Healing Inc. (12 page)

“As God is my witness, I will do everything within my power to protect her,” he promised the two men.

“That would be wise,” Miguel replied, slapping his new friend on the back.  “We’re not sure but, we kind of suspect Nita knows about the detective.  Apparently, he questioned her long term boyfriend that she thinks no one knows about.  More than likely, he voiced his concerns to Nita who may have alerted Evy.”

“I’ll see what I can find out but not to the point of giving all you’ve told me away.  Don’t worry guys; I’m determined to give her the kind of life she deserves.  After all, I am worth millions.”

With that they all laughed, Tyler because he thought himself witty and the other two men because they knew Evy was probably worth just as much, if not more than him. 

***

Work on the house continued throughout the day with volunteers begging out a few at a time until Tyler and Evy were the only two left.  Around four in the evening, Nita had told Evy she wanted to do some catching up with her brothers and give them a taste of the nightlife in Oklahoma City.  What she really wanted was to get the scoop on what her brothers had found out during their day with Tyler.  It was now almost eight at night.  Tyler held the dustpan while Evy swept the last of the sawdust into it.

“Whew!  That’s the last of it,” Evy stated.

“Yeah, that was definitely a day of hard work,” he agreed as he emptied the contents of the dustpan into a large trash bag full of the same.  “Do you ever get tired, woman?”

“Fatigue isn’t always an option.”  She smiled as she removed the headscarf that protected her hair from the dust.  She started to poof out her hair before Tyler stopped her.

“No, no!  Let me do that for you!”   His eagerness surprised her.  She slowly lowered her hands as he walked up to do the task.  She watched him peculiarly as he attentively ran his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp with each stroke.  An involuntary moan escaped her, freezing him in his tracks.  He slowly looked down, meeting her astonished gaze.  He smiled at the look of guilt she displayed. 

“Even with my hands digging in your hair, you still look beautiful.”  

Cupping her face he leaned in for a kiss when a slight knock sounded on the door frame catching their attention.  There stood a woman holding a little girl in her arms with an older boy beside her.  The sight of them caused Tyler’s stomach to tighten.  He had never seen anything like it.  Although his mother had preferred the company of losers they all knew that hitting her would have been a death sentence.  Her family had virtually disowned her but she was still a Moriatti and had continued to be protected like one. 

The woman was Caucasian and looked to be in her early twenties, almost childlike in appearance.  Her brown hair was partially done up in a ponytail with the other potion loose in disarray.  Fresh bruises were forming on her face and throat.  Blood had already started to coagulate on her busted lip and nose. 

The boy, who looked about eleven or twelve with the same coloring, sported a black eye.  On closer inspection Evy noticed that his knuckles were bruised and bloody as well.  The only one in the group with no apparent injury was the sleeping toddler with the tear streaked face.  Evy, who had seen it before, knew that the baby’s wounds were indeed present, just not yet visible to the naked eye.      

“Ma’am, we were told we could stay here tonight,” the boy started as he placed a protective arm around his mother.  “I can’t let my mom go back to him.  He almost killed her and I can’t let that happen.”  A fine sheen of tears glazed over his large blue eyes. 

Evy noted that the boy was indeed precocious for his age.  Witnessing the abuse of a parent could do that to a child.  “This shelter’s not open yet but I’ll get you a place to stay… I promise,” she assured him.

“We don’t have any money.  We had to get outta there before he got back up,” the boy continued as his mom started to silently weep.  “Don’t cry, mama.  They said they’d help us.”  Standing almost at her petite height he gave her a squeeze in an attempt to console her.

“Why don’t you come over here so we can put some ice on that?” Evy said pointing at his eye.  The group slowly walked toward her while Tyler retreated to the other room to grab some ice from one of the coolers left on site.  Once they were comfortably seated in the window seat of the room, she began the routine questioning she was trained to ask.  Using leftover t-shirts, they cleaned their wounds as best they could.

“Shouldn’t we get you to a hospital?” Tyler asked the mom.

“No!  No hospitals!” she stated emphatically.  “They’ve already tried to split us up.  If my boy hadn’t been there I’d be dead right now.”

Evy understood her situation, she’d seen it before.  “We’ll get you to a temporary apartment but first you have to agree to talk to our social worker and let our physician’s assistant examine you.  You don’t have to give them your name or any other information.  We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

The mom looked at Evy, then at her bruised son.  “Okay.  That sounds reasonable.”  She nodded her agreement.  She didn’t care what happened to her but she couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her son.

“Good,” Evy said with a reassuring smile.  “I’ll contact them right away.”

The little girl woke up crying while Evy was on the phone.  Tyler approached her, attempting to distract her.  Upon seeing him, the little girl ceased wailing instantly.  It was apparent the father figure in her life didn’t tolerate such behavior from her.  Taking that and the terrified look on her face into consideration, he proceeded with caution.

“Hey, sweetie.  Are you hungry?” he asked her pulling some left over Cheese Nips from his pocket.  “You can have some but you have to share with mom and big brother.”  The little girl’s eyes widened at the sight of the food.  She was starving.  “I won’t bite.  Go ahead… Take it.”  With speed she grabbed the bag from his hands and started munching on the snack.  “Remember, you have to share,” Tyler gently chided.  She turned and offered the bag to her mother and brother who happily accepted the treat.

By the time the social worker and PA arrived, Tyler and the kids were deep into a game of hide and seek.  Evy stayed with the mom, comforting and reassuring her.  She and the mom couldn’t help but bend over with laughter when the kids tried to tackle Tyler.  He had walked with the boy’s arms around his waist and the girl on his left leg trying to stop him from reaching safety.  He fell to his knees and attempted to crawl the rest of the way with both kids on his back.  Just when the kids screeched in anticipation of losing, he collapsed making them cry out in a loud victorious cheer followed by the boy dancing around the room and the girl bouncing up and down on his back.   From his prone position on the floor, Tyler cast Evy a wink and a smile that captured her heart. 

The social worker and PA arrived just in time to see the end of the whole drama.  They couldn’t believe their eyes when they found the man under the bouncing child to be the infamous Tyler Moriatti.  They wasted no time exchanging information with Evy so that she could be on her way. 

“You can take them to building number two.  Bethany is expecting you,” Evy instructed.  The social worker nodded and assured Evy she would take good care of them. 

The instructions Evy gave didn’t escape Tyler.  Shouldn’t the social worker be telling her where to send people, not the other way around?  He had a feeling Evy was keeping more from him than what he had learned from Miguel today.

***

Later That Night…

Tyler and Evy were once again in her apartment on opposite ends of the couch.  They had grabbed a pizza and a bottle of wine to consume at home.  After eating, they both had showered, she in the master bath and he in the guest bath, and donned their pajamas.  Tyler had packed an overnight bag just in case Evy allowed him to stay again.   Now they sat with their feet up in each other’s lap, each giving the other a foot massage.  It was well after midnight.

“Umm, I can’t begin to tell you how good this feels,” Evy moaned.

“Trust me.   This is nothing in comparison to the way I want to make you feel.”  That lust filled look came back to his eyes and a knowing grin spread across his face.

“Tyler!” Evy gasped.  Her cheeks started to heat up in reaction to his words.  She was embarrassed by the sudden straining of her nipples against her night shirt and the dampness she felt in her fresh underwear.  “You really don’t have a problem speaking your mind, do you?”

“Not when I know what I want.  Come here.”  His command was filled with desire. 

He reached for her, positioning her on top of him as he laid down flatter on the couch.  Their lips came together, his tongue instantly invading her mouth.  Evy shuddered at the feel of it, welcoming it as he moved it in and out of her mouth.  She instinctively put her hands in his hair, running her fingers through the short silky waves.  She loved the feel of it, of him as she let her weight settle into him.  She could feel his erection growing against her groin as she lay on top of him, becoming more and more aroused by it. 

“Tyler…I’m not ready,” she managed to get out, taking her lips from his.  They both lay their breathing heavily.

“Just let me touch you.  I want you to feel what you do to me,” he said in between pecks, his voice low and husky.  He stopped the kisses, taking her face into his hands as he gazed into her eyes.  With their noses practically touching he whispered, “Trust me Evy.  I won’t hurt you.  I love you way too much to do that.”

Evy’s eyes filled with tears.  Outside of the brotherly love she received from the brothers she claimed no man had ever said those words to her before.  From the look in his eyes she knew he meant them.  Tyler kissed her long and hard, then repositioned her in his lap as he sat up, placing his feet on the floor.  Evy felt herself lifted into his powerful arms as he rose from the couch.

 He carried her to the master bedroom and carefully placed her in the middle of the bed.  He slowly pulled back the covers so that she could slip under them.  Climbing in next to her, he positioned himself to hover just above her and resumed kissing her fervently. 

Evy started to moan as she felt his hands roam all over her body.  He cupped her modest breast as his mouth started kissing and laving her neck, his fingers teasing the rubbing her hardened dark nipples through her night tank top.  He lifted her shirt and took a ripe nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue causing her back to arch from the maddening pleasure.  His fingers teased one nipple while his tongue skillfully worked the other.  Evy thought she would explode from the feel of it.  She braced his head to her, running her fingers through his soft hair. 

His mouth started to travel lower, his tongue stopping to twirl circles around her belly button while he removed her pajama bottoms.  In a flash his mouth was on hers, kissing her as his fingers made their way between her parted legs.  He wasted no time going for her delicate clit, occasionally lifting his mouth from hers to watch her response.  His thumb flicked and rubbed the small bud as he began to slide his middle fingers in and out of her.  His other hand played with her nipple while his mouth traveled back and forth between the other one and her mouth, kissing her intermittently, taking joy in watching her excitement build to that critical point he wanted to take her to. 

“That’s it Evy…relax…enjoy it,” he murmured, giving small pecks to her cheek and earlobe as his fingers continued in and out of her and attending to her delicate spot.  “Come on baby…I wanna see you cum.” 

Within moments she did just that, bucking against him as she clamped down on his fingers, tears rolling from her eyes.  “Oh, yes!  That’s it!” he gasped kissing her passionately as she lost complete control of her body.  He used his free arm to pull her toward him as he continued to pump his fingers in and out of her comforting her as she rode it out.  After regaining control, she delighted in the presence of Tyler in her bed.  He held her in his arms, occasionally kissing and squeezing her to him until they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.