HeatedMatch (17 page)

She found the cleanest spot she could and sank down onto it,
her legs still not entirely trustworthy after her heated make-out session in
Adam’s car. He and Rowan stood a room’s distance apart, Rowan leaning back
against the closed front door. Adam stood near her but stared at Rowan and
ignored her to the degree she felt like nudging his foot with her toe and asking
what the heck she was doing here.

“Ro, what’s going on?” Adam broke the silence.

Rowan approached the couch in a sprawling gait that
screamed,
Ignore me, I’m a lazy, worthless nothing
. Loren didn’t buy it.
She’d seen the deep humor in Rowan’s eyes when he’d discovered his big brother
hitting on a girl in a parked car. Not to mention how easily he pulled her from
the passenger seat. His missing arm didn’t mean his body was missing any
strength or power. She got the sense he more than made up for his deficiency
with muscles elsewhere.

She glanced from brother to brother. Adam’s grim face.
Rowan’s easy expression.

“Chris is threatening me,” Rowan said.

“Why?” Adam asked.

“He was the one who pulled the unregistered gun at the party
last week. Now he’s worried I’m going to rat him out in court and he’s going to
jail.” Rowan rolled his eyes as if the mere idea he’d rat out a friend was
ridiculous.

“But you’ll have to tell the truth. Won’t you?” Loren
ignored the disbelief thrown her way and forged on. “I mean, if you’re on a
witness stand, you have to tell the truth or you’ll end up in trouble.”

Rowan shot her a patient, pointed look. “Duh, sweets. That’s
why Adam’s here, so my big shot lawyer brother can give me some four-one-one.”

Loren zipped up her lips under the force of the look Adam
shot her.
Lawyer? Adam?
Rowan thought Adam was a lawyer and it seemed
Adam had perpetuated the lie.

“Tell Chris to shut it and calm the fuck down,” Adam said.

“Dude, I did.”

Each brother fell into established roles and patterns, with
Adam as the older protector and Rowan as a helpless baby brother. Things needed
to change around here, and roles needed shaking up. It was obvious after only
five minutes in their company.

“Motherfucker called me from prison yesterday and threatened
me. That boy is cee-razy, with a capital C.” Rowan shook his head as if shaking
off the threat. “If he gets out, he’ll keep coming after me, ’til it’s him or
me. I’m not getting dragged down with him, but I’ll be dayamed if I let him
challenge me.”

She rapidly translated Rowan’s slang and debated about the
wisdom of interfering, but couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Is he your friend? If
so, and he’s truly crazy, then he needs help. Maybe you can push to have him
declared insane.”

She held her ground under the weight of twin skeptical
frowns. “You should,” she insisted.

“Chris ain’t my friend, but I’ve known him all my life,”
Rowan said.

“He’s our neighbor. This is the house we grew up in. Chris
wanted to be in charge once I left,” Adam explained. “He thinks life is still
like high school. He’s never had a job. Just hangs out all day.”

If Loren had been watching Adam instead of Rowan, she would
have missed the flicker of emotion that ran across Rowan’s face when Adam
talked about leaving the neighborhood. Comprehension dawned. Adam escaped the
house when he was fifteen, leaving Rowan by himself. Rowan probably saw it as
complete abandonment and betrayal and still remained locked in the past in his
childhood home. Her suspicions were confirmed at Adam’s next words.

“Speaking of which, Ro… What are you up to? What happened to
the money I sent you? Why are the steps out front still broken? Do you need
me
to call the contractor?” Adam sounded like a nagging parent.

Oh yes, this situation needed to change. “No, Rowan
shouldn’t bother fixing the steps. He’s coming with us,” Loren said. “It solves
his Christopher problem.”

A lesser woman would have bolted at the quelling looks Adam
and Rowan threw her. Loren held her ground. “Rowan should come back to
Beltsville with us,” she repeated. As someone who’d been left in the dark about
significant portions of her parentage, she fully sympathized with Rowan. He
deserved the crash course in the Program she’d received. It was justice, plain
and simple.

“Why? So Adam can dress me like a suited-up, tie-wearing
monkey and parade me around his office?”

She shot Adam a look.
Tell him. Tell him you don’t wear a
tie unless for deception. Trust him.
“What does your dad think Rowan should
do?” she asked.

And that was the sound of shit hitting the fan. She had
always wondered what that sounded like. Now she knew. As soon as the words left
her lips, her top layer of skin could have burned from the intensity of their
narrowed stares.

“My father?” Rowan choked out. “My father is dead, lady. He died
when I was born, leaving us no money. That’s why we grew up in this shit hole.”

Silence descended on the room with all the force and
magnitude of a volcanic eruption. His gut tightened and his vision blurred.
Little Miss Reporter had to go and spill the beans. He’d told her to play it
cool, but no, she had to go and say something. Granted, he’d been debating for
weeks, years really, that the time was right to tell Rowan the truth. Still, it
would’ve been nice to make the call himself.

“Rowan, sit down.”

For once his baby brother obeyed without any lip. “Loren’s
telling the truth. Isn’t she? Your,
our
father
is
alive.”

When Rowan’s mouth opened to fire more questions, Adam
stopped him with a hand gesture and the dirty truth. “Yes, he’s alive. But he
thinks you’re dead.”

Rowan’s mouth opened again. But then he stood with a lurch
and slammed out of the room into the adjacent bedroom. No sounds emerged for
several minutes.

Adam stared in contemplative silence at Loren who sat across
from him, looking at her feet. Despite his anger, he couldn’t stand to see
dejection painted on her. He moved over to the couch and lifted her chin with
his knuckles.

Unshed, shiny tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Then she threw her arms around him and held on tight.

He hesitated a heartbeat then pulled her onto his lap and
held her like the lifeline she was becoming. “It’s all right,” he murmured.

“I didn’t know.” Her muffled voice rose up from his
shoulder.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I should’ve kept my big mouth shut. You told me to play it
cool, but no. I had to blabber and spill the beans.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed circles on her lower back with his palm.
“You spilled them, all right. Just ripped open the bag.”

At that, Loren rose up and looked him in the eye. “Rowan had
a right to know about his dad, and your father has a right to know about Rowan.
You should never have kept that from them. If I hadn’t stumbled onto your
Beltsville compound, I’d still be in the dark about my own dad.”

Fifteen years of guilt welled up and spilled out in his
words. Adam hugged Loren tightly to his chest. “You’re right. I’ve told myself
every day for the last fifteen years that today was the day I would come clean.
But there was always one reason or another to keep it from them. Plus, I was
scared.”

“Of what?” Her gentle hand stroked his forearm, offering
hope and redemption.

“After I left Rowan, I became a killer. I never wanted to
see judgment or disappointment in Rowan’s eyes. He looks up to me, you know?
I’m his amazing big brother who actually got out and became a lawyer. He thinks
I went to college.” He tried to hide how much he’d wanted to go to college. He
even had an SAT study guide stashed somewhere in his room.

She said nothing. Just snuggled in close and continued to
rub his arm. Her silence forced Adam to look inward. How would he feel if the
situation had been reversed? If Rowan was born perfect and whole, and he was
left behind to struggle for pennies without parental guidance. He buried his
face in Loren’s glossy silk curls and inhaled. Her subtle floral scent offered
comfort and bolstered his courage to go talk to his brother.

He stood and lifted her off his lap in a deft move. He took
three steps toward the shut door and raised his fist to knock, but the door
swung open before he could make contact.

Rowan filled the doorway with an expression on his face he’d
never seen before on his baby brother. Red rimmed his eyes, but no tears were
evident now.

“You’re going to take me to our father. Now.” Rowan’s voice
reeked of authority, all humor bled out, the street slang gone. It was the
voice of an officer, a voice to be obeyed.

Adam met his brother’s gaze head-on and shook his head. “I
can’t. But I will go get him and bring him back here.”

Rowan took a step closer and for the first time in his adult
life Adam thought he’d have to duck a punch from his brother.

“And how do I know you’ll come back? Maybe you’ll disappear
like you do so well.”

He cringed from the pain in his brother’s voice.

“Adam. It won’t work. The truth is going to come out anyway.
Keeping Rowan here won’t hide it.” Loren’s voice floated through the room, a
rational breeze on the wind of discord.

He weighed his options. Taking Rowan, a civilian, to the
compound meant some paperwork and hand-slaps from Shep. But Rowan would be safer
there, removed from Chris and the old neighborhood. Plus, ghosts of the past
wafted through here like poisonous fumes. It was time to man up and do what
should’ve been done twenty-seven years ago.

Forty five minutes later the trio entered the Beltsville
compound, Rowan still looking a little shell-shocked. “What is this place? This
is your pad?” he asked.

“Yep.” Adam nodded. “I’ve lived here since I left you and
mom.”

“So, let me get this straight. Humor me, cause I-I’m still
blown away here. You’re
not
a lawyer. You’re one of those genetic
soldiers that were in the paper a few weeks ago, and I could’ve been one too if
I was whole.” Rowan rubbed at his chin with a scarred hand.

Adam kept silent. This was twice in a month now he’d
inducted someone into his world. First Loren, now Rowan. Maybe he should quit
his day job and become the welcoming committee.

He steered his car into the underground garage and chose a
spot. Good, his dad’s car was there. He’d thought about calling ahead to warn
him, but what was there to say, really?
Hi Dad. Stay home ‘cause in about an
hour I’m bringing my brother home. Yep, my brother. The son you thought dead
for the last twenty-seven years. He’s alive. It’s cool, right?

No, better to spring it on him in person.

Three car doors slammed in succession as he, Loren and Rowan
exited. He led the way to the garage exit and out into the sunshine. Loren took
a step away from them as if to head for another part of campus. When he shot
her a look and stepped closer, she sighed.

“Are you sure you want me to stay? I feel like I’m
intruding. How is your dad going to react?” she asked. “Plus, I want to go
check on Chase. We left him a while ago. I hope the doctors got him more
comfortable.”

He reached for her hand and held it. “I’ll check on Chase
with you afterward. Stay, because I want you there. This is not going to be an
easy conversation, and I’d feel better if you were there.” It was surprisingly
easy to confess his emotional needs to her. And it wasn’t a ploy. Lies had come
easy to him in the past if it helped with an operation, but with Loren, it was
truth. He wanted her with him, trusted her judgment and thought she could help
facilitate Rowan’s introduction to his father. Damn, he needed to man up and
not depend on her emotionally, and tomorrow he would, but today he needed her.
She’d be gone soon anyway now that she’d seen Rowan and understood what he’d
meant by having compromised DNA.

Her smile warmed him and she tugged him closer with her hand
as she stood on tiptoe to place a soft, lingering kiss on the corner of his
lips. When she made to pull away, he pulled her back, a promise for more in the
kiss. Man, as soon as Rowan was settled, he was dragging Loren to the nearest
bed. For at least a day. He couldn’t and wouldn’t keep her forever, but he had
to be with her one last time before she went back to the real world.

He went in for yet another kiss, thoughts of beds and brick
cottages on his mind.

“A-hem.” Rowan let out a loud, fake cough. “Hell-ooo.” He
waved his hand in the air. “Still here. Orphan looking for his dad.”

Loren pulled away with a blush, while Adam glared at his
brother. Then he shook off his annoyance. “You’re right. Sorry. Let’s go.” He
started down the gravel path, still clutching Loren’s hand, Rowan in the rear.

Rowan teased Loren. “Girl, you got some magic touch. I’ve
never seen Adam lose his head over a pretty face. And it wasn’t like the ladies
didn’t want him. Man, the phone calls we used to get. All hours, girls calling
for him. Used to drive Mom crazy, remember?”

Adam recalled, but he’d had no interest in the opposite sex
until his later teen years. He’d only wanted to hang with the guys, toss a
football and get into trouble. No, Rowan was the ladies’ man. Not him. And…he
didn’t want Loren getting the wrong impression. He shot her a glance to make
sure she wasn’t buying Rowan’s prattle. Nope, a shiny grin stretched her lips.

“A player, huh? And I didn’t even kiss my first boy until I
was seventeen.” She sighed in an exaggerated manner. “I’ll have to rethink my evening
plans. Not sure I want to be with such a ladies’ man.” A low chuckle escaped
her mouth.

He froze on the path. “No, keep your plans. I beg you.” He
turned to give the evil eye to his annoying, interfering baby brother. “You.
Shut it, or you’re going to be short a body part.”

Rowan shrugged his empty-sleeved shoulder. “Already done,
dude.”