I held the smile because I had an answer to a question I'd asked when I first started the job…where's the money going?! When someone was supporting two families, he’d need a lot of jack. Based on his newfound affinity for custom-made clothing, my guess was his new friend, Raul Morales, had upped the ante and his income bracket. And, now, I was pretty sure I knew what Graham was doing for Morales in return.
I hung up the phone and turned to the Senator. He saw my reflection in the mirror and he stepped off the little riser the guy was using to mark the hem on the trousers. "Thank you, friend. Can we get a minute?"
The man left the room and Percy looked at me. "That's not a happy face, Johnny."
"No, sir, it's not. A woman named Gloria said if you don't get her two grand by tomorrow, she's going to the news outlets with pictures and a DNA test. She said you have a son? Why didn't I know about this?" I asked, pretending to be pissed my boss was withholding information.
He shook his head as he began carefully removing the suit, mindful of the pins. "She's becoming a problem. She's a dancer…well, she was before I supposedly knocked her up. I pushed her to get rid of it, but she refused. Now, she's holding this shit over my head.
"I really want this problem to go away, Johnny. I don't think the boy is mine, but she said she got a DNA test done after we fucked one night and I came inside her without a condom. What the fuck? Did she take a swab of her pussy? That shit’s crazy, right?
“Anyway, God knows I wasn't the only guy she was fucking, ya know? I wonder if…I think I'll talk to Raul about this problem. Let's just keep it between the two of us for now, okay?" he suggested which definitely had me worried.
"Sure, Senator. You about ready to head home?" I asked, trying to get the fucking visual out of my head of the woman with a giant cotton swab going after herself after sex.
The Senator called the tailor back in and the two of them were busy discussing the suit as best as a good-old-boy with no fashion sense and an Italian, custom tailor who spoke little English were able to discuss. I was able to copy Gloria's phone number from the caller ID on the Senator's phone before he noticed me at his desk.
I escorted him home that night, and after he got out of the car, Rob looked at me. "So, you like working for him?"
"Eh! He's not so bad. Some are worse, I’d guess. He's got a little baggage, doesn't he?" I baited.
Rob chuckled. "So, you've talked to Gloria? She's a fucking piece of work. That man is as fucked up as the day is long and he has no taste in women, I'll tell ya. Gloria’s bleeding him with the threat of exposing a bastard child, and his wife stays so tooted up, she doesn't know what's going on in the world around her."
"Well, whatever is going on, he's our boss," I baited, hoping for more information.
Rob shook his head. "If I wasn't afraid of getting charged with being an accessory to some dirty shit, or worse having the Mexicans after me, I'd go to the FBI and tell 'em the shit I know. I don't trust they'll protect me, though." I thought about his comments for a second, but I decided not to approach him. That was something the Feds could do as long as I told them he'd be a good witness.
"Hey, as long as we keep our mouths shut, we'll be fine, right?" I responded. He nodded as he drove us both back to the office. He parked the Senator's car and we both got out.
I went to my Intrepid, and he walked to his pickup. "See ya tomorrow?" he asked. I nodded. We both got into our cars, and we left for the day. I went back to my shitty apartment, and after I had it locked down and ate a fucking veggie stir fry I’d picked up at a food truck on the way home so I wouldn't be lying to my husband, I took a shower and called the burner phone I had given my Gray.
It rang twice before it was answered. "Gray Valentine's phone. This is Dee."
It was a kid, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Hello, Dee." There was scrambling, and I heard another voice over the line.
"Sorry, this is Officer Darryl Proctor. Mr. Valentine's unable to come to the phone. May I take a message?" a man's voice asked.
I stood from the bed where I was reclining and began pacing. "He can't come to the phone how?" I asked with a lot of 'pissed-off' in my voice.
"You know like he's doing somethin' else and can't come to the phone. We're waiting on pizza. Can I take a message?" he asked, which pissed me off more than I'd ever been pissed in my life.
"Yeah, you tell him…you tell him…never mind. I'll tell him myself," I snapped as I turned off the shitty phone and slammed it onto the dresser. I went to the closet and grabbed a suit for the next day. The rest of what I would need I had at the house.
I went to the Intrepid and hung the garment bag on the hook by the backseat, driving to the house and bitching out loud the whole time. I had no idea what the fuck was going on, but having a man answer Gray's phone and tell me I couldn't talk to my husband? Oh. Fuck. No.
~#~
I pushed my key into the lock, not caring it was nearly ten o'clock. When I opened the door, all was quiet inside. I closed the door and started down the hallway when I felt an arm around my throat and a gun in my back. "Stop right there, slick. Who the fuck do you think you are?" I heard behind me.
I held up my hands because there was a little black kid standing in front of me with a look of worry on his face. "Easy, guy. I'm Derek Valentine. I live here," I explained.
The guy laughed. "Try again, dude. Gray said nothing about having someone else living here, and the two of you damn well ain't brothers," the man stated. I was actually proud of my baby boy. He was keeping shit close to the vest just as I'd taught him.
"Take that fucking gun out of my back before it goes off, you damn idiot. There's a kid here. I'm not armed," I ordered. My guns were locked in the trunk of the Intrepid. I knew there was a firearm in the house, so there was no need to bring them inside.
The guy patted me down and then moved the gun, so I turned to see a punk ass, white boy standing there. He was a little shorter than me, but he wasn't small. I had a bone to pick with Gray Carson-Valentine, but I needed to know what was going on first.
I looked at the little boy and saw a big smile. "I'm Dewayne. Who are you?"
"I'm Derek Valentine. Where's Gray?" I asked.
Just then, Gray came out of the hallway in my old HPD t-shirt and a pair of sweats. When he saw me standing there with my hands in the air, he ran to me and jumped. I caught him and buried my face in his neck. He was my home. I'd missed him more than I could ever articulate and having him in my arms healed all my world's ills.
"What are you doing here, baby?" he whispered as he kissed all over my face. We were giving the kid and the white guy a show, but I didn't care. I had my life in my arms.
I kissed him passionately before I pulled back and smiled at him. "I called you, and a little person answered the phone. I got worried," I explained as I put him on the floor.
The smile on his face was all I needed. He touched my cheek and wiped a tear. I didn't even realize I'd let one go. "I've missed you so fu…much," I whispered, tempering my language for the sake of the little boy.
"Oh, God," Gray sniffed before he buried his face in my chest and held onto me for dear life. I held him as he cried, seeing the puzzled looks from the other two people in the room.
I laughed. "I'm Derek Valentine, Gray's husband. I've been away for work. You two are…?"
The white kid shook his head and laughed. "I'm Officer Darryl Proctor. I went with Gray to the school to pick up Dewayne," he explained as he pointed to the little guy.
The kid, however, looked very mad at me. "What'd you do to him? He's cryin'. Did you hit him before you left or somethin', big man? I can hit too, you know," the kid stated as he stood tall…for his short stature…and raised his little fists. He was the cutest kid I'd ever seen aside from Sila, my niece.
Gray heard him and turned to look at him, smiling as he wiped his tears. "It's okay, Dee. Derek didn't do anything wrong. I'm just happy to see him because he's been out of town. Let's all just calm down. Darryl,
secure your weapon, please," Gray instructed.
The white kid, Proctor, flipped the safety and ejected the mag. He walked into our kitchen and put the gun and magazine on top of the fridge. I hung my garment bag, which I’d dropped when the cop grabbed me, in the front closet. "So, what's going on?" I asked.
Gray took my hand and led me to the couch in our living room. There were two sleeping bags on the floor and various pieces of knotted rope laying around. Gray and I sat down on our couch while Proctor and the boy sat on the sleeping bags in front of it.
"Dewayne is the brother of Rashad Vaughn, who is a young boy we were called to the school about in the first place," Gray began. He explained things to me carefully, and I picked up on the parts he was leaving out, knowing he was leaving them out for Dee's sake. As the story unfolded, it became all too apparent why the child was at our house. What I didn't know was why Darryl Proctor was sleeping in our living room.
"What happened to your brother?" I asked the little boy.
Dee smiled up at me. "Shady got into a fight with the guy who tried to get me to take stickers to school and give 'em out to my friends. The guy hangs out at the playground where I wait for Momma sometimes. She didn't come to get me that day, and Shady told me if she didn't show I was to stay put and he’d get me.
"When Shady showed up to get me, this guy was talking to me about giving stickers to my friends. My brother got real mad, and they got into a fight. I started screamin' cause I knew the neighbors would call the cops, and the guy ran off.
"We went home, and Momma wasn't there, but Hector was. He was passed out, so Shady fixed us food, and we hid in the closet again. Campin', just like me and Officer Darryl are doin'," the kid explained.
Gray turned to look at me and smiled tenderly. "That's what Officer Proctor is doing here tonight. I'm gonna be up to my rear-end in trouble tomorrow, but I have a witness to what happened and what was said." I leaned forward and kissed Gray's forehead.
"Ewww," the boy groused.
I glanced up and saw his face screwed up. It was then I worried about the kid saying something about me and Gray kissing to someone who would take issue with it. He was probably far too young to understand about us, and I felt bad. "I guess it's weird to see two guys kissing. I'm sorry, Dewayne."
"Naw, that ain't nothin'. I see'd Shady and Joey kiss before. It's just the thought of kissin' anybody. It's gross. All that spit…yuck," he snarled.
Gray giggled as he looked at the clock on the wall near the television. "You, young man, need to go to sleep. It's late, and we have to call about your brother in the morning. Darryl, you'll see he gets to sleep, right?"
The rookie nodded. "Night Gray. Night, Mr. Valentine."
"Call me Derek," I instructed.
The boy walked over and wrapped his arms around Gray's legs, his head at a very inconvenient spot due to his height. Gray quickly dropped to his knees and hugged the boy. "You sleep tight, Dee. We'll check on your brother in the morning, I promise." The boy kissed Gray's cheek and turned to me.
He stuck out his hand, looking up at me. I dropped to one knee and offered my hand. "You can call me Vali. It's nice to meet you, Dewayne." We shook hands and he scurried off to the old sleeping bag Gray had stowed in the basement.
After we settled the lights, leaving the bathroom light on and the door cracked, we went back to our bedroom and closed the door. I noticed Gray didn't lock it, but that was okay. We had guests. We had the rest of our lives to make love.
After I showered, I took care of my regular business and walked into our bedroom, seeing my husband in bed. He wasn't wearing my t-shirt, and I saw the sweats on the floor next to his side of the bed. I caught a hint of black briefs, so I dropped my towel and climbed into bed, pulling his body close to mine.
He began protesting, but I kissed him so he stopped. Feeling his soft lips on mine yet again, made my heart race and my cock swell, but I stopped myself before it became too difficult to maintain my self-control.
"Baby boy, I understand," I whispered, "we've got company, and one of them is a young, impressionable boy. The other one is seven," I joked. He giggled, which was a sound I'd missed hearing more than I could have imagined.
"How long are you here?" Gray asked quietly as he kissed my chest and ran his hands through my short hair. I was happy he didn't hate it, but I was resolved I was going to grow it out again. I felt more like me with long hair.
"Only tonight. I've got to go meet with my Captain in the morning. If York hears what I have to tell him, hopefully, it'll be over. I'll just have to go pick up my stuff from the apartment and disappear for a little while. I'll come home and take care of my husband while you go earn a good wage and support the two of us. I'll cook and clean, and I'll darn your socks," I teased.
Gray giggled again. "My big, strong seamstress? You're too adorable for words. I'd strongly urge you to go to Dallas to visit Cara and Sila, or maybe to Waco to visit Mom and Dad for a week or so."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because, and I’m only guessing here, there will be people who are looking for you for a bit of time. I'll come visit you on weekends, I promise," he told me with a smile. Obviously, he understood my job a lot more than I gave him credit.
It was then I thought of something I could maybe do so as not to paint a big, fucking target on my back. It wouldn't exactly jeopardize the case the State would have against Percy Graham, and it might keep me alive. I wasn't sure how the fuck I could pull it off, but for the sake of my husband, I was going to try.
Nine
Derek
I woke at five the next morning, determined not to wake Gray or our guests in the living room. I went to the closet in the hallway and retrieved my suit. I hung it in the hall bathroom while I went to the bedroom and retrieved briefs, an undershirt, a dress shirt and a tie.
After I finished my morning routine, I dressed and snuck out of the bathroom, boots in hand as I crept down the hallway. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of juice, quietly closing the fridge door, only to reveal a little boy with a smile and a baggie of change.
"I'll buy a glass of that," he whispered loudly as he glanced back at the sleeping man in the nylon bag on the floor of our living room.
I laughed, picking him up and placing him on the counter. He was in another of my HPD t-shirts, and it hung all the way to the floor on him. "Seems you like my shirts as much as Gray."
"I got cold, and when I came into your room, he slipped it on me. He told me I could sleep in the spare room in the bed with lots of blankets, but I was fine. I just didn't have ‘jamas. I don't have room for 'em in my pack," the boy told me as he pointed to the mangled backpack on the floor by the front closet.
"That's your pack?" I asked as I poured both of us more orange juice.
"It's ain't fancy, but it works for me. Shady taught me how to patch it up with tape," he explained as he casually glanced at it again.
I went to the hall closet and dug around, seeing an old Columbia backpack Gray used during undergrad. We never got rid of anything, and at that moment, I was glad. I held it out to him. "This too big for you?" I pulled him off the counter and put him on the floor, putting the pack on his back and then adjusting the straps to draw it up. It hung down to his knees, but it didn't have any holes. It was a hell of a lot better than what the boy had.
"Looks like it fits fine. Don't pack it too full or you'll never be able to carry it. So, tell me about yourself," I requested.
I grabbed two bowls from the cabinet and a box of Cheerios. I picked him up and placed him on the counter again so we could see each other, more or less. After I poured the cereal and milk, we both picked up our bowls and began eating.
He chewed his first bite and looked up at me. "I'm black, you know…well, half. My momma's white. Best I know, my daddy's in jail or dead cause he don't come 'round no more. She don't talk about him at all, but Shady tells me stuff about him sometimes.
"My brother's not a punk, Vali. He has a big
mouth and it gets him in trouble sometimes, but he's one of the good guys. He likes to kiss boys, too," the kid reminded me of his comments from the previous night.
"Oh, that’s right. You’ve seen him kissing boys before," I mentioned as nonchalantly as possible.
"Just Joey…Jose. He's also a nice guy. He looks out for me when Shady's workin'," the kid explained.
"Oh, your brother has a job? What's he do?" I asked, not really needing an answer.
"He works for Uspus," Dewayne explained.
I was confused. "Uspus? What's that? I've never heard of that," I responded.
He giggled. "You know, they guys who drive the brown trucks. He can't drive yet, but he's got a bike he hides in the alley behind the dumpster. He uses it to take deliveries for Nathan. When he goes on deliveries, I stay with Joey. He lives at his grandma's house. She makes us ancholadas. They're good. She don't speak English, but she's nice. She makes these good cakes, too," he explained.
I glanced at the clock. "Well, little man, I think you'd better go slip back into that sleeping bag. It's still a little time before you gotta be up for school."
"I ain't gotta go today. Gray's gonna take me to see Shady at the hospital. They're gonna try to find us somewhere to live, but lotta folks won't take kids like me and Shady. I heard talk at school." In that moment, I knew I had to get back to Austin. My husband needed me more than the Rangers.
"Well, I have no doubt I'll be seein' you around. You go back to bed and take care of yourself. I'll see ya when I get back," I told him. I was damn sure I would see him again. Knowing my Gray…I'd see him and his brother again.
~#~
After a brief stop by headquarters, because my captain wasn't gonna be in the office that day, I went to the Capitol that morning and let myself into the Senator's office, seeing nobody was there. I went to his computer and pulled up his files, copying everything I could onto a zip drive the IT guy at the station had given me.
A Valentine's Loves (The Valentine's Trilogy Book 3) Page 7