by S. K. Hardy
Jerra’s voice drew all of their attention to her. “I’m going to take D.J. up to his room and get him settled in with a movie. I shouldn’t be long.”
That was all she said, but her eyes skimmed each of them, resting on Darrell and Lorenzo. It was obvious what she’d left unspoken: Please don’t kill each other before I get back.
Grimacing, Darrell held her gaze for a few seconds. Choosing to remain standing, he gestured for Renzo to sit down in the chair to the right of the couch. Obviously, that was enough to satisfy Jerra because only then did she take D.J.’s hand and lead him out of the room.
After Renzo was seated, he studied Tina in silence. Due to what he’d learned about her health problems, he tempered the natural part of his personality that fought to show its ass by taking control of the conversation and demanding answers. But only barely.
Tina’s demeanor didn’t escape him. Although she bravely met his eyes, Renzo took note of the stiffness of her posture. She sat ramrod straight with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Remembering her reaction when she thought his father was there to see her, it hit him that she was bracing herself for angry accusations. Admittedly, that had been his first response. Renzo was under no illusion as to who and what his father was. Isaac Pattel could be unspeakably cold and unconscionably ruthless; quite honestly, that described all of the men in his family, including himself if the circumstances called for it. Instinctively, he knew this was not one of those times…at least, not yet.
Schooling his features to show none of his thoughts, Lorenzo leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees in a deceptively casual pose. “I have to say, you hardly look old enough to have two grown sons.” Hearing Darrell’s scoffing laugh, he looked up at him, struggling to keep his voice evenly keeled. “Something funny?”
Darrell shook his head. “Nothing funny about a grown man taking advantage of a young girl.”
Lorenzo’s face froze. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said. She was barely sixteen years old when Isaac Pattel first started messing around with her. He was twenty-five.”
Brows knitted together in a frown, Lorenzo looked at Tina. “Is that true?”
Tina’s nails dug into the back of her hand, but she determinedly met his gaze and nodded. “Yes, but…” She sent a brief glance towards Darrell, whose expression was stiff and unyielding. “I can’t lay all the blame at Isaac’s feet. I told him I was seventeen. I’d always looked mature for my age, so he had no reason to doubt that.”
Darrell’s stare intensified. “Why do you keep making excuses for him?”
“I’m not,” Tina shrugged helplessly.
“Then what do you call it? He was an adult, he knew what he was doing.”
Lorenzo’s eyes had been going from one of them to the other. He frowned at Darrell. “Give her a chance to explain. I’m sure she knows the circumstances better than anyone.”
Darrell’s entire body grew taut with anger. “Was I talkin’ to you?”
“Whether you were or not, I was talking to you,” Lorenzo fired back.
The room was tense with hostility. Tina held a hand up to stop them. “Please don’t fight.”
It took several moments before either man reacted. With a sound close to disgust, Darrell turned to stare out the window and ignored them both.
Lorenzo scowled at his back for a couple of more beats before turning to Tina. “When did you and my father first meet?”
“In New York. I never knew my father, and my mother was a cold, uncaring woman who kicked me out of the house when I was fifteen. After months of sneaking from one friend’s house to another, I happened to meet your father. Like I told Darrell, my life changed overnight after that. I wanted for nothing. He set me up in an apartment, bought me beautiful clothes, expensive jewelry, made sure I was taken care of. To me, he was my knight in shining armor.”
“Did you know about my mother?” The question was asked with little emotion. From the time Lorenzo was old enough to understand such things he’d known his father kept mistresses. So had his mother.
Tina shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, her eyes fell away from his. “Of course not.”
Darrell’s head swiveled around to pierce her with a pointed stare. That’s not what she’d told him.
Reading his thoughts, a flush crept across Tina’s cheeks. “I…I mean, I didn’t know at first. I didn’t find out until Isaac and I were involved.”
The muscle in Lorenzo’s jaw twitched for several seconds. “So how did it come about that he and my mother were the ones who raised me and not you?” Lorenzo’s eyes turned a wintry grey when Tina’s silence stretched on. He’d already received the run around from Isaac. He wasn’t about to sit there and let Tina do the same. “I asked my father, but he wasn’t very forthcoming. That’s why I’m here. I’d like answers. I think I deserve them.”
Still feeling Darrell’s eyes on her Tina shifted uncomfortably under Lorenzo’s gaze. “When your secretary told me you were out of the country, I left my name and number. For some reason, I didn’t think she’d give you the message.”
Lorenzo barely managed to curb his impatience. Tina was stalling. Cutting his eyes away from her, he found Darrell staring at him with a mocking smirk as if he too knew what Tina was doing and was enjoying seeing him irritated. Lorenzo’s jawline hardened. He’d wanted to meet Tina in person, get her side of the story because the situation was so outlandishly bizarre. But if she wanted to go this route, that was fine with him. He had other ways of finding out the truth.
Compressing his lips into a thin line, he decided to play along with her for the time being. “In spite of my father threatening my secretary with the loss of her job, yes, she told me. She’s very loyal. I was curious as to why he would try to keep it from me so I did some investigating on my own. As soon as I got home, I confronted him about what I found out. In typical Isaac Pattel fashion, he demanded that I drop the subject and forget everything I’d learned.”
Tina shuddered as if remembering Isaac’s temper. “I’m sure he was furious.”
Lorenzo’s mouth tightened into a smile. “He’ll get over it. Needless to say his anger didn’t stop me because I’m here. Besides…”
A movement from the doorway caught his attention. Seeing Jerra entering the room, he turned his head and watched her approach. Lorenzo felt, rather than saw, the intensity of Darrell’s stare resting on him, but his gaze never left Jerra. A hint of a smile tugged his mouth upwards. Darrell had enjoyed seeing Lorenzo’s irritation a few moments ago. The devil in Lorenzo decided to return the favor.
“Got your lil’ man settled?” he asked Jerra.
“Yes, he’s watching a movie. A friend of ours is on the way to pick him up for a play date in a few minutes.” Jerra saw the silent question burning in Darrell’s eyes and added, “Angela’s going to take them to the movies,” she told him quietly. “She offered to let him spend the night. I said it was okay.” When he nodded, she went to Tina and touched her shoulder. “Are you alright?”
Tina covered Jerra’s hand with hers and gave it a squeeze. “I’m fine,” she nodded. Patting the spot beside her, she said, “Here. Sit. All of this has to be a shock for you as well.”
“Actually, Tina, Jerra and I met years ago in law school,” Lorenzo said in a casual tone.
Tina’s eyebrow lifted in surprise as she stared at Jerra. “Is that true?”
“Yes,” Jerra nodded. “He went by his mother’s maiden name, though. I didn’t know him as a Pattel.”
“That’s…unbelievable,” Tina sputtered. “What an amazing coincidence.”
“Yeah,” Darrell drawled, his eyes locked on Jerra. “Amazing.”
Jerra’s lips tightened when she heard the slight edge in his voice just as he’d intended her to. The brief glance she sent him screamed out that he had more pressing things than Lorenzo to worry about. Namely, their marriage.
Ignoring her husband’s comment, she said to Tina, “L
orenzo was in his final year of law school, but he helped out us newbies quite a bit.”
Lorenzo chuckled. “If I remember correctly, you didn’t need a whole lot of help, Jerra.” He threw a smirk back at Darrell, identical to the one Darrell had given him. “I’m sure you’re aware of the fact that your wife graduated at the top of her class in law school. Had all of the top firms in the country vying for her to come work for them after she passed the bar. I know because my firm was one of them.”
Darrell’s eyes flashed a clear warning. He knew Lorenzo was intentionally trying to goad him by hinting around that he and Jerra had been close. However, his expression softened when he switched his attention to Jerra. “I’m aware of how brilliant my wife is.”
Keeping her attention on Lorenzo, Jerra stubbornly refused to acknowledge Darrell’s compliment. “Thank you, but you know I was already obligated to practice at my firm. After all, they did pay my way through law school.”
Lorenzo tilted his head as he stared at Jerra. “I’m surprised Justin Sullivan hasn’t scooped you up. Remember him from law school? His firm is set up in Vegas, isn’t it?”
“Yes, of course I remember Justin. As a matter of fact, he bugged the hell out of me when I first moved here, but I’m not with a firm. I took the bar exam when I moved to Vegas so that I would qualify to practice law if I decided to later, but so far, I’ve been a stay at home mom to my son.” She saw the flash of surprise that lit up Lorenzo’s eyes and added, “I’m not sorry, it’s been one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had.”
“You don’t have to explain. Being a mother is a lot more demanding than almost any other job I can think of. I’m glad you’re happy.”
Jerra nodded, but her face was so stiff the fake smile she kept pasted on threatened to shatter it into a thousand pieces. Again, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Jerra deliberately changed the subject.
“Renzo, are you married? Any kids?”
Lorenzo grinned as if the very thought somehow amused him. “Me? No. I don’t think marriage is anywhere in my foreseeable future.” His eyes went to Darrell to include him in his next comment. “Apparently that’s not the case with you two. How long have you been married?”
Darrell grudgingly answered, “Just made six years.”
Lorenzo nodded slowly. “That’s great. What do you do, Darrell, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I develop commercial properties.” Darrell’s response was brief, almost to the point of being rude.
Jerra added, “Darrell’s company just finished development of a resort in California last year.”
When she told him the name of it, Lorenzo’s expression reflected his surprise. He whistled under his breath and studied Darrell with a newfound respect. “I’ve heard of that resort. Off the coastline of Newport Beach, right?” he asked. “That’s your work?”
Darrell nodded. “Mine and my business partner’s.”
“That’s a beautiful piece of property. From what I’ve seen online, the facilities themselves are a work of art. Reminds me of the Venetian countryside,” Lorenzo commented. “My cousin and I were actually just talking about it recently. It supposedly has one of the best golf courses in the U.S.”
Momentarily distracted, Darrell looked at Lorenzo and snorted. “Supposedly? John Holston designed those courses,” he said, naming a famous golf champion. “You haven’t experienced golf until you’ve played on one.”
Eyes sparkling, Lorenzo chuckled at Darrell’s admonishment. “My bad. Now you really got me anxious to try it out.”
“You should do that.”
“Believe me, as soon as I find the time, I will.” Deciding to bring the conversation back to the reason for his visit, Lorenzo fixed Tina with a curious gaze. “Do you have any other children?”
“Yes, I have a daughter. Her name is Gabrielle.” Some of the tightness left Tina’s features. “She’s twenty-four years old.”
“Gabrielle,” he repeated softly. “I’d like to meet her one day soon.”
“Actually, she just moved to New York. When she finds out about you, she’s going to be shocked, but overjoyed.” Tina sent a tentative smile Darrell’s way. “I remember when she first found Darrell, she…” Seeing the coldness in her younger son’s eyes when he looked at her, Tina’s sentence cut off abruptly.
Lorenzo glanced from Darrell back to Tina, his confusion evident. “What do you mean when she ‘first found’ him?”
Darrell’s eyes glowed like smoldering coals as he waited on Tina to answer. When she didn’t he prodded her on using a sharp tone. “Go on. While you’re sharing all of your past tragedies and regrets, why don’t you share that one too?”
CHAPTER 3
Momentarily rendered speechless by Darrell’s hostility, Tina managed to stutter out a response to Lorenzo’s question. Her distress only emphasized her delicate beauty.
“I…I wasn’t the best mother to Darrell. After I, um, left New York and moved to Philadelphia I soon fell back into the same destructive behavior that had taken over my life in New York. I relied on men to take care of me, used them as a crutch to soothe my insecurities. In the process, I ended up…neglecting my son. When Darrell was seven years old, I signed away my parental rights and gave him up to an orphanage.”
Darrell’s harsh laughter interrupted Tina’s story. “Is that the politically correct phrase for what you did? Let’s be clear, you more or less abandoned me. You never wanted to be a mother. I was just a way to trap some man who never really cared about you to begin with. You thought he wanted you for a housewife when all you were to him was his whore on the side.”
“Darrell!” Jerra knew the depths of Darrell’s anger, but it served no purpose to be deliberately cruel. “I know you’re upset, but–”
His brows shot up at Jerra’s choice of words. “Upset? I’m not upset, but I would appreciate a little honesty and forthrightness if we’re putting everything out on the table.” His gaze seared over Tina like a hot branding iron. “You checked out on me a long time ago. You never wanted me, and I know why now.” He jerked his head towards Lorenzo but kept his eyes on Tina. “It’s because you wanted him, right?”
“That’s not true, Darrell.” Angling her body so that she faced him, she scooted up to the edge of the couch. “It’s just that…the older you got the more you favored your father. Little things you did reminded me so much of him. The way you tilted your head, the intensity in your eyes when I found you quietly staring at me…it made it hard to–”
“Hard to what, love me?” Darrell cut in harshly when she hesitated. He started to add more but brought himself up short when he remembered the audience they had. Feeling emotionally exposed, his eyes met Lorenzo’s. “What the hell are you lookin’ at?”
His face tightening, Lorenzo gave him a hard stare. He’d clearly had enough of Darrell’s attitude. “Tina’s right about one thing, you do remind me of my…our father. I can see that right now. You’re stubborn, only willing to see your point of view, and you refuse to bend even a little bit.”
Darrell’s dislike was blatantly obvious. “And I can see you have a tendency to comment on shit you know nothin’ about.”
Lorenzo’s brows knitted together, his expression fierce, but before he could deliver a scathing reply, the doorbell rang.
Jerra hopped up from the couch, her relief at the interruption obvious. “That should be Angie to pick up D.J.” She looked at Darrell. “Did you want to come and say goodbye to him?”
Darrell knew she was trying to get him out of the room and away from the tension before it escalated even further. Giving Lorenzo one last glare, he gave Jerra a brief nod and followed her out.
A heavy silence settled between Lorenzo and Tina after they’d left. Tina cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “I’d like to answer your question about how you came to be raised by Isaac and his wife…your…mother…” Tina stumbled over her words before forging on. “Isaac came to the hospital a few hours after you were
born. He told me he didn’t want things to change between us, and me caring for a baby would do just that. So he presented me with an ultimatum: I could either give you to him and his wife to raise, or keep you…and lose him.”
Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed, but he let Tina finish.
“I was horrified. It never occurred to me that he wouldn’t let me keep our child. The prospect of giving you up was unbearable, but in my mind, losing him meant losing…everything. I would be kicked out on the streets with a child to raise all by myself.”
“That doesn’t make sense. My father would never give up his heir.”
“I didn’t know that back then. I had no one. He’d isolated me from my friends or anyone else who might have been able to help me; my life revolved around Isaac, and that’s the way he intended it to stay. So I did as he wanted. A couple of days later, he took you home.”
“You got pregnant again not long after that.”
Tina nodded. “Yes. Isaac was furious because he didn’t want any more children. I still remember the night I told him. He went…crazy. Eventually, he broke things off between us, left me some money, told me to get rid of the baby and never contact him again.”
Lorenzo studied Tina in silence. There was much more to the situation than he’d imagined. If she was telling the truth…
“You obviously defied him and didn’t get an abortion.”
“No. Maybe I was being naïve, but I thought Isaac would change his mind once our baby was born. As you can guess, that wasn’t the case. I didn’t see him again until after I’d given birth. One night I wrapped Darrell up and tracked Isaac down at one of the clubs he owned, but he would barely even acknowledge me.” Tina stared across the room while remembering that night. “I was understandably upset, caused a scene, said some things to goad a reaction. He had me and my baby thrown out onto the street as if we were trash. Days later, he and a couple of men came to the apartment I stayed in. He wouldn’t even look at Darrell. We had a horrible argument. Isaac was just…out of control; he practically destroyed my apartment. I’d never seen him so angry. I was afraid he was going to kill me.”
