Cousins (Cousins #2) (20 page)

"Good evening." I try to hide my grin with a covered hand. "Your stepmother wants to know why you never use your key."

"Not my house." He says as he walks through the threshold brushing slightly by me. A few of his fingers lightly touching my thigh when he goes by.

"Roman." I hear the calm and deep voice of my uncle acknowledging Roman's presence.

"Joseph."

"After we eat I have to talk to you about some business, since you haven't been by here in a while."

"Yep."

Dinner is amazing.
 

Juliette has set the table beautifully complete with cloth napkins and fall themed serving platters. Both Roman and I remain quiet throughout dinner though, and barely interact with each other except for the one time he went for a quick feel of my thigh under the table. It's a miracle I didn't jump clear through the ceiling. The night had been so quiet and uneventful that I wasn't expecting it. He caught me totally off guard, just like he likes it.

"So how's the network coming, Elizabeth?" Joseph asks me while taking a small bite of chicken. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that my uncle is completely on to us.

"I'm basically finished." I say.

"Well not quite." Roman adds.

"No ... I'm pretty sure I would know if I'm finished and I am."

"So when will you be completely finished?" Joseph asks.

"I can finish up everything I need to do from here in about two days. I just need to run a check and make sure the network is talking to each other nicely. It was a little difficult walking the techs in Miami and New York through what I needed them to do. So I definitely want to check in with them again."

"Maybe you should run by the clubs and handle it yourself directly," Joseph suggests.

"Run by them?"

"Drive up to New York and fly down to Miami. Shouldn't take you long."

"Umm, I'm not sure–" I say hesitantly.

"Have you paid her yet, Roman?" My uncle asks.

"We're still working that part out."

Joseph wipes his mouth with his napkin and places it and his fork both down on the table. He gives Roman a hard stare then turns his attention back to me.

"What does a job of this magnitude usually cost, Elizabeth? What would you charge if you didn't know us?"

"That's the thing, Uncle Joseph, I'm staying in your house for free. I'm fine with you paying me whatever you think is fair. I was happy to do it."

"So why exactly haven't you paid her?" He basically ignores me and directs the question to Roman.

"Joseph." Aunt Juliette warns. "Not right now."

"I'm confused as to who is running this shit with all this backseat fucking management you're doing. Is it me or you? Until we're clear about that, I don't know who should be paying her."

 
"What did I tell you about raising your voice in my house."

"Maybe you two should have that talk now." My aunt interrupts. "Elizabeth, can you help me clear the dishes?"

I'm not sure what is happening right now, but I don't like it. I especially don't like that I have something to do with it.

Roman and Joseph stare silently at each other for what seems like forever. Almost like two strong bulls sizing each other up before they meet in the center of the ring.
 

I'm afraid. Not for myself or anything like that, but because I've seen glimpses of Roman's love for his father during our times together. I know that he yearns for Joseph's respect and approval, even if he doesn't realize it himself.

"What is the deal with those two?" I ask as I scrape plates.

"The deal that has always been between fathers and sons I suppose. With a little bit of Mom issues on the side."

"Roman doesn't talk about his mom at all. Where is she?"

Aunt Juliette raises a brow at me.

"Why would he talk about his mother with you? I thought you two barely spoke at all."

"Like I said, we don't hate each other. We speak from time to time." I pray that she bought that.

"His mother is responsible for a lot of frightening and painful times in Roman's childhood. I don't think he'll ever forgive Joseph for not being there more to help him, or to maybe save his mother from herself."

"Is she … dead?"

"We don't think so, but we don't know for sure."

"With all of your money and resources, no one has been able to find her?"

"I guess not." Aunt Juliette clams up. "Can you pour me a small glass of wine honey?"

"Sure."

"The bottle is still out on the buffet table."

"Okay."

When I peek back out into the dining room to get the bottle of chardonnay we were drinking with dinner, I see that both Roman and Joseph are gone. They must have gone into the office to talk. I just hope they aren't verbally tearing each other to shreds in there. They both have extremely acerbic tongues when pushed.

I'm not sure how long I stand in the dining room, waiting to see if I can hear any yelling or God forbid punches being thrown, but it takes Juliette's unusually low pitched voice to break me out of my trance.

"You like him don't you?" She asks standing directly behind me.

I bite my bottom lip in a moment of sheer panic and think very carefully about what the next words will be out of my mouth. Finally I turn around to face her once I think I've got my composure.

"He's not as bad as I originally thought."

"No, Elizabeth. I mean … you're attracted to him aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well there were a lot of giveaways tonight, but the biggest one is the fact that you're out here worried about what's going on in there." She points towards the office door.

"I'm just worried that my cousin and his father are arguing over something that I may have some small part in. That's all. I'm not sure what you think you are seeing, but that's it."

Aunt Juliette begins to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I demand to know.

"I said almost the same exact thing when your father and your uncles suspected the same thing about me and Joseph. Now I know you're lying. Either to me or to yourself."

"I'm getting the wine." I say walking away and back towards the kitchen. Fighting very hard not to reveal any I just got busted tears in front of my aunt.
 

"I'll get you a glass."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ROMAN

"I want to get back to my wife and the carrot cake that I know she baked for your ungrateful ass. So let's make this quick. No bullshit. What is going on between you and Elizabeth?"

Here we go.

"I didn't pay her because you weren't exactly clear about the terms, Joseph."

"I'm not a dumb fuck, Roman. I didn't build this life I have, that we have, from being stupid. I already know that you went to the Bahamas. And I'm pretty sure that if I send Elizabeth to Miami and New York that you'll conveniently have business to do in those places too. You're sniffing up her ass, and I want to know why."

"You told me to! She has a little problem with an ex that I'm taking care of. I found out he was in the Bahamas same time she was. So I flew out there and handled the problem like I always do. Per your orders."

"Then why did Jade lie to me about it?"

"Jade doesn't lie." I am calling his bluff like a motherfucker.

"She said you were away handling business."

"I was."

"She made it seem like it was Mendez business."

"I doubt that. That's probably what you assumed, but Mendez is taken care of already."

I hate this shit.
 

I just want to tell him already and deal with the inevitable fall out. I'm just hesitant about doing it until I have Elizabeth completely on board. I'm going to have to work a lot harder to get her to finally come around, because this shit is killing me. I've never had to lie to Joseph before. I just don't do it. I've never wanted him to think that his opinion matters enough where I'd ever need to.

"I never thought I'd need to say this but regardless of the lack of a blood connection, Elizabeth is your family. You do realize that, Roman?"

"Of course."

Joseph continues to silently stare down my throat, as I stand in the room in a defiant pose. I'm leaning on the door of the office with my arms crossed in front of me. It's obvious that I'm protecting something or someone. I've really handled all of this the wrong way. It's only going to be worse when I do finally tell him the truth. Maybe I should just fess up and apologize to Elizabeth later about exposing us without giving her a heads up. Fuck.

The bottom line is that she's mine, I want everyone to know it, and I'm never going to let any fucking body else have her. So the world is going to have to find that shit out sooner or later. Maybe I'm going to have to push her a little. Maybe I'm coddling her too much.

"I want to go eat my cake," Joseph announces.

"So go eat it. I think we're done here."

He pauses again as he watches me jiggle my hand around in my pocket. I'm fingering a few M&M's, but I know he's watching me like a hawk, so I won't eat them.

"If I tell you where your mother is will you leave her alone?"

What. The. Fuck.

"You know where my mother is?"

"Yes."

My heart is fighting to burst through my chest. I'm so fucking mad that I really want to push the old man's head through his office window right the fuck now, but I have to use every bit of restraint I have from doing so. So I start pacing and talking myself down.

It's wrong Roman. He's your father. Get a fucking grip.

"Do you want to know where she is?" He asks as if he's almost amused by my reaction. As if he's enjoying it.

Shit, I'm not even sure if I want to know.

"How long have you known?"

"For a very long time. I have lots of connections from the old neighborhood, Roman. You know that. I've kept tabs on your mother for years."

"Why would you keep that shit from me?"

My mother has always been a source of tension between us. He knows that no matter how much I avoid the subject of my mother that I would still want to know where she is and how she is. The fact that he's been holding out on me is unforgivable, unless he has one hell of an excuse, which I highly doubt.

"Because she was never a good mother, and I thought I could do a better job, which I did. Telling you would have only confused things for you. You were already a handful."

In other words, fucked up.

"That wasn't your choice to make."

"I made it though."

"I'm a man now. You could have told me eventually."

"There didn't seem to be any reason in telling you after a certain point."

His nonchalant attitude is pissing me off, but that's classic Joseph. He lacks the ability to feel any sort of empathy for anyone. Even his own son. Sometimes I wonder if he's even able to feel love. Not that I'm any sort of expert on that emotion.

"Does she live close?" I ask.

Somehow knowing that she may have been living ten minutes away from me this entire time makes me even angrier.

"No, Roman. You don't get details until I get your word."

"This is very fucked up, Joseph."

"You're right it is. Elizabeth is your cousin not your whore. Do I have your word or not?"

I start rubbing my hand back and forth across the top of my buzz cut in frustration. The old man has got me by the balls, and I'm going to have to make a big decision about it right fucking now.

"You know what? You're right. She was a shit mom. I don't need to know where she is. I'm going to eat carrot cake and forget we even had this conversation."

And I walk out of the room.

"Juliette!" I call out.

Juliette walks quickly out of the kitchen with a glass of wine in her hand. Elizabeth directly behind her.

"What is it? Is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine. I heard you made a carrot cake." I plaster on a smile.

"I did." She grins proudly while looking around me for Joseph. "Would you like a slice?"

"I'd love a big hunk with some milk if you have it."

"Of course sweetie. Would you like some too, Elizabeth?"

"Sure I'll have a sliver."

"Elizabeth." I grab onto her wrist before she walks back into the kitchen. "Joseph and I just had a talk about your fee."

I say it loudly enough for Juliette's sake, although we didn't discuss shit about it.

"And?"

"Let's talk about it after cake."

"Okay." She says with a bit of uncertainty in her voice.

Joseph never came out of the office to eat dessert with us. The grumpy asshole. He and Juliette ate privately inside his office, while Elizabeth and I ate in the den while she caught up on an episode of some crappy reality show I've never heard of.