Cynical Heart (Heart Series) Read online

  Cynical Heart

  Copyright © 2013 Vivian Rose Lee

  ViviRose Publishing

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record, or any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the Author. Your support of author’s rights is appreciated.

  This is a work of fiction. References may be made to locations, historical events; however, names, characters, places and incidents or the creation of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead. Business establishments, events, or locales are purely coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks and registered service marks are property of their respective owner.

  Prologue

  As she sat in a first class seat staring longingly out the window of the 707 sitting on the runway awaiting clearance to take off, Dana thanked her lucky stars that she was able to get a return flight back to LA without having a long wait. These past twenty-four hours had her questioning both her character and moral integrity, as the memory of her first and hopefully, last night in Philly caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. She looked at her arm and after seeing the rash of raised goose bumps on her ultrasensitive skin, tried to find a reasonable explanation for her actions, but hell, she couldn’t even blame it on having had one too many to drink. It was as if she were transported into some kind of sensual fantasy, one of the few luxuries that she allowed herself from time to time, only this time it was not some imagined illusion that she conjured up in her mind; this time what she did, and with the beautiful Cabel Howard no less, was real. From the first moment that she laid eyes on him, she found herself lost in a swirling vortex of her own desires, and when his lips touched hers, she gave herself freely to his overwhelming hunger.

  She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. “What did I do?” She had never slept with another man before, not that she didn’t have ample opportunities, because she simply wasn’t made that way. It didn’t matter that her relationship with her fiancé Cliff was lacking due to the burdens of her job, but not once during their relationship had her nonexistent desire for him ever caused her to stray. The one time that they had made love was the first and last time that she had felt anything for him, and that was well over a year ago. It was obvious that she would never marry Cliff, not at the rate they were going anyway, and in all honesty, she wouldn’t blame him if he left her for another woman, especially since all they did lately was argue about her lack of interest in their relationship and their extreme lack of intimacy. But you see that right there was the problem. The reason that she didn’t make love to Cliff was because that first time with him was so dull and disappointing, it actually made her wonder what all the hoopla was all about. After two or three minutes of what he called sex, Cliff had the nerve to start beating his chest and doing an off-key Tarzan yell, but she never understood why, especially when it actually took him longer to put the condom on than to use it. So rather than hurt his feelings, she used her job as an excuse to never make that mistake again by taking business trips as often as she possibly could.

  But then there was Cab. He gave her everything that she longed for in bed and then some. He made her body hum in ways that she never knew were possible. Even so, she didn’t mean for it to happen, and especially not with Cab Howard being the Chief Financial Officer of the company that her brother Delco was negotiating a merger with. If the deal fell through because she so selfishly slept with a member of the other company’s upper management, she would never forgive herself, so rather that stick around and quite possibly make matters worse, she did the only thing that she could do, and ran away. After the way she carried on in bed, losing her inhibitions the way she did, she didn’t want to risk seeing Cab Howard again, and as the CFO on the merger for her own company, she would have no choice but to work closely with him. Fortunately, she had a solution to her problem. As soon as she arrived in LA, she would advise her brother Dell to pass the merger to another upper management accountant in the firm and let them handle things the rest of the way through the merger. With her shares, they would be able to take controlling interest over Abe and his devious attempt at a takeover.

  Dana sighed. Laying her head back on the headrest, she closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep, something she didn’t get much of last night.

  When Dana finally let herself into her home it was early afternoon, and although Cliff’s car was in the parking space, she prayed that he had taken her car and was out for the day because there was no way that she could face him right now. All he would need to do is take one look at her, and he would see the guilt written all over her face. Maybe if she bought that car he’d always been wanting…

  Home sweet home, she thought, closing the door and leaving her luggage in the foyer. She went into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and after opening the top and drinking deeply, she chuckled mirthlessly. Guilt sure made a person thirsty. She sat at the kitchen bar and dropped her head into her hands with a groan, and when images of Cab suddenly revealed themselves behind her closed eyes, she sat up sharply. Why couldn't she get Cab Howard out of her head? More importantly, how could she sleep with a complete stranger like that? As part of her business, she met hunky handsome athletes all the time, but not once had she ever found herself so attracted to any of them that she ended up in bed with them. The worst thing about it all was that Cliff would never make her want to climb the walls begging for more… not as Cab Howard had.

  "Stop it Dana, stop thinking about him."

  She kicked off her three-inch pumps and climbed the stairs to the second floor of her condo. Exhausted both emotionally and physically, she wanted nothing more than to put the memory of what she had done behind her. Thinking that she had heard something, she stopped at the top of stairs and paused to listen, but after hearing nothing, she continued on to her bedroom. Suddenly, there it was again, only this time she heard moaning. She sucked her teeth. Did Cliff leave one of those dirty movies on that he was so fond of watching? He usually watched them hoping to get a rise out of her, but it would take a lot more that a movie for him to turn her on. She pushed the bedroom door open, already looking for the remote to the television to cut that mess off, but suddenly stopped dead in her tracks paralyzed, watching as her fiancé lay between the legs of another woman vigorously pumping in and out of her body. As she watched them moaning, grunting, and writhing on the California sleigh bed that she had just purchased, a tempestuous rage-filled anger festered deep within her. They were so engrossed in what they were doing that they didn't have a clue that she was standing there, and the funny thing was that she was angrier at them for defiling her brand new bed than she was for catching her fiancé screwing another woman. Actually, his actions were understandable. He wasn’t getting it from her so he might as well get it from someone else… just not on her damned bed.

  Being the satirical person that she was, Dana nonchalantly stepped into the bedroom, and it took everything within her power not to attack them for disrespecting her home. Her calmer self decided that it was just not worth it.

  "Oh please, it’s not all that! And Cliff when you're finished, take your slut home," Dana stated sarcastically. Standing at the foot of the bed with her arms folded across her chest, she had a look of pure disgust on her face.

  Cliff rolled off the woman that he was screwing so quickly, that he rolled to the floor with a loud thud, and the look on his face before he fell was enough to have her in stitches. In fact, if the situation weren't so pathetic, it would actually be comical. As the woman on
the bed grabbed for the sheets and scrambled to shield her nudity, Cliff's head peeked over the bed with a muddled look of surprise on his face. When he came to his feet with his hands cupped over his average sized semi hard erection, Dana eyed him with disgust.

  "Dana, what are you...?"

  "No, no, no. Don't ask me what I’m doing here, asshole! I live here and now you don't!” Dana glanced over at the woman and gave her a dirty look. "Get your ass off my bed," she snapped.

  "This is not your bed, this is my man’s condo," she declared with her head gyrating.

  Dana looked at the woman and her left eyebrow rose arrogantly. She then glanced over at Cliff who was scrambling to put on his pants.

  "Get dressed Tanya," he snapped.

  "Yes Tanya. You need to get dressed, get out of my house, and take lover boy there with you!"

  Dana turned to leave.

  "You gonna let her talk to me like that Cliffy! You said you were gonna kick her out!"

  Dana stopped walking.

  "First of all Cliffy can't kick me out of a house he doesn’t own, and I’m through taking care of his unemployed ass. Now get up, get dressed, and get the hell out of my house!"

  "He don't need to work, he has money, and on top of that he takes good care of me," Tanya stated.

  Dana had heard enough. The bastard had been using her money to support his woman.

  "Cliff, please don’t tell me that you took the money I gave you and were taking care of this trick? How long has this been going on?"

  Cliff dropped his head, but Tanya was just getting started.

  "Me and Cliffy been together for three years now and we got a son together," she boasted. “He don't want you; he just didn't wanna hurt your feelings cause y'all been together so long.”

  Dana stumbled back as if she’d just been slapped, stunned by the revelation that not only had she been taking care of Cliff, but she had been taking care of his family as well.

  "Just so you know Tanya," Dana sneered. "Cliffy wasn't taking care of you or your son, I was. Cliffy doesn’t have a dime to his broke ass name. He doesn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.”

  Seeing the stunned expression on Tanya’s face as the revelation of this startling bit of news hit home, Dana almost laughed. She looked over at Cliff, who stood there like a deer caught in bright headlights at night.

  "Dana, you're just going to throw me out?" He asked in disbelief.

  "What are you stupid? I just found you in bed with another woman..." Dana paused and shook her head. "Just get out Cliff," she replied tiredly.

  "Come on Dana! You can’t put this all on me!" He argued in his defense. "If you were more attentive, I wouldn't have had to seek it elsewhere! We only had sex that one time, and I thought that once we were engaged things would be different, but nothing changed! I knew how you felt about your virtue, but a brother’s got needs, and it seemed to me that you were going out of your way not to fulfill any of mine!”

  “Oh please Cliff, spare me the BS. You weren’t all up in arms about your needs when you were taking my money! Lord only knows why I was foolish enough to give it to you, but you can rest assured that that will never happen again. And as far as me fulfilling your needs go, I don’t need you to tell me what my faults are. My reasons for not wanting to sleep with you again should have told you everything that you needed to know. So please, spare me your weak ass excuse for screwing around for three years while using my money to take care of this trick. For the last time, I want you and her out of my house now!"

  In a move of either stupidity or sheer defiance, Cliff didn't move, and seeing this act of belligerent rebellion, Dana calmly pulled out her cellphone.

  "Who you calling a trick, bitch!” Tanya replied, highly offended by Dana’s depiction of her.

  When she saw Dana pull out her cellphone, Tanya stopped her protest and got a move on. She looked over at Cliff. “I just know she ain't calling the cops," she said, jumping her naked butt out of the bed and quickly pulling on her clothes.

  "Hello Dell? Listen, I got some trash that needs to be taken out of my condo. Do you think that you can come over and get rid of it for me? Yes Dell, its Cliff trash."

  Dana extended the phone to Cliff and smiled sinisterly. "Dell wants to talk to you."

  "Uh, uh, come on Tanya!" Cliff yelled at her. He grabbed her by the arm and began pulling her with him even though she had barely gotten her legs into her pants.

  "Oh and by the way Cliff," Dana said, pausing long enough for him turn around. "I slept with my business associate last night! So you go on and have yourself a real good life now, ya’hear?"

  "You whore!" Cliff snapped, deeply hurt by her revelation.

  "It takes one to know one Cliff, but hey, it’s like you said: if I were getting it here then I wouldn’t have had to seek it elsewhere, now would I?”

  Dana mocked him with raucous laughter, and watched as he pulled a half-dressed Tanya with him. For some odd reason, admitting her indiscretion to Cliff made her feel somehow cleansed and vindicated. She looked around the room for something they may have left, found one of Tanya’s cheap, turned-over pumps on the floor, and followed them down the stairs.

  The door had just closed when she reached it, and after snatching it open, she called out to the departing couple.

  "Oh Cliffy, you forgot something!"

  She threw the shoe hard just as Cliff turned around, and beaned him upside his head. When Tanya saw Cliff grab his eye and double over from the impact, she gasped. In a fit of rage, she immediately started walking towards Dana.

  Oh yeah, come on bitch! Dana thought. A good fight was just what she needed to release some of the anger and frustration that she felt for being so stupid all these years. She quickly snatched the earrings from her ears and tossed them into the house.

  "Yeah, yeah that’s right, come on over here girl and take this ass whipping!"

  Despite the pain and the blurry vision, Cliff ran up behind Tanya and caught her around her waist. Delco Whalen was on his way and he wanted no parts of that.

  "No, no Cliffy, let her go," Dana taunted. "And just for the record, when I get finished beating her ass, Delco is going to beat yours!"

  When Cliff looked over his shoulder and saw Delco Whalen's Escalade pull into the driveway, he threw Tanya over his shoulder, ran her over to his beat up car, threw her inside, and took off before Dell even got out.

  Dana sighed and shook her head. What a hypocrite she was. Hadn’t she just been unfaithful the same as Cliff had? Just a few short hours ago, wasn’t she was in bed with another man? She couldn’t shake that memory now even if she tried.

  She turned around returning to her condo, and kept the door open for her brother knowing that he was going to start sprouting of a steady stream of I told you so’s, and although he may have been right in his assessment of her now former fiancé, right now she was simply not in the mood to hear it. She went to her house phone, dialed her bank, canceled the money that she had just transferred to his account last night, and put a freeze on all the credit cards. This was turning out to be one horrible mess.

  “I can still track him down and kick his ass Dana. You just say the word!” Dell offered as he closed the door.

  “That’s very sweet, but totally not necessary Dell,” she answered absently, having just finished her business on the phone.

  Dell frowned at his little sister. After catching her fiancé in her bed with another woman, why in the world was she so calm? He walked over to her and began to pull her into his arms, but a struggling Dana pushed him away.

  “What are you doing?” She asked, staring up at him with a confused frown.

  “What am I doing? I’m comforting you,” he answered, looking down at her with a confused frown of his own. “Shouldn’t you be upset?”

  “Oh I’m upset all right, but not for the reasons you think. What’s got me so pissed off is that I have been taking care of him and his baby’s mama for the past three years. He ev
en had her believing that all this was his,” she replied, leaving Dell standing there.

  Dell followed her to the kitchen. “Wait a minute little girl and help me to understand something here. Now, you were engaged to this fool for three of the five years you two were together, you took care of his shiftless ass for three of those five years, and after finding him with another woman, you’re just pissed?"

  Dana pulled out several large trash bags from the box beneath her sink, and then turned to her brother to respond.

  “Well what did you expect Delco, tears? I’m too pissed for tears,” she said moving past him in a hurry. Dell followed her again, and this time she went upstairs.

  He stood in the doorway and watched while his sister tore the linens from her bed and stuffed them all in the trash bag. She then went to the closet and began tossing Cliff’s clothes and shoes out of the closet door and onto the floor.

  “Dana! Dana! You can’t just throw all the man’s clothes in the trash!”

  She stuck her head out of the closet door. “And just why not? I brought all of this stuff, so technically all of this stuff belongs to me. And as far as me throwing it away, I’m not. I’m going to donate it all to a clothing shelter. Believe me, the needy will appreciate these thousand dollar suits a lot more than he did,” she replied before returning to her chore.

  When she finished what she was doing and stepped out of the closet and back into the bedroom, Dell grabbed her. “Baby girl?” He questioned. Despite everything that she had said to the contrary, he could see that the stress of the situation was taking its toll on her.

  “Dell,” she sighed, having no desire to discuss the matter any further. “Look, I’m fine, really. I just need to get rid of the trash. You go back to the office and don’t worry about me.”

  Dell kissed her forehead. “Did you and Cab get through the financial files this weekend? I thought you would be in Philly for at least a few days.”

  Dana tensed up and awkwardly moved away. After the way she acted back in Philly, she didn’t want to see or hear another word about Cab Howard, but Dell deserved an answer.