Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

“No.” Leigh sighed. “My mother liter

ally has nothing—she never has. My grandparents paid for the house we live in. She’s always wanted to find a rich husband…”

“There’s no way my father would have married someone without a prenup.” I felt my jaw tensing up. “Something else is going on here.”

“I don’t know what it could be. I’m sorry, Damien.” Leigh lifted her head, and our eyes met. “Your mother is suffering right now because mine is chasing a fantasy.”

“It’s not your fault.” I extended my arms and pulled Leigh back in for another hug. “If I was responsible for everything my father did, I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror anymore. She made her own choices—I just don’t think she has any idea what the hell she’s gotten herself into.”

All I could do was comfort Leigh. I was used to my father’s asinine decisions and the damage they caused to everyone around him. Leigh’s mother would soon realize that her fairy tale wasn’t real. Edgar Sinn was no knight in shining armor with money to burn. He always had an agenda, and it was never an honorable one. If Leigh’s mother had fallen for his charm and become a victim of his charisma, then she wouldn’t even know to look past it. My mother never could, or maybe the years of being treated like shit made her feel like that was all she deserved. There was no way that I was going to stand by and let my father ruin someone else—no way in hell I was going to let Leigh get caught up in that. Her mother would have to live with her own decisions, but Leigh didn’t deserve to be a part of it.

“I just got a text message from my mother.” Leigh stared at her phone. “I’m terrified to even read it…”

“Maybe they got an annulment.” I tried to force a smile.

“We can dream…” She sighed and slid her finger across the screen, and her eyes clouded over.

“I’m guessing it isn’t good news.” I tilted my head inquisitively.

“She wants me to meet her tomorrow—for dinner before she takes me to see our new house.” Leigh exhaled sharply and looked around the room. “I think I’m already there…”

“You shouldn’t even think about moving in here.” I quickly shook my head back and forth. “Your mother made the decision to marry him—I don’t want you anywhere near that asshole. The only reason I even asked you to meet me here was because I knew it would be empty and provide us with some privacy.”

“I can’t afford to move out on my own right now.” Leigh’s eyebrows furrowed. “But maybe my mom will let me stay at our old house. It’s not like she’s going to be living there anymore…”

“That sounds like a much better option.” I nodded.

I couldn’t shake the worry. I knew my father had some sort of agenda, and although Leigh’s mother had chosen her fate, she didn’t deserve it. Leigh certainly didn’t need to get tangled up in my father’s cruel game, whatever it was—she needed to be as far away from him as possible. More importantly, my father couldn’t find out that we were together. I had managed to close every door that allowed him access to my life except for Jenny and my mother. I wasn’t going to open another one for him—Leigh was not going to become a pawn for him to try to manipulate just so he could fuck with me.

I didn’t claw my way to freedom outside of my father’s sphere of control for nothing. I control my own destiny now.

Chapter Thirteen

Leigh

I was scared that I would be guilty by association when Damien found out that my mother was the woman who caused his family so much pain. Maybe he didn’t care for his father, but his mother was mourning the loss of the man she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with. There had to be some collateral damage—even if Damien thought his father was the devil himself. Damien was shouldering the burden of it, all because my mother wanted to be swept off her feet by some rich guy who could give her the life she always wanted. She got her wish—but I didn’t think it was going to be the happily ever after she always wanted.

Not with a man like Edgar Sinn…

“Would you like a drink?” Damien walked into the living room and opened the liquor cabinet. “You look like you need one.”

“Yeah.” I sighed and nodded. “I don’t even care if it’s wine at this point.”

“There are a couple of bottles in here—expensive ones that my father was probably saving for a special occasion.” Damien pulled one out and popped the cork. “Fuck him.”

“I’m sure my mother will enjoy shopping for a replacement.” I took the glass that Damien offered.

“She’ll have plenty of shopping to do.” Damien took a sip of his wine. “We took everything that meant something to my mother when we moved her out.”

Damien wasn’t lying. It was obvious as I walked around Sinn Manor that it had been pillaged. If I walked in without knowing what happened, I would have assumed someone had robbed the place. They even took most of the photographs from the walls, except for the ones that featured my mother’s new husband. There was a picture in the living room that was obviously a family portrait at one point. The rest of the family had been torn out, and the picture of Edgar Sinn was haphazardly shoved back into the frame. Damien and his sister had purged the house of every last piece of evidence of them ever living there, and I couldn’t blame them. Their mother deserved so much more than a broken heart and that was all she got for all of the years she spent bending over backwards for a man Damien thought was the devil himself.

Damien and I sat in the living room and talked while we drank our wine. I didn’t feel any better about the situation our parents had put us in, but the agony that had been consuming me since I found out began to fade. I couldn’t change what happened, but I had always been strong enough to withstand my mother’s antics. It would be the most difficult one I had ever been forced to overcome, but I would have someone by my side. Damien truly was an amazing man. He made the situation feel like it wasn’t the end of the world, even though it changed everything in an instant. He was the calm I needed and being with him felt right, no matter what kind of emotional tornado was spinning around us.

“Do you want more wine?” I reached for my glass and motioned to the empty one Damien was holding.

“Sure.” He smiled and handed me the glass.

I poured two more glasses of what Damien said was very expensive wine. It hit the spot in more ways than one. I hadn’t eaten anything, so the effects were a little stronger than normal, but I didn’t care. A slight hint of respite was better than tasting the fury of my mother’s carelessness every time I tried to take a breath. I handed Damien his glass once they were poured and walked around the living room—looking at stuff I had already seen as I tried to get the courage to accept the things I couldn’t change. Nothing I could say or do would pull my mother away from the dream she had always wanted—all I could do was try to be there for her when she realized it was a nightmare just like I already did.