"You don't have to wait for me Thomas." She deliberately drew out her strip tease act. Thomas got into the hot tub, she could see the blatant desire in his eyes.
Thomas couldn't take his eyes off her as she eased into the tub totally submerging herself under the water. When she rose out of the water, her violet eyes seem to glitter. He never felt so much like prey in his life. "Ooh you want me bad, don't you baby. Come over here and climb on my lap and claim your man."
Connie positioned herself over his erection, sitting down on his lap. The heated water and riding Thomas thick length filled her body with new sensations. "I think we'll be spending a lot of time in the hot tub from this day forward. I may have to have one built onto my deck. Are you going to let me do all of the work."
"I m perfectly content to let you take me baby." He grabbed her hips helping her bring them both off to completion. "I got a feeling neither of us will last long, it's been a long day."
Connie wrapped her arms around his shoulder, holding him tight as they came together in the heated tub. They sat that way for a long time until she felt as if she were cooking in the water. "Are you ready for bed?"
"Not just yet, I'm content just to hold you and enjoy nature. When she didn't say anything, he felt the need to express what was in his heart. I love you Constantina, and I know that you love me too. I won't pressure you to marry me until you're ready."
"Marriage is a big step, what if I'm never ready?"
"Then will be the oldest couple living in sin.
***
Chapter 15
It was a beautiful spring morning, but Connie didn't have time to dawdle. She went to sign paperwork at her lawyer's office. Since she was already late, she picked up three breakfast sandwiches from Jimmy's Egg. If she ate the whole sandwich, she wouldn't be hungry for the rest of the day. Thomas was working late tonight so she would eat a salad for dinner. The other sandwiches were for Beth and Chad. Chad had been working in her office since he came back from funeral leave. Beth and Chad must have reached an understanding because they were getting along better than ever.
Connie realized it would take Chad a long time to deal with his grandfather's death. He was so quiet it was as if she worked in the office by herself sometimes. Every so often, he would come into her office and shoot the breeze. There was something about Chad's stance at times that made her think that he wanted to talk about something. She didn't want to be over protective, so she never questioned him. He would tell her what was on his mind in his own time.
Tax season was over, so she didn't expect too much walk in traffic. Quarterly reports were sent out the second week of April, which made last week exhausting. She was ready to wind down focusing more on her individual clients and the foundation.
Connie was lost in thought as she walked into her office. The last think she expected to find was Chad making small talk with an expensive looking red head. As she got a better look at the woman, she immediately recognized Thomas's ex-wife. Her body language and fragrance exuded sex and danger; Chad wasn't old enough to be entangled with this trollop. Connie's protective instincts kicked in as she strove to break up there little trifling conversation.
"Hey Chad I brought you a breakfast sandwich, why don't you go back to your office and close the door. Where's Beth?"
"Beth had an errand to run before work, she said she might be a little late." Chad wasn't a fool; he grabbed that sack from Jimmy's Egg and headed back to his office. Connie had her battle face on, and he didn't want to get between a warrior tigress and her prey. "It was nice meeting you Elise."
"The pleasure was all mine's Chad. Maybe we could do lunch sometime." Elise kept her smile in place until Chad was out of sight. Then she turned her glare onto Constantina. "Do you recognize me?"
"Of course I recognize you, who wouldn't? A few years back your face was plastered everywhere. I'll never forget that grand tantrum you put on as the bailiff led you out of the courtroom after your conviction. I mean you gave a stellar Oscar winning performance. It was all over the news, for weeks thereafter." Connie smiled as Elise eyebrows arched in annoyance.
"You think you're pretty smart! I know about your ties to The Purple Feather. When I make it common knowledge your precious foundation will lose backers who can't be associated with a tainted charity."
Connie couldn't contain her laughter, she clapped her hands in appreciation for another fine performance. "You're a little late on the scene; my association with The Purple Feather is common knowledge. If you try to mess with my foundation, I'll make you feel like that little stint you did in prison was a cake walk." Connie could see the wheels turning in Elise's empty little head.
"Talk about someone being in the public eye. I can't go any place these days without seeing you and Thomas together. Tell me something how did you manage to catch his attention. You're so... how do I say this. Plain!"
Connie couldn't contain her mirth. "Is this where I'm supposed to cry and run out into traffic. Better yet, I could break up with Thomas because his ex-wife is so beautiful that I could never compare. I guess you've been reading too many cheap romance novels in prison."
Elise was livid as Constantina laughed at her, wiping tears from her eyes. "There's nothing funny about this situation, you'll ruin Thomas!"
"That's a good one, I'll have to call Thomas and tell him that you're worried that I will ruin him. Did you have that much concern for him when you were defrauding his clients?"
"You don't want to mess with me. I know powerful people who'd take pleasure in destroying you."
Now Connie was beginning to get angry, it must have shown on her face. She came and stood face to face with this viper. "When you say powerful people I assume you mean your daddy. I thought I read in the Daily Examiner that he was being brought up on ethics charges. I don't think that daddy can help you with your petty revenge schemes. If he's smart, he'll be too worried about covering his own ass. I've entertained you as long as I intend to, now get out of my office and don't come back."
"You won't be able to hold on to Thomas, you're not woman enough."
"Well I'm sure going to have fun trying. You're a fool, you had a good man, and you pissed on him to make a couple of bucks. That didn't fare to well for you. I may be many things, but a convicted felon isn't one of them. I don't mind taking out the trash, but it's much better when it has legs and can let itself out." Connie ignored her and went to get coffee to go along with her breakfast sandwich. When she came back, Elise was gone. "Good riddance." Beth walked in just as Elise walked out the door.
"Wow! Who was that? A new client?"
Connie handed her the breakfast sandwich and went to get coffee. "No she's Thomas's ex-wife. She came here to start trouble, and I quickly showed her the door."
"Shoot! I always miss all the action around here."
If Beth had arrived fifteen minutes earlier, she would have been a part of the show. Connie could imagine Beth scratching Elise's eyes out for even daring to look at Chad. "You didn't miss a thing. I'm sure Chad will tell you all about it later.
Connie was certain that Chad listen to the whole conversation. He was waiting for her in her office. "Please I don't want to hear how beautiful she is, that's what's wrong with men always being led by the wrong head."
Chad chuckled. "Elise is a beautiful woman, I'm sure her beauty attracts a lot of attention, but she has no depth. A woman like that can only be charming as long as she gets her way. Rather spoiled for my tastes. What did Thomas ever see in her?"
"Well from what I could ascertain, Elise had something he wanted back then, power and prestige. Once upon a time Thomas was an arrogant jerk, and he wanted to show all the Anglos that he had the biggest dick in town." She took a bite of her sandwich enjoying the bacon, eggs and cheese on the toasted Ciabatta bun. "Jesus this sandwich is good."
Chad stood there watching Connie. "Yes, it's very good, especially with hot coffee and entertainment you and Elise just provided. Look Connie there's something I've been
meaning to tell you.
Connie raised her head, her brief melee with Elise quickly forgotten. She gave Chad her full attention as he grabbed one of the chairs setting it down closer to her desk. Chad became so serious and solemn that she had a great sense of foreboding. "I've known for a while that you've had something on your mind. You can tell me whatever's troubling you."
Unable to look at Connie's face he focused on his hands as he relayed the story of his life. "My father was a drug dealer who spent most of his life in prison. He became enamored with a woman with two young children, and he wanted her to come away with him. The woman cared for my father as well, but she was concerned about her children. My father didn't want to take on the responsibilities of another man's children, so he gave her an ultimatum. He told her to choose between him and her children, this woman chose her children."
As Connie gasped for air, Chad raised his worried eyes to meet hers. The story Chad was telling seemed hauntingly familiar. "I remember him." Connie whispered. "He was tall and mean. He never wanted David and me around when he came to visit my mother. Is this what's been troubling you? Were you afraid that if I found out you were the man's son I would cut you short?"
Chad grabbed her hands to reassure her, "No Connie, your jumping the gun. Let me finish the story. One night a fire broke out at the woman's house while she was at work. She believed that her children were dead, so she never came forward. She moved to another city with the man who loved her, but she never got over losing her children."
"Can't be true." Every feeling of disgust and hate had for her mother began swirling around her head.
"She became pregnant by her lover and was beginning to heal when both she and her lover were brought up on drug charges. Only in prison did she learn that her daughter had survived the fire when the state of Nebraska requested her to sign a release of all parental rights. She went into labor that night, giving birth to a son."
"You're that son...my brother."
"Yes Connie, I'm the baby who was born in prison to our mother." He wondered if he'd made a grave error, Connie pulled her hand from him wrapping them around her body as she began to cry. Not the tears of happiness he'd come to expect, but the painful tears of someone who'd lost so much. He got up and wrapped his arms around her shoulder to comfort her, and she lowered her head onto her desk crying harder. He was so focused on Connie that he didn't feel the presence of Thomas and Beth.
"What in the hell is going on here?" Thomas dragged him away from Connie and slammed him against the wall. "Who are you and what have you done to my woman?"
Beth ran around the desk to comfort Connie. "He didn't mean to hurt you."
Chad wasn't a slouch, but he had never been in danger of having his face rearranged. He realized he had better come up an explanation quick before the pissed off; green-eyed alpha beat him to a pulp. "Listen man I was just trying to comfort my sister!"
"Sister! Constantina doesn't have any siblings!" He turned his head around to face her. Constantina raised her head, and the sight of her misery felt like a jab to his heart. He released Chad and got on his knees in front of Constantina. Beth gave him a narrow eyed look before checking on Chad.
He'd never seen her in this state, not even at the New Year's party. Her eyes were ocean blue and full of pain. She put her arms around his neck melding her body into this. "Baby I'm here." He grabbed a couple of tissues and dabbed at her face.
"All this time I thought our mother hated us. I just knew that she started the fire because she didn't want us."
Chad hovered in the background with Beth at his side, he was sorry for upsetting Connie. "No Connie. Our mother didn't hate you. The truth is she chose you and David over my father. In his rage, he started the fire; hoping that once you two were out of the way, she would pick him. I'm sorry Connie I should have kept my big mouth shut."
Connie pulled herself from Thomas's arms, walking towards Chad and hugged him. "How long have you known about me?"
"Since I was a teenager, I've been checking the internet trying to find more information about you. I have the news reports about the fire, but they never mentioned if you were dead or alive. Then your name popped up one day, you were at the grand opening of the first youth home. I was so proud that my big sister would be a part of such a enormous endeavor. After graduating from high school, I moved to campus and my first job was at The Purple Feather as a stock boy in the warehouse."
"Why didn't you tell me right away? Did you think that I would have turned you away?"
"My grandmother told me to tell you, but I kept putting it off. I didn't know how you would feel about having a grown brother just show up into your life."
"This means so much Chad; I've always felt so alone in the world."
Chad frowned not understanding her position. "Connie you never been alone, you were raised by a family that loved you. Your friends are like your sisters." He nodded his head towards Thomas. "You also have a man so crazy in love with you that he nearly tore off my head thinking I had harmed you."
Connie laughed and held out her hand to Thomas. "What were you doing here? I thought you were going to Lincoln today?"
Beth was about to read Chad the riot act, how dare he tell Connie his news when she wasn't around. Before she could say a word, he gave her a quick peck on the lips to silence her. "We'll talk about this later." Chad wrapped his arm around her shoulder pulling her to his side. All of her objections suddenly left her body.
For the first time since he arrived, Thomas felt the tension leave his body. "Elise called my office just as I was leaving; she said that she came by your office. I knew that she was up to no good, I called you work phone and cell; you never picked up, so I thought the worst. Instead of going to Lincoln I came here, I walk in, and this blonde Adonis had his arms around you, and it was just more than I could take."
"Oh Thomas I'm sorry today has been full of revelations. Elise did stop by; she was full of idle threats."
Now it was Thomas's turn to frown, Constantina didn't like being threatened. "She struck out with you and decided to take a final stab at me. She called, so I knew I didn't have to worry about helping you dig a grave."
"You would have been proud of Connie, she basically handed Elise her ass on a silver platter."
Beth jabbed Chad in the ribs. "Yeah and I missed the whole thing.
"Thomas before we go any further, I have an introduction to make. Although I've talked about him and the wonderful work he's doing for the foundation I'd like to introduce you to Chad Roberts, friend, colleague, and he's also my brother." Connie beamed as the two most influential men in her life shook hands.
Thomas rubbed his stomach, the drama from this morning made him hungry. "Hey are you guys' hungry?"
"What do you have in mind, I'm starving?"
"How can that be you just ate a breakfast sandwich?"
"What can I say, drama makes me hungry."
"You two really are related, Constantina never turns down the opportunity to eat. My trip to Lincoln is a bust I had my secretary cancel the meeting and reschedule. What do you say we go to Friday's? If we hurry, we can beat most of the lunch crowd."
"Come on guys, I didn't get a chance to finish my breakfast sandwich." Connie grabbed her purse, then ushered everyone out the door."
***
"Who's the tall dangerous looking guy?"
"He's her boyfriend; I must say my little Tina has excellent taste in men."
"Who's the other guy?"
"He's a bonus; he's Chad Roberts, Tina's brother."
Jimmy Lee gave Crystalline a nervous glance, "Her brother, I thought her brother died in the fire."
Crystalline watched the four people get into the dark SUV; they were laughing and joking as if they hadn't a care in the world. "Chad is my youngest child. I had him while I was doing time in prison. We'll grab him tomorrow night, Tina will miss him when he doesn't show for work. Then I'll place my call to get the ball rolling."
"What if she doesn't
cooperate and goes to the police?"
"Then we'll make sure she suffers the consequences of her actions."
Jimmy Lee swallowed the lump in his throat, only now did he realize he'd gotten involved with a crazy woman. "Whatever you say Crystalline."
***
After several hours of heart palpitating love making, Connie was sprawled out over Thomas's body feeling as if she had been taken by a tiger. He claimed her as his woman and took those words seriously. She really didn't understand the depth of his feelings for her until he tried to rip Chad's head off. His green eyes were blazing, not with lust, but serious intent to harm. "I'm sorry about today."
Thomas tilted her head so he could look into her eyes. They were back to their beautiful violet state, moments earlier they were royal blue, color of passion. "You have nothing to apologize for. Today was a very emotional day for all of us. Did you mean what you said about being alone?"
"Momma Lettie was the mother of my heart, but there's a little part of me who yearned for the woman who gave me life. Like most adopted children, I wanted to connect with my real parents. You can love your adopted parents and still want to know where you came from. People who haven't been adopted can't understand the yearning to know where you come from. It wasn't until today that I learned that my mother actually put David and me before her lover. I lived most of my life thinking that my mother tried to kill me. I found it hard to believe that anyone could love me especially since my own mother didn't."
"Constantina there's nothing wrong with wanting to know your people. On my mother's side, I come from strong people who are proud of their heritage. I have no wish to know my father's family history. My father was a monster, and I think I was always afraid that I would become just like him. This morning I lost control when I saw Chad's arms around you the animal inside me reared its ugly head. It is I who should apologize to you for behaving that way."
No Ordinary Romance Page 16
