Damen (The Marquette Family Book Two)

by Lockwood, Tressie

  Heaven felt no compulsion whatsoever to meet with Shada and satisfy her curiosity, but she found herself agreeing anyway. Rather than sort through her thoughts trying to read her motivations, she went with it.

  “Gideon’s in school until three, but then I have to pick him up. If you’ve got time before that, fine.”

  “I’ll make the time. Someone can cover for me. How about Café du Monde? Want to meet there?”

  “Whatever. One thirty?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Heaven spent the morning nervous as hell about the meeting with Shada. She couldn’t concentrate on work and ended up feigning sickness sooner than she intended to. The college she worked for on the West Bank was far enough from the café that she had to catch a bus, and when she left the campus, she just made it to the stop on time. Damen had pushed for her to get a bodyguard, but she had informed him she had no intention of having her steps dogged by some Neanderthal who lived to crack skulls. In truth, she had gotten to know Guy enough to know he wasn’t depraved, but because he protected Damen she was forced to get to know him better.

  As she got off the bus, she thought of Damen’s other, more important suggestion. He called it a suggestion. She called it emotional blackmail, but she understood where he was coming from. Damen wanted Gideon to attend a private school, the same one Nita attended, where security was much tighter. Right now, they took Gideon to school and picked him up. The two of them together had spoken with the principal about Gideon, and no one, including their son, wanted the boy to have a personal bodyguard sitting in the classroom with him. Talk about ruining his chances to make genuine friends.

  None of it seemed real since she came from a middle class background, but the sooner she decided the better. The school year had just begun, and they were in a brand new city. Gideon hadn’t made close friends yet or gotten used to the school. Still, did she really have to yank him out and put him with rich kids? What if Damen changed his mind and withdrew from Gideon’s life? Common sense told her Gideon was his son no matter what. If one day, they stopped growing closer—which would break her and her son’s heart—people with bad intentions wouldn’t care. Gideon was Damen’s. Period.

  Heaven passed in front of the café’s window and spotted Shada on the other side. Butterflies stirred in her stomach, but she raised her chin and opened the door. A pastry and a cup of coffee sat before Shada, but it looked like she had left off consuming either.

  “I got here early,” she explained. “You can grab something if you want. I’ll wait.”

  “No, I’m fine.” Heaven’s appetite had vanished as soon as the café came into view. She sat across from Shada. “What do you want to know?”

  “First the obvious. Is Gideon Damen’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do we know that?”

  “We don’t need to know it. Damen does. I do.”

  “Do you have proof?” The interrogation was beginning to rankle Heaven’s nerves.

  “I’ll be glad to let Damen get a paternity test if he asks for one. He hasn’t.”

  Distracted, Shada took a sip of the coffee and frowned. “Crap, I let it get cold. Well, I’m used to Marquette’s food, and I guess I’m partial either way.”

  “Yeah, I bet.”

  Shada eyed her.

  “Rumor has it you’re playing games with Creed, or is it back on with you two?”

  “I’m not playing games with him! You don’t know anything about me.”

  Heaven tilted her head to the side. “Oh, that’s funny because you seemed happy enough to pretend you know me. And you thought it was fine to call me out here questioning me about something that’s none of your business.”

  “When it comes to Creed, it is my business. We might have our issues, but I love him. He’s worried about Damen, and that makes me worry about him. I figured as a woman, I could feel you out and see if you’re the gold-digger Creed thinks you are.”

  “Maybe you’re the gold-digger,” Heaven pushed through clenched teeth. “Anybody can say they love someone, and you wouldn’t be the first.”

  “I’m not on trial.”

  “Neither am I!”

  Shada sat back and folded her arms over her chest. “This is all about Damen and his son. You’re getting nothing out of it?”

  Heaven sighed. “I’m tired of justifying myself to you. Why are you tormenting Creed?”

  “Excuse me?”

  Heaven leaned forward. “You heard me. When I worked at Marquette’s, I saw the way he looked at you. I would give— He had this look like…I don’t know. He loves you a lot. That’s rare, and you need to think about it. If he loves you even half as much as I think he does, it’s killing him to be apart from you. Every day he has to wake up alone.”

  The fire had gone out of Shada’s eyes, but she tried to dredge it up again and failed. “You don’t know what I’ve been through.”

  “No, I don’t, but I know what Creed’s been through.”

  Shada brown eyes blazed in anger. “Excuse me?”

  “Their dad used to hit Creed, and he took it to protect his brothers. You said he’s worried about Damen. Creed had to stand at the top and take the abuse. His mother wasn’t there for him, and Damen and Stefan couldn’t help him the way he needed it. Who does he have now, Shada? You? No, you’re too busy jerking him around running away, and worrying about whatever it is in your own past. Do you know how much it kills a person to have someone you love reject you?”

  “You had someone do that?” Shada said in a low voice.

  Heaven heaved a sigh. “It doesn’t matter. Gideon is Damen’s. To bring peace to their family, I’m going to push Damen to take the paternity test. Then maybe Creed will back off, but you should concentrate on yourself.”

  Heaven stood and turned away, but Shada grabbed her arm. “Wait, you’re really going to do that?”

  “Yeah, why not? It’s what you all want, isn’t it?”

  Shada smiled for the first time. “Well, I guess if it was me, I’d tell everybody to kiss my ass and I’m not proving anything. Unless of course it would mean the difference between getting what my son needed and not. Listen to me. Now I sound like I’m on your side. From where you stand, you don’t have to prove it. Damen is offering you a lot more than just child support.”

  “Oh, you heard that too? Yes, he asked me to marry him.”

  “Damen and I have never gotten along, but I hear his ex-wife hurt him bad. If you’re expecting to seduce him into falling in love with you, girlfriend, forget it. I think his heart is still taken.”

  Heaven swung away, putting her back to Shada. “I know.”

  She started forward, but Shada caught her again and walked around to block her path. “Oh damn, you love him, don’t you? You actually love that fool Damen. Who’da thunk it?”

  “I respect—”

  “Save it, girl.” Shada waved her hand. “Your secret is out, and now that I’m not angry anymore, I can see it written all over your face.”

  “Thanks. You’re all heart.”

  Shada grinned. “Well, I still don’t want to get married, but hey, I’m not against other people doing it if they feel it’s right for them. He asked you. Why don’t you do it? You get to enjoy the man you love. I can’t say how it will go because for real, Damen is weird. I don’t know anyone who gets the way his mind works. You might be happy, even if it lasts for one day.”

  “Right back at you.”

  Shada shook her head. “Different circumstances all together.”

  “If you say so.”

  They walked together outside to the street, and Heaven couldn’t say they had become friends in that short amount of time. They did understand each other a little better. Who knew if it would stick after Shada talked to Creed again. Despite Creed’s attitude toward her, she hoped it would work between him and Shada.

  “Let me give you a ride,” Shada offered when a car pulled up to the curb, and she strode over to it.

  Heaven
peered through the windshield, another big guy, less threatening than Guy, but he didn’t give her the warm and fuzzies either. She recognized him as Creed’s bodyguard, Pete. Shada must be borrowing him while Creed was at the restaurant. She seemed to take it in stride, but then again, she had been with Creed longer.

  “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

  Shada scanned the area with a frown. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Please tell Creed he doesn’t have to worry about Damen when it comes to me. None of you do.” Before Shada could say more, she turned on her heel and strode off. She would keep her word, and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind she could convince Damen to take the test and put everybody’s mind to rest.

  Some of the family would probably still see her as an opportunist, but so what. So long as Damen knew the truth, and Gideon was happy. What the others thought of her didn’t matter.

  Rather than head back to her apartment or take a taxi to Damen’s house, Heaven decided to walk over to the French Market, which wasn’t that far. She headed under the arch and along the aisle of vendors sharing their wares on either side of her. A table caught her attention, covered with a red cloth and atop that stacks of small alligator heads. Heaven cringed.

  “They’re real,” the seller assured her and held up one as if she cared. Heaven tried to force a polite smile, but it stuck, and she spun away.

  Um, hell no.

  She moved on the to the grate with fuzzy masks attached to it and ran a fingertip over the soft creations. The “aww” she was about to utter died at the skull masks next to the kitty ones. That was New Orleans, she figured.

  Heaven was about to continue on to the area where she could buy fruit when someone grabbed her arm from behind. She looked around, and went cold.

  “Did you think I would give up, Heaven?”

  She tried to tug her arm away and failed. “Why are you still here, Leon?”

  He sneered. “Why do you think? To get you to come to your senses.”

  “I don’t need to come to my senses. We’re done, and I told you so before I left.”

  “You mean over text while you were on the plane?”

  “For my own safety because you don’t know how to keep your hands to yourself.” She pulled at her arm. “Get off me, Leon.”

  “Or what?” He leaned closer, and she bent backward away from him. His hold tightened.

  “Young man, can’t you see this lady doesn’t want you bothering her?”

  They both turned to see an old woman at least eighty glaring at Leon. He flared his nostrils. “Back off, Grandma, before you get hurt. This is my girlfriend, and we’re having a conversation.”

  Heaven shoved at his chest, which did nothing, and he spun on his heel to propel her back through the arch. The crowd swallowed the old lady, and Heaven looked around for anybody that might help. No one seemed to notice, but she didn’t expect them to, and she didn’t cry out because fear shut her throat. She was used to Leon’s manhandling and threatening her to keep her mouth shut.

  Leon shoved her toward a bench at the end of the pavilion. “Sit down.”

  Heaven hesitated, but he squeezed her shoulder and forced her downward. Her knees gave, and she dropped onto the bench. She blinked over and over and chewed her bottom lip while staring straight ahead. Leon sat beside her, and she felt his angry gaze.

  “You better not cry,” he threatened. “I had to chase you all the way down here and take time off from work. It’s not easy to find something else here either.”

  She gaped at him. “You’re not moving to New Orleans?”

  “Why not? You’re here.” He grasped her arm again and held it too tight in his meaty grip. “Heaven, you know I love you, right? Come on, girl, we’re good together. Forget that dumbass white guy. You messed up getting with him years ago, but you were young and stupid then. Stay with your own kind—me.”

  “Human is my own kind,” she quipped before she caught herself. “It has nothing to do with the color of my skin.”

  He pointed a finger in her face, and she braced for a smack. None came. “You like to push me, Heaven, but I’m going to prove how I feel.”

  She looked at him, scared of what he meant. Surely, he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Damen. As Leon dug around in his pockets, rattling keys in his search, she watched him. A slow dread built up in her chest, and she wished more than anything she could go back in time and accept Shada’s offer of a ride. If she had, she would be safely behind a locked door by now.

  “Got it,” Leon declared and pulled his hand from his pocket. Heaven’s mouth fell open at the ring with the tiny diamond set in the middle. The piece looked real, and from the pride in Leon’s expression, she guessed it was.

  “No,” she whispered.

  He didn’t appear to have heard her. Leon grabbed her hand and shoved the ring onto her finger, almost breaking it in the process. Heaven cried out, and the pressure eased, but it didn’t stop him from moving the ring over her knuckle and settling it into place.

  “Now, we can get married. We talked about it, remember?”

  Hypothetical, she thought, before she had gotten a grip, and before the abuse had gotten too bad to endure. Heaven shook her head. She tried to retrieve her hand so she could snatch the ring off, but Leon wouldn’t let go. “I told you that’s not what I want, Leon. You don’t listen to me.”

  “Because you don’t know what you want.”

  “I know what I want,” she insisted, “and it’s not you. We broke up.”

  “No!” He looked over his shoulder, for the first time concerned about someone overhearing. Then he faced her, laying a hand on her jaw. His big hand engulfed her face, suffocating her without covering her mouth. She couldn’t breathe for fear and the threat of his violence. Leon would never take it that far in public, but he had hurt her often enough in private he was able to use subtle touches to communicate what would happen later. In that way, he maintained control of her when other people were around.

  Heaven didn’t move. She imagined to anyone several feet away, she and Leon looked like a happy couple, her man caressing her face and holding her hand. All the old feelings washed over her, and the small ring was a boulder crushing her fingers and her heart.

  “Heaven, be realistic. I mean you lived a fantasy for a while, right? Pretending you were going to get with that rich guy, but seriously, why should he be with a black girl like you?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

  “No, you’re smart and everything, but a black girl? Maybe to fuck but not to get serious over. So you had his son. Who cares? He probably looks at it like a mistake, and from the way all those people acted at that restaurant, I bet every one of them feels the same way, especially his family.”

  Heaven blinked.

  “Yeah, that’s right. I looked them up. The Marquettes.” Leon spit on the ground. “What kind of stupid name is that?”

  “I love their name.”

  “Why because you think it’s going to be yours? Or hell, your son’s?” He laughed. “Wake up. Maybe you’re not as smart as I thought you were. If that guy’s being nice to you it’s because he just wants to fuck you.”

  Leon appeared ready to destroy something with the thought alone.

  “It’ll wear off,” he growled, “and then you and your son are going to find yourselves on the street. He’ll use some high-powered lawyer to force you to back off, like get you fired and your reputation ruined so you can’t find work until you sign something that says you’ll keep your mouth shut about the kid.”

  She started to shake. “Damen wouldn’t do that.”

  “What about the other one? What’s his name? That mean guy who was at the restaurant. Fuck, even I got a little nervous when he turned all cold and snobby like rich people do.”

  Heaven didn’t say anything. She dropped her chin against her chest, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Leon’s hold on her hand tightened, and she gasped.

  “I told you don’t cry out
here,” he snapped and squeezed harder. How did he expect her not to cry when he hurt her like this?

  “I’m s-sorry.”

  Leon leaned closer to her, bringing their faces within inches of each other. “I see I’m going to have to take you home and beat your ass for you to learn.”

  “N-no.”

  “You didn’t just tell me no, did you?”

  Words escaped her.

  “Is that what you want, Heaven? You want me to beat your ass? You remember, right? Maybe I need to remind you because you’ve been down here a few weeks, and you got stupid. Your son’s in school, so I’ve got plenty of time.”

  Make a scene. You’re not a victim anymore, Heaven. You’re strong. Fight back!

  Leon dragged her to her feet, and he shuffled her in the direction of the lot next to French Market. She spotted his car before they reached it. He must have driven down, and even before they reached the vehicle, she caught site of boxes in the backseat. A sense of hopelessness washed over her. He really was planning to move to New Orleans.

  At the passenger side of the car, she hung back. “No, I’m not going anywhere with you, Leon, and I don’t want your ring.”

  He had released her hand to remove the car keys from his pocket, and when he did, she started to take off the ring. Leon brought a fist down atop hers and slammed left arm against the side of the car. She cried out. He pressed his length along hers. Bile rose in her throat.

  “Try to take that ring off and see what I do, right out here, and I don’t care who sees it.”

  Heaven clutched her arm and sobbed. She was beyond control and past figuring out how to get away. There were no weapons in her purse, and even as she looked down at it, her arm started to swell. Leon banged the flat of a palm on the roof of the car, giving her an eyeful of the massive, tight muscles of his arm. Flexed, his biceps were as big as her head. Mentally, she curled in on herself, but she knew she couldn’t get in the car. Never again.

  “I hate you,” she whispered. “I never really hated my dad even after he got me to leave Damen, but I hate you, Leon. I might not be the kind of person that will rise up and fight physically, but I do it in my own way. I’m not going. You’re going to have to beat me right here and risk getting caught. I won’t ever be with you again.”