by J. E. Parker
Not a chance in hell.
I climbed the rickety porch steps and stepped inside. The doorframe was small, and I almost had to turn sideways to fit through it. When I moved through the threshold, the smell of food cooking hit me square in the gut. “Damn, baby,” I moaned. “Something smells good.”
Walking into the tiny kitchen that bordered the small but spotless living area, she looked over her shoulder and tossed another heart-stopping smile my way. “I wasn’t sure what you like to eat so I went with one of my favorites.” She winked as she pulled the oven door open and peeked inside. “Promise you’ll love it though.”
I didn't doubt that.
Holding out the pink bakery box that I held in my left hand, I moved into the kitchen and placed it on the small, wooden two-person dinette set that sat perched below a tiny window. “I was going to bring you flowers, but something told me you weren’t a flower kind of girl.” Pointing at the box, I continued, “So I brought dessert instead.”
Shelby’s entire face lit up. “Smart move, bringing dessert. I may be a girl, but I like to eat. Course, all it takes is one look at my butt to see that.” She chuckled and moved over to stand beside me. Flipping open the box she looked down at the contents. “Oh good Lord!” She squealed, throwing her hands up in the air. “You brought red velvet cake!” My chest warmed at her excitement. “That’s my favorite!” Turning to face me, she smacked me on the chest playfully. “Good job, Detective Moretti. You just scored a handful of bonus points.”
She turned around and walked to the fridge. Opening it, she pulled out a pitcher of tea and sat it on the counter. “Yeah?” I asked, my eyes never deviating from her. “And what can I do with those bonus points?”
Pulling down two glasses from the cabinet, she placed them on the worn countertop before filling them with tea from the pitcher. Then she shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe if you score enough, I’ll make you dinner again.” Her shoulders seemed to tense at her words. “That’s if you want me to. I mean—”
“Shelby”—I cut her off—“you can make me dinner anytime you want. Though after tonight I’d like for you to let me reciprocate.”
She set the pitcher back down with a clunk. Turning around, she looked at me with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean?”
It was my turn to smile. “You cooked dinner tonight. Let me handle it tomorrow night.”
Her brows rose, and her eyes widened in shock. “Seriously?” She paused. “You cook?”
“Not really,” I replied honestly. “Only thing I can cook is homemade pizza, but I can order takeout like a boss.”
Smirking, she handed me a glass of tea. “At least you admit it. Besides, pizza happens to be one of my favorite foods, though I’ve never had homemade. My experience is limited to Pizza Hut and whatever is on sale in the freezer section at the grocery store.”
I opened my mouth to speak but stopped short when Lucca toddled into the kitchen. It was obvious he’d just woken up from a nap. His eyelids were still heavy, and indention marks made by a pillow or blanket marred the right side of his face. “Ma-ma!” He ran to Shelby, his arms outstretched, wanting her to pick him up.
Her entire face lit up at the sight. “Hey, little man.” She scooped him up and kissed the top of his head before propping him on her left hip. Her eyes met mine. “His sleep schedule is all screwed up because of what happened the other night. He doesn’t normally nap this late, but I don’t have the heart to keep him awake when he’s so tired.” She scrunched up her nose and looked back down at Lucca. “Though I’ll probably pay for it tonight when he doesn’t go to bed until midnight.”
Lucca looked over at me before popping a thumb into his mouth.
Damn, he has got to be the cutest kid I’ve ever seen.
Bouncing him up and down on her hip to get his attention, Shelby pointed at me. “We’ve got a guest for supper tonight, little man, so I expect you to be on your best behavior.” She rocked her hips back and forth, swaying Lucca from side to side. “That’s Anthony. He’s one of Mama’s friends.” She took a step closer to me. Then another. “Can you say hi?”
He didn’t speak; didn’t babble. In fact, he didn’t mumble a single syllable.
Shelby looked up at me and offered a small smile. “He’s wary of strangers. The only people he—”
Removing his thumb from his mouth, Lucca reached for me, cutting off Shelby’s words instantly. Startled, she gasped and froze in place. Looking down at her son with bulging eyes, her mouth fell open. “Holy crap,” she said, her gaze bouncing between Lucca and me. “He never…”
I didn’t hesitate in reaching for him.
Moving forward, I slid my hands under Lucca’s armpits and lifted him out of Shelby’s hold. Setting his butt in the crook of my arm, I placed my free hand on the middle of his back to hold him steady; I damn sure didn’t want to drop him.
I expected holding him for the first time to feel awkward, but it didn’t. It felt natural, like it was something I was meant to do.
“Hey dude,” I said, looking into his dark brown eyes. “Your Mama was nice enough to invite me over for dinner so I brought you both dessert.” He still didn’t speak, didn’t smile. He may have been a baby, but I swear to Christ it felt like he was sizing me up.
Smart kid.
“Hope you like cake, piccolo principe.”
“What’s that mean? You’ve called him that twice now,” Shelby interjected, a look of curiosity etched on her face.
Pulling out a chair from the dinette, I sat down and placed Lucca on my lap. “It’s Italian for little prince.” A memory from my childhood rushed forward. “It’s what my mother used to call me.”
“Used to?”
I hesitantly nodded. “Yeah.” I pulled Lucca closer to me. “Both my parents are gone. They died the day after I graduated from high school.”
Shelby sucked in a startled breath. “Oh God,” she whispered regretfully, “I’m so sorry, Anthony. I didn’t mean…”
I looked up, and my eyes met her pain-filled ones. “I know, sweetheart.” My chest ached at the memory of losing them, but I wouldn’t let her know that. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel guilty and shut down. “It’s alright. I made peace with what happened to them a long time ago. Besides, a lot of years have passed. It doesn’t hurt as much as it used to.”
Shelby pulled out the chair beside me, sat down and quirked her head to the side. “How many years?” She placed her elbow on the table and rested her cheek on the palm of her hand. “What I’m asking is how old are you? You don’t look old enough to be a detective.”
If I had a dollar for every time someone said that I’d be able to retire.
I smirked. “Take a guess. How old do you think I am?”
She studied me intently for a minute or so before answering. “Twenty-six?”
I chuckled. “Not even close.”
She smacked my arm playfully. “Well, are you going to tell me or am I going to have to wrestle you to the ground and steal your wallet so I can check your driver’s license?”
The words left my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. “If you want to wrestle with me, baby, I’m all for it, but it won’t be my wallet you’re grabbing.”
Shelby’s mouth fell open, and panic hit me square in the chest.
Damn it! Now she’s going to tell me to leave.
Fuck, Moretti! What the hell were you thinking?
I didn’t move, didn’t blink.
Hell, I don’t even think I took a single breath as I waited for her to explode.
Reaching over, she pinched my side. I flinched but didn’t say anything. I was too busy praying she wasn’t about to rip Lucca from my arms and boot my ass out the door. “You can’t be saying stuff like that in front of the baby, Tony!”
Tony?
“You just called me Tony.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. “Nobody has ever called me that but you.” Her gaze dropped to the table as she slid her perfectly manicured fingers back and forth across th
e chipped wood. “You have no idea what that does to me, sunshine.”
The oven timer began to beep.
Beep, beep, beep.
Rolling her eyes to hide the smile she was fighting back, she stood up from her chair and walked over to the stove. After sliding on a pair of hideous oven mitts that had seen better days, she opened the stove and pulled something out.
What that something was I didn’t have a fucking clue.
I was too busy staring at her ass to watch what her hands were doing.
Fuck me. Having an ass that perfect should be illegal.
“Tony,” she said, still facing away from me, “I can feel your eyes on my butt.” She paused. “I know it’s nice and all but you’ve gotta quit staring. It makes my belly feel funny.”
Holding Lucca close, I turned my head to the side and laughed.
13
Shelby
Wide-eyed, I stood in the middle of my kitchen, dish towel in hand, watching the scene in front of me unfold with bated breath. I had a table to clear, dishes to wash, and a plate to make for Felix, but I couldn’t pull myself away from gawking at what was happening in the middle of my living room long enough to do any of those things.
Anthony was sitting on the floor, his legs outstretched and his back pressed against the front of the sofa. Lucca was nestled in between his legs, holding a gorilla figurine in one hand and a blue block in the other. Together they were constructing a colossal building out of plastic blocks. What it was I didn’t know. At that moment, all I could decipher was the fact that Anthony was playing with my son.
I repeat; he was playing with my son.
Seeing them together made my chest feel warm and fuzzy.
“Put it on top of the red one,” Anthony said while guiding Lucca’s hands to place another block at the very top of whatever they were creating.
“What are y’all building?” I managed to ask in a shaky voice.
Anthony didn’t look at me as he helped Lucca snap the blue block on top of the red one. “Empire State Building.” He nodded to the gorilla figurine Lucca was clutching in his hand. “We’re going to have King Kong climb it.”
“Kong!” Lucca shouted. “Kong, Ma-ma, Kong!”
I tossed the dishtowel I was holding in my hand over my shoulder. “Fine,” I huffed in a sarcastic tone, “just make sure Kong doesn’t climb my curtains and destroy the blinds.”
Lucca giggled and looked toward the window.
Way to give him ideas, Shelby.
Anthony’s eyes met mine. “Not making any promises, gorgeous.”
I rolled my eyes and pointed at the two of them. “You two together are going to be trouble. I can already see it.”
Anthony helped Lucca snap a yellow block on top of the blue one. “Yeah?” Another block; another snap. “Does that mean you’re going to invite me back for dinner again?” He smiled at me, and my stomach did that weird flippy thing again. “Or do I need to go buy another dessert real quick?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my hip to the right. “Trying to bribe me with food? You fight dirty, Tony.”
The smartass smirked. “Might as well get used to it now. I never fight fair.” His gaze was intense, determined. “Not when it comes to you, and never when it comes to getting what I want.”
What the hell am I supposed to say to that?
Anthony opened his mouth to say something else but stopped short when Lucca karate chopped their building, sending a mountain of multi-colored blocks tumbling to the carpeted floor. “Ah, come on, piccolo principe!” Anthony hollered in a playful tone. “King Kong is supposed to climb the building not destroy it!”
One hour later
Baby monitor in hand, I slipped out of Lucca’s nursery and shut the door softly behind me. My eyes immediately found Anthony, who was sitting in the middle of my sofa, his long legs stretched out in front of him. His hands rested on the back of his head; his fingers were interlaced with one another. The position made the black, button-up shirt he was wearing stretch taut across his broad chest and ripped abdomen. It also made the muscles in his shoulders and arms bulge.
It’s a miracle I didn’t begin drooling on the spot.
Steel grey eyes met mine. “He asleep?”
I nodded. “Out like a light.” I fidgeted. I didn’t know what to say, what to do.
Once again, I was way out of my damn element.
Dropping his hands from the back of his head, he leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “Took the plate you fixed out to Felix. He said to tell you thank you and that he’d cut the lawn for you tomorrow.”
“That man.” I scowled. “He already does too much for me. He doesn’t need to start worrying about my lawn too.”
Anthony raised a brow. “Shelby.” The way he spoke my name caused chills to race down my spine. “Come here.”
I didn’t have an obedient bone in my body, and I never listened to anything anyone demanded of me, but for some unknown reason, my feet moved, carrying me straight towards him.
Stopping to stand in front of him, I looked down with an expressionless face. “You rang, dear sir?”
He chuckled, leaned forward, and placed both of his hands on my hips.
My skin warmed at the simple contact, and before I could ask him what in the hell he was doing, he pulled me towards him. A surprised yelp slipped from my lips when I landed on the couch beside him.
“What are you—” My words were cut off when he wrapped his fingers around my ankles and lifted my legs into his lap. When he released one of my ankles, I pulled my leg back to kick the crap out him because nobody—and I mean no-fricken-body—manhandled me that way, but I stopped myself from doing so when his fingers applied pressure to the sole of my right foot. “Oh God…” I moaned as he massaged the tender muscle in a slow, circular pattern. “That feels soooo good.”
Again, Anthony chuckled. “Lay back and relax, baby.” My eyes slid closed, and the sassiness I was about to sling his way died on my lips. How was I supposed to fuss at him for bossing me around when his fingers were working magic on my body? “How was work?”
“Was good,” I whispered. “Did some laundry. Filled out a bunch of paperwork. Saved a teenage prostitute from her asshole pimp…”
Anthony’s fingers stilled, and I whimpered. “Pardon me?”
Pushing my foot into his hand, I replied, “If you want me to talk, you’re going to have to keep doing what you were doing.”
His fingers moved again, and I dang near melted into the sofa. “Her name is Ashley. She’s seventeen. Gorgeous girl with a not-so-gorgeous past.” I closed my eyes again and leaned my head back. “Her mom is a total bitch who kicked her out over her boyfriend. After that, it didn’t take her long to fall into the arms of a pimp who promised her the world.” My voice broke on the last word. “But instead of the world, all he gave her was a couple dozen beatings and obliterated her sense of self-worth.”
“Shelby—”
“She reminds me of myself, you know.” I didn’t stop to question why I was saying the things I was saying. At that moment it just felt natural, felt right, to spill my guts to him. “From her past with her mom to the way life has continuously kicked her around, she and I are so much alike.”
Anthony’s fingers dug deeper into the arch of my foot. “Tell me about your mom, sunshine.”
Sunshine… there was that name again.
I loved hearing it, but it didn’t fit me. There wasn’t a single thing bright or beautiful about me. At least not on the inside.
On the inside, I was nothing but a mess of darkness and pain.
“You sure you want to hear this, Tony? Because if so, I’m warning you now, you probably won’t view me the same afterward.”
“There’s nothing you could say that would make me feel any differently about you,” he replied without missing a beat. “Don’t care what’s happened to you or what kind of shit you’ve been through. You are not your past. Understand?”
/> Oh, but I was.
My past had marked me, scarred me. And no matter how beautiful and put together I appeared to be, I’d always be damaged, tainted. But if he wanted to hear it, I’d tell him. Well, I’d tell him some of it. No way would I confess everything. The only person who knew everything was Maddie, and she’d take my secrets to her grave.
“I grew up in a Podunk town outside of Mobile, Alabama where I lived with my mama in a rodent-infested trailer until I was seventeen. Mama, she was a junkie, a stripper, and later a prostitute.” Anthony’s fingers kept moving, kept massaging. “She didn’t have a drug of choice. It didn’t matter if it was crank, crack, or black tar heroin, she’d snort it or shoot it up as long as it got her high.”
Sweet baby Jesus … his hands … they’re pure magic.
“Keep talking, baby.” His voice was rough, gravely. Moving his hands from my foot, he rubbed my calf in long, steady strokes.
“Okay.” I scooted closer to him. I wanted—no, needed—to be closer to him. At that moment, his warmth was comforting, his presence calming. “She never hit me, but she was abusive in other ways. Not to mention neglectful. We never had food, and I never had clothes that fit. If it hadn’t been for the local church occasionally bringing us boxes of both, I probably would’ve been running around naked before eventually succumbing to death via starvation.” A humorless chuckle spilled from my lips. “Living with her, growing up in that hell hole—I learned how to fight, how to be strong.” I bit my bottom lip, and if I didn’t know better, I could’ve sworn tears welled up behind my closed eyelids. “But I also learned that even the best fighters sometimes lose—” I exhaled softly and laid my hands on my belly protectively “—and even the strongest warriors sometimes fall.”
Anthony’s touch became gentler, more soothing. “Did you fall, Shelby? Is that what happened?”
Lifting both of my hands, I laid them over my face, shielding myself from his scorching gaze. “Yeah, sugar, I did,” I whispered. “I fell right into the arms of a monster.”
Silence engulfed us, and I waited for Anthony to get up and leave.