“Your center has its own basketball team?” Coral asked as she shifted her gaze between me and Ava.
“Oh yes, we have basketball, volleyball, baseball and track & field teams that play against other community centers throughout the area.” Ava winked at Coral. “We’re the Scorpions,” Ava announced, taking pride in the team’s name.
Coral abruptly turned towards me. “The Scorpions?”
“Yes, Mr. Bennett changed the name when his company took ownership of the center. All the kids love the name,” Ava answered unaware of the significance behind the name.
“Liam?” she questioned, her voice full of confusion.
“I’ll take over the tour from here, Ava. I know you have group in a few minutes. Thank you for your time.”
“No problem, Mr. Bennett. It was nice meeting you, Coral.”
“Same here,” Coral responded, before turning back to me. “Why did you name your center’s sports team that?”
I placed my hand on the small of her back. “Come on,” I urged, avoiding her question. “There’s more to show.”
I escorted her down the hall where we had other after school classes going on. I showed her into the rooms where we held ballet classes three days a week and another where we have a trained martial artist come in and teach the kids Karate and other self-defense moves. There were also art classes and writing classes. In a separate building from the main one, we held nutrition classes for older kids and adults, parenting classes, computer classes, and résumé and career development courses for adults who want to turn their life around. This community center had been one of my proudest accomplishments, and it was because of the woman next to me, staring in awe at the scene around us.
“Have you figured out why I changed the team name?” I asked as we ended our tour in the larger gymnasium where our basketball team made up of nine eleven-year-olds prepared for a scrimmage.
“Our trip to New York?” she asked.
I nodded. During our sophomore year, Coral and I took our first trip to New York together. It was just a weekend getaway on one of our long weekends when neither of us wanted to go back home. We often spent our school breaks with one another. During that first trip, Coral took me back to the Bronx neighborhood where she grew up. We visited the community center where she learned boxing and her sister first took ballet lessons. She spent many hours at that center avoiding going home to an alcoholic, abusive father. She told me how that community center felt more like home than her actual home did. There she learned self-defense, which she used to, not only protect herself but Stacey as well. Unfortunately, a year after our visit the community center closed down due to the city’s budget cuts. Coral was devastated. For someone like myself who grew up in the lap of luxury and never having to wonder about getting enough food or being able to afford extracurricular activities, it was life-altering to see how some children struggled. She opened my eyes to a lot, and I wanted to pay her back in some small way. So, one of the first things I did after taking over Bennett Industries was to take over and run this community center. As long as our company was still in business, this community center would never have to worry about shutting down, and Bennett Industries wasn’t going anywhere.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I know it’s a little morbid to name our athletic teams after my best friend’s codename, but if it wasn’t for said friend, this community center would no longer exist.” I looked down into her eyes. That chemistry that always existed between us came back, and neither one of us wanted to look away.
Finally, Coral turned her head to look down onto the court from the bleachers. “Who runs the center during the day while you’re at Bennett Industries?” she asked.
I grinned seeing the man of the hour enter the gymnasium. I’d known him for close to a decade now, and I didn’t think I’d trust anyone else with the running of this center.
“Here he comes now,” I said, at the same time nudging Coral’s leg and tilted my head in his direction. I waited for her response, and she didn’t disappoint.
“Holy shit,” she said out loud. She turned gawking at me. “Are you serious?”
I tilted my head and shrugged my shoulders as Brian approached us.
“You gonna sit up in them bleachers and gawk or get down here and say hello?” he asked, laughing at Coral.
“Brian Simmons! Oh my God!” she exclaimed, standing and rushing down the bleachers.
I followed and watched as they embraced. Brian served with us in Iraq. He fell under Coral’s command for a period of time before an injury sent him stateside. It took a while for him to rehab, but four years ago when I was looking for someone to run the community center full-time I knew I could trust Brian while I waited for the person I really wanted to take over to arrive.
“What are you doing here?” Coral asked Brian.
“Working. And you? It’s been so long,” he stated, still holding onto her waist.
My fingers itched to pull them apart. I was man enough to admit I was a little peeved that Coral’s reaction to Brian was a lot more receptive than her initial reaction to me the previous day. Of course, she had just overheard me telling Jeremy to send her back home.
“Tell me about it. How are you?” she asked, finally stepping back to eye him.
“I’m great. It was a long road back, but this guy,” he said, tilting his head toward me, “definitely helped.”
“I didn’t do anything. You’ve helped me more than the other way around,” I commented.
“I highly doubt that. Anyway Scorpion, what have you been up to?”
Coral shrugged. “A little of this a little of that.”
Brian nodded knowingly. “You’re both staying for the game, right? It’s just a scrimmage, but the kids are excited about it.”
“Of course, we are,” Coral answered.
We all sat back down in the bleachers, and Coral and Brian talked about the team and more about the community center. She asked a ton of questions including what his future plans were at the center and how many kids came in on a daily basis. Their conversation flowed easily, leaving me feeling like the odd man out. I reminisced on the days where Coral and I could talk for hours about everything and about nothing at the same time. I want to get back to that place. I wanted to make her understand why I did what I did, but there was hesitation on my part. Not only would my secrets place her in more danger, but there was a lot about my life that had changed in the last few years. She didn’t know everything about me anymore, and that scared the shit out of me.
Coral turned to me as we exited the community center an hour later. “Thank you for bringing me here. It’s wonderful what you and Brian are doing here, Li.”
My chest expanded at how easily she had fallen into using my nickname. A nickname I actually hated until she used it.
“Are the financial records for the community center kept on the same books as Bennett Industries?” she inquired as we began the drive back to my office.
“Not quite. Bennett Industries owns the community center as a subsidy, and Brian has an accountant on staff and bookkeeper to do all their recordkeeping. We keep everything as separate as possible, except during tax season. Do you think there could be a link between what Larry found and the community center?”
A contemplative look crossed her face. “I’m not sure. Just want to check every angle. I looked at hours of footage earlier today with Ron and didn’t find anything too suspicious. We’re going to start setting up interviews.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed.
We talked about how the interviews will go over the next few weeks, and Coral’s plan to have Ron interview most of the staff one on one, while she watched from a separate room. I could tell from the way she talked about it that she believed someone inside the company had something to do with Larry’s death, and I was inclined to believe it as well. That pissed me off thinking someone on my payroll could betray the company, and fellow colleagues, in this way.
“I’m going to kick
the ass of whoever’s involved in this,” I said, squeezing my fist tightly.
“Down, boy,” Coral teased, patting my clenched fist. “We need to be smart about this. We can get to the ass-kicking later.”
Her hand on mine had a soothing effect. While my anger didn’t disappear, it was put on the back burner for now.
Coral began to gather her things once we entered my office. “I’ll have to check the community center out again before this case is over and I leave.”
The air left my lungs at the thought of her leaving. I might not have expected her to be there so soon, but now that she was I couldn’t imagine her not being there either.
“We’ll begin the interviews tomorrow,” she continued.
I nodded, opting to remain silent as her business-like facade returned. The more laid back attitude of earlier was beginning to disappear and she was now putting her guard up. I didn’t like it.
“You know, you don’t have to rush out so soon. We can order an early dinner and catch up,” I said, shrugging nonchalantly. I tried to play casual, but I felt anything but.
“Catch up?” A perfectly arched eyebrow raised.
I smirked. “Yeah, you know, talk, like regular people. Friends, even.”
“Li, I appreciated seeing the community center and even the gesture of you naming the athletic team after me, but we don’t have much to talk about outside this case.”
“I disagree.” The lower register of my voice took on a seductive tone as I moved closer to her. I pulled her leather jacket out of her grasp and tossed it back onto the couch. “We have a lot to talk about,” I nearly growled, pulling her by the waist into my arms, and caressing her cheek with my thumb. I saw a vein in her neck pulse alerting me to the fact that she was not immune to my touch.
“I…” She stopped, lowered her head and shaking it as if trying to break out of a trance. I could feel her try to step out of my embrace, but I tightened my grasp.
I placed a finger under her chin, raising it to force her to look at me. “There’s a lot you don’t know. I would have never left if it weren’t for a good reason,” I said, and brought my lips down to hover just above hers. Just as our lips were about to touch, I heard my door burst open.
“Daddy!” A pint-sized ball of energy shrieked as she sprinted towards me. Instinctively, I stepped back from Coral and stretched my arms wide to scoop her up. I stared down into the face that looked so much like mine.
“Hi, Daddy!” Laura excitedly exclaimed. Her nanny, Anna, wasn’t far behind.
“I’m sorry, she couldn’t wait to see you,” Anna apologized. I looked from Anna to Coral, who was now staring wide-eyed at me.
“Oh, you must be in a meeting. We can come back,” Anna started, but was interrupted by Coral.
“No, we’re done here,” she said abruptly, grabbed her bag and jacket, and made a beeline for the door.
“Coral!” I yelled to her back, but she didn’t even break stride. “Dammit!” I cursed. This was damn sure not how I wanted Coral to find out I was a father.
Chapter Eight
Liam is a father. Liam has a daughter. A daughter who is a spitting image of her father.
Those thoughts kept spinning around and around as I continued my run around Bachman Lake Park.
After running out of Li’s office, I headed straight to my hotel room, threw on some workout clothes, and went down to the hotel’s gym. As I used some of the weights to do a circuit workout, I kept picturing Liam holding that little girl in his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I wondered if that was the reason he’d up and left me; because he found out Michele was pregnant with his child? But even as I contemplated that, the timing didn’t make sense. That little girl looked to be no older than three years old, and Li had married Michele close to six years ago. And speaking of Michele, where the hell was she? Just yesterday, Li had said that he was no longer married.
Even during my sweaty circuit workout I couldn’t get my brain to slow down, so instead of going back to my hotel room, I opted to go for a run. I checked the pedometer on my arm and realized I was nearing mile five. I decided to run one more mile before stopping to stretch and head back to the hotel. Questions about Liam and his daughter continued to invade my thoughts. I’d kept a lid on my feelings for him for so long, and seeing him with his child felt like ripping a Band-Aid off an old, but unhealed wound. I didn’t even realize I was clutching my lower abdomen as I sat in my car thinking of Liam being a father. I closed my eyes and counted to ten as thoughts of “what ifs” made their way to the surface. I shook my head, refusing to allow myself to go there. It’d been years, and I would not look back. Liam’s life was here without me. I would solve this case, figure out who Ghost was, take care of him and go back to Savannah.
It didn’t escape me that I didn’t refer to Savannah as home. I didn’t know any place that had ever felt truly like home, not since my mother died. Savannah was close, but it was a place where I rested, not exactly where I comfortably slept.
I reached my hotel suite and slid the key card in, carrying my gym bag over my shoulder. As soon as I entered the door, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was immediately on high alert. I quickly reached into my gym bag, pulled out my glock nineteen, and quietly placed the bag on the floor. I did a quick scan of the living room and saw everything was as I’d left it. Still, I knew someone else was there.
I turned right towards the bedroom, letting my gun lead the way. As soon as I nudged the door open, I spotted a pair of black oxfords. I recognized the shoes, but I didn’t lower my gun even as I raised my gaze and allowed my eyes to rake over his entire body. His green eyes glared at me as he sat comfortably on the edge of the bed.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” I asked, sarcastically.
“You weren’t going to shoot without knowing who it was,” Liam answered, completely unbothered.
“How did you get into my room?”
“I own the hotel.” That cocky attitude made me want to smack that half smirk off his face. “You gonna lower the gun?” he asked, standing and staring at the glock still aimed directly at him.
It was my turn to smirk. “I’ll think about it.”
“Coral.”
“What do you want, Li?”
“We need to talk.”
“You said that earlier and my answer still stands. We d—”
“Bullshit.” He cut me off taking a step closer.
“Alright, you want to talk. Let’s talk. How old is your daughter?”
“She’s almost three.”
“What’s her name?”
“Laura.”
“After your grandmother,” I mumbled, but he still heard me.
“Yes, I named her after my grandmother.”
“Where is her mother? You said you were no longer married.”
I watched as Liam visibly swallowed and lowered his lashes briefly. “Michele died of a brain aneurysm a month after giving birth.”
I closed my eyes in a moment of sadness for the little girl who’d lost her mother before she was old enough to have any memory of her. Before I could open my eyes fully, I felt Liam snatch the gun from my grip. I watched as within less than three seconds, he released the magazine, popped the one remaining bullet out of the chamber, and tossed my now useless weapon to the floor. I forgot how damn quick he was as he grabbed both of my arms by the wrists and hoisted them above my head, pushing me back against the wall with his big body.
“Let. me. go.” I seethed.
“No,” he growled just as angry. “You’re too goddamn stubborn for your own good.”
“I have a damn right to be!” I yelled in his face. “You told me you loved me and then you ran off and married someone else and started a whole family.” My anger propelled me to ask the question I’ve wanted to know all these years. “What the hell is that!?”
“I didn’t start a family.”
I simply eyed him like he had lost his mind. “You h
ave a kid with her Liam.”
He sighed. “Just fucking listen. I married Michele not because I wanted to, but for reasons I can’t get into. I was miserable. She knew our marriage was a sham. We hardly lived together the whole two years we were married. It was a marriage for show. One night I was feeling lonely and missing my best friend. One thing lead to another. We had s—”
I cut him off. “Please spare me the details on how you fucked your wife, Li.”
“Dammit, Coral. She and I were only together that one night and Laura is the product. I didn’t mean for....but she’s here and she’s mine.”
I saw the tenderness in his eyes when he mentioned his daughter. It tugged at something deep within me and I felt drawn to him, but I refused to let him see it. I turned my head to look away from him. He was too close. His body pressed up against mine. His familiar scent. All invading my senses. Senses that are were too vulnerable right now.
“Fine. You said what you had to. You can leave now,” I said, trying to free my wrists from his hold, but he only tightened the vice grip he had.
“Look at me.” His voice was low and the command made my nipples harden.
I silently prayed he couldn’t see them through my thin nylon shirt and sports bra.
“Look at me, CeCe.”
Damn. Hearing my nickname on his lips like this sent my lower lips pulsating. I turned my head to look up at him.
“I never loved Michele. Everything I told you in Savannah that night was the God’s honest truth.” He lowered his head and his lips grazed the column of my neck, before he nipped my earlobe. The move sent warmth spreading throughout my entire body. I bit my lower lip to keep from moaning out loud. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
“You should go,” I protested, but the words sounded weak to my own ears.
“I don’t have to be an expert in body language and facial expressions to know you don’t want me to go.” He slid his free hand up my nylon covered thigh and moved over to cup my mound.
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