Nicole watched as Trinity shut her eyes and crouched in front of her. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry. I should have taken you home that night like I promised.”
“No! You’re not listening to me. This is my doing. I can’t even fault Gemariah.” Nicole waved her hand through the air to wipe away the thought. “I knew what kind of man he was and that he was a jerk… even before the horrible stuff he said to me afterward.”
Trinity stood back up. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” Nicole pursed her lips and shook her head. There was no point in making Trinity hate someone she considered a friend.
The silence stretched on, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Nicole thought back to that night, and cringed at the memory. How could she have given herself to someone so horrid? Every time they were around each other, he tried to make her feel horrible about herself. What kind of father would he make? Would he always belittle them and treat them like he does her? Thinking back to the first time she met him, she wondered if he could stop himself from physically harming the child. When it came to her child, she wasn’t about to find out!
“You can’t tell him about the baby!” She blurted out, sounding almost hysterical.
“Nicci…”
“No! He can’t know it’s his!”
Trinity looked at her knowingly. “Has there even been anyone else?”
Sighing, Nicole looked away. “No.”
After a moment, Trinity clapped her hands together, startling Nicole. “Fine. I won’t tell him about the baby, on one condition.”
“What?” Nicole asked warily.
“You let me go get the nurse to draw your blood.”
Nicole felt the panic rising inside, and it must have shown on her face, because Trinity quickly spoke up again.
“I will be right here to hold your hand, and you can look away, but this is something that you need to do.”
“But—”
“Do we have a deal?” Trinity didn’t even let her finish.
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Nicole shut her eyes before quickly opening them again. “Fine. Deal.”
******
“Look at how many complaints this area has gotten lately compared to all the others.” Gemariah pointed to the map he had brought up on his tablet, and indicated the cluster of red dots north of the city.
Standing by the conference table, Malachi looked up and glanced at the tablet in Gemariah’s hand. “That could be anything. What were the complaints?”
Zooming in to view the area closer, he tapped the corner of the screen, and brought up the list. Scrolling down, he skimmed down the list. “Late night noises, neighbor issues, typical for any subdivision.” Scrolling down further, he started to see a pattern. “Holy Hell, a lot of domestic violence complaints.”
Malachi took the tablet for a closer look. After a minutes worth of scrolling, he started to nod. “Okay, it might be something to look into, but I want you to be lead on it.”
“Can’t. I’m already planning the mission into the tower. I have no time.”
“You’re right. Put Tori on the Tower, and you head up this.” Malachi gestured with the tablet to indicate the subdivision.
“No way! I’ve put too many hours into the tower already. This doesn’t need me!”
Malachi didn’t say anything right away, but instead stared at the screen. As if coming to a decision, he quickly looked back at Gemariah. “The tower can be put off for another week. Use this week to investigate the subdivision. I’ll trust you. If you think it’s nothing…” Malachi paused, and gave him a knowing look. “then I’ll figure something else out, but it’s up to you to make sure.”
Yeah, Gemariah got it. With that much domestic violence, it was his job to make sure it wasn’t Ramiel. His great-grandfather got his kicks from tempting mortals with moral guilt, and it ate at Gemariah every time he found families destroyed in the wake of the fallen angel. He always felt a sense of responsibility to clean up the mess.
Gritting his teeth, he nodded his head, acknowledging Malachi’s reasoning. When he looked up, what he saw brought a smirk to his face. “Yo man, what did you do?”
They both stood there and watched as Trinity tore through the office, ignoring the curious stares in her wake. She was pissed, and Gemariah was glad he wasn’t Malachi right then. Patting Malachi on the back, he chuckled at his friend’s terrified expression. There weren’t too many things that could scare Malachi, so that was a treat.
Gemariah’s grin was ear to ear by the time she caught sight of Malachi. It was going to be good.
Looking up, he saw that Malachi’s eyes were huge as he watched the forceful strides of his wife. “Dude, what did you do?”
Shaking his head, he looked more confused than anything. “I have no clue.”
She entered the conference room, and never slowed her pace. Taking pity on Malachi, he thought to redirect her focus. Putting on the full charm, he grinned in her direction. “Hey Cuteness—”
That was as far as he got before he stumbled to the ground from the force of her hit. “Fuck! What the hell?” Holding a hand over his injured eye, he squinted through the other one to see Malachi holding Trinity back. If the force of her punch wasn’t an indicator, the fact that Malachi was struggling, showed how strong she was becoming.
“You piece of shit!” Trinity’s voice rebounded off the walls of the office, and brought everyone’s attention to them. He racked his brain, trying to think how he had pissed her off, but he came up short. There had been nothing unusual for him lately. Before he could ask, Malachi spoke up.
“Why don’t we all go into my office, to talk this out?” Trinity had thankfully stopped struggling, but Malachi still had a grip on her arm, just in case.
“There’s no talking this out,” Trinity said through clenched teeth.
Gemariah stood up, and tentatively touched below his left eye. The sight of blood when he pulled his hand back was less of a shock then her cold demeanor towards him. “Rin—” He took a step towards her, only to watch her take a larger step away.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” It was then that he knew he was in deep shit. Trinity never dropped the f-bomb, and continually scolded them for the foul language they all spoke.
His jaw dropped, and he stood there watching her give him the evil eye.
“Office. Now!” The clipped tone in Malachi’s voice showed that all humor had left the situation.
Instead of arguing, they both obediently walked to Malachi’s office. Once released, Trinity made her way to the other side of the room, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and started to rock side to side. Gemariah’s gaze zeroed in on the clench and release of her right hand. When she lightly shook it, then resumed clenching, he knew she was in pain from the hit.
He looked over to tell Malachi, but obviously Malachi had seen it as well, because he was already making his way towards his wife. Gemariah watched as he grasped her hand and brought it to his lips. The faint glow was all he needed to see to know that Malachi had healed whatever damage she had done.
The intimate contact with her husband seemed to take some of the fight out of her, and her shoulders marginally sagged. When she looked over at him though, he could see that all the anger was still there. “You could’ve had anyone you wanted. Why her?”
“Her who?”
“You know damned well who,” she spat.
Instantly, his world stopped. She knew. All this time had gone by, and Nicole hadn’t said anything. Stupidly, he had started to feel remotely safe from her ever mentioning it.
Silence stretched on, and Malachi was the first one to break it. “Did I miss something here?”
Finally looking away from him, Trinity scowled at Malachi. “Apparently when you count on a friend…” she put a strong emphasis on the word friend, “to get someone home safely, they think that also means a quick tumble in the bedroom too.”
Malachi first looked confused, but then a shoc
ked expression of understanding started to form.
Irritation slowly started to creep up inside of Gemariah. They might be friends, but his life was none of her business. “We were both consenting adults. Are you this pissed at her too?”
His comment must have reignited the flame, because she tried to come after him once again. Being prepared, he stood there and waited for her to reach him. It was a lost cause though, because Malachi had already grabbed her before she got close.
“She was a virgin, you shit for brains!” Trinity screamed at him as she was being held back.
Denial was about to cross his lips when flashes from that night came back to him. What if her naive act wasn’t an act at all? He thought back to her tentative touches, how incredibly tight she had been, and her reaction once he was inside of her. Thinking her trembling was pleasure, what if it was actually… pain? He’s not small by any means, and there was nothing gentle about their time together, of course he hurt her. “Shit!”
Not knowing if his legs could hold him any longer, he sunk down into one of the chairs. With his elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ward off memories of how he had been with her that night. He took her against the wall, and called her an Ice Queen for Christ’s sake! Groaning at the memory, he looked back up into the glacial stares of two people he considered good friends.
“I’ll fix this. I will.” He stood up, determined to make amends.
“Don’t you go near her! She doesn’t want to have anything to do with you!”
Trinity’s tone made something snap inside of him, and he took a menacing step toward her. The entire mess of this situation had overflowed and filled his temper. “Listen, I have had enough of your superior attitude.” When he took another step, Malachi quickly got in front of him and placed a restraining hand on his chest. “Back the fuck off!”
Ignoring the warning, Gemariah leaned to the side to look around Malachi and straight at Trinity. Pointing a finger in her direction, he snapped, “You can’t tell me what to do, or who I can or cannot see. Do you understand?” Without waiting for an answer, he stepped back, and turned to leave. He then yelled over his shoulder to no one in particular, “Now, if you don’t mind, I got some shit to settle. I’ll be back when I can.”
He stormed out so fast, that he hadn’t noticed Trinity’s knowing smile as he left.
******
The drive to her place gave Gemariah time to think things through. The more he thought about it, the more pissed off he became. Nothing was his fault! She could have said something to him, but she chose not to.
He hadn’t taken a virgin since… dammit, he never had. Experienced women never expected anything in return. Before females had become more open, every respectable single woman had been a virgin. Even back then, he would spend his time in brothels or dabble with an unhappy wife. He didn’t go for virgins; never had, and never would again. That’s why the whole situation was infuriating.
Marching up the driveway, his strides were forceful and determined. As he knocked on the door and waited, he never lost his determination to give her a piece of his mind. It wasn’t until the door slowly opened, and the tiny woman was standing in front of him, that his resolve wavered.
Starting at her bare pink toes peaking underneath her gray sweatpants, he slowly brought his gaze up and over her white shirt that was snug in all the right places. By the time he got to her face, she had already taken his breath away. With her blonde hair flowing around her shoulders, the light freckles over her nose, and her mesmerizing brown eyes, she looked every bit the pixie he liked to compare her to.
At her nervous expression, he guessed that she already knew why he was here. “You should have told me.”
Visibly cringing, she sighed before looking up into his eyes and said, “She wasn’t supposed to say anything to you.”
“You don’t think I had a right to know?” His ire roared back at her statement, and got him to raise his voice. “This might not be a big thing to you, but it is to me.”
“Not a big thing…” Something had obviously snapped, because her face had become red, and she had trouble getting her words out. “This is not… How can you think that this is not a big deal to me?” As her voice grew louder, it started to crack. “You are unbelievable, to the point of…”
The insult died on her lips. She suddenly stood strait up, and shut her eyes. After a minute when she hadn’t moved and the only sounds she made were deep breaths, he started to get worried. “Nicole?”
When she did nothing, but held up a staying hand, he stood there and watched the color slowly drain from her cheeks. He grasped her shoulder, afraid that she was about to pass out.
The moment his hand was on her, she jerked away from his touch. A second later, her eyes flew open, and she groaned, “Oh, no.” Turning, without shutting the door, she ran back into the house and disappeared around a corner.
Seizing the opportunity, he stepped inside and shut the door behind him. They were going to talk about this, whether she wanted to or not.
Walking through her house, he familiarized himself with the layout. It was a lot different from her previous place that had burned to the ground… bigger. He knew Malachi had had a hand in getting her the place. It was the least he could do when she had lost everything in a fire set by corrupted souls intent of killing two members of their team. Of course, she would never know that, though. To her, she had just found a great place with a low rental payment.
The sound of retching, brought his tour up short, and he followed the noise to a small hallway bathroom. He was brought up short when he saw the little pixie hovering over the toilet. Seeing her like this brought up memories of all the times Trinity had mentioned her being sick. That had been over a month now.
All his anger fled in that moment and he walked over to the cabinet to search for a wash cloth. After the third drawer opening, he finally found a stack of them and took two out. Wetting them down, making one warm and one cold, he rung them out and set the warm one off to the side.
One step and he was by her side. Kneeling on one knee, he swept her hair over to the side, and off her neck. At his touch, she cringed and feebly tried to push him away. “No,” she said weakly before starting another set of heaves.
“Relax.” His tone was light, but left no room for argument. “Let me help.”
Holding her hair, up and out of her face, he laid the cool rag over the back of her neck. He knew she liked how it felt when she let out a faint moan.
“I’ll tell you. I’ve made many women moan, but never this way before.”
At his words, he felt her body stiffen, and he gently massaged her shoulders. “Easy. It won’t hurt so much if you loosen up.” Funny, he thought… that was probably what I should have said to her before.
Shaking his head to dislodge the unnecessary thoughts, he brought his focus back to what was in front of him. Nicole had stopped throwing up, and she slowly sat back on her heels. “Ugh!” Her groan was mixed with a tiny sob.
Lightly rubbing her back, he noticed that she no longer shied away from his touch. He reached over and grabbed the now semi-warm wash cloth, and started wiping it over her face.
“I can do that.” She reached up to grab the towel from him, and he reluctantly let it go.
Taking the rag, she was bringing it up to her face, when it looked as if another round of nausea hit her. Instead of lunging at the toilet though, she shut her eyes once again to breathe.
He reached out to take the rag, and she tightened her grip. “Don’t touch me!”
Taken back by her abrupt tone, he couldn’t help but scowl.
Opening her eyes slightly, she saw him before quickly shutting them again. “I’m sorry. It’s not you. When I feel like this… if someone touches me… I can’t control it.” After continually stopping to breathe, she finally got the words out.
Instantly pacified, Gemariah knelt quietly by her side until she was ready to move.
It took him a moment to understand what she was talking about, but once he did, it felt as if the world had dropped out from beneath him. Losing his balance off his knee, his backside hit the floor with a hard oomph. “You’re pregnant?”
At his whispered words, she looked up at him, confusion prominent on her face. “Isn’t that why you’re here?” When he shook his head, he watched as she took a seat on the floor. “What exactly did Trinity tell you?”
Trying to hear past the ringing in his ears was a difficult task. Eventually, he placed enough words together to answer, “She told me you were a virgin the night we had sex. I came to confront you about that.”
“Why is that so important?”
Ignoring her question, he shot back, “How can you be pregnant? You’re on the pill.”
“What? No, I’m not.”
“That night, I saw the pills in your bathroom. I remember them clearly because I was relieved when I found them in the cabinet. I never go uncovered. That was a fuck up on my part.”
She let out a sigh and shook her head. “Those were Trinity’s. She kept extras at my place in case she forgot to take hers.”
“Shit!” Shutting his eyes, he leaned his head back against the wall. There was still a nagging thought that he had to get out. “Is it mine? The baby…”
The expression on her face turned cold. “No. It’s mine.”
“Don’t bullshit me! Am I the father, or not?”
“What do you think; I would wait twenty five years to sleep with someone, only to do it with you and someone else right after?”
To her question, he only shrugged. “I don’t know you. For all I know, that’s exactly what you did.”
Her outraged gasp told him that it probably wasn’t the case, but instead of firing back another insult, she quickly lunged back over the toilet to lose more of what she had eaten that day. Listening, his chest constricted as he heard her sob in between dry heaves. Arguing with the likes of him was not helping her, that was for sure.
The Divine Whisper Page 10
