Loving Selene [The Clay Parish Boys 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Layle Black

  * * * *

  Selene luxuriated in the hot water of her bubble bath that Remy had been a total sweetheart to run for her. Every time her body shifted beneath the sudsy surface of the water little tender aches hummed beneath her skin. The sexual antics of the night before had left their mark on her, literally. A sigh of pure satisfaction spilled from her lips, which were curled in a little ironic smile that would speak volumes to anyone who saw it. Her lovers had wrung every response from her body and had not stopped until she lay in a perspiration soaked heap on the well-used bed. She didn’t regret a second of it. At least she knew she would have memories to take with her. Selene had wanted to have a night of forgetfulness and Jac and Remy obliged her…several times. The things they’d done to her had pushed the limits of what she thought was even possible.

  The hot memories of the night’s loving began to cool with her bath water. She’d never been one to run from a challenge and she wasn’t going to start now. Resolutely she climbed from the bathtub and went about getting dressed. Jac and Remy had gone into Clay to help Agnes, Sid and Carl with setting up for their barbecue that weekend. Two hurried but toe curling kisses from her men before they’d left that morning assured she wouldn’t see them until early evening. Guilt roiled in her belly about not telling them she was going out and who she was going to see. Selene ignored her trepidation and grabbed the keys to her rental car. Remy and Jac had been acting as buffers for most of the drama that had been happening since she came back to Sparks. Now was the time for her to deal with something on her own. She grabbed a bottle of cold water before stepping out into the humid Louisiana heat.

  Within minutes Selene was driving down the road and off the property, her mind resolute even if her nerves weren’t. Another echo of guilt nagged at the back of her mind but she gave it another pass. This was something she had to do and she’d damn well have to apologize later. To her surprise she remembered the way to Denny’s old mobile home on the outskirts of Sparks as if she’d never left. Sure the back roads leading to the lonely property were not as smooth as she remembered and the swamp had begun to encroach close enough to give the appearance of change but all in all it was the place she remembered. She parked and sat for a moment to just look around. There was such beauty there but only now she could appreciate it. The sunlight shining over the bayou waters and willow trees bent over with the burden of their foliage. All of it poetry worthy but for her growing up here, it had been nothing but one sadness after another. She never in a million years would have foreseen herself coming back to this place.

  The ramshackle motor home was even more worn than she remembered. Of course she had done a lot in the way of keeping the place up when she was a kid. It had been bad enough to live with the stigma of poverty but Selene had not wanted to live like riff raff. That had been a challenge after her mother died because Denny had let everything go, to include himself. Taking a fortifying breath Selene climbed from the car and made her way to the front door. As she got closer she noticed the door was cracked open and the smell of alcohol and stale cigarettes drifted on the air, immediately resurrecting feelings of hopelessness and despair. The more things change, the more they stayed the damn same, she thought, nudging the door open with her foot.

  “Denny?” Selene peered into the darkness of the home, her nose wrinkling at the complete mess that seemed to overflow from every conceivable surface.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Selene nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden gravelly voice coming from the darkness. When her eyes finally adjusted to the gloom, Selene could make out the slumped form of Denny sitting in an old broke down recliner in the corner. A half bottle of cheap liquor was clutched in his fist.

  “I told you, you need to be getting out of here. There’s nothing here for you.” Selene knew he was not talking just about Sparks but about Louisiana in general. A week ago she may have agreed with him but now she had two reasons and they were going to be mad as hell that she was there.

  “I want you to tell me about my parents, Denny. Please save the cursing and the bad attitude until after I leave. Damn it, you owe it to me!” Selene felt the sting of tears in her eyes but she ignored them. She felt like there had been enough tears and now there was just the need for the truth. Denny was the key to the past and he did owe her at least that much.

  Emotions ranging from rage to desperation flitted across his face and finally his eyes dulled with resignation. He lifted the bottle in her direction.

  “You want a swig off this?” Selene waved his offer away. Denny shrugged and took a deep draught from the bottle, wiping his arm across his mouth.

  “At least have a seat. I don’t like people staring down at me.” Barely concealing her sigh of exasperation, Selene perched on the edge of a nearby couch that looked as broken down as the rest of the room.

  Silence reigned in the room, with only the old air conditioning unit blowing out stale air sounding like it was on its last gasp. When Denny finally spoke Selene was almost at the end of her patience.

  “I’ve known your mother all my life. She was one of the few friends I had growing up. My father was a drunk and my mother had taken off years ago to find a better life in New Orleans. That left me pretty much on my own and people in the town of Sparks couldn’t give a damn about a drunk’s kid.” Selene couldn’t help but notice the incredible irony. He’d grown up a drunk’s kid and condemned her to the same fate. Selene remembered hearing whispered comments from people in Sparks about how “blood will tell.” Now she knew what they’d meant. History seemed to be repeating itself with all of them.

  “Mignon had the kindest heart in the world and I loved her for it. She came up about as poor as I did but she always asked after me, even gave me food if I was hungry and for a lonely boy like me that meant the world.” Remy and Jac sprang to Selene’s mind as she listened to him. They had done that very thing for her. Without them, who knows how she would have come out.

  “I knew I wanted to marry her. She was everything beautiful and kind and I wanted her for the rest of my life.” Denny’s voice seemed to soften as he talked about her mother. She’d seen glimpses of a kinder Denny but now it was laid fully out before her. It was both sad and illuminating.

  “The summer she graduated high school she got a job working in Clay Parish as a waitress. I didn’t see much of her but the times when I did I knew something had changed. She told me later that she was in love and his name was Emory. It got so he was all she would talk about.” The warmth seemed to leach from Denny’s demeanor when he talked about her father.

  “I tried to warn her about messing with any of those men from Clay. They’re into some weird shit in that town. I didn’t want her getting caught up in the middle of something she couldn’t handle but Mignon was stubborn…and in love. She never told me what all went on …but there were times when she’d be gone for two days. The next thing I knew she told she got married and as soon as he came out of basic training in Camp Lejeune she’d be moving away with him. Then the damn fool went and got himself killed and left her pregnant. I was not her best option but the only one she had. The other…well, she didn’t want him.” Denny stopped talking to take another swig from his bottle as if he was dying of thirst.

  “The other? You mean his brother?” Her uncle, if the letter were anything to go by. Denny’s arm slid across his mouth to wipe away liquor, a curious glint in the dullness of his eyes.

  “How did you find out about him? I never really met him myself.” Denny’s eyes slid away from hers as he spoke and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He wasn’t telling me something, Selene thought. Something didn’t ring true but she didn’t interrupt him.

  “Every now and then I’d see a man at Felicity’s house. He seemed pretty insistent too but I don’t think he ever got through the front door to see Mignon. Wasn’t long after that your mamma married me. I tried to make her happy but I could see a part of her was rolled in that grave with Emory. I did what I could…but not
hing seemed good enough. I lost my job at the plant and then we fell on real hard times.” And you became a raving drunk, Selene thought in derision. The bitter taste of her childhood memories replayed in her head like a news reel. All the arguing, drinking and misery that had underscored her growing up.

  “After she died…well …nothing mattered after that. Then those boys came sniffing around.” Denny sneered, lifting the bottle to his lips and swallowing the remainder of the liquor like it was juice and not eighty proof.

  “I am not stupid. Emory’s brother wasn’t sniffing around here anymore, not with Felicity keeping an eagle eye on you. The woman never did like the man, even chased him off her property once with that old pistol of hers. He did the next best thing and sent those two bastards to look in on you.”

  Selene sat stock still, shock holding her still. What the hell was he talking about?

  “Jac and Remy? I think you’ve had too much of that bottle, Denny. I’ve know them since I was a kid. You’re trying to tell me they just came around because my uncle asked them to? I don’t believe it!” As much as she denied it aloud, a niggling seed of doubt was successfully planted in the back of her mind. The sardonic smile on Denny’s face was an obvious sign of his satisfaction for planting it there.

  “Fine…you don’t have to believe me. Go ask those boyfriends of yours and see what they say. They’re no better than your daddy, you know. I am sure they got what they been waiting all these years for. I am right, ain’t I?” Selene refused to answer him as she stood, her back ramrod straight. Everything in her wanted to bolt for the door but she needed to know one last thing.

  “Who is my uncle, Denny? At least tell me that.” For a moment Denny looked set to let loose with more insults but suddenly the fight seemed to just drain from him. His eyes filled with tears as he looked up at her.

  “You know something…You’re a lot like your mother. The most beautiful woman I ever knew.” He frowned as if he’d lost track of what he was saying, looking about the mobile home in confusion.

  “Denny?” Selene had never seen him look so vulnerable and lost. She called his name once more and he blinked up at her, a silent question in his eyes. . A look of disgust replaced the confusion in his eyes and he spit on the floor as if the thought of the man put a bitter taste in his mouth.

  “That son of bitch. Monero. Gaston Monero. If I were you I’d stay well away from him. Your mother knew that…just too bad she didn’t figure it out earlier before she let that man of hers share her with him.”

  Chapter 18

  Remy paced along the expanse of his living room for what felt like the hundredth time. He could hear Jac leaving yet another message on Selene’s cell phone. From the tone of his voice Remy could tell he was past the point of irritation and moving into a mild panic mode. Selene had said nothing to either of them about going out that day because if she had one of them would have accompanied her. Selene was far more important than any town party. Being that the perpetrator of the damage to her aunt’s house was still at large both men preferred to err on the side of caution as far as her safety was concerned.

  “Fuck!” Jac cursed roundly as he finally settled into a nearby couch.

  “I can’t believe she didn’t say anything to us about where she was going. Do you think we hurt her last night and she’s angry?” Remy had already mulled over that idea but the memory of her screams of sheer pleasure was reassurance enough in his mind that the ecstasy they’d all shared had been equal parts mutual and consensual.

  “No, Jac, she was with us every step of the way. This is something else.” Remy had noticed that Selene had seemed enthusiastic last night, almost too enthusiastic. As if she had been trying to escape something. He would have questioned her mood if it hadn’t been for the sheer desperation to get in her. With a grimace he sat down in another chair across from Jac.

  “We’ll have to go and search for her. We’ll start at Felicity’s house and work our way back this way.” Both men nodded in silent agreement but before they stood the sound of the front door opening stopped them in their tracks. They were out of their seats in a shot and heading to the front door, both of them firing questions before they even got there.

  “Where the fuck have you been?”

  “Why didn’t you tell us you were going out, baby girl?”

  Selene barely heard the barrage of questions from Jac and Remy. All the way back from Denny’s her mind had been plagued with the doubts her stepfather had planted there. Unable to face seeing Jac and Remy yet, she had taken a drive around. She hadn’t realized time had gotten so far away from her until she saw the sun set. Surprisingly the one question that distracted her the most concerned Jac and Remy. Had they been sent to look after her by her uncle? If they had, why had they never told her? That troubled her more than the truth about Gaston Monero and the role he played in the drama with her parents. Trusting had always been a problem for her and despite herself, she felt a sense of betrayal. In the midst of all the drama she’d experienced since coming home, they should have mentioned the little detail of what part they’d played in her past.

  “Selene?” Remy’s voice was all calm and reasonability itself as he drew closer to her, his hand reaching out to touch her. Amazingly, even with all the turmoil having a party in her head, her body responded to their nearness. I am not going there, she thought, forcibly stepping away out of Remy’s reach. For a moment his green eyes shone brightly with hurt before they blanked over. Instantly she felt remorse but steeled herself against it. She needed to know the truth, whether it hurt or not. Getting too close to either one of them would melt her resolve.

  “Where did you go, baby girl? We were about ready to do a full on search for you.” Jac’s normal congenial demeanor was practically nonexistent. Luckily he made no move to get close to her. Hurting Remy’s feelings was bad enough. Selene had suspected they would have been worried about her but the intensity of their emotions over her brief disappearance was not what she’s expected. Were they afraid of what she might find out? The feelings of guilt she’d shrugged off that morning returned with a vengeance. Damn it, I am supposed to be mad at them, she thought.

  The shared concern in her lovers’ eyes was quickly melting her resolve to demand the truth. Taking a deep breath, she looked them in the eyes and stiffening her spine.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Gaston Monero? He sent you two to watch me, didn’t he?” For a moment both men simply looked at her, silence reigned in the foyer between the three of them. Remy was the first to speak, his tanned fingers running through the thick blackness of his hair.

  “Selene, it wasn’t just about watching you. He asked Jac and me to keep an eye on you. All he told us was that a friend of his had died and he wanted us to look out after their daughter. “

  Remy sighed and leaned back against the wall behind him, his thumbs hooking into the low slung waist of his jeans.

  “We didn’t exactly get a lot of detail about it. He offered a few bucks a week just to check in and make sure you were…happy. We knew you had just lost your mother and may have been having a hard time.”

  “He paid you?” Selene couldn’t deny that Jac and Remy had been more important to the lonely girl that she had been than she could ever truly express but she would be a liar if she said the fact that they’d been like paid babysitters didn’t hurt her.

  “Selene, the money may have gotten us to look in on you but it had nothing to do with caring about you. Gaston gave us money for a few months and then we just stopped taking it. Soon seeing you was more important to both of us. We needed to see you, needed to know you were all right.” Jac’s explanation went a small way in soothing her hurt feeling but the questions remained about Gaston.

  “Did you know he was my uncle?” Remy stepped away from the wall to move close to her again, his hand reaching out to her before dropping away as if he’d just remembered she was pissed at him.

  “I swear we didn’t suspect anything until the other night
when you mentioned about your mother’s letters. Everyone in Clay knows Gaston had a half-brother but they were estranged for the most part. Jac and I have been slowly putting together the pieces about Gaston but the man is not what you would call real forthcoming. That day you met him at Felicity’s house, he was madder than hell that we were there together. I am pretty damn sure all he had to do was take one look at me to know I was sniffin’ around you like a big cat in heat. It wouldn’t have taken much of a stretch of imagination on his part to know Jac was doing the same. “ Selene recalled the day she met the florid faced man and she didn’t recall him being angry but something about his demeanor seemed false. Perhaps he was angry and just didn’t show it, to her that is.

  “Maybe he thought he was doing what he thought was best for me. It’s not as if things worked out in the three-way department for my parents.” Selene knew she was sounding bitchy but she didn’t give a shit at the moment. A big part of the mystery she had been laboring under would have been cleared up if they had said something to her.

  Jac visibly recoiled, taking a step backward. The warmth in his eyes began to cool.

  “I am not sure what took place between your parents and Gaston but their relationship is not the norm for the type of relationship we have. Besides the fact that you are not trapped here, Selene. You can go anytime you like.” Jac cast Remy a speaking look and walked from the foyer without saying another word to Selene. Instantly she felt bad for how she came across. Taking her peevishness out on Jac that way was beneath her and she was sorry. She moved as if to follow him but Remy grasped her arm.