TAKING OVER TROFIM (Dominion of Brothers series Book 4) (26 page)

“I’m sorry, Sarah.”

“I want to be mad at you, but you didn’t do
anything
.”

They sat quietly for a long moment until the awkward silence was too much for either of them.

“I should probably go.” Sarah announced mutely then pushed up and walked out without ever saying goodbye.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Even when Shay made it to Trofim’s apartment later, the reunion was bittersweet. They lay in each other’s arms, silent for most of the night. It didn’t feel right to rejoice. Not when they knew the worst of the storm was still to come. Their secret was out of the bag, now it was just a matter of someone taking notice. All they could do was wait, and that seemed to be the worst sentencing they could be put under.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Money was getting tight. Another payment from his father failed to arrive, and even with the extra hours he’d put in at the clinic, it was hardly leaving Shay with enough to take his partner out for nice dinner meal. He was also hating the console of his car more and more. His schedule at the hospital took so much of his time that even the moments with Trofim spent in the car were precious and he didn’t like the console coming between them. So he made the decision to finally trade it in. The last item of luxury he had, having pawned everything else long ago just to get by.

“Hey, you looking to buy a new car?” A large, overweight Italian man come out from around back of the car lot garage, transferring the grime on his hands to a red shop towel.

“Looking to trade in for a car.” Shay corrected his intentions.

The man rolled his mouth around in a twisted formation as he rubber-necked around Shay and glanced at the Mercedes. “Looking to upgrade yours?”

“Actually,” Shat tried to hold in the comical laugh, “I’m looking to downgrade.”

“Come again?” The man looked at him like Shay was off his rocker.

“I’m broke. Need some cash but still need a car to get around in.”

“They got title loans for that, yanno.” It was more a statement than asking if Shay had thought about it.

“Yeah, that’s the last thing I want is another loan. Just some cash and some wheels.”

The guy gave Shay a hard prodding look then shrugged and directed him into the small lot’s office building with a nod of his head, “Go see Alfonso.”

Shay headed across the lot towards the office, while overhearing the man calling ahead on his cell. That just made it seem all the funnier to Shay.

“You steal that car, kid?” Was how Alfonso greeted Shay when he walked in.

Standing behind the white metal desk, flipping through piles of endless paper on a shelf behind it, was a man who fit the name. Hair as black as ink around tanned face that’d seen the drying sunlight too many days. Gold rings adorned several of his fingers along with a gold watch and when Alfonso turned around to look at Shay, there was the gold chain hanging in a nest of equally black chest hairs. If the man had been dressed like he’d just come off the set of some 80’s film, Shay probably wouldn’t have been able to hold the laugh in any longer. But as it were, Alfonso looked just like anyone else. Dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top couple of buttons undone, tucked into well-worn blue jeans.

“Well?” Alfonso asked.

“No. It’s mine. I just need some money.”

The car dealer looked him over just as the man outside had. “You look like a pretty decent kid. You getting into drugs? Cause if you are and already pawning your car— I gotta tell ya—

“No, no drugs, sir.”

“So why you gotta sell a good looking Mercedes like that for?”

“Student loans.”

“You in college? Wha- fer?”

“Was. Now it’s all hospital hours and lectures to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.”

“Ah, what?” Alfonso bobbed his head, and he twirled his finger like he was trying to remember something, “Oh that cardio stuff. You’re a heart doctor?”

“Yeah.”

Alfonso stilled a moment. Shay could just imagine by the expression on the dude’s face, he’d heard every excuse— every tall story— and not a one of them did he believe. Just like right now.

“Student loans, aye? Don’t they let you go a few years before you have to start paying them back?”

“Not for long, and I have five years’ worth already stacked up.”

“I guess that’s a lot of money then. You ain’t gonna get that kinda money off of just one Mercedes, kid. I hate to tell, ya.”

Shay chuckled and scratched his ear. This was just too funny to him. “Yeah, I just need to catch my breath to squeeze through a little longer.”

Alfonso waved Shay to one of the rickety chairs set out in front of the desk, then sat himself down in the more comfortable leather high back chair behind his desk. He stroked at his chin a moment, contemplating. “So my brother out there, he’s got one of them watcha’ma-call-its, in his chest.”

“Pacemaker?”

‘Yeah, yeah, one of them and his doctor just passed away not too long ago.”

“You mean Dr. Romortin?”

“Yeah, you knew him?”

“Dr. Romortin’s been around a long time. He was considered one of the top around here.”

“Yeah—” Alfonso nodded with a smile as if he were starting to take a liking to Shay finally, “He was a good guy. But we all gotta go some time. But Antonio out there— he needs a new doctor.”

“Well, I’m still just an intern. But he could come by the Cardiology Heart Care Clinic at Queens and we can keep him under regular checkups until he finds a new cardiologist he likes. We can even give him a couple of referrals.”

“What about you?”

“I do clinic hours there as part of my internship to serve my general practice requirements before going into my surgeons’ residency. So he just might see me if he comes to the clinic.”

Alfonso nodded. “I’ll be sure he makes an appointment. ’Cause I tell him, you only got one body, so you gotsta take care of it. Keep it healthy. The payoff is it helps in the love life too.” Alfonso began pulling out various forms from a stacked organizer sitting on top of a file cabinet butted up against his desk and blindly started filling it out. “So what kinda car you looking to take home?”

“Something without a console.”

Alfonso looked up and grinned, “Ahhhhh—” he wagged a finger at Shay, “That’s that love life thing going on there.”

“Hey, Alfonso!” The man Shay met outside was sticking his head in from a side door and crooked at finger at Alfonso to step out.

“Say, what’ was your name?” Alfonso looked at Shay.

“Shay.”

Alfonso held his hand out and gave Shay a firm hand shake just as he’d come out from behind his desk to head out. He pointed over to the corner behind Shay, “There’s beers in the fridge. Help yourself.” Then he trotted out.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

“So? What it look like?” Alfonso was straightening his pants as he stepped out to talk with his brother, Antonio.

Antonio kept walking until they were standing next to the so-called-doctor’s Mercedes, “Car looks good. He was taking care of it.” Antonio held the driver’s side door open for Alfonso, who slid in behind the wheel, his hands instantly caressing the leather interior as he glanced around, checking the dash and the overhead while Antonio came around the other side and joined him on the passenger seat.

“What else you got for me?” Alfonso

Antonio opened the glove compartment and pointed at a few articles inside of it, “Unpaid gas card bill, couple of ID cards for Queens Medical hospital, including a parking pass, and a toll pass.

Alfonso twisted around to glance in the back seat and spotted a bag on the seat. “What’s in the duffle bag?”

“Some of those clothes thingies them doctors and nurses wear at the hospital.”

“You mean scrubs?”

“Yeah, them things.”

Alfonso let out a chuckle as he gripped the steering wheel, letting his fingers get comfortable.

“What so funny, Alfonso?”

Alfonso looked at his brother and shook his head, “Kid just may be the first person to walk in here and tell me the truth.”

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Shay came home with a Cadillac Coupe de Ville and some extra change in his pocket. The car wasn’t very pretty. Its navy blue paint was faded in most spots and the white interior was far from being a true white and could use some new stitching, but seat covers would have to suffice for now. However the engine was sound. Darko had even come over to check it out and gave it a homecoming tune up. But the best part was no console, so Trofim could slide right next to him, tucked under his arm wherever they went.

Trofim was still looking at him with a worrisome glance like Shay’d lost all common sense by now while they waited for Darko to finish up. About an hour after he’d started, the older version of Trofim was closing the hood and wiping his hands clean with a rag then tossed it into the tool caddy along with everything else he’d brought with him. “She’s ugly, that’s for sure, but she’s got a damn good engine on her. Someone was taking care of it for that much.

Shay slapped on a grin and turned to Trofim to gloat. “Wanna go for a ride, sweetheart?”

“Say don’t you have the weekend off?” Darko cut into the kiss that was about to take place.

“Yeah, why?”

Darko pulled out his wallet then handed over a couple of passes. “Hotel comp passes. Worth two free nights at Caesars in Atlantic city and a dinner at the restaurant.”

“Caesars?” Trofim took them curling up his lip not sure this was a good gift or one of those freebies you were better off without.

“Hey, be glad it wasn’t for one of the Trump hotels. Maxum would’ve used the vouchers to light his cigar. He hates the man with a passion. And the Caesar is still too close which is why Maxum and I won’t be using them.” Darko chuckled, not bothering to take them back. He gathered up his remaining tools then went to work strapping the caddy to his motorcycle seat. “Doesn’t Maxum have a truck in his collection?” Trofim asked watching as Darko wound the caddy and seat with its fifth bungee cord.

“Ha! You think for one second he’d let me use it for this and risk my tools sliding over all of the place? There’s a thin line between his love for me and his love for his cars.” Satisfied his tools weren’t going anywhere, Darko swung a leg over his bike and started it up. He glanced back at them then specifically to Shay. “Take him to practice first or Pyotr will chew my ass out, then go get out of here for once and have some fun without having to look over your shoulder.” And with that Darko pulled off.

Shay looked to Trofim and smiled, “I’m game.” The smile Trofim returned said he needed to get away just as much as Shay did.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Shay sat leisurely in his new old car, his arm over the back of his seat and around the shoulders of Trofim. His thumb tapped out the beat to a Gotye tune playing on the radio. It had been the perfect fit of a car for them. Not only did it have a bench seat so Trofim could sit scooted up against him, but it was also a convertible. And it just helped him feel free as the wind blew through his hair as they headed south. The cruise control set to 72, shooting down the freeway along the coast as the sun started to climb high in the noon sky. He wore the dark designer shades Trofim brought back with him from his last photo-shoot, a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of relaxed kakis. Trofim was in a dress coat over a tank top and jeans, which Shay took occasional advantage of for the accessible skin. Reaching past Trofim’s jacket and slipping his hand under the tank top to caress the smooth skin of the man he loved beyond words. Life was good.

They pulled up to their hotel, deposited their bags in their room, then headed right back out.
It’s amazing how one’s perspective on life can shift with some of the smallest changes in your surroundings. The simple act of ridding them of something so small and meaningless but it was something that came between them. A console
.  That one thing became a symbol that all other obstacles could be removed with the simple act of letting go. “I love you.” Shay kept whispering into Trofim’s head as they drove about the city in their new car.
In love and carefree.
It was just a good change for once.

After their bellies began to rumble, Shay turned them around and brought them back to their hotel where they changed, then walked out on the pier to catch an early dinner at the hotel’s Café Roma overlooking the ocean where they shared a plate of Spicy Crusted Seared Tuna, and a soup that had large chunks of deep fried Red Snapper in a sweet and just spicy enough curry broth. Finishing their meal of sharing a side dish of Citrus Sorbet topped with Conch Ceviche. It took a moment for Shay to consider the strange arrangement before finally taking the taste test, but the ceviche and sorbet met in perfect harmony on his tongue and the citrus just rang out with a tangy touch to make each and every spoonful richer in its pairing. Washing it all down with a crisp dry rose’ Grenache wine. The deeper berry flavor went well to cool down the spicy palate from the dishes. And made Trofim’s lips exceptionally tasty for kissing.

Post dinner, Trofim lured Shay into one of the casinos and they cashed in one of the vouchers for a tray of chips and played the slot machines, never letting any amount of space come between them. Arm and arm, hand in hand, walking spooned together despite any tripping. They didn’t care what others thought looking at them, if they looked foolish or drunk when they weren’t Shay cared none. His man and he were reveling in each other’s company. No work schedules, no pagers, no haunting past— just the two of them. That alone was enough to make a man foolhardily drunk. They didn’t win anything on the slots but decided to play their last five chips on the dice and Trofim rolled a seven on the first shot. It wasn’t a big pot but it still seemed to add to Shay’s new lease on life, that consoles changed everything. And it was shame the bench seat wasn’t around in today’s cars. People just didn’t know what they were missing out on.