Grim hellos and subdued smiles were exchanged with anyone she met in the hall, and then she slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor. Shock halted her steps when she saw the extent of the damage. Walls were burned down to the studs, and what was left resembled charred prison bars. She could see into every room thanks to no walls and the burned out windows allowing outside light into the powerless building.
When she moved to the doorway of her apartment, any hope of salvage was snuffed out in one stomach-sinking glance. Footsteps and voices drew her shell-shocked gaze as two fireman in half their gear—boots, pants, T-shirt, and suspenders—appeared at the top of the stairs.
“We have gloves and a mask that we recommend you wear.”
She accepted the supplies the taller, dark-haired guy handed over. “Thank you.”
“If you need anything lifted out of the way, or carried out to your vehicle, let us know, okay?”
She nodded, and they moved on to check the other apartments.
Finally, Roxanna took a deep breath and stepped into the only space she’d called home since the day she’d packed her things in Wisconsin and moved to Colorado. She hadn’t looked back—there wasn’t much to look at—but this loss here, pretty much a total loss, was a nauseating gut punch.
Not a total loss.
The reminder was swift and true. She needed to always consider first that she was alive. All her neighbors were alive. What she had lost were only material items that could be replaced. For as long as she’d been practicing life affirmations at Lift Your Spirit, that should always be her first thought.
It would always be her first thought from now on.
With that in mind, she squared her shoulders, fit the mask over her nose and mouth, and pulled on a pair of gloves to start picking through the ashes of her belongings.
Almost two hours later, her efforts resulted in half a box of blackened items she might be able to clean up back at the shop. Soot darkened her skirt, arms, gloves, and probably her cheeks from when she’d swiped stray hairs away from her face. Somehow she must’ve breathed ashes or dust particles in, because her eyes and throat were itchy, her lungs were tight, and she was so stuffed up it was almost impossible to breathe out of her nose.
But all she had left to go through was her bedroom—or what used to be her bedroom—so she kept at it. She didn’t plan on coming back again.
Her phone was right there, melted to the charred remains of her nightstand. Moving aside the burnt pieces of what was left, a sudden memory made her pulse skip. Then her stomach dropped with dismay and she frantically dug into the debris.
She swallowed hard when she finally lifted a gold chain enmeshed in a melted puddle of plastic from the ashes. The amulet from a grocery store vending machine had been worthless from the start, but her mom had made it something special when she took her into a jewelry store to buy the chain.
Tears stung Roxanna’s eyes, sparking anguish and anger. She shouldn’t care about losing something so trivial from the woman who had betrayed her time and again, and yet the necklace represented that one perfect memory she’d cherished of her mom. That one perfect day they’d spent together when she was nine, when she knew her mother loved her.
Before the selfish woman abandoned their family. Before she’d betrayed her husband and daughter, and before she came back to do it all over again ten years later.
Chapter 11
“Batman returns.”
Loyal offered his brother’s fiancé a grim smile as he joined the group congregated off to the side of the haunted house that had been constructed in the lower, detached garage. His mom always went all out to raise as much money as possible for the kids.
Asher and Honor made a striking couple as Zorro and his wife from that nineties The Mask of Zorro movie. Merit was unsurprisingly a one-eyed pirate—he wouldn’t want a full mask obscuring his pretty mug from the ladies. Bells had gone all out as Beauty from Beauty and the Beast in her golden ball gown, and Reyes, the youngest of the Torrez siblings, had opted for the classic Grim Reaper with a scythe.
Loyal scowled as he adjusted the string securing his black cape around his neck. Batman had seemed ideal to hide behind the mask, but he hadn’t counted on the cape choking him—or the skin-tight spandex pants showcasing the family jewels. He kept fighting the urge to cup his hands in front of his crotch and hoped hooking his thumbs in the utility belt while holding his long-neck beer bottle was cover enough.
Then again, whether he was in a Batman suit or a tux with a bowtie around his neck, he hated these events. There were too many people, with their cars lining not only the driveway, but up and down the street as well. It was his own damned house and he’d had to park all the way down by the stables.
Hundreds of costumed guests milled inside, out on the patio, and between the main house and the haunted house. He knew the money raised for the children’s hospital was essential; he just didn’t want to deal with the noisy crowd. There was a good reason he liked numbers better than people.
Earlier, he’d made his sizeable donation, so now all he had to do was make sure his mother saw him, and hang out for another half-hour or so while lying to himself he wasn’t keeping an eye out for a certain leggy, long-haired brunette. After that, he was going to answer an emergency call from Gotham City.
“You’ve certainly got the brooding intensity down pat,” Reyes Torrez observed.
Loyal hadn’t seen the guy since he’d gotten out of the Army last month. He switched his beer to his left hand, then reached to shake the younger man’s hand and pulled him in for a half-hug. “Hey, Rey, nice to have you back home, man.”
“You, too, I hear.”
“Yeah, I finally had enough of Texas. Too hot and too far away. How’s it going? Your mom said you’re working with your dad at the stables again.”
“The horses have always been my thing. Though, if the Army still had the Calvary, I would’ve stayed in for the best of both worlds.”
“I thought they did?” Shelby asked.
“For ceremonial purposes only,” Reyes advised. “That wasn’t something I was going to be able to get into, so I’m back with you guys.”
Asher clapped him on the shoulder. “Glad to have at least one of you around, seeing as how Dev and Solana don’t appear like they’ll be back anytime soon.”
“I know. Dev always seems to be on a mission somewhere. Solana’s working a big case in Washington State. They are both hoping to be home for Christmas this year, though. If they do, it’ll be the first time we’ve all been together for the holidays in over five years.”
“Your mom and dad will love that,” Loyal said.
Merit raised his glass. “Man, if that happens, I’m calling a party down at the guest house.”
“Like old times,” Reyes toasted with his beer.
“Almost,” Asher corrected as he hugged Honor to his side. “Now Celia has a husband and I have a fiancé to join in.”
“And another brother,” Shelby added.
An instant flash of annoyance brought Loyal’s scowl back. His baby sister shot him a quick glance, but looked away when she saw his glare.
Oblivious to the tense undercurrents, Reyes gave an enthusiastic, “The more the merrier.”
“Keep us posted,” Merit ordered as Celia flew up with her broom, her pointed, black hat three feet wide, and her green face makeup and warts professionally applied.
“Hey, guys, looking great.” After an exchange of mutual admiration, she turned to Asher. “Is everything okay with Rox? Mom said she’s not doing readings this year.”
At the mention of the psychic’s name, Loyal went on instant alert and his heartbeat sped up.
“She texted earlier that she cleaned out her apartment today and wasn’t feeling well after, so she was going to stay home.”
“Was she able to save anything?” he asked before he could help himself.
His brother shook his head. “Not much. I’d have gone to help, but she didn’t even le
t me know until she was done.”
Her independence was admirable until it was foolish.
Dare you to tell her that to her face. Oh, she’d tell him right where to go for sure.
“I can’t even imagine losing everything like that,” Shelby said. She looked from Celia to Honor. “I know Mom sent over a care package, but we should see if she wants to go shopping. We can get her a whole new wardrobe.”
“Asher and I already tried offering,” Honor said. “She insists she’s good with what she has for now and will replace things a little at a time.”
Loyal recalled her complaining her numbers didn’t add up last weekend when she was drunk. Made him wonder if she was having money problems. He also wondered if she’d bothered to hire herself a new accountant yet.
Maybe he could offer—
No you cannot.
Suddenly restless, he said, “Listen, I’m going to find Mom for the obligatory appearance, then I’m slipping out. You guys have fun.”
He gave a backward wave to the chorus of, “Night, Batman,” “Later, Batman,” and a “See ya, old man,” from Merit and rounded the corner of the house to make his way up the steps onto the patio as he drained the last of his beer.
A vampire couple blocked the top stair, so he angled to slip past them, then had to immediately dodge sideways to avoid knocking over a patio heater. The move slammed his shoulder into the back of another guest wearing a hooded cloak and a quiver of arrows.
Loyal instinctively reached out a hand to Robin Hood’s shoulder as he stepped back. “Sorry, man.”
The guy turned around, and any sense of apology flew right out the window when Grayson’s hard gaze met his.
“Watch what the fu—” He broke off and darted a look around. “Watch where you’re going.”
Judging by the dark glare, he’d recognized him past the Batman mask. So much for being incognito. Loyal dropped his gaze to fully take in his half-brother’s get-up. If he didn’t hate the guy so much, he might have found it funny.
Without another word, he turned to leave. Loyal hadn’t made it two steps before the obvious costume statement had him thumping his empty bottle on a table as he turned back around. Aware of the other guests within earshot, he moved in close and lowered his voice.
“Why didn’t you take the money my dad offered you?”
Grayson’s brown eyes appeared almost black in the shadows. “Because it was fucking guilt money,” he ground out in an equally low voice. “He wasn’t trying to help me. He just wanted to make himself feel better for not being in my life.”
Loyal considered that, then surprised himself by asking, “Couldn’t it be both? Or maybe it truly was him trying to help, because does he really have anything to feel guilty about when he didn’t even know you existed?”
Grayson’s gaze narrowed. “I don’t need Diamond charity.”
“You came to our house and asked for it.”
He leaned in and jabbed his finger into Loyal’s chest. “You know why I asked for the foundation money, so don’t go acting like I’m a charity case.”
“No, you’re just a noble sonofabitch, aren’t you?” Loyal shook his head, backed up a step, and spun around to leave back down the stairs so he could go straight to his vehicle at the stables. He was done. He wasn’t even going to attempt the crowd inside the house, and if Mom asked, the others would vouch for him.
“Are you going to do it?”
Grayson’s question made him pause, but he didn’t turn back. Something in his voice made Loyal’s automatic no stick in his throat.
“I don’t like this any more than you do,” his half-brother stated. “But we don’t have to like each other to help people who need it. The veterans deserve it—they’ve earned it.”
There was a rough emotion in the guy’s voice that overrode the resentment between them. It dug in deep and triggered a fresh wave of guilt and obligation that hit Loyal dead center in the chest.
“I’m still thinking about it,” he ground out before almost flying down the steps without looking back.
Mr. Torrez kept the outside stable lights dimmed during events to discourage anyone from exploring where they didn’t belong, but Loyal didn’t need light to find his spot. So many times over the years he’d escaped down to the worn, wooden bench along the side of the building. The tall, cone-shaped Arborvitaes on either side cast long shadows to ensure anonymity.
He skipped the dimly lit bench and leaned back against the brick wall in the dark. With the solid support at his back, slowly, he became aware the noise of the Halloween party had faded into the background. The peace and quiet away from the crowd soothed his raw nerves, eased the pressure in his chest, and finally allowed him to draw in a deep, settling breath of the cool October air.
Seconds later, movement on his left caught his eye and drew his head up. A slim figure in a black suit and mask walked slowly past the stables, then stopped. In the dim light, Loyal identified a Catwoman costume skimming the curves of the tall woman. After one swift appraisal, he let his gaze take a longer lingering look.
Leather covered her from neck to toe, but damn, that ass, those legs in those boots…her whole body was sexy as hell.
All of a sudden, his heart skipped a beat as he darted his gaze from the military-style boots to the dark curls streaming down the middle of her back. A moment later, she sat on the bench, pulled off the mask, and raked her hair back with her hands.
Roxanna.
His heart pounded with anticipation, though he wasn’t sure why after her parting shot a week ago. When she remained silent while staring toward the main house, he realized she didn’t even know he stood there in the shadows.
Now what? Should he reveal himself, or wait for her to head up to the party?
He knew the moment he opened his mouth he’d scare the hell out of her, and yet after hearing she’d cleaned out her burned out apartment earlier, he wanted to make sure she was okay. Ask if she needed anything, like someone to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on.
A mouth to kiss.
Loyal shook his head at the ridiculous direction of his thoughts and hooked his thumbs in the utility belt of his costume as he forced himself to wait.
But soon it became clear by her slumped shoulders and absolute stillness, she wasn’t in a hurry to get up to the main house. He let out a silent sigh of resignation, then couldn’t help the upward tug of his lips as he shouldered away from the building.
“We have to stop meeting like this.”
Chapter 12
Roxanna’s heart jammed into her throat to strangle her surprised squeak. She jerked toward Loyal’s deep voice so hard she nearly fell off the bench. When she saw him lurking in the shadows in a Batman costume with a smirk on his mouth, anger spiked hot and hard.
“God, you’re such an ass. Stop doing that!”
“Hey, two out of three were not my fault. Actually, neither was this third one. I waited for you to leave, but it’s like your butt is glued to the wood there.”
She growled her annoyance and spun her leather-clad butt around on the bench so she wasn’t facing him. One glimpse of his strong, stubbled jaw and his damn kissable lips beneath that scowling half-mask and it wasn’t the scare that made it hard to catch her breath.
“What are you doing down here anyway? Shouldn’t you be up there?” She waved the cat-ear mask in her hand toward the Halloween party.
“Too many people up there.”
The comment brought back a fuzzy memory of his voice in her head. “Numbers don’t lie like people do.”
Both statements indicated he wasn’t much of a people person.
Big shocker there.
“Asher said you were staying home,” he commented as he moved closer.
The blackened remains of her apartment flashed in her mind.
“I don’t have a home,” she muttered before she realized how pitiful it sounded. Annoyed with herself, she stiffened her spine and squared her shoulders.
L
oyal swung his leg over to straddle the bench, his cape billowing around him as he sat down facing her profile, a mere two feet away. It was crazy how the simple proximity of his knees front and behind made her heartbeat rev up all over again. When she shot him a sideways glance, her breath caught at the concern in the dark eyes shining through his mask.
“You okay, Roxanna?”
The uncharacteristic sympathy in his soft voice breached her defenses, and the emotions from earlier swept forward in a dizzying rush.
She lifted a shoulder, blinking fast as she turned her gaze toward the party lights across the grass. “I’ve been sitting in my Jeep for the past twenty minutes trying to work up the energy to go up there, but…”
“Why do you have to go?”
“The fire is nothing compared to what so many of those kids face every day at the hospital.”
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less to you. You’re allowed to take time to process everything without feeling bad.”
She swiveled her head toward him in astonishment. Maybe she’d been transported to an alternate universe on the drive over. “Who are you, and what did you do with the real Loyal Diamond?”
His smile of acknowledgement was subdued. “He took the night off.”
Her heart skipped as she dipped her gaze down his chest, past his belt, to the spandex covering his muscled thighs. Black leather boots encased his calves and feet, and she had to admit, he wore the costume well.
So very well.
Realizing she was staring and in danger of drooling, she murmured, “The goodness of the suit is getting to you.”
“Actually, there is a debate as to whether Batman is good, or if he’s really a villain.”
“Seeing you in that costume a week ago, I’d have said villain.” Her lips quirked as she lifted her gaze back to his. “Now, I’m not so sure.”
Love Loyal and True Page 9