Trey nodded. “Yes, I remember.”
“It turns out that he’s talking now,” Derek said. “He reached out to the San Diego board and told them that his life had been threatened, so he’d been too afraid to speak out a few months ago. But now he’s admitting that he briefly saw the man who hit him over the head before stealing the artifacts.”
“Let me guess,” Trey said, shaking his head. “He’s saying it’s Reginald?”
“Sure is,” Derek said. “Although I can’t say I’m surprised.” Trey wasn’t surprised, either. Just disappointed.
“Reginald could still be innocent,” Max said. “I believe my father when he says he wasn’t behind this.”
“I know you want to,” Trey said. “Hell, Reginald had us all a little convinced he didn’t have anything to do with the whole thing. Yet everything we’ve found so far makes him seem guilty.”
“We still don’t know who hired the hackers,” Max said. “Pete said a couple of days ago that he needed more time to track down Insenia, the dark web group.”
Trey glanced at Derek before they both looked at Max. “I understand that, Max. But at some point, you have to prepare yourself for the fact that at the end of our investigation, Reginald may still be found guilty.”
“I know that,” Max said. “And I’m prepared for that outcome. But I also think that the two of you have to keep an open mind throughout this process. If Reginald was framed like he says he was, all the evidence has been planted to make sure he stays guilty. If finding him innocent was going to be easy, he wouldn’t have needed us to investigate in the first place.”
Trey sighed as he let Max’s words sink in. For a while the brothers sat in silence, each wrapped up in their own contemplations.
“Did you both give any additional thought to attending Thanksgiving next month at Reginald’s home?” Max asked, breaking the silence.
Derek huffed. “Dining with the enemy and the man who’s never been there for us? Why would we do that?”
“Because he’s dying,” Max said, unable to keep the emotion out of his voice. “I know he’s never done anything but make both of your lives miserable, but I’m torn between the fact that I do care for my father and the fact that I’m getting to know brothers that I’d always hoped I’d be close to one day. I’m trying to make everyone happy, but I’m in a sticky situation.”
“We’re not telling you not to go,” Trey said. “We’d never do that. But I feel the same way Derek does. I’m not turning down his invitation yet, but I need some more time to think about it.”
“That’s fair,” Max said. The silence in the room returned, forcing Trey to observe each of his brothers and their current situation a little more.
“Listen,” Trey said. “We knew that working together on this wasn’t going to be easy and we were going to have different opinions about Reginald throughout this investigation. But I think the one thing we can all agree on is that we’re forming a brotherhood that is decades too late. No matter what we discover, let’s remember that the best thing about this request from Reginald is that the three of us have gotten closer. All three of us are even more active in Prescott George than we’ve ever been and I’m proud of us for not letting the rumors and accusations affect our character. Reginald may have given us the Moore last name, but the legacy is ours to change for the positive. We have the ability to leave our Moore mark on Prescott George and I say that we do everything in our power to make it an influential mark.”
Derek laughed. “Powerful words from a powerful screenwriter. I can agree to that.”
Max smiled. “Me, too.”
“Glad to hear it.” Trey stood from the chair. “Can’t believe it took me this long to offer you a couple Coronas, so I’ll grab them now.”
“When you get back, let’s change the subject,” Derek suggested. “Maybe tell us more details about your vacation with the future Mrs. Trey Moore.”
Trey popped the caps off the beers and returned to the living room. “Nah, I’m not about to be the only one talking about my love life. What about the two of you? Any future Mrs. Derek Moore or future Mrs. Max Moore that you care to share with the group?”
Derek busied himself with playing with M-dog while Max glanced up at the ceiling.
“It’s like that?” Trey asked.
“Yup,” Derek said.
Max nodded. “Pretty much.”
“Fine, then,” Trey said with a laugh. “Keep your secrets, for now.” Trey turned on his television and chose the first sports game he could find. Before long, they were placing bets on which team would win, and the stress of the case was temporarily forgotten.
Chapter 16
“Bingo,” Kiara said as she found a parking spot much closer to the basketball courts at Venice Beach than she’d expected to. The parking gods must be on my side lately, because I’ve been finding space everywhere I go. In a place as crowded as LA, Kiara had learned to cherish the little achievements.
As she stepped out of her car and made her way to the courts, she took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. It had been three days since she’d seen Trey and to say she missed him would be a huge understatement. She wasn’t sure she’d even gone a full minute since their vacation without thinking about him.
When the lit courts came into view, Kiara spotted Trey and Matthew in his car seat right away. “Hey, Matthew,” she said as she kissed his cheek before greeting Trey.
“I missed you,” she said, surprised by her own honesty.
“I missed you, too.” Trey lightly touched her hair, which she’d French-braided into one ponytail. “I love your hair.”
“Thanks,” she said. The words barely left her mouth before Trey pulled her to him with his free arm and kissed her senseless. God, I’ve missed his lips. Kiara would be the first to admit that she’d always enjoyed kissing, but she’d never felt like she craved kissing. The more time she spent with Trey, the more she craved his seductive kisses. A few catcalls from strangers caused them to break their kiss.
“The game already started,” he said, pointing to the court. “I reserved a couple of chairs in the corner in front of the first row of bleachers.”
Once they took their chairs, Kiara noticed that instead of jerseys, the teams playing basketball were wearing different colored T-shirts. “Do you know any of the kids playing tonight?” she asked.
“I know all of them,” Trey said with a smile. “I’m heavily involved in Prescott George’s community outreach, and all the kids playing tonight are part of the inner-city youth center downtown, where I regularly volunteer.”
Kiara smiled. “That’s awesome. I didn’t know you volunteered at the youth center.”
“Any chance I get. The holidays are always rough for a lot of the kids, so I’m usually there a couple of times a week this time of year. I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted you to check out one of their games and to ask your advice.”
Kiara shook her head. “Of course I don’t mind. I’m honored that you thought of me. And I must admit, I’m surprised the kids have the entire court to themselves. Venice Beach courts are usually packed.”
“One night a month, I reserve these courts for the youth center,” Trey said. “That way, the kids can get out of their normal routine for a little while.”
“So you write award-winning screenplays. On a good night, you can cook a mean meal. Your idea of sweeping a woman off her feet isn’t tickets to a Broadway musical, but rather, taking her on a private jet to an exotic location. You dote on your adorable nephew. And just in case anyone suspected that you weren’t as great as you sound, you regularly volunteer with the local inner-city youth, which includes getting for them an entire extremely well-known basketball court one night a month so they can play without interruption.” Kiara couldn’t contain the smile that crossed her face. “I can’t imagine there is anything you can’t do.”
“That’s not true,” Trey said with a laugh. “I’ve written plenty of screenplays that haven’t won awards. I don’t sweep women off their feet—only one woman who’s managed to capture my complete and undivided attention because she’s much more amazing than she realizes. I may be taking care of M-dog now, but we both know he was running the show in the beginning. And while I can’t imagine not volunteering at the youth center and working with some amazing kids, there are plenty of things I can’t do. Like fly. Or parallel park in LA.”
Kiara laughed so hard she made a couple of young girls sitting close by them jump in their seats a little. “You can’t parallel park?”
“I never said I couldn’t parallel park at all,” Trey said. “I just can’t park in LA. If they don’t have a parking lot, I usually have my driver take me there. I’ve hit one too many cars in the past trying to park.”
Kiara shook her head. “I’m teaching you to park.”
Trey gave her a Chuck E. Cheese smile. “I was hoping you’d take pity on me.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Kiara said, rolling her eyes. She glanced back out at the court. “You mentioned needing my advice about something earlier. What did you need help with?”
“Well, it’s no secret that I’m completely impressed with what you’ve done at LA Little Ones.”
“Thank you,” she said with a smile.
“You’re welcome.” Trey waved at some kids who called out his name from a few rows above them. “I’ve been working with the youth center for years and Prescott George has successfully implemented several programs geared toward helping the elementary and high school groups. That includes after-school tutoring, career development and informational meetings on furthering their education. The issue that I’m running into is developing an early education program to target the younger kids. So, I thought that maybe you could interact with some of the kids tonight and at another event and give me some ideas for the program.”
Kiara clapped her hands together. “I would love to help. We’ve had lots of success with the programs we’ve created at LA Little Ones, and I’ve already talked to the staff about possibly streamlining those programs to an even slightly higher age group than we currently target. I could share some of our findings, and then we could see if they would work with your plans.”
Instead of responding to her right away, Trey leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Thank you,” he said before he went in for a second and third kiss.
“Eww,” a voice said from behind them. “Mr. Trey is sucking that woman’s face off.” Kiara broke the kiss and tried to cover her laugh.
“This is grown folks’ business,” Trey said.
“You’re in public,” the other girl said. “So it’s everybody’s business.”
Kiara gave up trying to hold in her laugh and turned to the girls. “Hello. My name is Kiara. What’s your names?”
“I’m Daja,” one said with a smile.
“I’m Tatiana,” the other said. “And we really like your hair. I wish my hair could do that.” Tatiana ran her fingers over her thick head of hair.
“You can,” Kiara said. “My hair is thick like yours and I didn’t know how to braid it when I was your age. Someone had to teach me.”
“Could you teach me?” Tatiana asked in an excited voice.
“Sure,” Kiara said. “But for now, how about I braid your hair, and then next time I see you, I’ll show you how?”
Tatiana turned to Trey. “Will you promise to bring her to the center, Mr. Trey?”
Trey laughed. “I will.”
Kiara stood. “If you scoot over a little, I’ll sit next to you and braid your hair.” Tatiana anxiously scooted over, and even Daja seemed excited to watch Kiara braid her friend’s hair. Kiara didn’t have an actual comb, so she had to finger-comb Tatiana’s hair first. Except for her nieces, Kiara couldn’t remember the last time she’d braided hair. She was so wrapped up in the moment that she hadn’t noticed the way Trey was intently watching her over his shoulder.
When she smiled at him, she swore his look only intensified. She was about to make a joke and ask him if she had something on her face, until her mind recalled that the last time she’d seen that look in his eyes had been when he was talking about his nephew while they were in the French Riviera. She’d seen it again when she’d arrived at the basketball court tonight and he was talking about the youth center.
It was the look of a man who was realizing that she’d make a good mother. She’d seen the look before in her husband and she’d seen it again in her last boyfriend. Kiara broke eye contact with Trey and continued braiding Tatiana’s hair. Although she wanted to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach, she knew she couldn’t overlook the inevitable any longer. He deserves to know the truth, so tonight you must be open and honest with him.
There was a strong chance she’d lose Trey the same way she’d lost her exes, but it was only fair to let him know what he was getting himself into before it was too late. As she swallowed back her nerves, the rational side of her knew that it already was.
* * *
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Trey asked.
Kiara smiled, but Trey thought the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m fine. Tonight was a lot of fun.”
After the basketball game, Trey and Kiara had hung out with the kids from the youth center for another half hour. The kids all loved Kiara, but Trey hadn’t been surprised. In his experience with her, there wasn’t anyone she met who didn’t enjoy being around her.
After, he’d asked Kiara if she still wanted to continue the night back at his place. She’d teased him about the fact that he’d only driven himself to Venice Beach because they had a couple of parking lots, but luckily, she agreed.
When Trey approached his front door, he knew his sister, Carmen, had arrived before he’d even unlocked it. More lights were on than when he’d left and she was the only one who always locked the top lock, but never the bottom. A quick glance at his street proved she’d parked a few houses down.
“This is unexpected,” Trey said to Kiara as he opened the top lock. “My sister is here. She must have gotten a short break from filming her television series.”
Kiara looked surprised, but only smiled. Trey was prepared for his sister’s usually bubbly personality, but that was not the trait that greeted him when they walked into his home.
“So glad you’re home,” Carmen said, standing from the couch. She raced over to them and picked up Matthew from his car seat. “Oh, my sweet boy, I missed you so much.” She cradled Matthew to her chest and the baby cooed in excitement at seeing his mom.
“Carmen, what’s wrong?” Her cheeks were still wet from freshly fallen tears.
Carmen turned to Trey. “I’m so sorry to stop by like this, but they cut my role. After more than two weeks of filming, they cut the role without giving it a second thought.”
“I’m so sorry, Carmen,” Trey said, pulling her in for a hug, careful not to crush Matthew. “The right role will come along. It just means this wasn’t meant to be.”
His sister grew silent and Trey realized that she’d finally noticed Kiara was standing behind him. “How rude of me,” Carmen said, glancing at Kiara apologetically. She extended her hand to Kiara. “I’m Trey’s sister, Carmen.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kiara said, taking her hand. “I’m Kiara.” She turned to Trey. “How about I wait in the kitchen and let the two of you talk.”
Carmen gave her a grateful smile, and even though they had only just met, Kiara placed a supportive hand on Carmen’s forearm before she left for the kitchen.
“I’ve ruined your night,” Carmen said as they walked back to the couch. “I should have called you the minute I found out.”
Trey shook his head. “You didn’t ruin anything. You’re my sister. Anytime you need me, I’m he
re.”
Carmen glanced down at Matthew’s smiling face. “He looks so happy. Thank you so much for taking care of him.”
“M-dog and I have gotten really close, haven’t we, M-dog?” Matthew blew a spit bubble that caused them both to laugh.
“Is Kiara the same Kiara that owns LA Little Ones?” Carmen asked. Trey had always kept his sister up to date with Matthew’s whereabouts when he wasn’t with him.
“Yes, that’s her.”
“I see,” Carmen said with a knowing smile. “You left out the part where she’s extremely beautiful, but I should have known that was the case when you mentioned going out of town with her.”
“My bad,” Trey said. “Kiara is the woman who’s been helping me with M-dog and keeping me sane these past few weeks. She is as beautiful as she is intelligent.”
“Wow,” Carmen said. “Big words from my brother. And how does she feel about the nickname M-dog?”
Trey laughed. “She hates it.”
Carmen placed a hand over her chest. “A woman after my own heart. Okay, now I need all the details. Tell me exactly how you met.”
Trey spent the next few minutes giving Carmen the condensed version of his relationship with Kiara so far. Just as she began telling him about the good times she had filming the pilot, her phone pinged, interrupting their conversation. “I just received an email from your brother Max.” A smile crossed her face. “Looks like I landed an audition for another television series tomorrow.”
“That’s great,” Trey said. “Another pilot?”
“Nope. This is a medical show that’s been on a main network station for years.” Carmen scrolled through some additional details on her phone. “I think I have a chance at getting the part.”
“Of course you do,” Trey said. “You can do anything you set your mind to.” Even though Max had a responsibility to Carmen as her talent agent, Trey made a mental note to call Max later and thank him for finding something for her so quickly.
A Los Angeles Passion Page 14
