Jeez.
I tried a different tact.
In a quiet voice, a very quiet voice (because I kinda hoped he wouldn’t hear me), I whispered, “You know it’s only ever been you.”
He heard me.
His body went still. Then his hand fisted in my hair and he tugged my head back. He kissed me, long and sweet and when he was done, he tucked my face back into his neck.
I took in a deep breath and then let it out.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asked softly.
It was harder than hell, it was scary and it made me feel vulnerable.
Since I felt I’d done my sharing for the night, I stayed quiet.
Lee let me have my emotional space.
“Ally tried to take the earrings back to Tiffany’s. They refused the return. I’m not approaching Coxy, for various reasons. You’re stuck with them.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “I’ve decided to give them to charity.”
“Good plan,” he said and then, “I was in the surveillance room and saw them come in. You thought they were from me.”
“Yeah.”
“You want anything, just say and we’ll get it. You can pick out what you want.”
I held my breath.
“Seriously?” I said when I let it out.
“I’m not gonna try to read your mind when there’s something you want. Just tell me and I’ll get it for you.”
Well, hell. That made things easy for him.
He didn’t have to ask clever questions, do any detective work, put any effort into it at all if I just told him what I wanted.
I decided to change the subject because that one very well might tick me off.
“What was Eddie so hot to see you about this morning?” I asked.
Lee rolled onto his back and I snuggled into his side, my cheek on his shoulder.
“Darius has some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“The kind Eddie can’t get involved with. He’s got some pressure from the Department about Darius, they don’t like the relationship and they want Darius out of commission.”
“Eddie won’t do it?”
“Eddie’s a Mexican-American, family is all important. He thinks of Darius and me as brothers. It’s one of the reasons why he and I survived both of us being in love with you. Eddie would never take Darius down.”
I wrapped my arm around his waist.
“What happened to Darius?” I asked.
“After his father was killed, the life insurance covered funeral expenses and some bills. Not enough money comin’ in, standard of living crashed. All of a sudden, Darius and his Mom were responsible for a house and Darius’s three younger sisters. It was hard, he was young. Darius was offered an easier path and he took it. No one would have guessed he’d make that choice but after what happened to his father, Darius was one seriously pissed off black man. He was lookin’ for trouble and found it.”
“Can he get out?”
“Easier to get in than out, but yeah. Anyone can do anything if they want it bad enough.”
“Does he need help?”
Lee’s fingers had been drawing randomly on my back but they stopped, his arm came around me and his other hand tilted my chin to look at him.
“Do not try to save Darius,” he said.
I made a huffy sound then told him, “That sounded like an order.”
“The brothers are not fond of women messin’ in their affairs. Especially white women. This includes Darius. The guy you knew in high school is gone.” His voice got kind of scary.
“All right,” I gave in. “You don’t have to get all freaky about it.”
He let go of my chin and I snuggled into him again.
“I’m beginnin’ to feel my mother’s pain. I just have you to worry about and it’s doin’ my head in. She had all four of us,” Lee said.
“You’re a big, tough, badass dude. You’ll survive,” I told him.
He rolled into me and ran his mouth down my jaw to my ear. “Your job is to make it worthwhile.”
I had a feeling I could do that.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A Metallica Moment
We were sitting in Lee’s teak chairs on the balcony. It was post morning sex, I was wearing one of Lee’s tees and a pair of hot pink lace hipsters, drinking my coffee, my feet up in Lee’s lap, zoned out with my gaze settled on the Front Range. Lee was also drinking coffee, but he wasn’t zoned out. He was reading the paper which was spread out on the table. He was absently stroking one of my feet and was wearing a pair of gray sweat pants and nothing else.
Even though it had been an active morning, I was still only on coffee number one and my mental processes hadn’t yet kicked in. Regardless of this, I realized the feeling I had was contentment and yes, even happiness. Maybe even real happiness. Maybe even off the charts happiness.
Lee put the paper down, sat back, stretched his legs out in front of him, crossed the ankles and took a drink of his coffee. His gaze leveled on me, although I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel it.