The DNA they tested came from what bodily fluids?"

"I can't remember right now. I can't think."

"Not important. I just want to see what his blood reveals."

"We can take it to the detectives. I think this will all make sense to them."

Maxwell heard his name being called by the one of the men on his security team. "Stay here till I come back," he told Cressida as he rushed out.

"Sir, we...." The bodyguard was scratching his head trying to put into words what he’d just experience. "Sir I… I don't know how, but we lost him. I put him in the back of the van and then he just v… vanished."

"Okay, I think I know what happened," Maxwell said, realizing that Blake was a bigger problem than he’d thought.

"We will be ready when you are. I'll be standing guard outside this door should you need me."

"Good give me a few minutes," Maxwell replied.

Maxwell opened the bathroom door. He took off his jacket and placed it over Cressida’s shoulders.  She sat on the closed toilet seat, trembling and staring off into space.

"Hey, everything is going to be okay," Maxwell said, rubbing her shoulders.

"I was trying to avoid you," Cressida said under her breath.

Maxwell knew where the conversation was heading. “Let’s not talk about it."

"Maxwell, how do I know you will always want to be with me?"

"Cressida, we'v
e already spent most of our life
together. Being with you... I can't even put into words. I love you. I would not have asked you if I didn't."

"Why am I so scared of us?"

"I can't answer that."

"I don't want to get hurt or be disappointed."

"I'm not here to bring you pain and disappointment. It’s not my intention, but I'm not perfect. My father may have raised a gentleman, but only God is perfect."

"I know."

Maxwell got down on one knee and he looked into her eyes. "Cressida Dash, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife for the rest of my natural life?"

Cressida leaned forward and kissed Maxwell. "Yes."

Maxwell picked her up, hugging and kissing her. "Soon you will be Mrs. Martinez."

"I guess there will be three Mrs. Martinez under one roof," Cressida joked.

"Three who is the th... Makayla?"

"Yeah
, I had to rush your brother'
s marriage papers today."

"He didn't tell me anything about that," Maxwell said, putting Cressida down on the floor. "That’s great. It
was bound to happen. They are
made for each other. It's so funny how God works. For years I wanted to believe that my destiny was up to me
,
and what I decide, what I planned. It's still my choice, but the choices I made were the wrong ones. Good still came out of it, but when I finally let go and stopped trying to control everything and let God guide me, teach me to go with the flow of things, everything fell into place."

"Do you think we are making a good decision?" Cressida asked.

"What do you feel in here?" Maxwell placed his hand on her chest.

Cressida could feel goose bumps rise all over her arms. Her heart felt like it was swelling and her cheeks softly tingled as a smile rose across her face.

"What you’re feeling right now is how I feel about you. When I think of you, when I touch you, when we make love… I have never felt this way for any other woman."

Maxwell held Cressida closer. "Get your things and let’s go home."

Cressida was speechless as she walked away from Maxwell. She could feel the pores on the top of her head opening and her arms tingled with a warm loving energy. This was a completely new experience for her and it comforted her. She now knew she was doing the right thing and was in the right place.

She quickly
packed her bags, grabbing all the
things she could not live without. Maxwell helped her, eager to get her as far
a
way as possible from her father or Blake's reach.

Cressida had to leave behind some memories with the hope that she would be able to retrieve them some time later. On her way out the door she grabbed a picture of her and her mother.

"I will send someone to put everything in storage for you if you would like," Maxwell suggested.

"No." Cressida realized what she needed most was already with her. "I want a fresh start. Everything I thought was my life before was a facade... it can all burn to the ground for all I care."

Holiday Break

The week before Thanksgiving Makayla and Tamarius landed on the private air strip of King Solomon's University.  A limo was waiting to take them to a private vacation home hidden on the island. Tamarius was exhausted from traveling back and forth to various business meetings and needed a break. He was happy to be there a week earlier and happy to see his niece and nephews.

The limo driver packed up all of their belongings and quickly drove them to their vacation cottage.

It was an enchanting piece of heaven overlooking a private beach.  The entry way had a handmade bamboo bench that doubled as storage for shoes. The floor was tiled with a bamboo floor design. The entry way dipped down into a sunken living room filled with beautiful and well maintained brown leather furniture. The home had three master bathrooms. The most lavish one had a his-and-hers split bathroom and closet design.

Makayla walked all around the house admiring the art work and the beauty of it all. She found Tamarius in the kitchen pulling out frozen meat and planning dinner for that night. Makayla smiled as she entered the kitchen, scanning over what he was cooking. She jumped in and began pulling out needed pots and pans to cook in.

"What are you doing?" he asked, smiling.

"Helping you. Tamarius you should go relax. I can do this. You have been spoiling me. Let me do this for you."