She thought right, but getting her to believe that now might be impossible. “I didn’t pretend about that. I did need information from her, but her and I? That was real.”
“Well, did you get the information you needed?” she asked, seeming satisfied by his declaration but doubtful as to Ruby’s happy ending.
He grunted. “No. I don’t think she knows anything.”
January put her hand on his upper arm. “I hope you can find a way to win her back. She deserves someone good.”
She still thought he was good? “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m going to need it.”
“That you are.” January smiled and left him standing there contemplating the road ahead. The curvy, uphill road. What was he going to do? He couldn’t leave her to her own defenses, not with Santiago on the prowl.
* * *
Ruby stepped into a quiet house. It was just after nine. Her mother must have gone to bed. Ruby was relieved. She needed to be alone. After kicking off her shoes and setting her purse aside, she went to Maya’s bedroom door. She always liked the door open. A seashell night-light kept the boogeyman away.
Walking to the bed, she sat beside a soundly sleeping Maya and lightly brushed some hair off her face. Leaning over, she kissed her soft cheek. And then just watched her sweet, peaceful slumber.
At least Ruby would always have her.
Going downstairs, she went into the kitchen and made a cup of chamomile tea. Once that was ready, she took it to the living room and sat on the sofa with her legs curled under her. Holding the steaming concoction that normally would relax her, she knew it would not tonight.
She left the television off, lest she wake her mother. Left alone with her thoughts, she was overwhelmed with how duped she’d been by Damon. He was certainly good at his job. Did he only work undercover? If so, his whole outlook on life would be so warped. He worked with criminals like Kid. Pretending to be just like them. Well, if a man pretended for too long, he became just like them, didn’t he?
Ruby had been so cautious. She had no regrets over the due diligence in screening a man who wasn’t good for her. She hadn’t done anything except protect herself and her daughter. But what was a girl to do when the man she met presented himself as someone full of integrity, when in fact he was just a good actor? A role player with a staunch resolve to solve a case—no matter the toll it took on the innocent.
Who was he?
A Colton. That’s pretty much all she knew about him at this point.
January was a Colton. She was a good person. Was Damon? Despite his lies?
It did not matter. Ruby had been through hell with Kid. She had her daughter back. Dreams of a husband who would be father to her daughter and make them a family were gone. She had been foolish to think she could have that. She had been foolish to trust anyone with Maya’s future. More than that, she had been selfish.
Maya had been through enough. Ruby had almost sacrificed her again. That was unforgivable. Ruby would not—not ever—trust anyone ever again.
Someone knocked on her door.
Alarm chased through her. Was it Damon? She sat where she was for several seconds, waiting for a second knock.
It never came.
It was late for someone to knock on her door. Apprehension brought out the mama bear in her. She’d be damned if anyone would ever take her daughter from her again.
Getting up, she quietly made her way to the door. Sliding the peephole cover aside, she peered through it and saw no one outside.
She went to the front window, staying to the side of the frame. As she slowly leaned over, she parted the blinds just enough to see. Nothing stirred outside. Outdoor lights illuminated the street. Neighbors always had their houselights on. Ruby saw nothing move.
She looked toward the entry. From here, she couldn’t see if anyone stood at the door.
Taking a deep breath, she went to the front door and peered through the peephole once more.
No one.
Maybe it was a late package delivery. She unlocked the door. Opened it a fraction. Saw no one was there. She looked down and saw a note under a small rock, flapping in the breeze.
Searching around again, she opened the door enough for her to crouch and retrieve the note, quickly bringing it in and closing and locking the door.
She lifted the note.
We are watching you.
Ruby’s hand trembled with the obvious threat. What perplexed her was she already suspected she was being watched by Kid’s cohorts. Why did they feel the need to make this kind of announcement? She didn’t understand. If they thought she knew something valuable that only she would be able to provide them now that Kid was dead, why send this anonymous and quite late message?
They must be aware she knew Kid was involved in drugs. Did they assume she knew more about his business dealings? If so, her life and her daughter’s life were both in greater danger than she’d originally projected.
What was she going to do?
Stay up all night, for one. Try not to obsess over Damon’s betrayal for another...
Chapter 6
Ruby finding out his true identity couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Santiago’s not-so-veiled threat that he had to find out what she knew put her in great danger. Alone, with a five-year-old, she couldn’t know the risk. Not the way he did. That was one thing. The other... What were the odds she actually knew a member of his family? He was still poleaxed over that. He couldn’t have predicted that if he had tried. He hadn’t seen that coming, not by a long shot. When he had first spotted her standing there at the party, he couldn’t believe his eyes. At first he thought she just looked like Ruby, dressed to the nines and stunningly gorgeous. But, oh no. It was Ruby. Her icy eyes had bored into him.
Disbelief had given way to shock, and that had given way to dread. He didn’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with him. He would have reacted the same way. He had reacted the same way when his ex, Laurel, had slept with another man. She had told him it wasn’t the first time she had kept two or three men on the side. Her lame excuse had been that she needed lots of sex. When he told her he was capable of satisfying her, she said she liked variety—as in more than one on the side. It was a living fantasy for her. Having sex with one man knowing she had just been with two others and in the next day or two she’d be with a third turned her on.
Well, that very well might be, but it wasn’t fair to the person with whom she pledged fidelity. Damon had gone straight to the doctor to check for diseases. Why had she even agreed to marry him? She had even tried to convince him they could have a healthy, albeit open, marriage.
He’d told her to get lost.
Then he had begun a long road to recovering from his gross misjudgment of character. He was trained to read people, to predict their behavior and act accordingly. She had duped him completely and totally. Granted, he had been young and new at his job, but he should have recognized the signs.
That was why he couldn’t blame Ruby. When he had watched Ruby leave, he knew he had to give her time. He gave her two days before trying to call. That was this morning. She didn’t answer. If he ever earned her respect and trust back, it would be a miracle.
Damon was sitting on Nash’s back patio, sipping beer with the outdoor television playing a baseball game. He wasn’t much into watching baseball, but the sound was cheerful. It had been a couple of days since the party. The atmosphere, the game or Nash’s manicured backyard and stone patio didn’t lift his mood. As an architect, his brother had bought this craftsman bungalow and fixed it up. The place had loads of charm.
“What’s got you all in the dumps?” Nash asked, returning from inside to take the chair beside him, separated by a small table with a bucket of iced beer. There was a round patio table with an umbrella next to them.
Damon glanced over, surprised his mood showed. He norm
ally didn’t expose himself like that.
“My case,” he said simply.
Nash observed him as only a man who knew his brother would. “I haven’t seen you this way since Laurel showed her true colors. Who is she this time?”
The sound of someone opening the patio door spared Damon from responding. But only for a moment.
Rick Yates stepped out onto the patio, bringing with him his trademark air of upbeat positivity. Five ten with a full head of gray hair and a goatee, he said, “Nash said you were going to be here, so I had to come by. We haven’t seen much of you in the last several months.”
“He’s been working a case,” Nash said.
“Is it over? Did you get some more bad guys?” Rick asked, moving a patio chair closer to them and sitting.
“Not yet,” Damon said. “You know I can’t talk about my undercover cases.”
“Yeah, but you can talk about the woman you met on it,” Nash said.
“You met someone?” Rick asked. “Is she pretty?”
“He doesn’t want to talk about it,” Nash said, teasing.
“Oh, come on. You’re with family. What’s wrong, Damon?” Rick asked.
Sixty years young, Rick Yates was more of a father than his own had been to him. Erik’s twin Axel had married Vita, who divorced him and married Rick, and it had been all about family ever since. Rick loved big gatherings and often had Sunday barbecues.
“Nothing,” Damon said, annoyed.
“Oh, now, you know your uncle won’t fall for that. Come on. Out with it.”
“It has something to do with his case, but he has the look of a man besieged by thoughts of a woman,” Nash said, his handsome face grinning.
Damon loved his uncle, but some things were best left alone. He didn’t say anything.
Nash leaned toward the bucket of beer and took one out, cracking open the top.
“How’s the plant nursery going?” Damon asked, an obvious ploy to steer the topic away from him. He owned Yates’s Yards plant nursery with Damon’s aunt Vita. They sold garden plants and flowers and other landscaping items. The business sat on six acres, with the nursery in the front and a big house behind that. Damon loved all the fruit trees.
“Nice try. You know it’s going good. Now, out with it.”
Uncle Rick would not let it go now. Damon was resigned to his fate and said, “Ruby Duarte was involved with a criminal whose organization I’m investigating. She found out I’m with the DEA.”
“Ahh,” Nash said. “So you and she are an item now, huh?”
“Were. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Rick sobered. Damon was glad he wouldn’t tease. That was Rick. He cared deeply about his family and what happened in their lives.
“I’m happy to hear you found someone who makes you want to keep her, Damon. The ones who make you feel like that are worth every effort. Look at me and Vita.”
He and Vita did have an awesome relationship, and it was obvious Rick loved her.
“Well, I’m afraid I blew it with her,” Damon said. “I know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone I thought I knew. That’s how she’s feeling right now.”
“That doesn’t mean you should give up,” Rick said.
Damon looked out across Nash’s big backyard. A hawk circled above, searching out some poor, unsuspecting rodent. Ruby wouldn’t talk to him. He had tried calling today, and she hadn’t picked up.
“What’s her story?” Rick asked.
“She’s beautiful inside and out and has a five-year-old daughter,” Damon said, knowing he was only scratching the surface of what made Ruby Ruby.
“Walking into a new family can be good. It was for me. Look how you both turned out.”
Rick had a way of making family gatherings festive and full of warmth. The bigger the party the better, as long as it was all family. Vita’s daughter was Lila, and her son was Myles. Lila managed an art gallery, and Myles was married and had a son. He was a lawyer.
“I told her my name was Damon Jones and I was a bartender,” Damon said. “Then she showed up at Farrah’s for the party. Apparently she knows January.” Damon stewed over his bad luck once again.
“She was bound to find out one way or another,” Nash said. “She’d have been upset no matter what.”
“How does she know January?” Rick asked.
Damon could see by his expression he thought that was extraordinary, just as Damon had.
“I don’t know.” That was another reason why he wanted to talk to her.
“Well, the sooner you get to patching things up with her, the sooner she’ll start to trust you again,” Rick said. “Trust is everything.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Damon said.
“Tell us more about her. What does she do?” Rick asked. “Does she have family here in Chicago?”
“She’s in nursing school. Her mother lives with her, and she has a brother and sister in Wisconsin. That’s where she’s from.” There was a lot more he could say about her, that she was kind and warm and stunningly beautiful, but he didn’t say it.
“Call her. If she doesn’t answer, then go to her house,” Rick said.
Damon took out his phone and called Ruby. As with all the other times, she didn’t answer. He held up the phone. “No answer.”
“Then, go to her house,” Rick said. “I’ve waited a long time for you to find a woman you can love. I won’t let you stand by and let her slip through your fingers. Go get her!”
* * *
Damon took Rick’s direct advice and drove to Ruby’s house the next day. He told himself it was mostly out of concern for her safety, but his heart said it was much more than that. He missed her to the point of pain. His heart hurt. The depth of his feelings for her caught him off guard. He wasn’t prepared for this. He had never felt this way before. He needed Ruby. He needed her in his life. That frightened him, but he could not stay away.
He rang the bell. As he expected, she didn’t answer. He knew she was home because her green Toyota Prius was in the driveway. After a third ring, he began pounding on the door.
“Ruby?” he said loudly. “I know you’re in there.”
Nothing.
He pounded again, longer this time. “I’m not leaving until we talk!”
After a few seconds, the door opened, and Ruby’s mother appeared. “She’s being stubborn.”
“I get that about her. It’s one of the things I like about her.”
Bette smiled. “I’ve been trying to get her to listen to your side, just so you know.”
Damon grinned. “It’s good to know I have someone in my corner.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m in your corner, but I did get a strong impression that you were a good man. You’re a DEA agent. You are no criminal. My Ruby deserves someone on the right side of the law.”
“That I am, ma’am.”
Bette opened the door wider and stepped aside. “She’s in the kitchen.”
“Don’t do it, Mother,” Damon heard Ruby snarl.
“He’s on his way.”
Damon walked to the kitchen, finding Ruby with her hand on the kitchen island, looking displeased.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“I’ve said all I need to say, and I don’t want to hear anything more from you,” she answered.
Damon walked up to her, deliberately standing close, hoping to melt some of her stubborn resolve. She tipped her chin up and eyed him defiantly.
This was not going to be easy. “I’m sorry I had to lie to you.”
“I don’t even know you,” she said.
“I told you. Not everything was a lie. I told you about my family. I just didn’t tell you their names. And my name is Damon. Just not Damon Jones.”
“No, it’s Colton.”
“All right. I did go to college. I got a degree in criminal justice.”
“Oh, gee. Lucky me.”
Damon angled his head. “I also told you about Laurel.”
“Your ex-fiancée?”
“Yes.”
She contemplated him a moment. “Damon, I can’t just flip a switch and start trusting you again. I fell for Kid not knowing who he really was, and I almost did again with you. I completely believed everything you said. How am I supposed to know you’re a good person? You were acting the whole time.”
“I am a good person. I’m a DEA agent. I told you the truth about my fascination with superheroes. What I didn’t tell you is the reason why. My father, Erik Colton, is not a good person. He only cares about himself and material possessions and money. I grew up envying superheroes. And my Uncle Rick was more of a father to us than my own.” These were things he’d wanted to tell her before now but couldn’t. “You see, my dad is a twin, and his brother is my uncle, but my aunt divorced him and married Uncle Rick. My brother Nash and I are the sons from our father’s affair with our mother, who did die when we were kids—another thing I didn’t lie about. Nicole was married to Erik and took me and Nash in after Mom died. She raised us as her own.”
“January told me some of the story about your family,” Ruby said, sounding more relaxed. “It’s big.”
“Yes, and getting bigger now that we have met our new cousins,” he said.
He met her eyes and could feel her struggle with forgiving him. He didn’t expect her to immediately. He just had to make sure she was safe.
Just then, Maya came bounding into the kitchen. She had on blue jeans and a T-shirt that said Her Royal Fiveness. And her brown ponytail swayed.
Hi, Damon, she signed, eyes bright with vitality and happiness.
“Hi, Maya.” He signed the greeting as well.
I’m glad you’re back.
Damon signed that he wasn’t back. He just needed to talk to her mother.
Ruby touched her daughter’s head, getting her to look up at her. Go watch your cartoon.
Colton 911: Temptation Undercover Page 8