Thief of My Heart Read online

  “You used to think you were in love with her?” Desiree asked.

  “Bear with me, Dr. Gaines,” he said with a chuckle. He cleared his throat, deciding that Desiree had the right to know exactly how he’d felt seeing his ex again. “Before I fell in love with you, I used to imagine a scenario that involved her begging me to take her back. I would let her sweat it out for a while, and then I would graciously give in. But I’m not the man I was five years ago. The other day, after the shock of walking into my office and finding her there wore off, the first thing I felt was irritated with her, especially when she tried to use her feminine wiles on me. How could she think that after the way she treated me, she could come back and press her body against mine and I’d do anything she asked me to?”

  “She pressed her body against yours?” Desiree cried. In the darkness, he smiled at the possessiveness in her voice. That was his girl, a tigress protecting her territory.

  “I didn’t let her,” he assured her. “Sweetness, you have nothing to worry about. I was never in love with her.”

  “But you said you loved her on our first date,” Desiree insisted.

  “I know I said I was in love with her,” Decker explained, squeezing her shoulder affectionately. “But that was before I had something to compare it with. Now that I have you, I know now that what I felt for her wasn’t love. She and I lived in a materialistic bubble. She was ambitious, and there’s nothing wrong with that unless you don’t care how you get what you crave, and she didn’t. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew she was just using me until a better prospect came along, but I ignored it because she fit the bill for the type of woman I thought I needed on my arm in my upwardly mobile lifestyle. We were headed for disaster. I looked at her this time and realized I didn’t feel anything for her. And after what she did to you back in high school, I liked her even less.”

  “Well, don’t dislike her on my account,” Desiree said with a short laugh. “I don’t hate her. I feel sorry for her. I know now that bullies were often picked on themselves. Sometimes they were abused at home. Whatever her reason was for what she did, I can only thank her because I may never have developed an interest in helping others overcome mental illnesses if I hadn’t been a victim. Oftentimes, some of the most productive, successful people were picked on as children. But they rose above it and didn’t let that define them.”

  Decker squeezed her tightly. “See? That’s why I love you. You can find the positive even in a hateful situation.”

  Desiree kissed his chin. “I’m no Miss Sunshine, but I’d rather make lemonade when life gives me lemons than be anybody’s victim.” She yawned. “I guess sleep just hit me in the face.”

  “It has been a long night,” Decker said. He laughed. “Our families know how to party, don’t they?”

  “Yeah,” Desiree said, laughing, too. “Did you see my grandpa Benjamin and Nana Mabel dancing? They put the younger couples to shame.”

  * * *

  On Monday, Kym hesitantly knocked on Decker’s office door with the news that Yolanda was there to see him. His personal assistant looked chagrined, and Decker knew it was because Yolanda had previously used her celebrity status to finagle her way into his office.

  He smiled at Kym, putting her at ease. “It’s all right, Kym. You can show her in.”

  Yolanda flounced into the room. She was dressed to the nines as usual, another designer suit, this time a deep purple skirt suit with expensive pumps. She smiled seductively at first, then, seeing that it had no effect on him, grimaced instead. Her eyes narrowed. “Decker,” she said pleasantly, although Decker could have sworn he could detect a bit of venom in her tone. He wondered why.

  “Yolanda,” he said dryly.

  “Freddy’s very upset with you,” she said accusingly. “He says he doesn’t trust you. Why do you suppose that is, Decker?”

  “I’m glad you’re here, Yolanda. It saves me a phone call. I won’t be taking your cousin’s case. He’ll have to settle for the public defender.”

  Her eyes narrowed menacingly. “But you said...”

  “I said I’d go see him, and I did. But to be honest, he disliked me right away. You just said he was upset with me. Didn’t he tell you why?”

  She dismissed her cousin’s opinion of him with a haughty toss of her head and said, “I’m disappointed in you, Decker. I thought you were the ‘take no prisoners’ type of lawyer. I guess I was wrong,” she said derisively. “Or is it because what’s between us isn’t water under the bridge after all? Would you let an innocent man go to prison just because I broke your heart?”

  Decker was determined not to lose his temper. And to be above petty name calling and vindictiveness. He simply smiled at her. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help your cousin, Yolanda.”

  She stood there a moment, head cocked, studying him closely. Then she smiled wickedly. “Oh my God, the rumors are true!”

  “Sorry?” Decker said, confused.

  “We have mutual friends, Decker. Some of them tell me you’re dating Desiree Gaines. I hear she’s a psychologist now.”

  “Oh, yeah, you went to school together,” Decker said casually. “She mentioned she knew you when I told her you and I used to date.”

  Her eyebrows rose with interest. “I bet she did.”

  “She said you were very nice to her. In fact, she said if not for the wonderful way you treated her, she might not have been inspired to pursue a career in mental health.”

  Her eyes were cold and glittering with malice when she turned them on him. She’d obviously seen through his sarcasm. “Whatever she told you was a damned lie. I was nice to that girl, who was really pitiful in high school, by the way. She didn’t know how to dress, how to style her hair. My friends and I tried to help her by offering advice.”

  Decker remembered Desiree’s words last night about how some people who were bullies had been bullied themselves. With this thought in mind, he smiled sympathetically at Yolanda. Judging from the vicious way she was looking at him right now, she probably hadn’t worked out her issues yet. “Look, Yolanda,” he said, “whatever you did in high school, I’m sure you’re not the same person. We all change over the years.”

  She held her nose in the air and gave him a condescending look. “You certainly have changed. For the worse! She has you wrapped around her little finger.”

  Decker sighed. He was trying so hard to be the type of man Desiree would be proud of. He was not going to be reduced to trading insults with this woman.

  “I can’t deny it,” he said with a smile. “She has me completely under her control. And I’ve never been happier.” With that, he walked over to the door and held it open for her. “Have a good life!”

  “It’ll never last!” she called over her shoulder and then he heard the heels of her shoes clicking down the tiled corridor.

  He smiled. She’d gotten off easy.

  * * *

  “I have a new friend,” Madison announced during her next session with Desiree. Wearing a navy blue skirt suit and black pumps, Desiree leaned forward in her chair. The girl’s face was lit from within. She looked healthier than Desiree had ever seen her, and confidence was coming off her like waves.

  Madison, comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt, her sneaker-clad feet tucked under her on the couch, smiled. “Her name is Naya, and she just walked up to me one day at school and told me she believes me. Since then we’ve been hanging out together.”

  Desiree smiled happily. “That’s wonderful, Madison. Is she in the same grade?”

  “Naw, she’s a grade ahead of me. And she’s kind of popular. I think that because she’s willing to be seen with me, other kids are starting to realize I’m telling the truth. Even a girl who was with the first group to approach me recently told me she was sorry for what she said.”

  “That’s great,” Desir
ee said. “But don’t give Naya too much credit. You’re the one who stood up for yourself.”

  “Yes, I know,” Madison said. “It just feels good not to be alone at school anymore.”

  Desiree nodded in understanding. High school could be so alienating. It was a positive thing that Madison had found a friend. Desiree was not about to rain on the girl’s parade.

  “How are you doing away from school?” she asked.

  Madison smiled. “I promise you, Dr. Gaines, I’m eating and keeping it down, and I’m no longer pulling my hair out. I’m cool, really.”

  Desiree returned her smile. “I’m happy to hear it.” The timer went off, and she looked at Madison with regret. “That went fast. We’ll end here unless there’s something you’d like to talk to me about that we haven’t covered in the session.”

  Madison bounded to her feet. Desiree was pleased to see how energetic she was. “No, we’ve covered everything. And I’m not just saying that to be in agreement with you like I used to. I’m doing fine.”

  They got to their feet, and for a moment stood smiling at each other. “I never thought I’d feel so good with the secret out,” Madison said frankly. “I thought telling would ruin my life, but it’s only made it better.”

  “The truth will set you free,” Desiree quoted.

  “That’s what my mom says,” Madison said. She grabbed her shoulder bag from the couch and looked up at Desiree. “I’m making progress, huh, Dr. Gaines?”

  “You are definitely making progress,” Desiree said warmly.

  Madison smiled at her and left. After the girl had gone, Desiree sat back down and began writing her case notes on the session. A month ago she never would have thought Madison would possess such confidence. She prayed that the prosecutor would be able to build a solid case against Sawyer. Otherwise she was afraid of the effect his release would have on Madison.

  * * *

  Decker’s focus had always been razor sharp, which was why the firm was so successful. The lawyers, legal aides, administrative assistants and other staffers were a well-oiled machine.

  He was leaving a staff meeting, heading to the courthouse with a junior partner in the firm, when his cell phone rang. Seeing that the caller was Detective Antonio Diaz, he answered immediately.

  “Hello, Detective, how can I help you?”

  Detective Diaz let out a satisfied sigh before saying a word. “It worked,” he said with relief. “To avoid having the journal become public record, he’s pleading guilty. He actually cares about his daughters and doesn’t want them to ever know what’s in it.”

  “Well, at least he cares about someone,” Decker said. “Thank you, Detective.”

  “No, thank you, Mr. Riley,” Detective Diaz said sincerely. “And Mrs. Sawyer, of course. If not for her he never would have pled guilty. I know his type. He would have denied his guilt until he was old and gray.”

  “She definitely deserves the credit. She’s a very brave woman. Have you called her with the news yet?” Decker asked.

  “I was just getting ready to,” Detective Diaz said.

  When they hung up, Decker turned to his colleague. “Shall we go?”

  Chapter 12

  “Babe, can you take next Friday and the following Monday off from work?” Decker asked Desiree over dinner at his place one evening in late August. “I’d like to take you someplace where we can pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist for a while.”

  Desiree put her fork down and looked at him. They were in his kitchen, which in the months they’d been dating had changed somewhat. There was more color in it, and it no longer looked like the helm of the starship Enterprise. Decker had added a backsplash of redbrick tile. And the seats of the stools upon which they sat were the same deep red. “I think I can manage that,” she said. “Where do you want to go?”

  “We can go to the Caribbean,” he suggested with a lascivious grin. “You, in a bikini, and me, admiring you in a bikini. That’s a win-win for me.”

  Desiree blushed, even though she thought she should have been well past the blushing stage. She and Decker knew each other’s bodies as well as they knew their own. Still, whenever he looked at her as if he were undressing her with his eyes, she reacted this way. She hoped it never changed.

  She was wearing a pale yellow halter-top sundress and was barefoot. Outside, the temperature was in the nineties, and a few days in the Caribbean, walking on the beach with Decker and taking dips in the ocean, sounded wonderful. But she had an even better suggestion. “The Caribbean would require flying with possible delays, plus the whole routine at the airport. Maybe we should wait until we have more days to work with to do that. What if we drove to our cabin in the mountains instead? We’d have all the privacy we want.”

  “You have a cabin?”

  “When Lauren married Colton, she signed her cabin over to Meghan, Petra, Mina and me. She said she didn’t need it, she was redecorating the cabin Colton’s family owns up there. Remember, that’s how they met when both of them went to the mountains to get away. It’s nice up there. It has a pond stocked with trout. Plus, with Mina’s lodge nearby, we get to visit family, too. Of course, there’s no room service. We’d have to cook and clean for ourselves, but that’s no biggie.”

  “Do I still get to see you in a bikini?” Decker asked. His sexy eyes lowered to her body.

  “I’ll bring one for each day,” Desiree promised sultrily. Two could play this game.

  “It’s a deal,” Decker said quickly, and went back to eating his dinner, not taking his eyes off her for one second. “Any chance we could skinny-dip in that pond?”

  Desiree laughed. “Only at night,” she said. “I’m not getting caught buck-naked in broad daylight by any uninvited guests.”

  Decker chuckled. “Okay, only at night.” Then he stopped laughing and frowned. “Oh, I just remembered when you used the word guests—my parents want you to come to dinner tomorrow night. Can you make it?”

  Desiree wondered why the thought of having dinner with Decker’s parents caused her anxiety. She liked them, or at least, she liked June Riley. She didn’t know much about Decker’s dad, Thaddeus Sr., except he was one of the leading thoracic surgeons in the state. He was always nice to her when she met him at social occasions. But she’d never gotten into a conversation with him. That was probably why the thought of an entire evening with him made her nervous.

  Decker smiled. “What’s going on in that beautiful mind?”

  “Your dad sort of intimidates me,” she admitted.

  “My dad intimidates lots of people. Except my mom, who’s got his number, and then some. I’m not going to lie to you. He can be a tight-ass. He and my uncle Frank were polar opposites, at least where friends and family were concerned. Uncle Frank was intimidating, too, when it came to his business. But with friends and family, he was the guy you wanted to know.

  “My dad had all the advantages when he was growing up, but he didn’t come from people who thought they were superior to others. My grandpa Riley was a cook at a restaurant in New Orleans before he got the bright idea to come to Raleigh and start a construction company. Dad somehow felt he was raising the family’s social standing by becoming a doctor. And he still feels that way. He drummed it into my head when I was a kid. Always do better than the previous generation. I know a person’s position shouldn’t make him feel superior to others, but I’m afraid that’s how he feels.

  “My mom is down-to-earth. But Dad thinks class is the be-all and end-all of his existence. Too bad he found out after he’d married my mother that she doesn’t share his views.” He sighed as he looked into her eyes. “I wish I didn’t have to subject you to his presence. But he’s my father, and family is family no matter how you sometimes wish otherwise.”

  Desiree sat a moment and digested Decker’s words. She was awar
e that everyone was entitled to his own opinion, but elitism in the United States of America, in the twenty-first century, seemed ridiculous. America was a country in which, no matter where you came from, you could become anything you wanted to. She smiled at Decker. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Your dad and I will get along just fine.”

  Even if he does think I’m unworthy of you, she thought.

  * * *

  Decker knew Desiree must be nervous about spending an evening at his parents’ home on the outskirts of Raleigh, but to look at her, you would think she didn’t have a nervous bone in her body. He’d told her that his father insisted on dressing for dinner, and she’d abided by his wishes by wearing a tailored white sleeveless dress with a modest bodice and a hem that came only two inches above her knees. On her feet were beige strappy sandals, and she carried a matching clutch. Her hair was in a French twist. She looked smart, sophisticated and as cool as a cucumber.

  He stood in her foyer, admiring her as she playfully spun around for him. “It’s summery, but I sure hope I don’t spill anything on it,” she said of her white dress.

  Decker, wearing a suit and a tie, and highly polished black dress shoes, shook his head in appreciation. “Mmm, mmm, mmm,” he said.

  She laughed and moved forward to take his arm. “That’s good enough for me. Let’s go.”

  Half an hour later they were standing on the porch of the huge Victorian-style mansion. He had to school his facial expression to keep from grinning when Desiree leaned backward and gazed up at the three-story edifice. The Riley manse had been in the family for over a hundred years. It had been maintained, and improved upon, by generations of Riley men. For some reason, the males always inherited the house, and always the eldest son. His father was the eldest among his other two brothers. Uncle Frank had passed away about two years ago. His uncle Edward lived in Paris and was “in the theater,” which also wasn’t looked upon as a reputable calling. It was no surprise that Uncle Edward rarely came home to Raleigh except for funerals.