Oh Stupid Heart (19 page)

Leaning back, he
released a soft sigh and smiled. “If you do decide to leave Lancaster Chairs, I
hope you’ll come here. I think you could help me a great deal.”

Carrie left Dan’s
office feeling much better. However, the moment she saw Trent’s limo waiting
outside, her depression returned. Upon determining no one sat in the back, she
walked to the driver’s window. Sam rolled it down. Cool air wafted from the
car.

“It’s too hot out
there. Get in the car and we’ll talk.”

She walked over to
the front passenger side door and waited for him to unlock it. He’d always
refused to let her sit upfront in the past, but matters had changed. If he
wanted to talk to her, he’d treat her like his equal. After a long moment, the
door clicked.

Once inside, her
emotions were too close to the surface for her to dare talk or even look at
him.

“That’s the ugliest
suit I’ve ever seen.”

She nodded in
agreement.

“Why would you ever
buy it?”

“I didn’t. Someone
gave it to me.”

“Did they hate you?”

“Maybe. My twin
insisted I wear it at her award ceremony where she received a Woman of the Year
plaque from her town’s Chamber of Commerce.”

“What’d she do to
earn it?”

“She was president of
the Chamber.”

Sam snorted. “Talk
about self-serving.”

Carrie thought the
same, but she hadn’t dared state it aloud. Her entire family worshiped Caroline.

Sam frowned as he studied
her a bit longer. “May I drive you to the penthouse so you can change into
something less depressing? Your suit seems to be devouring your normally
resilient and happy personality.”

Her eyes filled like
a water fountain. She stared out the window, unable to reply without losing it.

He evidently took her
silence as a yes. What the hell. She had a nice pair of slacks and knit top
somewhere in Trent’s walk-in closet from when she stayed over last week. A
change of clothes might make her feel better. Surely couldn’t make her feel
worse.

Or so she thought.
She’d forgotten about the new tenants in the penthouse. Patty hugged her the
moment she entered the living room. “Oh, Carrie. I’m so sorry. Trent told us
what happened.”

So he
was
done
with her. She’d feared his silence meant as much, but still having it stated
aloud sent a pain ripping through her body. “I just need to get my stuff.”

“And change,” Sam
reminded her.

No chance in hell
could a change of clothes make her feel better now.

“You should change. Your
suit is depressing me,” Patty teased.

Throwing her hands
up, she escaped to Trent’s bedroom to hunt down clothes he’d refused to part
with when Detective Pascal had retrieved her belongings last month. At the
time, she’d been so broken up she hadn’t noticed several outfits were missing.
But during one of her long phone calls with Trent while she was in San Francisco
he confessed to the kidnapping of her clothes so she would always have
something nice to wear if a taxi splashed water on her.

Tears gathered in her
eyes. If only her problems were misbehaving taxis so a change of clothes could
right her world.

She’d donned her blue
slacks and a silk blouse when someone knocked on the door.
Trent!
Panic
struck her, along with the desire to hide beneath the bed. Before she acted on
her illogical response she realized Trent would never knock before entering his
own bedroom.

Settling her nerves,
she opened the door to a very somber Mars. Grateful it wasn’t Patty or Jon, she
stepped back to let him enter and closed the door so they could speak in
private. “You warned me, but I still walked right into it.”

Damn, but Mars looked
ready to cry, as well. With a heavy intake and release of air, he replied, “I
did try to warn you away. I saw no hope of the relationship ending in anything
other than disaster.”

She sat on the bed,
her legs no longer capable of supporting her. She thought his I-told-you-so
speech a bit petty, but Mars probably hated having his good advice ignored.

He stared at her a
moment and released a heavy sigh. “Master Trent is a mixture of good and
horrible, and before you came to work for him,
horrible
presented itself
about eighty percent of the time. But right when he pushed me to the brink of
quitting, he reversed course and improved. Nothing dramatic, but his outrageous
tantrums began to decline. I didn’t associate your presence with his
improvements until you went to Taiwan for a month. The regression astounded me.
And when you returned, the improvement even more so.”

“Yeah, well having
sex with him seems to have sent him into regression again.”

“I agree.” He sat
down beside her on the bed. “Master Trent is like a sailing ship where the crew
has thrown Captain Bly overboard then realized they have no clue how to sail
the ship. Floundering, and in danger of drowning, they need help, but are too
proud to ask.”

Carrie sighed. “Does your
analogy mean Trent has begun referring to himself in the royal
we
?”

Mars smiled through
his sadness. “No. Master Trent is barely speaking at all. I’ve never seen his
spirit more broken.” A harsh laugh burst forth. “When I warned you off, it was
you
I worried about. I never thought he’d be the one destroyed.”

Resentment rose
within her. “It’s not like I’m having a great week either.”

“No, but you are
getting on with your life, interviewing for a new job, collecting your
belongings.”

“How do you know I
interviewed for a job?”

“The man you sought a
job from is clearly not a friend of Trent’s. He wasted no time this morning
calling and letting him know.” Mars shook his head. “I’ve never seen Master
Trent cry before, and I hope never to see it again.”

Carrie burst into
sobs at the revelation her last good deed had broken Trent’s spirit. “I only
meant to help him by getting rid of Grant. I wanted to do one last thing for
him, so he could save his company.”

“Master Trent is in
far more need of saving than his company.”

Carrie ran from the
room. She ignored Patty’s and Jon’s insistence she talk to them and hurried
from the penthouse to the elevator. It’s doors opened as if waiting for her and
she rushed inside, crashing into a hard and all too familiar body. They
remained in shock as the elevator doors closed.

With lightening
reflexes, Trent hit the stop button then focused on her. Anger, resentment,
betrayal flickered in his eyes, but pain overrode them all. Mars had told her
the truth; their breakup had decimated him.

She had to make this
right. She had to return his faith in love, or he’d never trust another woman
again. “I didn’t interview with Berzenski to get a job. I only wanted to talk
up my replacement Grant and how great he was. Dan Marshal said it worked and
was pissed I had cost him two jobs today. He refuses to send me on any further
interviews, but I don’t care. I only wanted the one interview.”

Trent’s brow
furrowed. “Why the hell would you talk up Grant?”

“Because I spoke to
David. The only way you can get rid of him is if he takes another job. So I
selected the company deserving of an employee from hell, dressed up in the
ugliest suit I own, and sold Grant as the EA from heaven. Every skill they
asked me about, I would admit he did so much better than me, except for
secretarial skills. Berzenski already has a secretary, so I pointed out with
pride I had better typing skills.” She gripped his hands. “I wanted to make
sure you could succeed in transforming your company. Even if I can’t be there
to help you, you deserve good people so you can be happy.”

Tears streamed down
her face. She tried wiping her eyes with her sleeves, but silk made a terrible
tissue. Trent came to the rescue with his fine linen handkerchief. While, he
wouldn’t give it to her, he blotted her eyes as he asked, “How the hell am I
supposed to make it through a day, much less be happy if you’re not with me?”

She stared at him in
confusion. “You don’t want me to go?”

“No! Why would you
think that?”

“Well, the way you
attacked me and tried to kill all the hard work I’d done in Taiwan. It seemed
you hated me.”

He wrapped his arms
around her with crushing possessiveness. “I’ve no excuse or explanation for my
horrendous behavior. Hopefully, my therapist will be able to teach me to stop
channeling my father when I’m under severe stress. If not, I’ll become a
Catholic so a priest can perform an exorcism on me.”

Carrie smiled through
her pain.

He caressed her
cheek. “I’m serious. What happened yesterday can never happen again. You had
every reason in the world to walk away. I’m defective. I viciously attacked the
person I love more than anything in the world. Over what? A letter I found in
your files. Had I taken a moment to think, I would have realized you didn’t put
it there. You were in San Francisco and Grant sat at your desk when the letter
arrived.”

Carrie stared at him
in horror. “You thought I’d bury a customer complaint?”

“I did. I thought
whatever you’d done in Taiwan had caused the problem. I could conceive no other
reason why you’d bury the letter. A sense of betrayal overwhelmed me and a
horrible rage took over.”

His anger made some
sense now…not good sense, but better than the Jekyll/Hyde scenario she’d
thought. “And you’re going to see a therapist?” He hated therapists.

He knelt down, which
meant she didn’t have to strain her neck staring up at him. “I had to.
Otherwise, I’ve no grounds upon which to ask for another chance. I won’t
survive if you leave me. I love you, Carrie. You’re everything that’s good in
my life. Without you, my business means nothing to me. My life means nothing.”

Her heart exploded
with happiness, but she contained its enthusiasm. What had happened yesterday had
been horrible, and good intentions aside, it might happen again unless....
“What if the therapist recommends we not work together?”

His brow furrowed.
“Why would you even raise such a possibility?”

“Because both times
you have suffered a sense of betrayal and rage, they’ve been over business
issues.”

His brow furrowed.
“Really?” He shook his head. “I’ve forgotten the reason for my first outburst.
I only recall I hurt you deeply.”

She met his gaze and
held it. “Both times.”

He pressed his
forehead to hers. “Forgive me?”

If only the matter
could be solved so easily. “I do, but we can’t keep repeating these outbursts.
If the therapist cannot solve the underlying problem, then we need to address
the causal factors and stop the triggers. Even if it means, like most couples,
we’ll work at different companies.”

He shook his head but
she placed her hands upon his cheeks, halting his objection. “Anything is
better than enduring this pain again.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and
cried, “Anything is better than losing you.”

He sighed heavily and
pulled her tight against him. “I agree.”

Evidently tired of
kneeling, Trent sat on the floor and gathered her into his lap.

“Your suit is going
to get dirty.”

“Hush, we’re making
up,” he said as he planted kisses on her face and neck.

A loud voice crackled
from the elevator panel. “Hello, do you require help?”

Carrie scrambled off
Trent’s lap and stood up, hoping they didn’t have cameras.

With a huff, Trent
stood up and dusted off his pants. “Yes, but not from you.” He pressed the
start button and the elevator continued to the lobby.

When the doors
opened, the security guard looked ready to scold the inhabitants until he
recognized Trent. “Sorry, sir, I didn’t know it was you.”

Carrie’s eyes
narrowed when she recognized the guard as the one who had tried to toss her
from the lobby so Bad Pimp Boss could carry her away. Trent had promised her
he’d have the guy fired, only he probably had no idea which security guard had
nearly gotten her killed. He never paid attention to servants.

Beads of sweat popped
upon the guard’s forehead as he stared at her.

One word from her and
the guy’s job was toast. If she identified him, Trent would turn into a raging
lion. She preferred the loving version. Relinquishing her right of revenge, she
gripped Trent’s hand. “After work, would you like to come home with me?”

He smiled and pulled
her to him. “Nothing would please me more.”

***

They walked to their
office, hand in hand. Trent couldn’t believe Carrie had given him another
chance. Not after the way he’d behaved. Hell, he’d even terrified his sane part
when he fell into an uncontrollable rage. Unfortunately, sanity had only been
along for the ride. It couldn’t control the monster within him anymore than
Carrie could.

Please God, let the
therapy work
.