Finding Gary (The Romanovsky Brothers Book 4) (15 page)

Val stood in the middle of the living room, glaring into the kitchen.  Both of his hands were in the air.  A black beanie hung from his fingers, and when Taj cocked his weapon, Val lifted his hands higher.

“Hold your fire.  I left my hat,” Val spoke to Taj, but his eyes remained riveted to Zoey.  “The door was unlocked, so I just let myself in.”

Zoey zoomed out of the kitchen, into the living room, and past Val. 

He held her disdainful gaze as she raced to the playpen.

“You have no right.”  She bent into the pen and swept up Marcus, cradling him to her shoulder as her eyes blazed across the room.  “You don’t get to walk into my apartment without knocking, Val.  How dare you?”

“Trust me; if I’d had any idea you’d be in the kitchen curled up in the arms of your…” Val made finger quotes, “‘Protective service agent’, I would’ve left the goddamn hat.  Just to save myself a sick stomach.”

“Get out!” Zoey screamed.

Val turned to Taj, who’d lowered the gun.  “Is that part of your job description?”  He licked his top teeth, his chest visibly heaving.  “Huh?  Putting your hands all over the woman you’re meant to be protecting?”

“The only person I need protection from is you,” Zoey screamed, nodding when Val shot her a horrified look.  “And you better believe my lawyer is going to be hearing about this, Val.”

“I suggest you leave right now,” Taj said, coming out of the kitchen.

Val squared his shoulders as Taj grew closer, accepting his challenging gaze, eye to eye.

“You just got your son back,” Taj said.  The heat escaping his nostrils met Val’s in the space between their faces.  “Don’t screw it up now.  Zoey doesn’t want to see you. You need to respect that.”  Taj licked his lips and nodded towards the door.  “If you’d like to speak further out in the hallway, I’d be happy to join you, but if you’re not out of this apartment in the next thirty seconds, Val, I’ll make the call to Zoey’s lawyer myself.  And right after that, I’ll make a call to the NYPD since you’re in violation of your custody agreement.”

Val turned to Zoey.  “You really think I would hurt my son, Zo?  I loved him before he was even conceived.  He’s the only person alive that I love more than you.”

“Love.  How the hell can you say that word to me with a straight face?” Zoey turned away, pressing her lips into the top of Marcus’s head.  “Get out, Val.”

Val wrung his beanie between his fingers.  “He looks like you…”

Zoey didn’t face him.

“Just like I always wanted.”  Val waited for her to turn back to him, and when she didn’t, his voice changed.  “Zo, I loved you since the moment I saw you, and the reason I wanted our child to look like you was because I didn’t just fall in love with you.  I fell in love with the idea of seeing you, every day, through him. I fell in love with the idea of learning the kind of person he’d be, what he’d love, what would get on his nerves, who his friends would be, even who his enemies would be, so I could get to work crushing their skulls.  I fell in love with all of it.”

Zoey breathed in Marcus’ clean scent so ferociously she was surprised she didn’t swallow a chunk of hair.  It was the only thing keeping her from erupting.

When Taj took Val’s arm from behind, Val snatched it away.  “Zo, I’ve already lost you.   Please don’t make it so I’ve lost Marcus too.  Don’t make it so I only see my boy once a week.  Don’t throw away my relationship with him.”

“
I’m
throwing away your relationship?” Zoey cried, facing him.

Val’s eyes fell.

“Wow, Val. Wow.” Zoey shifted Marcus from one arm to the other. 

“You won’t even let me explain to you what happened that night,” Val said.  “If you would just let me explain…”

“There is no explanation.  Gary killed my parents, and you all lied to me about it for ten years.  What more is there to say, Val?”  She cringed.  “I can’t stand the sight of you.  I can’t stand the thought of your hands on my son—”

“
Our
son—”

“And if a court of law hadn’t forced my hand, you would’ve never laid a hand on him period.  Not for as long as he lived.”

When Taj took Val’s arm this time, it was under a much stronger grasp.  Val tried to rear away, but couldn’t. 

Sensing Taj’s strength, Val begged.  “Will you please sit down with me and hear me out, Zo?  Please.”

“Get out,” she whispered, taking several steps back.

“All I ever wanted to do was protect you.” Val allowed Taj to drag him towards the door, never taking his eyes from her.  “All I ever wanted was to protect our family.  You’ll see, Zo.  When the trial starts, you’ll see.”

“That’s enough.” Taj threw open the front door and pushed Val into the hallway, slamming it closed behind them.

Zoey and Marcus found themselves alone, and she released the wail she’d been holding in, waking the resting child in her arms and prompting him to release a strangled cry as well.

***

Following Val into the hallway, Taj pointed behind him, where Marcus’ cries were carrying through the closed door.

“Do you hear that?” Taj asked, his blue eyes boring into the back of Val’s head as he leaned his forehead against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway.  Val kept his back to Taj, his fingers clawing into the plaster.  “That’s the sound of your child, and the mother of your child, traumatized over your very presence.  That’s a sound furnished by a man who’s playing on a very dangerous line.  You’re already down to an hour of visitation a week.  I’d suggest you don’t try your luck.”

Val swung on his heel and met Taj’s eyes.

Taj barely resisted the urge to take a step away.

“Who the fuck are you?” Val demanded, squinting across the hallway.  “What kind of federal agent has his hands all over the woman he’s assigned to protect? Will that be in your final report once this nightmare is over?  That you know the feeling of her body against yours?  Wiped her tears?  Rubbed her back?  Smelled her hair?  Maybe while you’re making calls to Zoey’s lawyer, I’ll make a few calls of my own—to your direct supervisor.  I bet he’d love to know that you’re out to fuck your asset.”

“Making me the bad guy won’t make Zoey see you any differently.”

Val smiled, but it wasn’t genuine.  Fisting his hat in his hand, he moved forward, pressing a knuckle into Taj’s chest.

“Don’t touch me,” Taj warned.

Val pushed, testing him.  “Zo might be buying this whole… this whole…” Val waved his hand through the air, scowling as he looked Taj up and down.  “
Roman Reigns
shtick you’ve got going on…”

Taj smirked, looking away as his eyes shrunk in amusement.

Val pointed a finger at his face.  “But I don’t.  Alright? You are not here to romance my fiancé.  You’re only here to protect her, and my son.  Period.”  Val sliced his fingers through the air at his neck.

“Your fiancé, huh?” Taj’s smile wavered.  “I’m not sure she got that memo.  And see, in my unit, when you give a woman a title that she hasn’t even given herself, you’re ticking a lot of boxes you don’t want to tick with a man like me.  When you give a woman a title she hasn’t even given herself, I start seeing tendencies. Aggressive tendencies. Abusive tendencies.  Control issues…” He licked his lips.  “If a prosecutor called me to a stand and asked me a few questions, I might even verbalize some of those issues in a court of law.  Not the kind of thing you want a judge to know about during a custody hearing.”

Val’s teeth clenched, even as he tried to cover them with his tightening lips.

“Val.  We were standing in the kitchen, talking.”  Taj held his arms out with a grin.  “Just talking.  Now, I don’t know what you
think
you saw, but I can assure you, the only person on this planet who is more interested in protecting Zo and Marcus than you, is me.” 

Taj slapped a hand on the side of Val’s bicep, a little harder than necessary, and then clapped another one on his shoulder for good measure, gripping firmly.

Val did the same, slamming his palm against Taj’s back, with such animosity it forced Taj to plant his feet, his own teeth baring at the blow.

Taj lifted his hand from Val’s shoulder and slapped it down, again, harder this time.  He relished in the wince Val tried to bite back.

“Hour’s up, Dad,” Taj said, shaking Val.  “I’ll walk you out.”

***

“I want somebody new on Zoey and Marcus.”

Jessica nearly screamed at the sight of Val pounding into her secret office in Lower Manhattan, reminding herself for the millionth time to fire her useless fucking brother.  Worst security guard in history.

“Who gave you this address?” she demanded.  “Damn it.”

“That guy?” Val said, pointing at the window of her office.  “That fucking guy?  Taj?”  He shook his head.  “Nah.  I want him gone.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like him.  I walk in, and he’s…”

Noticing his sudden hesitation, and her eyebrows jumped.  “There’s no way he works for King.  I went through his entire file myself.  He’s clean.  He’s cool.  Now who the fuck gave you this address?  Angie?”

“I don’t like him.”

“If you don’t like him, there’s not a single person on the force you will.  Taj has the sharpest record.  Before he became a fed, he worked as personal security to some pretty A-list stars in Manhattan.   You’re not going to find a better one than him.”

“I’m sure I can find one who won’t have his god damn hands all over Zoey every time I walk into a room. I bet I could find that.”

Jessica frowned.  Then, her eyebrows relaxed, her lips fell open, and spread into a small smile.  “Ah,” she nodded.

Val cocked a lip.

“Val, hear me, okay?” Jessica rolled her chair out from behind the desk, leaning forward on her knees.  “I’m a federal agent.  I’ve seen some pretty fucked up things.  My heart couldn’t get any blacker if you seared it in a cast iron skillet.  I have no capacity for shit like this.  The only person I can remotely relate this to is your twin brother, and that son of a bitch won’t even talk to me.” 

“I’m not jealous.”

“Okay… You’re not jealous.  Fine.  But you’re also not with Zoey anymore.  You can’t stomp around demanding her safety, and then pick and choose who’s keeping her safe because you feel threatened.  I got news for you, Val.  You’re going to feel this way regardless.  If Taj were a middle-aged cherub with a gut and a two-inch dick, you would still hate him… because he’s near her.”

Val looked out of the window and ran a hand down his face.

“You just have to let her go.”

His eyes shot back to her.  “Like you’re letting Leo go?”

Jessica leaned back in her chair, looking away.

“Yeah…” Val took her retreat as surrender.  “Maybe you should practice what you preach.”

“Taj is a good guy.”

“Fuck, man…” He motioned to her.  “You had to find the one Roman Reigns looking motherfucker in the whole precinct?  I know damn well they don’t all look like that.”

Jessica laughed through the side of her mouth.  “Roman Reigns.  I never noticed, but yeah…” She nodded.

Val pushed his beanie off his head with a small groan. 

“You’re right, though,” he mumbled, looking down at the hat as he played it between his fingers.  “You’re right,” he said, again, as if admitting that was the hardest thing.

“I usually am.”

“Sorry for… busting in on you like this…”

Jessica poked her lips out, holding his eyes for another moment before she pointed to the foot long sub sandwich she’d left on the desk opposite hers.  “You like Capriotti's?  I’ve got half a Bobbie left.  Best sub in the city—”

Val was already crossing the room, cursing under his breath as he pushed his jacket off his arms.

Jessica chuckled when he tore into the sandwich, taking the seat opposite her and giving her half.

They dug into their respective halves, every once in a while catching each other’s eyes across the office.

Val demolished his half in minutes, struggling to chew around the massive final bite he’d taken.  “He uh…” He paused, swallowing the bite before motioning to her again.  “He doesn’t know how to stay angry. When he truly loves you… he can’t.  He doesn’t know how.”

Jessica paused around her own bite, eyes going wide as Val spoke.

He brushed the crumbs from his palms, and then stood, throwing her a wink.  “Don’t give up on him.”

“I won’t.  As long as you don’t give up on Zoey.”

He laughed.  “I don’t know how.”

Jessica chuckled.  Then, the smile vanished from her face, and she leaned forward on her knees.  “Hey, Jack’s sent subpoenas to your whole family, but we can’t get Roman served.  Where the hell is he?”

“Roman has a propensity to disappear on a whim, without warning, and without goodbye,” Val said.  “But he always turns up.  Eventually.”

“He seemed pretty furious about Angie when I ran into him at the hospital.  And I know he purchased two guns recently.  I just don’t want him doing anything stupid, or violent, or both.”