A Winter in California

Part 5

Sometimes in life, your worst enemy can be your only hope. In ancient Greece, many warlords aligned themselves with rival lords in order to combat immediate danger that threatened both parties. But at the end of the day, when the blood was still fresh and its metallic stench still prominent in the air, all bets are off; suddenly you're back facing your worst enemy once more.

How ironic was it? That of all people he would become her savior.

Serena watched her husband enter the room with a frightening calmness that betrayed the look of pure fury burning behind his blue eyes. She was still mindful of Derek's body pressed onto hers but now she could feel his psychotic confidence evaporate- instead a tenseness that resembled shock and anger rolled off him in waves.

It was a standoff.

No one moved.

Suddenly Serena was aware of how load and erratic her breathing was, and she was sure both men could also hear her thundering heart pounding.

It was Derek who finally broke the silence, "She's mine now, you had your chance with her and she ran away from you."

His voice chilled her, how can anyone be this confused? Just because she left one neglecting-self-serving-jerk she wasn't about to trade for a psychotic-self-serving-would-be-rapist. It was in that moment did she find herself pounding her assailant's chest and belting out, "Let me go! I'm not your anything; I'm not even your friend anymore! You're a depraved lunatic!"

Derek ignored Darien's presence for the moment and turned to the one woman that God made for him. Her eyes were blazing spite in contrast to the tearstains that showed her previous vulnerability.

Didn't she understand? Was she that disconnected from him? "Serena, darling, I love you and will not let him hurt you again. You were never meant for a man like him."

Looking at Darien standing still near the door, but now only two long strides away from them, she managed to whisper out, "You're right."

She didn't have to look at Derek to see his face light up in victory, but it didn't last long.

"I never was meant for a man like Darien, but I was certainly never meant for a man like you either, now get off me and I promise not to press any charges."

Derek only tightened his grip. "No, no. He is the bad guy!" pointing to Darien. "I am going to protect you! I was meant to protect and love you. Me! Only me! It killed me to see him steal you away; I tried to tell you he was evil, pure and true! But you were blind!"

As his words got more heated he stared to shake her roughly, her head rolling back and forth violently.

Derek managed to shake her for just a couple of seconds before he felt arms life him of her and thrust him onto the hard surface of the floor. Looking up, he saw Darien for a split second before a terrible pain shot through his head and the world turned into darkness.

Darien couldn't believe he allowed that piece of shit to be in control of the situation while he stood watching, but he couldn't be sure of Serena's safety.

Oh, he knew all about Derek's sick and twisted affection for his wife. After Serena disappeared he had his investigators track any possible lead, any possible friend of relative, hoping she might turn up. But what his people came across made his insides turn.

Malachite Burrows, head of his personal security entourage, was made leader of the investigation. During the fifth day of the investigation, Malachite stormed into a board meeting demanding Darien's immediate attention.

Now, for the longest time Darien has known Malachite, he has never seen him lose control or demand anything for him. He was known for his calm and ultra professional elegance, and for a man who has seen a lot in his lifetime, there wasn't any situation (gory or not) that made him cringe.

But Serena had a way with men most women tried unsuccessfully to learn and imitate, and altogether failed. She made people fall in love with her. There were different types of love each person felt for a person like Serena.

For Darien it was a love shared by man and woman.

For Malachite and most of his close staff it was a love of a sister or close friend.

And for Derek, it was a love shared for an object. A possession.

Malachite had given Darien a manila folder filled with pictures of Derek's room. It was normal enough until he got to the pictures of a hidden closet filled wall-to-wall with distorted images of his wife.

There was many of her sleeping, some taken when she was only fifteen and some while they were married. Darien was hit hard when he saw the ones taken while they were married. It was then did he realize that he was never really there to protect her. The bastard would have never gotten into their bedroom if he had known Serena's husband was asleep right beside her.

Then there had been the other pictures. The ones that he still couldn't stomach remembering. There had been pictures of his wife in the process of getting dressed, taken from a close range location. They had been tampered and cut out and then glued to pictures of Derek in multiple sexual situations. There were ones that professed bondage, others of Serena and Derek combined in a picture to seem as though they were having sex atop Darien's mutilated corpse.

But those were nothing compared to what made Malachite lose control. In the same hidden closet they found a thick journal in which Derek had written to 'Serena' in an alternate reality in which she was his wife, and not Darien's. He was afraid today that Derek may be hiding a weapon and that if he tried to push him off Serena, he may choose to hurt her- or worse.

In the journal he wrote to her about how he would perform his ultimate fantasies on her, and how…

It didn't matter, Darien thought, as he looked down at the unconscious body of Derek. Once he and his wife left this room, Derek Kensington would cease to exist in their world.

Turning to the bed, expecting to find his wife in shock and emotional, he was stunned to see her halfway out the door.

"Serena!" he called out.

Serena kept up her brisk walk and never looked back. All this time Derek had these fantasies about her, while she naively thought he was her friend; and now thanks to him she was forced to deal with Darien.

Either way, she knew that one day she would have to confront her past, but she didn't want to do it now. Not when she was on the brink of an emotional breakdown. All these months she thought she could do it: rent a crappy apartment, work full time, and maybe move on, but it just seems to alien after what happened today.

She felt her eyes tear up and walked faster. It would be a cold day in hell when Darien would see her cry again.

"You're going the wrong way." She stopped.

She felt him behind her slightly to her left, his breathing steady yet load. If she turned around it meant that she had to face him, but if she kept on walking, she may not have to. What a childish and cowardly last thought.

Turning towards her husband, she met his eyes. Time seemed to stand still as estranged wife and husband openly measured each other; waiting for a moment when it was just right to speak.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Darien brushed his finger on an unbecoming bruise just above her right wrist, but before he could inspect it further she snatched it away and laid it protectively against her chest.

"Don't you dare tell me how I look, you have no right."

"I'm sorry. I was worried."

Serena watched as Darien's calm and impressive frame close in on her and enfold her in a tight yet gentle embrace. She wanted to push him away, but it did hurt to move she realized. She would allow him this moment.

Darien caressed her back in soothing circular motions mindful of her hidden and not so hidden wounds. She had lied to him about being hurt- he knew that. When he had barged into the room he had seen the strength of Derek trying to force Serena into submission. It doesn't take much to assume she might be injured- however slightly.

"Come with me Serena. Just for today, no strings attached." He whispered into her ear, "I just want us to talk."

Within the folds of his tailored suit, Serena shook her head. "Just call me a cab. I want to go home."

"Please."

It was so hard. To be so close to him and not remember how great he smelled or how his warmth could just make her fall asleep; she had slept cuddled in his arms so many times so long ago…

"If I want to leave, you swear to let me leave. Just like that?"

It was a compromise on her terms. His words twisted, but on her terms.

"I promise."

The walk to the front of the house was a blur to Serena, as Darien still held her close but made no attempt to lead or confine her. Soon, they were facing his customary unmarked black escort.

As Darien and Serena approached the vehicle, a load and cutting bang shook the house. Serena turned around and watched Darien's unexpressive face with narrowed eyes.

"I change my mind, call me a cab."