Julian spoke for the first time and he left no doubt as to his loyalties. “Think twice, Uncle Alden. That woman is my wife and I won’t tolerate her being disrespected by you or anyone else.”
“I’d take his advice if I were you.” All heads turned towards the new voice in the room. There in the doorway stood the center of the controversy, Monica Montclair. “It just so happens that Maya is telling the truth. And more importantly, I know why you did it, Mother.”
Monica was tall, slender and very attractive, wearing the kind of sleek designer outfit that Maya had always envied. She was staring at her mother with a look of angry scorn and her mother looked back with absolute horror on her face. She attempted to faint again, but Monica dared her to try it.
“Cut it out, Mother. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you did to Julian and Maya. And if you don’t stop out the histrionics, I’ll go to church on Sunday morning and tell the whole congregation what you did and why.”
Charmaine stifled a theatrical moan when she saw the glint in her daughter’s eye. “I was just trying to protect you, Monica. I wanted you to have a normal life and I thought you could do that with Julian. You always said he was the only man you’d ever marry, so I thought if I could get Maya to go away, you could be with him and...and...”
“And I wouldn’t be gay anymore. Well, Mother, here’s the news flash: The fact is I’m a lesbian. The only reason I used to say I’d marry Julian is because he’s always known that I’m gay and he accepts me just the way I am. I knew I was an embarrassment to you, but I had no idea how far you’d go to ‘cure’ me. You destroyed their marriage, Mother, just so you could save face. I just hope they have the grace to forgive you someday for what you did. I’m not sure that I can,” she said with a steely edge to her voice.
Her father had taken his arm from around his wife and drawn away from her, staring as though he’d never seen the woman beside him before. “Charmaine, we have a lot of talking to do. But before we can do that you need to beg their pardon, no, their forgiveness for what you did.” He shook his head and continued to look at her like she was a stranger. “I never thought the day would come when I’d be ashamed of anything you did, but that day is here,” he said sadly.
***
When Maya and Julian returned to his father’s house, the cookout was in full swing and Corey had made slaves of all her uncles. She was sitting on Philippe’s lap and Lucien was trying to get her to commit to something. “Come on, darling, who’s the cutest, me or your Uncle Phil?”
Corey looked from one to the other and said with utter sincerity, “My daddy.”
This made Wade, who was manning the grill, burst into laughter. “She’s got you there. She’s a smart little cookie, like me,” he said proudly.
Maya was hesitant about stepping into the yard until Lucien spotted her. “Maya! Come here, baby, and let us look at you. It’s been way too long, sister-in-law. How have you been?” He didn’t wait for an answer; he just swung her up into his arms while Philippe and Wade came over to add their hugs to the melee.
She was in a mild state of shock when all the hugs and kisses were over and the Deveraux men were surrounding her with smiles on their handsome faces. She had been expecting the worst, but she’d gotten the best reception she could have possibly had. Corey tugged at her hand and roused her back to the here and now.
“Mommy, come see what my uncles brought me,” she said happily. “It’s in the house.” Maya went with her gladly; she needed time to put everything together.
As soon as the ladies went into the house, Julian’s brothers converged on him. They all sat around the round wrought-iron table with the glass top and waited for an update. Wade, the most thoughtful, had something to say first. “Julian, she’s a beauty. It’s like she’s a clone of Paris or something. And she already knew who we were,” he marveled. “She knew who we were before Pop introduced us. She could even tell Phil and Lucien apart, man. Even I can’t do that sometimes,” he joked.
Julian waited until the conversation died down before telling his brothers what had transpired at the Montclairs. “Maya told Charmaine off for old and new and Alden got his back up until Monica showed up. She was the reason Charmaine told all those lies to Maya. It was because she wanted to break us up so Monica would marry me,” he said, shaking his head.
Philippe and Lucien looked at each other before speaking as one person. “Hasn’t anybody told her that Monica is a lesbian?”
Julian threw his hands up. “That was the whole point! Charmaine had always had a feeling that something ‘wasn’t right’ about Monica and this was a last-ditch attempt to get her hitched before her ‘shameful secret’ was exposed. Monica used to joke that the only man she would ever marry was me, but her mother didn’t know that she said that because I knew she was gay and I didn’t care. And that’s why when Maya came to me saying I was having an affair with Monica it was so absurd to me.”
Wade muttered something truly vulgar under his breath which Julian nobly ignored. Then he asked what Maya had done when Monica walked in. “Did she freak out or anything?”
“Not at all. I think she realized once and for all that I’d been telling the truth all along when Charmaine passed out. As soon as she laid eyes on Maya she fell out like a dead woman,” he said with a short laugh. “Man, Maya was on fire! I’ve never seen her worked up like that before. My girl has a serious temper,” he said proudly.
Lucien grinned. “Yeah, we heard all about the tomatoes, bro. Corey is quite the little informant. You might want to remember that going forward,” he said with a gleeful grin.
Wade, always the most practical of the brothers, asked the most practical question. “So what happens now? What’s going to happen with you and Maya?”
All eyes turned to Julian, waiting for his answer, but at the moment, he didn’t have one. Maya was standing in the doorway and he went to join her.
Much later that night, Ruth was snug against Mac’s side as they lay in his big bed. “It’s been quite a day,” she murmured. She was stroking his chest, her hand brushing the thick, silky hair. She nestled into his neck and inhaled, loving the clean scent of his skin. “I love the way you smell,” she murmured.
Mac turned so that his leg was curved over her, drawing her closer. “I love you, honey. Are you sure about moving here? I told you I can move to Chicago. I can retire from the bench and set up a practice in Illinois. Or I can retire altogether; I don’t plan to work forever. I don’t want to uproot you and drag you off to Louisiana, away from all your friends,” he said softly, moaning a little because her roaming hand had made its way to a very sensitive spot.
Ruth smiled in the darkness of the room, although she knew he couldn’t see her expression. “Listen, big daddy, I’ve never done anything in my life I didn’t want to do. I love you, love you like crazy: I love this house, I love this city, I love our sons and our daughter and I especially love our granddaughter. I’m not doing anything so spectacular in Chicago that I can’t come here,” she murmured as she turned into his body, rolling so that she was on top of him. Her naked body moved sensuously on his, making his growing erection harder and thicker as she opened her thighs to feel more of him.
“I can’t wait until we’re man and wife,” she confessed. “I want to see my things mixed in with your things, I want to see my clothes hanging in the closet with yours, and I want to go to church with you on Sundays, especially since that Montclair woman had to confess her sins. I’m really looking forward to seeing her pious butt every Sunday morning,” she said with a wicked chuckle. She stopped talking when Mac turned on the bedside lamp. “Why’d you do that, Julian?” She blinked and hid her face in his shoulder against the unexpected light.
“Two reasons,” he told her. “One, so I could find those damned condoms, and the other is so I can look at you. I love to look at you, honey, especially when you’re wearing what you’re wearing.”
‘Tm not wearing anything, Julian. In case you hadn’
t noticed, I don’t have on a single stitch,” she laughed.
“My point exactly. Let’s make love, baby.”
Ruth moved so that she was kneeling over him, kissing his neck, then his shoulders and moving down his chest. She took the condom from his hand and slid it under the pillow. “You won’t need that for a while,” she purred.
Chapter 23
It was hard to say who was having the best time at Paris’s wedding, but Kasey and Corey were having a ball. The reception was outdoors so Kasey was naturally in attendance, wearing a dressy collar that was made like a bow tie. He was quite proud of it, too. All afternoon he would obligingly stop and hold his head back to show it off when asked. And Corey was absolutely beside herself with joy. When they got to Atlanta she was amazed to meet all the Deveraux children and even more amazed that they were related to her. She had turned to her mother with stars in her eyes and exclaimed, “I knew I had uncles but I didn’t know I had so many cousins! We have a big family now, Mommy!”
Maya was trying to avoid tears, but hearing those words from her daughter made the guilt she was feeling rise up like a tidal wave. All the time she’d wasted keeping Corey away from her father and her father’s family seemed selfish in the extreme now. She’d ruined three lives because she was too cowardly and too naive to face down the woman’s lies and now she didn’t know what to do next. When she saw Julian standing up with the rest of his brothers and cousins in the wedding, she felt lost and melancholy, even though the sight of Corey and all her little cousins in their beautiful dresses with the wreaths of flowers in their hair was a joyous experience. Paris had talked to her about it, but like everyone else, she seemed to think there was nothing about the situation that was so unusual it couldn’t be fixed.
“Maya, honey, Julian is still in love with you and you’re still in love with him, so what’s the big deal? You’re still married and you have the greatest little girl in the world and there’s no reason for you not to be together, so what’s the problem?”
The problem was that Julian was acting like everything was fine with him the way it was. True, everyone had been caught up in the wedding preparations, what with showers and bachelor parties and bridesmaid’s parties and traveling to Atlanta, but she thought that at some point they’d sit down and have a conversation. She had no idea what was on his mind, but it didn’t seem like he was terribly interested in putting their marriage back on track. But he was interested in making up for lost time with Corey, and that was just fine with her. She was watching the two of them on the dance floor, with Corey standing on her father’s feet as Julian danced her around the room. It was like watching one of those sappily sweet camera commercials or something and it was completely adorable. When the number was over, Corey ran off to play with her cousins and Maya had to duck her head to avoid crying in earnest.
Everything was so beautiful, the wedding had been perfect and the reception was so well-planned and executed. She wondered idly what it would have been like to have a real wedding instead of eloping the way she and Julian had. Lost in thought, she wasn’t aware of Julian’s presence until he touched her, putting his hand on her bare shoulder.
“Hello, Chocolat. You look gorgeous. You look like you should be the bride,” he told her. “We should have had a big wedding, Maya. You would’ve looked so beautiful walking down the aisle,” he said in the sexy voice that drove her crazy.
Now she really had to work to keep the tears down. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Suddenly he leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Corey is going home with Malcolm and Selena, if that’s okay with you. Their girls are having a slumber party with all the cousins and they’re begging for Corey to come, too.”
Maya was touched and said of course, it was fine with her.
“Good, now will you come with me? Please?” Julian asked.
With wonder and hope in her eyes, Maya said she would. He took her hand and held it the rest of the evening.
After the reception began winding down, after the bouquet had been tossed and caught by Ruth and the garter by Mac, Julian made his move. He grabbed Maya by the hand and said they were getting out of there. He took her to their daughter first, so she could say goodnight. Corey held up her arms for a kiss and Maya stooped down to give her a tight hug and a big kiss.
“Mommy, I love you. I’m having so much fun. I like having a big family,” she said. “Can we stay in N’awlins forever?”
Maya’s could feel her eyes tear up and she darted a look at Julian, who didn’t seem to have heard the remark because he was busy getting his own hugs from his little girl. When her cousins Amariee, Jilleyin and Jasmine had come to get Corey, Julian took Maya’s hand again and they headed out. They went quickly to a limousine that was waiting at the entrance to the venue where the reception was being held and in minutes they were on their way. Maya looked out the tinted window of the luxury car and asked where they were going.
“Do you trust me, Maya?” Julian asked.
“Yes, I do. Of course I do,” Maya said in surprise.
“Then relax and enjoy the ride, sweetness.”
Maya surprised him by taking at his word. She went into his arms willingly and eagerly, holding onto him while he made her comfortable in his lap. She put her face in the crook of his neck and nestled into him with a soft little sigh. They didn’t really talk; they just held each other until they reached their destination, the Atlanta W Hotel.
As with all W hotels, check-in was quick and efficient. They were taken to their suite, where to Maya’s shock there was an array of surprises just for her. There were two bottles of nonalcoholic passion fruit spumante chilling in a big ice bucket on a stand, a room service cart with a delicious-looking array of hors d’oeuvres, and pastries and a box of Belgian chocolates. There was also a delicate, very expensive-looking peignoir with a matching gown arranged on the bed. Maya walked around looking at everything like a child in a toy store until Julian reached for her. “Do you like this, Maya? I wanted to surprise you.”
Maya’s arms went around his neck and she stood on tiptoe to reach his lips. “I am surprised, Julian. Very surprised,” she whispered as their lips connected. The kiss was long and tender, but the passion that had always flowed between them was still there. Julian gripped her waist and lifted her up so their faces were on the same level and her shoes slipped off her feet one at a time. He gradually lowered her to the floor with excruciating care, so slowly that she could feel his arousal and it gave her a thrill she hadn’t felt since the last time she was in his arms.
“Wow,” she whispered.
Julian took her by the hand and led her over to the sofa. She was about to sit down when he surprised her again by turning her around and looking at her as though he’d never seen her before. “I can’t get over how pretty you look. You look like a page out of Vogue or Essence or something, Maya. So beautiful,” he said reverently.
She put both hands to her cheeks, which were pleasantly warm from his compliments. Her dress was quite lovely; it was a strapless pale pink silk organza with atight-fitting bodice and a full skirt that flirted around her knees to show off her long, shapely legs. Her shoes, before they’d slipped off in the wake of their kiss, were delicate open-toed pumps with a four inch heel in a soft pink with a flower on the toe. Her hair was in a loose updo with curling tendrils that caressed her neck and face and her only jewelry was a pair of diamond studs and a thin gold chain with a perfect diamond in its center. Both of them had been a gift from Julian on their first Valentine’s Day together and the sight of them against her baby-soft dark skin made him smile.
“You look very handsome, too,” she told him. “There’s something about a beautiful man in a tailored tuxedo that makes women melt.”
“Don’t do that,” he said in mock alarm. “Not unless you do it on me. Come here, baby.”
He sat down on the sofa and pulled her into his lap. He looked at her with eyes made hot with desire before cupping her face and taking her
mouth in a long, hot kiss. This one was slow and thorough, their tongues and lips coming alive with remembered bliss. Julian tasted Maya’s sweetness and moaned with pleasure as they kissed longer and harder. They kissed for a long time, their hands caressing each other’s faces, the fragrance of Maya’s light perfume surrounding them and creating an intimate cocoon from which neither of them wanted to escape.
“Maya, I love you,” he breathed. “I’ve been in love with you since the day we met and I’ll love you until the day I die. The only person I could love as much as I love you is our baby and I have to tell you, Maya, I’m greedy. I want another one, baby. I want as many as you’ll have because they’ll all be as beautiful and incredible as you are. I’ll move to Chicago if you want me to, I don’t care where we live, but you have to give us another chance. Can you do that, sweetheart? Can you give us a chance to be a family, you and Corey and me?”
He was kissing and licking her neck while he made his impassioned plea and she was giggling and moaning with pleasure while he talked. “Julian, umm, that feels so good!” she sighed. “Julian, I have a job,” she said. “Ooh, do that again,” she pleaded shamelessly.
“I know you have a job, baby, that’s why I’ll move to Chicago,” he told her as he plundered her collarbone, licking down into her cleavage.
She moaned again, trembling a little when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. “No, Julian, I got a job in New Orleans. I don’t want to leave Louisiana. I love it there because you and your family are there and our baby loves it there. I want us to be a family right there where it all began. We made our baby in New Orleans, what better place to raise her?”
Julian was stunned into silence by her admission, but not for long. “Chocolat, I want to get married again. I want us to have a real wedding this time, can we do that? I bought you a ring and everything.”
Before the Storm (The Cochran/Deveraux Series Book 9) Page 23