A Man With A Plan
1925 Words
Damien's POV
" Sir, it's good to have you back," Sergio said to me.
Sergio is my right-hand man. You see, my father overlooked this man's potential. He just treated him like a glorified secretary. When I took over, I made him my right-hand man; he knows everything about me, and what is important is that I can trust him.
My mother knew that, I suppose that would explain why my mother went to him first. She knew that I could trust this man.
" Good to be back, Sergio," I said to him.
My mother was sitting on my father's chair, Sergio, on my right side. I need to know what happened while I was away.
" What did Domenico do?" I asked my mother.
" Whatever he did doesn't matter; right now, he doesn't even know that we found you; now that we have seen what he is capable of, no one is safe;" my mother said to me.
" I take it that there were no problems with the LA shipments? That it was all a lie to get me into that plane, that my twin brother tried to kill me?" I said to them. That is how I even ended up on the plane in the first place.
" Yes, he planned it all; I knew the moment he fired me that it wasn't you, sir; I tried to stop him, even threatened to tell the others; he said that no one would believe me," he said to me.
He is right about that one. You see, Domenic is not a complete i***t. If anything, he is very smart and pays attention to detail. We are identical twins. It's hard for people to tell us apart sometimes.
So when we were younger, my brother would pretend to be me; he would do it so effortlessly that he could even fool my father and my mother. Though, somehow, she knew, sometimes, she would just play along with it, but she always knew.
No one would have believed Sergio; still, Sergio was the only one who knew the truth; killing him would have made it obvious, so he fired him and sullied his name, making sure that no one would question his place.
I can only wonder how long he had been planning this, but I have to put an end to it right now. I need to sort this out.
" Mother, I need you to call a meeting, tell them that you want to have a prayer or something for my spirit, make sure everyone is here, and tell no one about my presence," I said to her.
" Here? With that girl upstairs? Who is she anyway? What's going on between you two?" My mother asked me.
" I think I need to step out for this," Sergio said and stood up.
"You can stay, Sergio," I said to him.
" Oh okay," he said, looking surprised, which I understand. I have never discussed any of my previous relationships with him in the past. For one, I have never been in any relationship that needed me to discuss with him, but this is different. The stakes are high.
" We are not friends, Mother; I believe that I might even love her," I said to her.
" Love? Son, you have been away for a little over a week. How can you be sure that you love her? You can't! " My mother asked me.
" Mother, you have never questioned who I dated before," I said to her.
" And you have never brought a girl home before, this is different, very much not like you, a month ago I asked if you thought about your future, if you wanted a wife, kids, and love, and you told me that you don't see that in the near future, so excuse me if I have concerns," she said to me.
" A month ago, I didn't even know that I could feel this way about anyone; Dad always told me that when I meet the one, I would know," I said to her.
" Your father? The man who didn't even have a single romantic bone in his body? You might not even be here if it weren't for your grandfather," she said to me.
" I am my father's son, but I am not like him," I said to him.
" Really now? Let's see, you have had what? Ten girlfriends, just this year alone, how are you not like him? Besides that, what do you know about this woman?" she said to me.
" Mother, I could have died if she hadn't found me; she took care of me at a time when she was dealing with so much; Chloe has been through a lot; she needs a safe place to stay; she needs to feel comfortable.
If you are going to act like this, then I made a mistake by coming here," I said to her.
" Damien, I am merely saying that if she is going to stay here, then I need to know who she is," my mother said.
" What you need to know is that Chloe is a good person with a good heart. I want to be with her, and I won't let anyone stand in my way," I said to my mother.
" Look, son, I don't know the girl, and I have nothing against her, but you have to realize how all of this seems, and there's your brother; what do you think he is going to do when he learns of her presence? Your feelings for her?" my mother said to me.
Domenico is cunning; he has proven to me that he will do anything in his power to take over; the man even tried to kill me, the person he came into the world with. It's not my fault that my father chose me.
I don't want to put Chloe in danger. If anything, I want to see her happy and safe. I should probably hear what my mother is saying: let Chloe be, but I can't; my heart won't let me.
" If Domenico touches her, I will kill him," I said to her.
" Would you go that far for her? Kill your own brother?" My mother asked me.
" Yes! Without hesitation! And I will do to anyone who tries to hurt her!" I said, raising my voice.
" He is still my son! I can not choose between you two, I will not sit and watch you kill your own brother!" my mother said to me.
" Then you better pray that he stays away from her," I said to her.
" Boss, what's the plan?" Sergio said. I am glad that he changed the subject.
" Domenico thinks I am dead. He is about to see a ghost," I said to him.
" You mean that you want him to see you tonight?' My mother asked me.
" Yes, but not like you think; I need you to give him something," I said and went to my pocket and took out the necklace, I gave it to my mother.
" Where did you get this?" she asked me.
" The guys that attacked me on the jet, they had this with them," I said to her.
" I am disappointed in Domenico. If your father was here, he would be too," my mother said.
" You tell him that you found the plane, that I died, and the only thing that was left is this," I said to her.
" You plan on staying dead?" Sergio asked me.
" Yes, Mother was right; I can not risk Domenico finding out about Chloe; we will be leaving," I said to him.
" You just got home, now you want to leave?" my mother said to me.
" I'm sorry, Mother, but Domenico wouldn't have been able to pull this off without some help; I need to know who I can trust," I said to her.
" There is something else I want to do, just for the moment," I said to her.
" What do you want to do?" she asked me.
" I need the keys to the Hamptons. Until this is settled, I need to stay hidden," I said and looked at Sergio.
" Sergio, I need your help; I need to locate someone, a friend of Chloe's," I said to him.
" Who?" he asked me.
" Gabby Cartwright, I'll give you more information later," I said to him.
" Sure, I'll get on it right away," he said to me.
" No, you are coming with me; I need a strong team; let someone else take care of that," I said to him.
" Son, tomorrow is New Year's Eve; surely you can leave after that," my mother said to me.
" I can't; it would be too much of a risk; if Domenico is pretending to be me, then he is going to be here; he knows that I always watch the ball drop from here," I said to her.
" Oh son, I didn't even give you your Christmas present," she said to me.
" It's okay, Mother, I will sort this mess out as soon as I can," I said to my mother.
" Damien, take care of yourself, ok?" She said and hugged me.
" I will," I said to her.
" The keys are with the caretaker, I'll call and let them know that you are coming," my mother said.
I left my father's office, went back to my bedroom, and stepped on top of something. I realized that it was her phone; it looked like she smashed it. She was by the window staring outside.
" Chloe..." I said to her; she turned around, and I saw the tears in her eyes.
" Hey... what's wrong," I said and wrapped my arms around her.
" I will never be free of that man," she said and burst into tears, which was awkward because I had no idea how to deal with it. I don't do emotions; I am stepping into uncharted territory.
" What's wrong? Come sit down," I said to her. I sat down and sat her on top of my lap, I wiped away the tears with my fingers.
" Tell me what happened," I said to her.
" Derrick called me; he won't sign the divorce papers; also, I think that I might be in trouble with the law; he framed me," she said to me.
" What do you mean he framed you?" I said to her.
" He put everything in my name, he created offshore bank accounts which he used for all of his transactions, if I go forward with what I have, it would be my word against his, I know that they would take his side, no one is going to believe that I didn't know what was happening,
I have a law degree from Harvard. How could I be so stupid? So ignorant? He is going to ruin my life, and I am going to end up in jail," she said to me.
" Look at me," I said and cupped her face gently. She looked at me with teary eyes.
" Derrick won't get away with this; I will make sure of it, I will fix this, and he will sign those papers, okay?" I said to her.
" Okay," she said to me.
- Writer
