It took only twenty minutes to drive from Flatline to Abernathy, and when she arrived at Bradley’s she didn’t give him the chance to hide from her. Instead, she used the key he gave her when he had first moved there.
He showed not a flicker of surprise as she came barreling in. Instead, he lifted a bottle of Vodka to his lips.
“What the fuck is going on with you, Brad?” she asked without preamble. “None of this is like you. You steal my note, and my SIM card, making me think he snuck away. As soon as we get home, you get all pissed off at me for calling you the name you’ve gone by your entire life. I know you, and this is not you.”
He slammed the bottle down with enough force that she jumped expecting it to shatter, but it didn’t.
“Take a look around, Flower. You don’t know a goddamn thing about me.”
When she only stared at him, shocked by the level of his fury, he yelled. “Look!” and obediently she did. She glanced around the room, unsure of what she was supposed to be seeing, but then it hit her. In her confusion, she began to move from room to room inspecting each one, even going as far as opening each one of the closets. He stood silently waiting on her to finish. There was nothing of the Bradley she knew. There were no dresses, wigs, or makeup. It was a man’s home. One room was filled with exercise equipment, there were dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, and the toilet seat was up. There was an empty pizza box on the countertop that must have been there since before they left for Tennessee, and the only thing in his fridge was a six-pack of beer. She always knew Bradley wasn’t gay, and up until she learned about his stint at The Queen of Diamonds she never believed him to be effeminate—even in a dress he wasn’t, but there should have been something of that lifestyle filling his home. There was nothing.
“I don’t understand,” she mumbled.
He closed his eyes, running both hands through his hair before reaching into his back pocket. Pulling out his wallet, he handed it to her. She eyed him in confusion before flipping it open. She looked down at what she held in her hand, finally saying numbly, “You work for the F.B.I.?”
“The Queen of Diamonds is under investigation for drug trafficking and solicitation. I’ve been working undercover for months now trying to gather enough evidence to bring charges against the club’s owner; Chad Williams.”
The depth of his betrayal began to sink in as she realized that not only had he stolen her stuff, he had been lying about his job for years. It got even worse when she thought about the fact that his job at The Queen of Diamonds, his hiring her for the gala, and his interest in her clothing-line all started around the same time Chad drove his Porsche back into town and picked up his pursuit her as if he never left. Did she mean anything at all to him, or was it all a lie?
She set his wallet down gently on the countertop before shoving both hands in her pockets. She stared down at the toes of her shoes and the pain he saw in her eyes before she looked down made his chest ache. He never set out to lie to her or involve her in any way. It was just one of those things that started out small and seemed harmless at first, but it grew into something huge and out of control. When she remained silent and refused to meet his eyes, he begged. “Please say something?”
She finally looked up, meeting his eyes; hers were filled with tears. “Why? Why make me believe that you changed your whole lifestyle? Why ask me to make your dresses, and just everything, why?”
“Because I’m stupid, because I can’t stay away, because I don’t know. Take your pick,” he moved in closer, running his fingers along her cheek before burying his hand in her hair. “Because I’m so in love with you that it makes me blind to consequences. It makes me not care what happens to anyone else in the world so long as you are happy, and you have all that you need; so long as you are with me.”
A tear fell from the corner of her eye. He couldn’t stand it any longer. Lowering his head, he set his mouth over hers. She reached up, gripping his shirt with both hands, and his heart soared with triumph. He nipped lightly at her bottom lip and she allowed him in. He swore that the world tipped on its edge with the power of his love, and he forced himself to back off an inch to keep from attacking her. When he pulled away, his ragged breathing sounded loud in the otherwise silent room. Flower stared at some point below his chin.
Flower took a step back. When she dropped her gaze back to the floor, his heart missed a beat. Even if she didn’t know him any longer, he knew her, and he knew that look. With shaking hands, she pulled her keys out of her pocket and unwound his from the chain before setting it next to his wallet. Her fingers lingered above it for a moment, as if she were saying a silent goodbye.
“I would have done anything for you,” her voice came out small, like a child’s. “I feel like I have accepted you in every way. I would have happily spent the rest of my life with you even though you were living as a woman,” she paused, closing her eyes for a second; another tear fell from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. “I love you that much. Years, Bradley,” she threw her hand up as if erasing her last statement. “I mean Brad. There were years you could have told me the truth. Did you think I couldn’t keep it to myself? No, don’t answer that because it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m done. I’m done with not having a single solitary person who wants to put me up on that kind of pedestal. I love you so much that I was thinking I wouldn’t mind a life too much where I designed the dresses and you wore them. What kind of crazy person does that make me? Don’t answer that one either. But you know what?”
He shook his head, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to answer that one either. “I might be crazy, but I’m not a liar, and I wouldn’t have done that to you for anything in the world, even my business.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Something very odd was going on. The same police officer in charge of releasing Bob in Nashville was now holding them for questioning in Abernathy, Texas. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she wasn’t some police flunky that pushed paperwork around for a living, but no matter how he looked at things, they didn’t make sense.
“How much longer are we going to be here?” Shannon asked, shifting around uncomfortably in his seat. Genie Cook looked up from the file she was reading and assessed him with her light-blue eyes while pushing a few strands of blonde hair behind her ear. She clicked the end of her ink pen drawing out the silence in an obvious attempt to get underneath his skin. When he only continued watching her, refusing to be baited, she sighed. “We’re waiting on the rest of my team to arrive.”
“And how much longer will that be?”
“We’re here,” said a male voice behind him, and Shannon turned in his chair to see Bradley coming through the door followed by another man that looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place where he’d seen him before.
“Mr. Smith,” said Bradley. “How good to see you again,” he sounded like he meant the exact opposite, but Shannon still smiled brightly. “Bradley.”
He turned to the other man in the room, no longer able to withstand the curiosity. “Have we met before?”
He held out his hand for Shannon to shake. “Agent Steven Alfred F.B.I., uh, Candy.”
It was as if a light switch were thrown on. “Oh, I see it now. Nice watch by the way, is that a Rolex?” Steven pulled his sleeve down uncomfortably, covering the watch.
Wanting to bring all attention back to him, Bradley cleared his throat. “How well do you know Chad Williams?”
Shannon felt his confusion grow. “Who?”
Instead of answering his question Bradley asked, “Who hired you to work security for The Queen of Diamonds’ events?”
Shannon’s confusion cleared. “Their events coordinator, Levi Whitcomb.”
Bradley and Steven both nodded as if he confirmed something in their minds. “Is Flower in on this too?”
Bradley kept his eyes glued to his paperwork as he answered. “Flower Calloway has no bearing on this situation beyond having the bad luck to b
e hired by The Queen of Diamonds, a common trait you share, I believe,” he snapped his file closed, scraping the legs of his chair across the floor as he stood. “You’re free to go Mr. Smith. Thank you for your cooperation.”
He jumped to his feet, following closely on Bradley’s heels. “I think you owe me an explanation, especially since my company has lost a lot of money on this.”
Bradley paused and waited for Shannon to fall into step beside him. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors by now, and as far as we can tell they are all true. We just need to be able to prove it in court. As I said earlier, you suffered the bad luck of being hired by them for a job, but we have to check out everyone involved.”
“Even Flower?” Shannon probed, trying to goad Bradley into showing some side of him other than the asshole one. Flower’s name brought Bradley to a halt once more, and he ran his hands through his hair. “I hired Flower so there was never a question of her being involved.”
Shannon stared at him in horrified fascination, much as you would a train wreck. “Um, Did she realize it was an act all along?”
When Bradley remained silent, Shannon was pretty sure he just witnessed someone being killed in that train wreck.
“I just enjoyed a very strange run in down at the police station with three of the F.B.I’s finest.” Shannon said as he walked through the door of Flower’s boutique. He looked around. “This is a nice place.”
“How nice to see you too Shannon. How have you been?” she asked, hiding a smile. He was a strange one. Always popping up, as if he knew her his entire life.
“I’m doing great with the exception of losing a shitload of money on this trip on expenses. Your assistant, Bertha or Betty; something along those lines, was nice enough to give me directions and let me know you were in today.”
“Betsy will be thrilled you found the place.”
He leaned across the counter, crossing his arms, watching her open her mail. “So several years, huh?”
She slammed down her letter opener. Blushing hotly, she waved both hands in front of her face. “Oh lord,” she groaned. “I’ll never live that one down.”
He laughed loudly at her discomfort but then sobered. “How mad are you at Bradley?”
“He lied, for years. I thought he was an accountant during the day, an Accountant for God’s sake.”
“Just for the record, I can’t believe I’m saying this since I’m talking at cross-purposes here, but it seems to me like this guy hung around a long time not lying to you, and you didn’t notice him then. But just as soon as you do take a notice in the man and he does something wrong, you dropped him like a hot potato, and he was only doing his job. I mean, can you imagine having to make your entire hometown believe you’ve decided to live your life as a drag queen?” he snorted. “That had to suck,” he drew out the last word emphasizing his feelings on the matter.
She looked down at her hands uncomfortably, but he wasn’t finished. “This man has probably been in love with you his whole life, and he was forced to convince you he wanted to be a woman, and he still managed to make you fall in love with him along the way. You have to cut that man a break. He’s good.”
Flower let a bark of laughter escape. He was good.
“What makes you think I’m in love with him?”
“I’m good too.”
“Of that,” she said dryly. “I have no doubt.”
Bradley paced the floor, wearing a hole in the rug, as he tried to call Flower for the thousandth time. Her phone went straight to voicemail, and he started to leave yet another message when someone knocked on the door. He moved to answer it with the phone still pressed to his ear. He opened it to find Flower standing there, and he let the phone fall to his side. She was twisting her hands as if unsure of her welcome, but she pressed on showing her usual bravery. “So how about this one? What if I just get a tattoo of your name, and then I’ll never be able to undress in front of anyone else ever again, because they’d all be like, who’s Bradley? I mean, Brad.”
He wanted to throw his arms wide and crow out loud but instead said, “Bradley’s fine, and you’re not going to undress in front of anyone else anyways. You’re too self-conscious.” And, he added silently, she belonged to him and he would kill them.
“Yeah, that’s probably the donuts,” she admitted.
“No. Your body is perfect. It’s more likely because crazy old aunt Millie told you that if anyone ever saw your hoo-ha you’d end up dead in some godforsaken foreign country just like your parents.”
“There’s that too.”
“Do you want to come in?” he asked, stepping back so she could pass.She pointed at the phone that still hung loosely at his side. “Do you need to finish your call?”
He looked down at the phone and threw it in the general direction of the couch. “I was calling you.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I still haven’t put my SIM card back in my phone yet. It’s been kind of peaceful without it.”
He winced at the mention of her phone. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be, I’m not. If you hadn’t taken that card out, I would not have gotten to enjoy a few days off work. Everyone would have been bombarding me with questions as usual.”
He wanted to laugh at her blowing off his bad deeds, but he wasn’t going to let her gloss them over. “You know as well as I do that’s not why I took it. On that note, there are a few things I need to clear up.”
Walking over to his phone, he popped off the back and pulled out his own SIM card. Reaching over, he tucked it into Flower’s front pocket. “You have always been on a pedestal with me. I could have stayed here in Abernathy throughout the entire investigation and no one ever needed to know that I was dressing up as a woman, but I knew the queens would love your fashion line. By the way, for the most part the majority of the queens are good people.”
“You humiliated yourself in front of your sisters and your entire hometown so I could sell some dresses?”
He shrugged. “My sisters already thought the worst of me; I only confirmed things in their minds. I know what I did was wrong, but there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“I’m not letting you off the hook, if that’s what you’re thinking. As a matter of fact I’m sinking the hook in a little further.”
He shifted uncomfortably at her words since that didn’t sound at all good. It sounded a lot like he was about to get lambasted again. She twisted her hands again, and his eyes fixed on them. She was nervous, and everything was his fault so he would stand here and listen to whatever she needed to say to him then he would go see her tomorrow just so he could hear it again and then again the day after that then so on and so on until she felt like he endured enough penance. Then maybe, just maybe, she would give him another chance with no lies left between them.
“I’ve decided there really is only one way you can make this up to me.”
One way? That sounded shorter than his plan—shorter was better. “What’s that?”
“Well, after thinking about the past few years, I’ve decided the only thing you did that really hurt me was making me have to live without you. The only way you can truly make that up to me is to marry me.”
“Come again?” he asked, completely floored.
“It’s the answer to everything. Plus I just really want to be married to you.”
“Are you shitting me?” he asked through numb lips.
She started twisting her fingers again, and all the feeling returned to his extremities as he realized she really was serious. She wanted to marry him, and wouldn’t you know it, he wanted to marry her too. “You’re right. I’ll never learn my lesson unless you marry me. I think it should be soon too. Like tomorrow. I think you need to start punishing me right away.”
“You think of being married to me as punishment?”
He nodded at her question. “Uh-huh, I think you should spank me too.”
She reached out pinching his side until he twisted away. “Okay, ow ow. I w
as joking.”
He snagged her hand pulling her flush against him. “I was serious about marrying you tomorrow though. I’m not letting you slip away from me again. I’ve spent too many years secretly wishing you were mine for that.”
A dreamy look appeared on her face. “Really?”
“Good grief, what the hell is wrong with you woman? Are you blind?”
“You know better than anyone that there is a four-eyed little girl inside of me,” she joked. He dropped his forehead to hers and stared down into her eyes. “I know no such thing. You’ve always been perfect to me.”
THE END
AUTHOR BOOKSHELF
A Secure Heart
A Splash of Hope
Ace
Being his Favorite
Blue Cheesecake
Bryant
Danger Undercover
Double the Sin
Lust & Longing
Of Ghosts and Dreams
Paul
Sarah’s Dirty Secret
The-Adonis
The Agent
The Assassin
The Assignment
The Danger with Sinners
The Informant
The Society of Sinners
Undefeated
Walt
Wicked Sinners
Sinners of Water & Fire
The Sexy & The Undead
The Sinners- The Boxed Set
Wanted: Hexed or Alive
His Favorite Everything
The Pixie & The Prince
Tasting Temptation
The Wizard & The Wanton
Bound
Incurably Wicked
Sexy Witches
Bedroom Games
Chained by Desire
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charity Parkerson is an award winning and multi-published author with Ellora's Cave Publishing, Midnight Books, and Punk & Sissy Publications. Born with no filter from her brain to her mouth, she decided to take this odd quirk and insert it in her characters.
Secured Undercover Page 5