What About Love (Club Decadence Book 6) (36 page)

“I know you do, that doesn’t mean you have to like it. I’m not thrilled about going back on the road so soon myself.” His lips reclaimed hers, more demanding this time, the heady sensation of his mouth over hers, devouring her softness, and being crushed in his arms, momentarily wiped away any sense of disappointment or nagging worries about him being away.

The loud rumbling of her empty stomach snapped her out of her daydream. Instantly coming back to the present, she realized from the clock on her office wall that it was well past lunch time and she was justifiably starving. She’d skipped breakfast again that morning not having a morsel of food in the house. Having spent every night of the past week at T’s farm, she hadn’t needed to grocery shop. Now, with him out of town on yet another skiptrace, she didn’t have the inclination, in a definite mope since he left two mornings ago.

The bounty hunting arm of Rossi’s business had taken off recently, growing faster than they had expected and with only Dex and T licensed as private investigators and thereby legal in Texas to function as fugitive apprehension agents, they were being kept very busy. Kyle and Jason still had six months of active supervision before getting their credentials, which meant they could tag along and help, but not operate independently yet. Therefore, Cap was in the process of hiring another two men, but that took time. Once everything was aligned, T had explained, it would free him and Dex—who was newly married and had a new bride who wasn’t at all happy with the many lonely nights—up for other projects closer to home.

With a criminal justice degree and law enforcement experience, she had offered herself as a temporary fix, which actually made her more qualified according to the state licensing board than any of the rest of them. T had quickly quashed that idea. She bristled at first, but when he’d explained that (a) he didn’t want her out chasing armed fugitives without back up, (b) having an inexperienced hunter out in the field was more of a liability than a help, and (c) someone would have to pick up the slack for her caseload while she was away. Because b and c made sense, and Cap and Dex backed up his objections, she let it go and didn’t mention it again. Not wanting to be out without back up either, her primary reason.

With T gone so much, Angie sympathized with Elena. Already used to sleeping surrounded by what she had come to call T’s full body hug, which was his usually sleeping position, she woke often during the night making her grumpy the next day. She also didn’t eat regularly which is why her grumbling stomach was currently giving her a wakeup call that it hadn’t happened yet today.

Grabbing her purse, she looped the strap over her shoulder intent on picking up something quick and coming back to eat at her desk while she finished the dreaded paperwork that came with the job, when a knock sounded at her door. Glancing up, she saw warm eyes twinkling behind finely arched eyebrows.

“Sophia,” Angie said with a genuine smile. She liked T’s mom a lot.

“I seem to be without a lunch companion. Care to join me? My treat.”

“Did T stand you up again? He’s out of town.”

“We didn’t have a firm date. I was downtown and thought I’d pop in on the off chance he might have time. Silly me. Care to join me?”

She glanced at her clock, calculating all the work she had yet to do that afternoon. “I was going to grab something quick and bring it back while I finished up some work.”

“Ridiculous. One of the best time management skills I learned over the years is never eat at your work space. Take the time to step away and when you come back, you’re refreshed, rejuvenated and accomplish much more. Besides, I do so hate to eat alone.”

Angie stared down at her desk. She had a few more case files to go over and a training session in the gym with Jonas at three—mixed martial arts something T had added to her program. She really didn’t have the time. As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly. Her hand flew to her belly as an unwelcome flush crept into her cheeks. Embarrassed, she looked up at Sophia.

“I think your tummy has overruled your work excuse,
Angeline
.”

She really didn’t have time, but she needed sustenance more and the company would be nice. Angie found herself saying, “I could eat.”

Two hours later, she waved as Sophia Portman pulled away from the curb. They’d dined at a little bistro on the River Walk, within easy walking distance from the office. Sophia had driven her over, but now she was glad to have the walk back to clear her head and process the mind-fuck Sophia had just given her.

Although she’d tried to stop the outpouring of personal details that she knew in her heart should have come to her from T, once started, Sophia was a juggernaut of emotion that couldn’t be stopped. It was a heart wrenching tale full of jaw dropping and horrifying revelations.

T had married young, not long after graduation to his high school sweetheart. He’d gone to work in his step-father’s business. Three months after the wedding, his wife Emily announced she was pregnant. They had all been thrilled, but T was ecstatic. During her pregnancy, he’d scrimped and saved, taken a second job, working overtime to buy them a place of their own. At the young age of 19, he’d become a father, falling deeper in love with his wife and his baby boy. Then, one night, in a senseless act of violence it was all taken away. With his family gone, all that remained was a shell of a man, left to find some way to cope with such devastating loss that it changed him forever.

It was a home invasion, some dumb shit—her description, not Sophia’s—strung out on meth, looking to fund his next fix. Tears had gathered in Angie’s eyes as Sophia spoke, the older woman clearly distraught by events over a decade in that past that were no less painful today. In a haunted voice, she retold the story in detail as if she’d been there herself.

“He’d gone out with his friends, something he rarely ever did, but it was his childhood best friend’s birthday and had gone with Emily’s blessing. Still, he felt guilty about having fun while Emily was home caring for Evan and left early, not much past ten o’clock. He said the guys ribbed him good, calling him, um—” She paused here, glancing around before going on in a lowered her voice. “P-whipped was the term, I’m sure you get the vulgarity. Anyway… he told me he knew something was wrong the second he pulled into the drive. It became more obvious when he neared the house and saw the screen door open, hanging on bent hinges. The windows were dark, which wasn’t usually the case when he came home late. Emily would have left the porch light on or a lamp lit for him. It was all so eerily quiet except for Baxter, Emily’s little terrier, who was wandering loose on the porch. She never let him out off his leash. Antonio knew instantly something was dreadfully wrong. He slammed his truck into park and ran.”

Sophia choked, reached for her glass of water and took a drink. “I didn’t see him until later at the hospital. He was covered in blood. I can only imagine what he found inside. It haunts my nightmares and I can’t begin to guess how it tortures my poor boy’s soul.”

Angie had reached out and covered her hands. “Sophia, this is too painful and I don’t think T would appreciate me knowing. As you’re well aware, he’s very tight lipped about the past.”

“Stubborn is more like it. He keeps it bottled up inside. But he forgets that it didn’t solely happen to him. I loved Emily, and Evan was my grandchild, the only son of my only son. I was greatly affected, too. It helps me to talk about them, but Antonio won’t hear of it. He won’t even look at their pictures.” She shook her head and determinedly went on. “He called 911 although he had to know it was hopeless. When EMS and the police arrived minutes later, they found him cradling Emily and tiny little Evan’s lifeless bodies in his arms, in the middle of the kitchen floor.”

The intruder used a knife, she’d explained and gone on to relate how guilt-stricken T had been over not being home to protect and defend his family. Instead, he’d been out shooting pool and drinking with his friends. Inconsolable, he buried his young bride and infant son two days later.

“In one coffin,” Sophia intoned in a whisper. “With Emily’s arms wrapped around his small body as she would have wanted it, as Tonio insisted.” A small cry left her throat. “He grieved so hard,
Angeline
. Abject sadness had fallen around him like a dark, dense cloud as he went through the motions of life, while not really living. Three months later, out of the blue, he enlisted.” Sophia had been staring off to the side, unseeing as she recounted the horrific events. She turned to her now, her distress so acute she was visibly shaking. “He was anguished, but the week before he left, it became different. Already withdrawn, he became cold and angry. Something happened to have brought on this change, although when I asked, he denied it.” For a long moment, Sophia looked back at her, before she stated with the utmost conviction. “He was lying. I know my boy, or at least I did back then. His grief had turned to rage and all of a sudden, it was directed at Emily, not himself, or even God. I was told it was a natural stage in the grief process.” She shook her head. “I never believed that was true. The next thing I knew he’d joined the Army to become a munitions specialist of all things, blowing things up and defusing bombs, one of the most dangerous job there was. Well, as you can imagine, I was out of my mind with worry. I called the enlistment office.” She grimaced. “I know that sounds awful, him being a man, and all, but I was afraid for his sanity as much as his safety. They shrugged it off saying the Army would sort him out.”

It sounded exactly like something they would say, once all the i’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed on the enlistment forms.

“What else was I to do?” she whispered. “For years after that, I hardly saw him. Yes, I’d get the occasional phone call, mostly they were hurried and brief. His unit always running off to some conflict somewhere that he couldn’t disclose. Flowers always arrived on my birthday and Mother’s day, or I’d receive an occasional text or email, the calls and visits home few and far between. When he was discharged, he returned as he is now. Not as cold, though nowhere close to being the warm, open, joyful young man he’d once been. I miss my boy desperately.”

“Oh, Sophia. How tragic. After all the loss you endured, all those years of not knowing must have been torturous, what with all the unrest in the middle east.”

“Yes. I was so relieved when he came home safely. I was also hopeful he would be ready to move on, maybe start a family again.” She looked down, but not quickly enough, allowing Angie a glimpse of the new wave of pain crossing her face. Sniffling, she dabbed at her wet cheeks with a tissue.

“Why did you feel the need to share this with me today? Except for one dinner and this lunch, we’re little more than strangers.”

“I may be middle-aged, dear, but I’ve been married twice and I see the signs. I also know my son. I see the way he looks at you. His papa used to look at me that way a long time ago.”

“I hate to squash your hopes, Sophia, but we’re very new and still feeling our way. I was a friend first, a co-worker and he wasn’t interested in anything romantic until recently. It’s way too early to pin your dreams on something long term. He’s been dead set against relationships, marriage and family, and now I have a better understanding of why.”

Her face fell. Angie reached for her hand again, covering it with her own as she squeezed.

“He says he won’t ever re-marry, which means no grandchildren for me.” Sophia sighed. “He’s my only child.” She surveyed Angie speculatively. “Still, with you I see a glimmer of my old Tonio. There’s a sparkle in his eyes that I haven’t seen in over ten years. I can’t help thinking he’s still in there, somewhere, waiting for the right woman to coax him out. I pray you are that woman,
bella
.”

As Angie walked up the steps to the Commerce Building, where Rossi was housed, she passed the beautiful stone fountain out front, continuing on through the stately portico that led to the lobby beyond. She barely noticed any of it. Concentrating on the glimmer that Sophia had mentioned. Angie had seen it too. She’d also seen the flip side, the glint of steely determination, the regret and now that she knew his story, the residual anger and enduring pain. She’d also seen him close down in protective mode, locking his injured and shattered heart away somewhere. She didn’t know what the uncertain future held for them, but she doubted his dreams were anywhere near her own.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chest heaving as she gasped for air, she reveled in the shivers that passed through her body in the aftermath. Limply, she let T reposition them until she lay wedged between his big body and the back of the couch. Her head was cradled in the crook of his arm while he nuzzled his face into her hair.

“Welcome home, T,” she murmured against the smooth skin of his chest, smiling as she realized those were the first words either of them had spoken—not counting the “fuck, yeah’s” and the “harder T’s”—since he’d arrived at her door nearly an hour ago. When he’d walked in and tossed his keys on the table by the door, their eyes met and as the air around them crackled with electricity words seemed unnecessary. He moved toward her, his smoldering, appraising glance, made her skin prickle as it swept down her body. She’d readied herself for another frenzied joining against the wall, but he exercised enough restraint to make it to the couch.

He snuggled her closer now, arms pulling her in tight, while his top leg hooked hers, snaking around and in between. His tongue traced the soft shell of her ear before whispering, “I missed you, darlin’,”

She smiled, remembering what his mom had told her about him as a boy.

“What’s funny?”

“Not funny, but sweet. Your mom said you were a cuddler. It’s nice.”

His head came up, his brow furrowed. “When did she say that?”

“Uh—” She’d outed herself, so she had to tell him. “The other day over lunch.”

He shifted up on an elbow and peered down at her. “You had lunch with my mother?”