Hearsay (29 page)

She ended her call, fixed her eye makeup, and shifted on her seat to glare at Derrick. "Eavesdrop much?" she asked jokingly. All traces of tears were gone from her face.

"I'm a lawyer," Derrick said with a shrug. "You had me at 'he has no right to see you, and Daddy and I won't let him take you away from us.' Also…" He sipped from his coffee and let out a long sigh. "I was in dire need of a distraction. I apologize."

Derrick's phone chirped with a text message. He grabbed it immediately when he saw Noah's name. "Excuse me," he told his table companion with a smile. "I need to take care of this."

I'm still in court. I was able to listen to your message but can't call you back right now. I had a talk with my off-again BF during lunch recess. Some fucked up shit going down at his place of work that has him frothing at the mouth. Head honcho using "that" particular situation we know about for personal gain. Off-again BF wanted me to tell you it's all in motion. Keep your cool. I'm here for you. ABC, your BF, and I will get you through this. I'll call you as soon as I get out of court.

"Oh, Jesus," Derrick whimpered, mentally deciphering Noah's text.

ADA Jonathan Keller told Noah some fucked up shit is going down at the Manhattan DA's office, and DA—slash—Attorney General hopeful Dennis Lovett is using the false accusations against Tyler for visibility and media time.

Derrick's mouth went dry, and a lump formed in his throat.

This can't be happening… this can't be happening!

But it
was
happening. That's why Danielle Contreras had met with Derrick's boss. Because, somehow, the partners at ABC had found out about DA Lovett's plans and were taking steps to protect their firm.

Had Roman's contact called him back after all? And, if so, when? "Why didn't he mention anything to me?"

"Are you okay?"

The smooth, melodic voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Not really." Derrick cracked his knuckles, then wrapped his hands around his coffee and forced a smile. "Georgia is a beautiful name," he said, glancing at his watch. He had five minutes to get himself together before he had to leave for his meeting. He intended to make good use of the time.

"She's a beautiful girl!" she said with a huge grin.

Derrick's phone rang. "Excuse me again, please." He glanced at the screen. "Hey, Casey. I'll be there soon. If Mr. Harrison shows up tell him—"

"You don't need to rush," his assistant cut him off. "Stacey O'Donnell's covering all your appointments for the rest of the day."

Derrick's heart dropped to the floor. "Why?"

"I don't know," Casey whined. "Abramoff came over and informed me she'll be replacing you today, and then said to call you and let you know you're to go straight to big boss Acosta's office the second you get back from court. I was hoping you'd tell me what in the world is going on!"

His career was over, that's what was going on.

Everything he'd worked his ass off for. Everything he'd achieved. Everything would be gone by the time an unethical district attorney finished smearing Tyler and Derrick's reputations for votes.

"I can't tell you what I don't know," he said quietly. He trusted Casey to keep all his secrets, and it wasn't as if she didn't know about Tyler's pro bono case and Derrick's part in it. But he couldn't explain anything to her. He couldn't admit his world had just tilted on its axis. Not yet. "Let me find out, and I'll call you back, okay?"

He ended the call, gripped the edge of the table, squeezed his eyes shut, and took about a thousand deep breaths.

Don't lose it… don't lose it. You didn't do a damn thing, and your boyfriend will prove it in no time. It'll be fine.

He opened his eyes slowly, forced himself to relax his muscles, plastered a smile on his face, and faced the proud mama sitting next to him. "So tell me more about Georgia." He should haul ass to Sergio Acosta's office, but he wasn't ready yet.

She stared at him for a few seconds, then, for some reason, decided to squeeze his hand. As if they were friends. As if she could tell he was going through hell right now. "Georgia is eleven years old, and our boy's four. His name is Kent," she said, squeezing his hand one more time before retrieving her own and reaching for her coffee.

Derrick's smile grew wider. "He, too, has a beautiful name." This was a subject he could totally get into, even if he was worried out of his mind... or perhaps because he was worried out of his mind.

He'd always loved kids and baby talk. Unlike most people he knew, Derrick didn't mind looking at hundreds of pictures of other people's children or listening to their tales of pregnancy and parenthood. Feedings and potty training conversations were fine, too. Derrick found it all fascinating and hoped to have his own stories to share some day.

"My husband and I decided to name them after the places they were born in," she said, sipping from her coffee.

"Oh, that's nice." Derrick shifted in his seat until he was fully facing her and was glad to see her do the same. "I get Georgia is a Southern belle, but what about Kent? I'm having difficulty placing him."

"He was born in England. My husband worked in his London office for a while a few years ago, and we found a surrogate while we were living there." She clenched her jaw. "He's ours. We hold all parental rights. No one can take him away from us."

"Which isn't the case with Georgia," Derrick concluded in a gentle tone.

"She's ours, too. The biological father relinquished his rights, but now he's back, and he thinks…" She gulped. "He says it isn't good for Georgia to be around someone like me."

Derrick nodded. "Is he contesting the adoption on the grounds that you're a transgender woman?"

She nodded once. "We haven't been served with any papers yet, but our adoption agency in Atlanta notified us of his intent."

"I hope you have a good family law attorney."

"I actually just met the one I want." She flashed a sly smile. "I'm Dani, by the way."

"Derrick," he said, shaking her hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, believe me when I tell you, the pleasure is all mine!" she said in a giddy tone that confused the heck out of Derrick. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course!"

"I thought you looked amazing in the picture The Times published of you, but you're even prettier in person."

Okay, he was officially lost. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"There was a picture of you and your date from the hospital Gala Saturday night," she explained. Derrick could've sworn she was almost bouncing in her seat. "You didn't see it?" She took a tablet out of her briefcase and powered it up. "Here," she said, opening the photos app. "It's a good one."

Derrick leaned in to take a closer look at the picture. They were walking side by side. Roman had his hand on the back of Derrick's waist, and seemed to be listening intently to what Derrick was saying to him. They looked very much into one another, and it was perfectly clear they were a couple. Or about to become a couple, considering the picture was taken upon their arrival at the hotel.

"It
is
a good one," he agreed, making a mental note of searching for the photo and printing it out. "But I don't understand why you saved it," he added with narrowed eyes.

"You will soon enough." She flashed her sly smile again, and Derrick could've throttled her for being so cryptic, even though he really didn't know her.

"Have we met before?" he asked, in case he'd known her when she was pre-op. "Or do you know my boyfriend?"

Her cell phone went off. "Give me a moment." She glanced at the screen, and her facial expression went from mischievous to radiant in less than a second. She seemed more than happy to talk to whoever was calling her. "Hey, babe… yes… everything's okay… yes… actually, you don't need to worry about. I know where he is… yes, Derrick. He's here with me. Pure coincidence… I know! I can't believe it either…"

Derrick was going to ask who in the world she was talking to when his own phone rang. "Oh, thank God!" He almost knocked the phone to the floor in his rush to answer it. "
Where are you?"

"Where are
you
?" Roman asked in return. "I just got your messages. Did you go back to the office?"

"I'm across the street, having coffee at Starbucks. Shit's gone crazy, Roman. I needed time to calm down."

"Excellent. I want you to stay right there. Don't go outside or tell anyone in the office where you are. That includes Tashana and your assistant. Especially don't tell your assistant," Roman ordered. "We don't want her to lie to the cops. Hold on a second. Sergio's calling."

Cops?
Derrick mentally screeched.
What cops?

He lowered his torso and pressed his forehead to the table. He mentally counted magic wands while he waited for Roman to get back on the line.

"Hello?" Roman said.

"I'm here," Derrick answered, not bothering to lift his head. He was too dizzy to hold his head up. He might puke if he moved.

"Tyler Coleman was arrested a few hours ago, as were three other employees from the Coleman Safe House," Roman told him in a gentle tone.

"
What?
" There was never mention of anyone else. "This is crazy."
 

"I went straight from Brooklyn to Criminal Court in Manhattan to file ABC's notice of appearance on their behalf and yours. I'm sorry I didn't call you before, but cell phone service was shit, and I was running around tracking down the ADA on the case. I'm on my way to you now."

"Noah heard DA Lovett has taken a personal interest in Tyler's case," he croaked. "Danielle Contreras met with Abramoff today. He put another attorney on my meetings after she left. I'm supposed to report to Acosta's office in a few. Did she recommend you get rid of me? Am I getting fired?" He swallowed hard before whispering, "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Not in this lifetime or the following ten," Roman said right away. "I love you."

Derrick let out a ragged breath. "I love you, too."
 

"I know all about Lovett's plan. We knew he'd do this as soon as we read your request to the Pro Bono department. We've had Danielle Contreras on stand-by ever since. I called her when I learned of Coleman's arrest," Roman explained in a brisk tone.

He sounded like he was running, or at least walking really fast. Derrick chose to believe his boyfriend was in a rush to get to him. Roman knew Derrick was in distress, and he'd do anything in his power to protect Derrick from any harm. Roman would save the day. Derrick knew he would.

"So she's just here for crisis management and not to talk you into canning my ass?" Derrick asked in a pitifully weak voice.

 
"Dani went to see Abramoff to coach him on what to say to the cops in the event they show up. Considering Lovett wants media attention, I have every reason to believe he's also secured a warrant for your arrest."

Derrick wheezed, again and again. Something huge was sitting on his chest, cracking his ribs, puncturing his lungs. He couldn't think. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't get enough air into his lungs.

A hand landed in the middle of his back and rubbed circles on it. Another hand lifted his head.

"Look at me," Dani said softly, looking into his eyes. "You'll be fine."

Derrick stared into the sharp, dark, brown eyes of the woman who had a picture of him and Roman saved on her tablet until he didn't feel like he was about to pass out, but mainly he focused on Roman's deep, calming voice.

"…be at Starbucks in ten minutes," Roman was saying. "Lovett has every intention of turning this case into a circus so that he can keep his face on the news every day, but we're not going to give him what he wants. I'll fill you in on everything that's going on, okay? You'll be fine with Dani until I get there. She has experience dealing with this type of thing."

Of course she did.

Because Dani with the awesome kids named after the places they were born in was Danielle Contreras. And, if Derrick's power of deduction hadn't been affected by the ambush of bad news he'd just sustained, she was also
Dani
, the woman Roman had told him Alan Chadwick was crazy in love with.

"Honey?" he heard Roman call him. "Are you there?"

Dani arched an eyebrow. A second later a smile spread across her face. Obviously, she was standing close enough to hear Roman's side of the conversation, and she liked what she heard.

"I love it when you use terms of endearment," Derrick said mushily, returning Dani's grin. "Hurry up, okay?" he added in a grave tone. "I desperately need you to hug me as tight as you can."

He ended the call and took a deep breath.

Dani didn't look away from him when she said, "Your boyfriend was best man at my wedding and also shares godfather duties of Georgia and Kent with Sergio." She winked at Derrick. "I definitely know him and I am
so
happy he finally decided to pick things up where he left them with you. Now I can stop setting him up with men just to make him accept he should've been with you all along."

"Setting him up, huh?" Derrick shot her a fake glare, happy to talk about anything but his impending arrest. "Your matchmaking days are over."

She grabbed her coffee and held it high. "Let's drink to that."

Derrick touched his coffee cup to hers, took a few sips, and studied her again. "I can help you if Georgia's father decides to formally contest the adoption."

"Who do you think I was talking about when I told you I'd just met a lawyer I like?" she quipped. "I've been studying your file since the guys asked me to handle things if Lovett made a move. I told Alan I'd love to be able to retain you, but we keep personal and professional business apart. Your relationship with Roman changes everything, though. The way he feels about you makes you more than one of ABC's employees. You're part of our family now."

Derrick pressed his fist to his mouth and blinked rapidly. "Thank you for saying that," he mumbled, praying he didn't break down in front of her. Derrick didn't want her to think Roman's boyfriend was an emotional wreck.