Son of Sin (Book 3 of the Forbidden Series)

3

Damien strolled through the front door of his parents’ country estate. “I’m home.” He called taking off his coat and hanging it up in the closet.

“Damien, baby.” He heard his mother call from the staircase. He smiled as she came down the stairs, sixty-one years old and she didn’t look a day over forty-five. Her flame red hair still held its natural colour with a few gray spots and except for a few laugh lines and faint crow’s feet her face was smooth and flawless. “There is my boy. Come here.” She said reaching out for him as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Damien leaned over to hug his tiny mother lifting her off her feet with a great big bear hug.

“You look wonderful Mama.” He said placing her back on her feet and admiring her new designer dress. “Is that Givenchy?” He asked as she posed like a runway model.

“Yes, it is. I bought it in Rome.” She said proudly. “Look at you,” she said running her hand over his hard-flat belly, “God you remind me so much of your father at your age. Built like a brick house.”

“Mom,” Damien whined following her down the hall to the living room.

“Don’t Mom me; why else would I have stayed with him? Certainly not for his personality.” She teased.

“Oh, God.” Damien groaned. He hated thinking of his parents having a s*x life. It was bad enough when he was growing up, but they were seniors now it was time to cut it out. Knit or something. “Can we please change the subject?”

“Sure.” She said walking to the bar and reaching for the crystal rum flagon. She poured her son a glass and then one for herself. “Should we discuss your s*x life instead?” She asked walking over and handing the glass to him.

Damien groaned and sat down taking the glass from her. “Let’s not and say we did.” He knew where this conversation was going.

Chase Sanchez took a seat on the sofa across from her son. “I saw Celebrity Weekly the other night, and the funny thing is they had another exposé about you.”

Damien smiled innocently and shrugged his shoulders. “They usually do. It’s what they do.”

“This time they have you falling out the bedroom window of a married woman while her husband is shooting at you. It was in Texas I believe.” She said as though they were discussing drapes. She took a sip of her drink and then smiled at her son awaiting his excuse.

Damien sipped his rum and thought about it for a minute. There was no point in lying to his mother. He was famous and the press loved to publicize his bad behaviour. He had been deemed as mischievous as his father when he was twenty, and by twenty-five, he’s outrageous philandering had far surpassed his father’s past track record. No woman was off limits. He didn’t care if she were single, attached, or married; if they were willing, they were fair game. His breakups were legendary always making headlines. Damien gambled to excess, drank to excess, and used women up at every turn. By thirty the press had dubbed Damien the Son of Sin.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Chase asked staring her son down. She could still make him feel like a small child about to be grounded when she looked at him like that.

“His aim was off.” Was all he could think to say.

“Oh well then by all means continue.” His mother said waving her arms about. “Damien what you are doing is terrible. How would you like it if your wife cheated on you?”

“I’ll avoid the problem and just not marry.” He grinned lifting his glass to his lips. “Problem solved.”

“Don’t be cocky.” She warned him. “You have to stop messing around with married women the next husband might be a better shot.”

The door opened, and they both rose to their feet as Damien’s father came around the corner. It was like looking into a very old mirror for Damien each time he saw his father. Except for the salt and pepper hair and the dark eyes, Damien looked every bit the spitting image of his father. Tall, dark, lean, and sinfully handsome. Mike’s smile had faded when he saw his son, and Damien stood up straighter. Tension building in his shoulders.

“You.” His father snarled pointing his finger at him.

Chase stepped between them handing her drink to her husband and standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Don’t yell at him. I have already talked to the boy about the matter. You yelling will not solve anything.”

“But…” Mike grumbled, and his wife put her finger over his lips.

“No. It’s been dealt with. Let’s have lunch and play some cards we are going to enjoy this afternoon.” She said turning her stern gaze back to Damien. “Besides Damien has promised me he would behave… for a while at least.” It was an order, not a request, and Damien knew it by the tone in her voice.

His mother rarely had to raise her voice to get her children in hand. She was a calm, collected mother but a hot-headed wife. On more than one occasion Damien had listened from his room to his parents screaming at one another over some foolish thing his father had done. Back in the day Mike had been as scandalous as his son and had often humiliated and scandalized his wife publicly. Had Damien not known that deep down his parents were madly in love with one another he would have convinced his mother to leave his father years ago.

However, these past few years Mike Sanchez had slowed down and become more discreet. Between his daughter and his son, the man had enough fires to put out he had no time to create his own.

Damien forced a smile. He loved his mother, and he would do as she asked for a bit. He would try to stay out of the news for a while to give her worrying a break, but a leopard cannot change his spots, nor could Damien fight his nature.

After all, he was his father’s son, and scandal came naturally.

“Of course, I will be on my best behaviour.” He promised.

“That doesn’t fill me with confidence.” Mike snarled and took a drink from the glass his wife had given him. “Your best behaviour would still make a sailor blush with shame.”

“Mike.” Chase scolded. “We are not talking about this for even one more minute. The matter is settled. Now how about some sushi?” She said taking both their hands and leading them to the dining room where the maid had placed out a simple sushi meal before moving on to the cleaning. Mike sat at the head of the table his wife and son on either side of him.

“So how was your tour?” Mike asked picking up his chopsticks and reaching for a piece of tuna.

“It was hot,” Damien complained. “The AC on the bus broke down in Chicago. The shows went well, but Donna got food poisoning from the deli table. I told her not to eat it, but she wouldn’t listen. The after parties were hot, and so were the women. So many women.” He said taking a California roll and placing it on his plate. His mother’s disapproving gaze made him pause. “Oh, come on you know how it can be. I’m not spoken for I can sleep with more than one woman if I want to…” He flashed his father a wicked grin. “And have.”

“Damien.” His mother snapped.

“Oh, please let’s not be hypocrites here I know you both have done it. Why else would I have been considered David’s son for ten years?”

“Damien!” His father barked, and Damien leaned back in his seat awaiting the scolding. “Apologize to your mother right now,” Mike demanded.

“Why should I, it’s not my fault you publicized her promiscuous ways and made it an issue. Perhaps if you hadn’t been f*****g everything that moved she wouldn’t have gone to bed with your best friend. If you think about it, it’s all your fault.” He said watching his father’s face turn red with fury.

His parent’s rocky start had been a great scandal when Chase Sanchez wound up pregnant with Damien and had two possible fathers. They hadn’t been married at the time. Not until Mike had been sure the child was his through DNA confirmation. The origins of Damien’s birth had been a hot topic for years to come, especially when his father and David had a falling out over Mike’s insane and unfounded jealousy. A bitter rivalry had come between friends for years to come only to be put aside after David fell for and married Damien’s older sister Kat.

“Apologize.” Mike snarled.

“Alright. I’m sorry you were a whore.” He said glaring his father down. “I’m sorry that mom and I had to pay for your transgressions.”

“You’re no better than I was. You’re worse.”

“Maybe but at least I’m not humiliating a wife and child while I do it.” He said bitterly still angry at his father for how hard his life had been growing up. Everyone always thought that growing up famous was a walk in the park. Privilege and money didn’t by happiness nor did it stop people from saying horrible things and treating him like he was a social pariah. He had been branded bad long before he had the opportunity to prove he wasn’t thanks to his father’s reputation Damien never had a chance growing up.

“Damien that is enough!” His mother said with annoyance.

“You’re right.” He said standing up. “I should have known better than to come around while he was here,” Damien said walking around the table and kissing his mother’s cheek. “I will call you later.” He promised and walked out of the room. He and his father had not been able to speak to one another without it becoming a fight for over fifteen years. He didn’t know why he even tried.

***

Eve waved at the mailman as he walked down the street. She took the mail from the box and started flipping through it as she did every morning. As usual, there were a few bills and in the back was an envelope that brought Eve to a stop. The return address was postmarked New York City. She ripped the envelope open as she held her breath to read the letter inside. It was from Kurtwood, the most prestigious fine arts school in North America. They had watched her video and decided to give her an audition for a spot in the fall semester’s classes.

Eve clutched the letter to her chest and jumped up and down excitedly squealing. She would give her right arm to get into this school. She stopped jumping as a thought accrued to her. How on earth would she get to New York City? She went inside and tossed the other mail on the table and then headed up to her room where she sat at her desk and looked up the price of flights to New York on her computer.

She had spent the better part of the day in her room at her computer when her father opened the door and Eve closed the screen. She wasn’t ready for them to know until she had all the details worked out. “Eve darling are you going out with friends tonight?” He asked.

“No Daddy.” She answered tucking the letter from Kurtwood under a book.

“Great then you can go along with your sister on her date and act as her chaperone for me tonight. Be ready to go for seven.” He told her as he left her room.

Eve growled to herself. She couldn’t wait to get away from this place, so she didn’t have to deal with this stuff anymore. She didn’t want to go on Mary’s damn date. Mary was a big girl let her fend off the pervert herself. She spent another hour looking up airfare and then she changed for their night out. She had gone through her closet and selected a short black skirt that came just above the knee and a deep red t-shirt. She took the black boots from her closet and put them on then tied her hair up into a messy updo.

Eve went to knock on Mary’s door to see if her sister was ready. When Mary answered, she was wearing a long soft green cotton dress. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a functional braid. They couldn’t be more night and day. “You look like a grandmother.” Eve teased.

“And you look like a Jezebel. You are determined to embarrass me, aren’t you?” Mary complained heading down the stairs.

“Yep, it’s my mission in life,” Eve said following her sister down as they heard the doorbell ring.

“Well, there is no time to change now he’s here,” Mary complained standing at the door and eyeing her sister. “God, you look like a harlot,” Mary said as she opened the door and then smiled at Damien. “Damien how nice to see you again. I’m so glad you called.”

“Me too. You look, nice.” He said politely and then turned his gaze on Eve. “Dear God.” Was all he could say and his speechlessness brought a satisfied smile to Eve’s lips.

“I told you.” Mary scolded her completely misreading the scene.

“I hope you don’t mind, but since you said you insisted on bringing a chaperone, I figured the more, the merrier. So, I invited a few friends.” He said gesturing to the stretch limo. Both sisters couldn’t help but get excited. Neither of them had ever travelled in a limo before. They started walking toward the limo with Damien following. He opened the door for them, and Mary climbed in first, then Eve and Damien slipped into the seat next to her.

Eve could almost die from excitement as she looked around at the others in the limo. The entire FX line up was sitting in that limo. Blake, John, Damien, even Donna. They were all dressed up and decked out for a night on the town. Donna’s short blonde hair had been spiked, and the tips died neon pink with some temporary die. She wore a white halter top and baggy black cargo pants. Blake wore loose fitted army fatigue pants and a plain fitted black sleeveless t-shirt. He had on a pale green pair of sunglasses, and his dark blond hair was tousled with gel to look like he had just been rolling around in the sack. A bit grungy but it looked good on him. John, on the other hand, wore tanned pants and an un-tucked white dress shirt without a tie. His scruffy beard had been trimmed, but his long hair was still loose.

Damien was, of course, stunning as usual in his black slacks and fitted white t-shirt. His hair was combed back, and he had put on his dark sunglasses then reached back and tapped the partition glass telling the driver to go. Eve could tell her sister was feeling out of sorts. It was obvious that everyone was dressed more like Eve than like Mary and she felt out of place. She did her best but Eve couldn’t help but feel sorry for Mary. She knew what it felt like to feel like the odd one out.

Damien made the introductions on the way to the restaurant, and they talked about what they might like to order. Donna had claimed to be positively famished, which she followed up with a comment about how much she loved Eve’s boots.

“I know aren’t they cute?” Eve gushed extending her leg out to show off her knee-high leather boots with the three-inch heel. “I had to save up for almost six months to buy them.” Eve couldn’t help but notice the way Damien’s gaze travelled up her leg from her boot to her skirt. He was shameless, but she couldn’t help but feel some pride after all he was checking her out of all people.

When they reached the restaurant, they all went inside and were immediately shown to a table without having to stand in line. Eve took Mary by the hand and coaxed her to the washroom.

Checking to see if they were alone Eve looked at Mary and smiled. “I don’t know why I’m doing this for you. God knows you are never nice enough to me to deserve it.” She said taking Mary’s hair down. “These people are rock stars Mary if you want to fit in you have to check the choir girl thing at the door.” She said unbuttoning the first few buttons of Mary’s dress and tucking them back to show some skin. She tugged at the seams of the sleeves and pulled them off. Then Eve removed her belt and wrapped it around Mary’s waist. She started hiking up Mary’s skirt until it was at least knee level. Then she bunched the excess fabric at the waist and cinched the belt tight. Eve looked her sister over. It was better; she supposed it was the best she could do short of changing clothes with her.

They returned to the table, and a smile was plastered on Mary’s face when Blake told her how nice she looked. They sat down at the table, and the waitress brought everyone a drink and a menu.

“Do you work with Damien?” Mary asked receiving questioned looks.

“Yes,” Damien answered for them. “These are my bandmates and my friends.” He explained.

“So, you’re all musicians?”

Eve rolled her eyes. Mary was out of her element with these guys and proving so with every word that came out of her mouth. “How did you guys end up together?” Eve asked drawing everyone’s attention.

“Donna and I used to date back in school.” Blake started nudging Donna in the side with his elbow. “But she turned out to be a total bitch.”

“And he was an asshole,” Donna added with an affectionate smile. “But man could he sing.”

“And she could play. When she lays down a bass line, it could give you shivers.” Blake grinned as if they were talking about s*x and not music. “We met John here through my sister. They were dating briefly, and when I found out he played the guitar, we started jamming. After he dumped her, we had this crazy idea about starting a band.”

“Only we didn’t have a decent drummer.” John piped up. “We took out an ad and auditioned a few. Tried out two or three that couldn’t pull it together.”

“And then Damien here answered the ad. Can you believe our surprise when Damien Sanchez of all people walked through that door and told us he wanted to be our drummer?” Blake laughed remembering it like it was yesterday.

“A rock legacy with skill and connections wanted to play with us,” Donna added.

“So, we auditioned him.” John cut in. “And holly hell he could play like he had sold his soul to the devil. Even had some songs already written.”

“Because of his father, Damien had connections to record labels and production companies. We cut a demo in his father’s studios, and he submitted it to the label.” Blake said happily.

“Next thing you know FX went from garage to coliseums,” Donna finished, “and the rest was history.”

“They’re downplaying their skill,” Damien said placing his drink back on the table. “I had been trying out four or five different bands and never found a good fit. The first time I played with them I knew right away that these degenerate losers had what it took to play with the big boys.”

“I thought you four were friends?” Mary asked with confusion. “Why do you keep calling each other names?”

Eve sighed; her sister was so clueless as to the real world. “They are friends.” She said. “They are just joking when they call each other names. They are playing around.”

“Oh.” Mary could justify dumb blonde jokes. “Oh, dear where are the prices?” Mary asked looking over the menu.

“Don’t worry about the price,” Damien said. “Order anything you want.”

“I’ll just have a salad,” Mary said sweetly closing the menu.

Damien was still smiling, but the look he shared with Blake told Eve he was not surprised by Mary’s typical passive aggressive choice. She would get her salad and then pick off his plate talking about how she should have ordered what he did. Eve never understood why women did that. Personally, she was hungry.

The waitress came to take their order. Blake and John ordered the steak while Donna chose the chicken. Mary requested her salad and Eve handed her menu to the waitress. “I think I will have the Halibut.” She said.

“Oh, that sounds good.” Damien grinned handing the waitress his menu also. “I will have that too and a bottle of champagne.”

The meal was fantastic and as expected Mary wound up eating off of Damien’s plate. The poor man barely got half his meal to himself. Eve could see the way his jaw set hard as he tried to pretend to be enjoying Mary’s company but Eve could tell he was annoyed even behind that sexy smile of his. They finished off the champagne and then dessert.

Mary was enjoying the evening of fine food and expensive champagne. She had become positively giggly after her third glass Eve realized her sister was drunk. She couldn’t help but laugh, how perfect was that? Miss. Wonderful was hammered.

After dinner, the group moved their festivities to the local high-end nightclubs. Eve was having the time of her life dancing on the floor to the music she wasn’t allowed to hear at home. Mary was so much more fun plastered, and she was getting into clubs she normally wouldn’t have a hope of getting into because the lines were so long, but their party managed to jump the lines and got the best service everywhere they went.

The music was loud, and the drinks were endless. The environment was electrifying. It was imposable not to enjoy one’s self. Even Mary was dancing to the music she would normally shun. A half-empty cocktail in her hand and her hair flying every direction as she jumped and screamed. Her body bumped those of others on the floor. She was like someone else completely.

They danced the night away in a group on the floor. Eve had noticed that Donna was overly familiar with all of the three guys. She spent most of her life with them, so Eve supposed they were all very close. Eve watched as an extremely drunken Mary spent the later part of the night all over Damien while they danced. He, of course, did not seem to care, which annoyed Eve. As chaperone Eve should have put an end to it but frankly she was enjoying Mary’s fall from grace. She downed her cocktail and ordered another. Before the bartender yelled last call, Eve’s head was spinning terribly.

At the end of the night, they made their way to the waiting limo and Eve would have sworn the world was moving beneath her feet. Mary’s arm was draped around Blake’s shoulder as he helped her into the limo. Eve stumbled, and Damien caught her. Lifting her off her feet, he picked Eve up and placed her on the seat inside. Once everyone was inside the limo started to move and Eve felt sick.

Eve looked around enviously at the others. Their speech was slightly slurred and their faces a bit red from the alcohol, but they all seemed to have their balance and wits about them still. Meanwhile, she and her sister had been reduced to ruins. Eve lay her head back against the seat and closed her eyes wishing the world would stop spinning.