Conklin's Corruption (#3) (Conklin's Trilogy) (32 page)

“Tyler, sweetie,” my mother comforted.  Then I felt her hand on my back, my body shuddering, making my cries harder to control.  She rarely touched me, and I never wanted her to until now.  Her hand was soothing like Becca’s as it made circles on my back.

Mary gently pulled my body into hers, holding me the best she could while I cried like a little girl.  I had so many emotions, so many feelings that I didn’t know how to control or what to do with.

I felt her chest stutter, knowing tears were falling from her face as she got to hold me for the first time since either of us could remember.

“Everything will work out Tyler,” she hushed.  Her body was so tiny but offered so much condolence and compassion.  “Let me help you through this.  Nathan and Mitch too. We all need each other even more so now. Don’t push us away. We all love you.  Especially Becca.”

I moved my hands from my face to wrap around her thin frame, my body crouched so I could put my head on her shoulder.  Her smell of fancy flowery perfume reminded me of when I was little, maybe the first memory I had of her. 

Sometimes she would let me sit on her bathroom counter while she got ready.  I remember looking at all the different bottles of perfume and makeup, wanting to touch all of them to see what they did.  She would sing as she applied the contents of the funniest looking bottles to her face and body, smiling periodically at me.  She was pregnant with Mitch in this specific memory.  She would rub her belly then encourage me to feel it too.  Her smile was like diamonds, and I let out another ugly tear for forgetting how she looked at me as her little boy.

Then I remembered my grandmother coming in, scooping me up and taking me to the kitchen to feed me sweets or play games with me.  The look on my mother’s face when she did that never affected me until now.  It was one of sorrow and hurt, like she was stripped of her own right as a mother.

“I love you Mom,” I muffled between huffs of catching my breath and shedding tears.  It was all I could say, the only way I could apologize for being such a dipshit of a son.  The only thing I could do to make her realize she was important and that I was sorry I didn’t put my faith in her, that I didn’t fight to spend more time with her.

“Sweetie, I love you so much,” she choked, squeezing me the best she could.  “Don’t feel guilty for anything.  We can make this better from now on, okay?  No more shutting out the people you love.” 

I nodded my head quickly, giving her another squeeze. 

Once my tears subsided, I pulled away from her, feeling sheepish and less of a man for breaking down.  She touched my cheek and gave me a warm smile, letting me know all was forgiven between the two of us. 

I swallowed hard, my heart beating faster, needing to find Becca.

My mother sensed my anxiety then reached into her purse, pulling out a piece of paper.  “I have a ticket to Grand Rapids.  The flight leaves in an hour.  Take it,” my mother said with a knowing smile.  She took out a prescription bottle as well, handing it to me.  “Take these too. They’ll help with your anxiety.  I know a good doctor who can get you your own prescription.  They’ll be a life saver,” she said sincerely.

Gratefully, I took the ticket and the pills from her hands, kissed her cheek then bolted out of my office without any of my things. They didn’t matter right now.  I needed to get to Becca as soon as possible.

Chapter 19

Becca

Here I sat in my office at 10:15 p.m. at night staring at multiple sets of blueprints.  I was the only one on my floor and most likely the only one in the building.  Monday nights weren’t really popular when it came to working late.

I rubbed my eyes with my palms, frustrated I couldn’t find any correlation within each print. I wanted to find where the drugs were being hidden.  Maybe if we could figure out a system Chino had then we could figure out how to either get rid of the drugs or tell Anderson. 

I stood and stared, my palms now flat on my drafting table.  I was beginning to feel so defeated, lost in my thoughts of how to fix things.  Then out of nowhere, my heart started to calm, a sense of softness and caring rushed through my body, causing me to close my eyes. 

Warm breath touched the back of my neck, along with a hand sliding between my waist and the hand that was flat on my desk.  I looked down to find a familiar hand slipping a yellow rose with a ribbon attached on the prints I had been studying for what felt like hours.

“Hey,” Tyler’s soft and raspy voice said against my ear.  I leaned back into him, craving his touch more than anything.

“I thought you were in Chicago?” I asked, the back of my head finding his chest.

“Well-” he paused, reaching for my hand and turning me to face him.  His expression was different from what it had been in months.  It was calm, loving, maybe even playful.  “… I miss you,” he finished, swiftly wrapping his hands around my waist, pulling my body so it was flush against his.

“I miss you too,” I said quietly, my heart filling with emotion.

Bringing a hand to my cheek, he didn’t say anything, but just gazed into my eyes like he hadn’t seen me in years.  “I’m sorry,” he murmured, “Sorry for not being here, with you.  My mind has just been…” His voice drifted as his expressions tightened on his face.

I brought my hands to his face, wanting to cradle my lost boy from any pain he had been enduring on his own.  “I know, I understand.  I’m here for you Ty, always,” I consoled.

His smile was warm and affectionate, melting my heart like always. 

I missed that smile.

He leaned in to kiss me tenderly, his arms firmly holding me to him.  It was sweet and reuniting, something I had craved for months now.  I knew from that kiss that we were on the upswing, that we would get through this.

Pulling his lips from mine, he smiled then turned me back around to face my drafting table and the plans I had been getting lost in the last few hours.  My eyes found the single rose, making my heart flutter as it always had whenever I saw those roses.  Reminiscing about how he first made amends, his compliments, his apologies… when he told me he loved me.

“I haven’t brought you a rose in a while,” he murmured in my ear.  He kissed my shoulder while lifting the rose so I could read the tag.

Let’s go away together- Ty

“Really?” I asked, a huge grin on my face as I cranked my head back to see him.  His smile was infectious and wholesome.

“Yes,” he whispered into my neck, followed with a nuzzle, making me giggle.  Oh, how I missed his affection!  “I told you I wanted a pre-honeymoon.  Besides, I have a place I want to show you, but we have to wait a few weeks.  I have some important potential clients I need to hook and reel.”  His mischievous Conklin grin spread across his face, and I couldn’t help but turn to kiss him.  Full out hands in hair, tugging him as close to me as physically possible with clothing between us.  His grin was huge as we kissed, his hands still wrapped around me, enjoying my need for him.

“Get.  A.  Room,” Nathan exaggerated in disgust while walking into my office.

Tyler pulled away, throwing his head back and laughing.  I blushed, hiding my head in Tyler’s chest.  To my surprise, Jamie walked in behind him. 

My face lit up with even more happiness.  “What are you doing here?”  I’d seen her most of the weekend but assumed she was flying back to Miami.

She rolled her eyes dramatically.  “I told you I was going to be in Grand Rapids this week.  We have to finalize things with that crazy artist for ArtPrize.”

I blinked, aware I didn’t remember a lick of anything she just said.  I wasn’t surprised. I was completely out of it after our over-stimulating time at Enclave.

“What are you doing here so late?” Tyler asked, bringing my body back to his.  He didn’t want to let me go, and it felt comforting.

“We had a meeting,” Nathan said.  “We were discussing Chino.”

Tyler’s arms tightened around me.  “Yes, we need to address that situation.”

“I don’t know how to get that asshole out of here.  He doesn’t seem to take no for an answer.  I think we need to force our lawyer on him,” Nathan sighed, taking a seat in one of the office chairs.

“I say we find his drugs and dump them in a large body of water,” Jamie huffed while taking a seat next to him.

Nathan shook his head.  “That sounds like a sure way to get ourselves killed.  That man is a lunatic.  I think he’s using again and a lot more than any time before.  I’m shocked he didn’t pull a gun on us last Saturday.”  He glared at Tyler.

“What?” Tyler said defensively.  “I’m sick of his shit.  You probably wouldn’t have told him we were cutting ties unless I would’ve almost lost my head.”

Nathan laughed, then leaned forward in his chair.  “Hah!  Almost?  Tyler you punched him in the face!”

Tyler’s cocky grin radiated throughout the room.  “Yeah… I got him good didn’t I?”

Nathan rolled his eyes.  “Purely unprofessional.”

“That asshole needs more than a swift punch to the face,” Tyler growled.

“I agree, but we need to fight dirty with him.  Chino plays mind games.  Jamie might be on to something.  We find his drugs and use them against him.”

I wanted to open my mouth about Anderson’s morning visit.  But I needed to talk to Tyler about that before anyone else.  His head might seem better now, but he would only really listen clearly if it were just the two of us.

“How do we plan on doing that?” Jamie asked, baffled.

“Why don’t you talk to Mitch?  Maybe find out some of Chino’s insights,” I said.  There wasn’t a doubt in either Tyler or Nathan that Mitch was involved in some way.

Nathan shook his head.  “Mitch won’t say anything. I’ve tried every aspect possible.”

“Yeah, the only way through his thick skull is through a woman,” Tyler grumbled.

I stood up straight then glanced at Tyler.  He looked at me for a moment as if reading my mind then his eyes found Jamie.

Nathan watched our interaction then a small smile played on his lips.  He turned to face Jamie as well, who was playing with her nails.  “Yeah, too bad we don’t know any single, desirable women who could handle taking advantage of him.”

All eyes were on Jamie.  As though she could feel the unsaid conversations between the three of us, she looked up, eyeing each one of us slowly.

“Oh no… don’t y’all give me that look,” she pleaded, her Florida accent thickening.  “I am NOT going out with that loser.”

“Come on Jay,” Nathan said, putting his arm on the back of her chair.  “I’ll give you a bonus.”

“I don’t want a fucking bonus!  I’m not going out with him!”

“Jamie, we could all be in a whole heap of trouble if we don’t figure this out,” I said softly, glancing up at Tyler.  His jaw was doing his nervous tick, and I reached my hand up to calm him.

Jamie’s eyes swept back around all of us again then she groaned.  “Fine!  I swear to God, if he makes a move on me, I’m kicking him in the nuts.”

Chapter 20

Tyler

Top Ten Moves To Make Her Come.
  This was the headline in the magazine I was reading in Becca’s old apartment.  No one knew, but I already subscribed to this magazine on my iPad.  They gave good advice most of the time; at least I believed it was good because it worked.  I’d planned on using some of it next weekend when Becca and I took our trip.

I managed to get a three day weekend for both of us.  Clearing our schedules wasn’t always easy, but I knew we needed to get away.

Our relationship had been better, but I still had business to attend to in Chicago the past week.  I couldn’t swap with Nathan because he would be mainly in Miami.  Tonight was the first time Becca and I had seen each other in over a week. 

Becca was helping Jamie get ready for her date with Mitch.  Jamie was being a poor sport, complaining there was no way Mitch would tell her anything and how he would never leave her alone after tonight.  I guess he’d been hitting on her constantly since she had been stationed in Miami, making landing a date with him easy.

Both girls came walking down the hall, Jamie’s heels clicking loudly on the hardwood.  My brother would eat her up in her short tight dress, but she didn’t compare to my Becs and her little shorts and comfy t-shirt.  Becca’s hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and her face was fresh without makeup, just how I liked it.

I threw the magazine down, not wanting them to know my secret as they approached me.  “You look like Mitch won’t be able to keep his hands off you,” I teased.

Jamie narrowed her eyes at me.  “I meant what I said. If he touches me, he won’t ever be able to have children.”

Becca laughed.  “Maybe we should put a cardigan on you and dress pants.”

“No, because a girl only gets what she wants if she looks the part.  How else am I supposed to tempt him into telling me what I want to know if I don’t seduce him a little?”

“Jamie, I think you are underestimating your ability to control my little brother.  There isn’t that much going on up there,” I smiled, pointing a finger to my head.