The Lion (25 page)

  “What the hell is this?” Rion asked incredulously.

  Corvus looked at his brother. “Lisa had a gun on Tauri and Tauri still beat...her...ass. Do you hear me? Knocked her out cold, the police had to revive her to arrest her.”

Rion shook his head confused.

  “Mac and Brandon will update you with the rest.” Corvus said heading to the door. “I'm out...let me know if you or Tauri need anything.”

Rion placed a hand on his arm to stop him. “Thank you brother.” The two hugged briefly.

Corvus smiled and nodded. “Take care of my Sistar.”

  “Thank you for watching over my future,” Rion told him.

Corvus shook his head. “Man be careful, that girl's right hook is deadly.”

  Rion smiled. “I'll keep that in mind.” He watched as Corvus entered the elevator then the doors closed. Quietly he walked to the bedroom and opened the door. Tauri was lying in the middle of the bed curled up into a ball. He removed his shoes and jacket before climbing in behind her and placing his arms around her.

  They sat silently for a while before Tauri spoke, “My friend wanted to kill me,” she said sadly. “And my co-worker might die.”

  “I'm sorry baby,” he whispered to her.

  “Why are people so bad?” she asked quietly.

Rion kissed her neck softly. “Because they choose to be that way.”

Tauri felt the first tear escape. “I just want this to be over,” she choked out as more tears rushed out.

  Rion felt his heart break at her tears. “If you want me to walk away, I will for you,” he whispered brokenly. “I don't want you to hurt Tauri.”

She turned and held him tightly. “I don't know what to do Orion.”

  “I can't lose you baby. I won't. Not ever.”

Tauri buried her face in his chest. “Please, just hold me now.”

  Rion knew that he could not let this continue any longer. His wife was near the breaking point and he would never let that happen. He may not ever own a team, but John Beckham was definitely going to pay for what he'd done.

   Rion had endured enough and caused pain for the ones he loved. He wouldn't involve the Black Diamonds, the Negus or the police, this one would be handled strictly by the lion.

  Tauri cried until she fell asleep in Rion's arms. When she awakened, he was still holding her and was wide awake.

  “I'm sorry I broke down like that,” she whispered looking at him.

Rion touched her face. “It's amazing that you've been so strong.”

  “I don't want you to give up your team baby,” she said earnestly. “I was just upset.”

  He stroked her back gently. “Tauri a team means nothing to me if my wife is unhappy and people are trying to kill her.”

  “This is your dream Orion. Please don't give up,” she implored. “You're so close now.”

  “Well I walked out of negotiation meetings, so I'm probably not close anymore.”

Tauri sat up. “You walked out of your meetings?”

  “Of course, I was coming home to you.”

She dropped her head into her hands. “Orion, I'm so sorry.”

  He removed her hands. “There's nothing for you to be sorry for. I'm sorry that I brought all of this into your life, into our lives.”

  “I won't ask you to do that anymore.” He looked into her hazel eyes.

  “I want to do it,” she insisted.

  “Come here,” he pulled her back into his arms. “This is over,” he said firmly.

He kissed her temple. “Enough is enough.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked against his chest.

  “What a young god is supposed to do...protect my goddess.”

*********

  John Beckham sat down for breakfast reading the morning paper. The headlines were about two lawyers charged with attempted murder of two other lawyers. He shook his head. Crime was really out of control in the city. Chief Green needed to get a better handle on things.

  His mistress entered the room with a plate of food and sat it on the table. He looked at the plate filled with bacon, eggs, grits and biscuits. She knew how to cook his favorites. His wife preferred eggs Benedict and she couldn't cook. He watched the woman walk away and admired her ample behind. No, his wife surely didn't have that and she couldn't cook in the bedroom either.

  Picking up a fork, he dug into the delicious food. He had to finish up quickly because it would be another busy day. Making sure Rion Shaw didn't own a team was a full time job that today included stacking the jury for an upcoming trial.

  John smiled. Life for him was good. He seemed to always get what he wanted....and right now he wanted a little hot chocolate with his breakfast.

*********

  Tauri found Rion in the kitchen making breakfast. He greeted her with a kiss before he turned back to the stove.

  “I was going to bring your breakfast in to you,” he told her.

  She took a seat at the counter. “I was planning to wake up and bring you breakfast to welcome you back home.”

He glanced at her. “You were tired. You had a stressful day yesterday.”

Tauri jumped up. “I should check on Jeremy.”

  “I already did. He's still stable,” Rion told her and she sat back down.

  “Thank you.”

He smiled and began to fix her plate. When he was done he placed it in front of her.

  “Is there anything you can do to re-start the negotiations Orion?” she asked watching him.

Rion shrugged. “I'll call them later this morning and see where things stand.”

Tauri stared at her plate. “I hate that you left like that.”

  “It's fine baby, as long as you're okay.” He came and kissed her softly before moving to fix his own plate.

She looked at him as he joined her at the counter. “I can't believe Lisa,” she said quietly.

  “She was jealous of you Tauri,” Rion told her.

  Tauri frowned. “Jealous of me? Lisa had her own firm, more men than I could ever imagine and she's beautiful.”

  “Baby, you're brilliant. You can have any man you want and you're beautiful where it counts the most,” Rion told her.

  She smiled at him. “I don't think I could have any man I want, but I'm glad that I've got the one I have now.”

  Rion sat down his fork and took her hand. “Lisa was a user and a man chaser. Don't give her credit for anything else. If she could turn on you, when you had looked out for her on the regular, she's not a friend...she's worst than an enemy. She deserves everything that she gets.”

Tauri shook her head. “She shot Jeremy in the back for no reason.”

  “I hate that you had to go through that.” He squeezed her hand. “Jeremy too.”

  “He didn't deserve that,” Tauri said quietly.

  “Finish your breakfast and we'll go check on him,” he told her releasing her hand.

Tauri picked up her fork. “Thank you Orion.”

He smiled at her. “Make sure you eat all of your food. My son needs his nourishment.” 

She put a hand to her flat belly. “I can't imagine that.”

Rion began eating. “It's already a reality baby.”

  Two days later after a barrage of visits from Mac, the grandparents, Rion's parents and the Negus, Tauri and Rion visited Jeremy again at the hospital. He had gone through multiple surgeries and was now awake.

  They entered the room and proceeded over to his bedside. Tauri had purchased a flower arrangement that she sat next to his bedside.

  “Hi,” he said giving her a small smile.

She moved closer and touched his arm gently. “Hey Jeremy, how are you?”

  Jeremy looked over at Rion who stood by silently.  “I've been better.” He looked back to Tauri. “I'm really sorry Tauri.”

  “I know Jeremy. I'm sorry too,” she told him.

  He looked away. “Lisa lied and tricked me. I hate that I was so stupid. I knew that she didn't really want me. She wanted my access codes to the building and the computer system, so that everything would point to me. That day when I was waiting at your desk, I really was just waiting for you. I told you the truth about not being the person who put that bug on your computer.”

Tauri patted his arm. “She used you Jeremy, just like she used me.”

  “I took the fall by telling Brandon and Chief Green that I had been the one doing those things. I was trying to protect her.” He looked back at Tauri. “After I posted bail, I went to see her and overheard her on the phone with Richard. I heard him saying how he had been made your second and he was going to make sure you didn't get to try the case.”

Tauri glanced at Rion who stood listening patiently.

She turned back to Jeremy. “Why were you there at that building?”

  “I followed Lisa. I didn't trust her anymore and I wanted to get evidence on her. I thought she'd just be meeting Richard there, but then you pulled up,” he explained.  “She'd parked her car a block away and Richard had met her. I followed them to the vacant shop and when you arrived, I knew something was wrong.”

  “After she shot me, all I could think about was that I didn't want them to hurt you,” he told her before looking over to Rion. “I'm sorry.”

  Rion came closer. “You tried to protect Tauri so I don't have any ill feelings toward you Jeremy. I hope you have a full recovery. I'm sorry all of you became involved in this.”

Jeremy nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Well we're not going to tire you out,” Tauri said getting to her feet. “We just wanted to come check on you.” She moved to Rion's side and he placed an arm around her.

  “Thanks for coming,” Jeremy said looking at the couple. “I'm going to testify against Lisa and Richard in exchange for immunity.”

  Tauri smiled. “I know. Brandon wouldn't let me second on the case but I'm glad he's handling it personally.”

  Jeremy nodded. “He was really mad. He said he's investigating every prosecutor on staff and cleaning house.”

  “Yes, and he's already held a few staff meetings,” Tauri told him.

  “I hate I was involved in all this and I let Brandon down,” he said sadly.

Rion spoke up. “Brandon can handle it. He'll get his office in order.”

  Tauri and Rion later said their goodbyes and he drove them to her office. On the way, he turned and saw her staring out the window.

  “You okay baby?” he asked.

She turned to him. “I still can't believe all of this.”

Rion took her hand and held it in his. “I know. You can't make this stuff up.”

  “John Beckham won't stop.”

He held her gaze. “Not on his own.” He turned back to the road and focused on driving.

  “Are you carrying your weapon?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, I promised you I would at all times.”

  “Do you feel safe with the new detail that Chief Green assigned?”

  Rion brought her hand to his mouth. “I'm fine and this will all be over very soon,” he promised. “I don't want you worrying.”

  “Of course I'm going to worry Orion. I love you,” she said passionately.

Turning to her he smiled and said, “I love you too goddess.”

  They arrived outside her office and she turned to him again. “What are you doing today?” she questioned.

  “Lion business,” he answered.

  “Do I want to know what that means?” she asked suspiciously.

Rion leaned over and kissed her softly. “Have a good day. I'll pick you up later.”

  “Orion...” she began before he kissed her again. 

  “Have a good day baby,” he repeated.

  Tauri met his eyes and knew he was not going to answer her question right now. Nodding slowly she said, “Have a good day too Orion.”

  He smiled before she grabbed her bag and exited the car. Orion waited until she was inside the building before pulling out his phone.

Dialing the number he waited for an answer.

  “Hello?” the woman answered.

  “Can you meet me now?” he asked.

She hesitated. “Yes, but we have to be careful.”

  “I've learned that I can't be anything but,” he responded. “I'm on my way.”

  “Okay. I'll meet you there,” she agreed.

*********

  Tauri sat across from Brandon inside his office. She could see that he was not a happy man right now. Not that Brandon could ever be described as jolly, but now angry would adequately describe him.

  “I'm sorry Brandon,” she said quietly and he looked up at her sharply.

  “What in the world do you have to be sorry for Tauri? I owe you my apologies.” He shook his head. “I should have had a better handle on things. I suspected Jeremy and Lisa of something and I should have done my due diligence by looking further into it.”

    “Now I've lost two prosecutors and a woman I was involved with is accused of trying to kill my best friend's wife and my best attorney. So no, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

  Tauri looked at him. “Brandon you're the best Head Prosecutor this city has ever had. I have no idea what Jeremy, Lisa and Richard were thinking, but you know I will support you in cleaning up this office in any way that I can. I know your dedication to the city.”

  Brandon gave a small smile. “Thank you Tauri.” He sighed. “Now, where are we with Rion's case since I'm your new second. I don't trust anyone else at this point.”

  “We have a little over a week before jury selection begins. My plan is to try to get as many African-Americans in place as possible although that's not going to be easy. I want to try to eliminate jurors who identify with John Beckham, at least as many as I can.”

Brandon nodded. “You have all your evidence in place?”

  “Yes, we have the wire taps between Orion and John Beckham from the Mayor's party. We have the driver of the car who ran into Orion. He's agreed to testify that he was hired by one of Beckham's assistants, hopefully no one gets to him before the trial.”

  “I'll present the evidence compiled from the raids of the defendants' homes, including the damaging emails and communications from their computers. Then lastly, I have the delivery driver that was accosted and replaced by the assailant that showed up at Rion's apartment with the knife.”

  “The assailant won't talk but we probably don't need him. It won't be hard to prove that Beckham and his group were responsible.”

  Brandon listened intently and sat deep in thought for a few minutes then looked at Tauri. “Even with all that, you know that it's possible you may not win this case.”

  Tauri nodded her head. “If Beckham is able to stack the jury, which I know he plans to do, I could have all the evidence in the world and it wouldn't matter.”

  “I know this is personal to you now and I don't want you to beat yourself up if this thing goes south. We know the corruption that exists. Hell, it was in our own office.”

  “Yes, and I know how the system values a black man's life,” she agreed.

  Brandon stood. “But we're going to keep fighting it until we get it right.” He walked around the desk to her.

  “Believe me Tauri, Rion will get justice...one way or another.”

*********

  Henry Patterson exited the market where he was picking up a list of items for Millie. As he slowly walked to his vehicle he noticed a familiar car. He'd seen that car many times and knew without a doubt who it belonged to. He looked around in search of the owner before heading back into the store. Henry walked back through the aisles until he spotted object of his search.

  Although the man wore a cap and sunglasses, Henry Patterson knew without a doubt the identity of the individual. He watched as the man held an item in his hand while speaking quietly with the woman. She was an ebony goddess with flawless dark skin. She wore large sunglasses with a headscarf that covered her head.

  To the casual observer they appeared to be two people discussing a product on the shelf, but Henry could tell it was far more than that. The man reached into a cart and handed the woman a package that she transferred to another cart. The man turned to walk away and the woman stopped him with a hand on his arm. He glanced down at her and she whispered the words, “Thank you.” She slowly slid her hand down his arm before turning to her cart and leaving in another direction.

  Henry turned and walked outside to wait for the man at his vehicle. He didn't have to wait very long and the man approached him with a smile.

  “Hello Granddaddy.”

  “Hello Orion Shaw,” Henry answered stiffly.

Rion picked up on his tone. “Is everything okay?”

  “You should tell me son.”

  Rion nodded. “Why don't we get inside and talk?” He hit a button that unlocked the doors before both men climbed inside.

  Henry turned to him. “Now one thing I know is that you love my baby girl and she loves you. So if you're about to tell me anything contrary to that, be prepared for me to get my hands extremely dirty today.”

  Rion removed his hat and glasses placing them on the console then looked over at Henry. “I need to tell you the story of a man, a beautiful woman and a baby.”

*********

  Rion surprised Tauri by taking her to out to dinner after picking her up from work. She noticed he'd changed from his earlier outfit of jeans and a dress shirt into one of his expensive suits.  When they were seated, she looked around the room then back across the table at him.

  “Well this is special. What's the occasion?” she asked smiling.

Rion stared into her eyes. “You're special and the occasion is that we're together.”

Tauri smiled even more. “I think I fall in love with you more every day.”

He took her hand and kissed it gently.

  “How was your day?” Tauri asked him.

He shrugged. “I took care of some things.” His gaze met hers. “How was your day?”

  “I met with Brandon about the case. He was trying to prepare me for the possibility of not getting a conviction.” She removed her hand from his. “He knows I hate to lose.”

  “You can only do what's possible,” Rion told her.

Her eyes narrowed. “If John Beckham walks away scot free, I don't know what I'll do.”

  Rion smiled at her. “I didn't bring you here to discuss John Beckham. I'm not spending this time with my beautiful wife doing anything other than showing her how much I love her.”

   “Hmmm...you're going to make me hurt you tonight,” she purred.

He laughed. “You can try.”

  They ordered their meals and sat having a long leisurely dinner. Rion ordered dessert and they feasted slowly feeding each other the delicacy. Tauri felt loved and pampered by the incredibly tender and sexy man sitting across from her.

  “Thank you Orion for a wonderful evening,” she whispered unable to contain her smile.

  “I want to put that beautiful smile on your face everyday,” he whispered.

  “You do,” she said happily.

  Rion stood and came around the table taking her hand and helping her to her feet. “Let's go home goddess.” He kissed her softly before leading her out to the car.

  Rion and Tauri arrived home and entered the elevator. He watched her closely as the car moved up the shaft. “You want it now?” he asked after seeing the look in her eyes.

Naughtily she shook her head. “No, not now.”

  “When?”

  Tauri grabbed his tie when the doors opened. “Just follow my lead young god.” She walked through the doors with him following closely behind. In the bedroom, she dropped her bag before she turned to him and loosened the tie she'd been holding. Rion stood still and allowed her to remove his tie, then his shirt. She reached for his belt when her phone began to ring. 

Tauri looked up at Rion. “It's the office.”

  He smiled at her. “Go ahead. I'll finish what you started.” He kissed her then moved to the bed while she grabbed her phone.

  “Hello?” Tauri said smiling. “Hi Brandon.”

  She glanced over at Rion waiting on the bed in his boxers. Turning her attention back to Brandon she began to frown as she listened.

  “What?” she asked confused. “When?”