Until Cece

by KD Robichaux

  “Nothing seems to be missing,” I tell the policeman, and my chin trembles.

  Chaz wraps his arms around me when he sees I’m about to crumble. “Is… is there anyone you want to call, honey?” he asks.

  Yes. There is. Winston. I’d give anything to call him and have him come fix everything. He always takes such good care of me, makes everything all better. But I can’t call him. I can’t even set eyes on him without wanting to fall apart. Much less call him to come be my hero. It wouldn’t be fair to him. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. I can’t use him that way, let him see how much I want and need him, only to have to turn him away once again once everything is back to the way it was. Not that anything will ever be the way it was before. Everything on the first floor is completely ruined.

  So instead of who I really want, who I’d give anything to call, I tell Chaz, “Mia. We need to call Mia.” And so we do.

  A while later, a man walks through the door, and even before Officer Jameson greets him by his last name, I can already tell he’s a Mayson. The genes in that family run strong.

  “Call me Cobi,” he tells me as he holds out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Talon’s cousin. My aunt just called and said this was his girlfriend’s sister’s house, so here I am. We take care of our family.”

  “I’m figuring that out,” I tell him. Having grown up in a broken home, no cousins, aunts, or uncles, it chokes me up that this big family is welcoming not only my sister, but me with open arms. First at the restaurant when Asher and Bax had my back with Mike, and now it seems the Mayson family cop is here to save the day as well.

  He gets all the details from Officer Jameson, and I stand with Chaz’s arm wrapped around me as Cobi says absently, “Looks just like Talon and Bax’s build.”

  “Do you think it’s related?” I ask, my eyes going wide.

  He shrugs his wide shoulders. “Seems way too coincidental that this happened twice within weeks of each other. A place demolished but nothing stolen. And for the households to be closely linked. Can you think of anyone who would want to cause you harm? Anyone at all?”

  I shake my head. “I mean, I’m going through a divorce, but Mike would never do something like this. And I don’t see him paying anyone to destroy the home when we’re about to put it on the market.”

  “If you think of anything else, just let me know. I’m going to run to all the neighbors’ houses and see if anyone saw or heard anything out of the ordinary, check to see if anyone has surveillance cameras facing this direction,” Cobi tells us, and I nod.

  An hour later, it’s decided between Talon and Chaz that all of us will be staying at Talon’s house tonight. I overhear them talking, and my sister’s boyfriend agrees with Cobi’s suspicions that the break-in here and the one at the house he and his brother are building have to be linked.

  But neither of them have a clue who the hell would do it or why.

  24

  Winston

  “And you’re sure you’re all right?” I hear Steph ask as I pass by her office, and I peep my head in, making sure everything is okay, because there’s worry in her tone. “Okay, girl. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll let him know. ‘Kay. Bye.” She hangs up and looks at me, her face a mask.

  “What is it?” I prompt, my anxiety ratcheting up the longer she stays quiet, and somehow I know it was Cece on the other end of the line.

  “What are you doing here so early? You’re not supposed to be here until dinner,” she stalls, and when I ignore her question—to which the answer was I needed to make sure I have enough ingredients for today’s dinner special—and my nostrils flare, she slouches in her seat. “Don’t freak out. She’s fine, okay?” she leads, and I sit down in the chair in front of her desk.

  “What. Happened?” I demand.

  She clears her throat. “Last night, when Cece and her parents got home from dinner, they found her house broken into. The whole first floor was completely demolished.

  Before I realize it, I’ve shot to my feet, and I’m already halfway to the door.

  “Winston! She’s fine. That was her on the phone. She had this weekend off, but she doesn’t know if she’s going to make it in tomorrow. She was giving me enough time to line up one of the other waiters.” She shakes her head. “That girl. I swear. To go through something like that and still be responsible and caring enough to—”

  “Did she tell you?” I interrupt. I already know how amazing Cece is. It’s why I am about to come unglued not having my eyes on her and seeing she’s perfectly all right for my fucking self.

  “No. All she said was her girls were with their dad and they’re fine,” she replies, and I’m out the door.

  Cece

  “Hold on,” my sister calls out through the door of Talon’s bedroom the next morning. When she opens it, Mia looks flushed. “Hey, is everything okay?” she asks.

  “Do you care if I make something to eat?”

  “I’ll cook breakfast,” Talon says from inside. “While I get dressed, you wanna fill her in on what’s gonna happen today?”

  “Yeah, honey,” she says, and I feel my own face heat when I see him walk in nothing but his boxers to his bathroom before closing the door.

  “I hate you,” I mutter when she turns to look at me, and she frowns.

  “What?” she prompts.

  “I hate you. Not only is he the nicest guy ever, but you get to sleep with him, and he looks like that in the morning.”

  She smiles and shrugs. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d hate me too if I were you.”

  “It doesn’t, thank you,” I grumble then turn away. “I need coffee, so you can talk to me while I make it.”

  Mia looks over her shoulder and sighs as she follows me to the kitchen. While I pour myself a cup of coffee, she grabs a mug off the counter and takes it to the microwave to warm it up. It must be some she made earlier that’s gone cold.

  “So today,” she starts as she presses the buttons on the microwave, “Talon is meeting his family at your house to start cleaning up, and next week, the crew that has been working on the house that he and his brother are building are going to move to your place to get everything repaired.” She turns to find me standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding my mug tightly between my hands, and staring at her in shock. “Did you hear me?” she asks when I don’t move.

  “I heard you.” I walk two steps to the side and lean against the counter. “I just… I just don’t know what to say.” Tears fill my eyes. Again. I swear to God, I’m so sick of crying all the damn time. “He can’t do that, Mia.”

  “Well, good luck telling him that,” she tells me, and I laugh as the backdoor opens and quickly wipe the tears from my cheeks.

  “Why are you crying?” Mom frowns, looking at me, then turns her head to Mia, narrowing her eyes like it’s her fault.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t make her cry. Talon did,” Mia says defensively.

  “What did I do?” Talon asks, coming into the kitchen and stopping at her side.

  “You made Cece cry.” She tips her head back to look at him, and his brows draw together before he looks at me.

  “You can’t have your family clean up my house or your crew fix it,” I state firmly. “Mia mentioned you’ve been trying to finish your build, so I know you need to focus on that. And besides, I can’t afford to do anything right now, not until I get the insurance money—”

  “This isn’t up for discussion,” he cuts me off with a gentle but stern tone before I can say more. “Money isn’t an issue. My family wants to help, and like I told Mia, the house I’m building will be built and will sell, but right now, something more important has come up, so we’re going to transfer our energy to it.”

  “Why…?” I shake my head. “Why would you do that? We don’t even really know each other.”

  “Because I love your sister,” he tells me easily while grabbing Mia’s hand, and I nearly melt to the floor at the look on her face. “F
amily takes care of family.”

  Tears fill my eyes once more and spill down my cheeks faster than I can wipe them away. How did we get so lucky to know a family like the Maysons? “Now you really did make me cry.” I sniffle as I walk toward him, and as Mia still stands stunned after Talon’s profession of loving her, I give him a tight hug. “Thank you. I’ll pay you back when I get the insurance money.”

  “No, you’ll put that money up until you need it,” he tells me softly, which makes me cry even harder as he turns to look lovingly into my sister’s eyes.

  The moment comes to a screeching halt when the doorbell rings, then rings again, and again. My brow furrows as I look at Mia then her man, wondering if they’re expecting anyone. But Talon shakes his head before muttering, “I’ll be back.”

  When he leaves the kitchen, I go to my mom and Chaz, who both wrap their arms around me as I sob, the kindness of Talon and his family overwhelming. I don’t know if I’ll survive this emotional rollercoaster of the lowest lows zooming up to the highest peak.

  And I know I’m a goner as my rollercoaster car plummets once more when I hear the commotion from the front of the house. I don’t even have to see who it is. I can feel his presence, feel it like a physical thing wrapping around me, comforting me, although it shouldn’t.

  And then I hear his deep voice. “Let me in to see her!” It sends a shiver down my spine at the desperation in his tone.

  But Talon growls back, “Fuck no, you need to leave.”

  “What now?” Chaz asks, but I’m frozen in place, not knowing what I should do. Should I stay here and hide, let Talon take care of it? But if Winston is here, that means he knows what happened to my house, and he must be worried sick.

  “I don’t know.” Mia sets down her cup and leaves us in the kitchen, and it’s when I hear her gasp I take off at a run.

  I bolt around my sister and see Talon shove Winston’s chest, pushing him back off the porch.

  “Oh no.” I rush to stand between Winston and Talon with my arms out to keep them apart, as if my tiny self could do anything to keep these hulking beasts away from each other if they really wanted to fight.

  “Who’s that?” I hear Mom ask Mia.

  “Umm... Cece’s boss?” she replies.

  “Jesus, what the hell have you girls been up to?” Chaz gripes as they all come outside.

  “Why are you here, Winston?” I cry, and I sound distraught, even to my own ears.

  “I heard your house was broken into.” He rips a hand through his hair before continuing, “I went to check on you, but you weren’t there, so I made a few calls and found out you came here last night.”

  “Where’s your wife?” Talon sneers, and Mia wraps her arms around his waist.

  “I don’t know.” Winston glares at him. “Probably her house.”

  “Winston,” I murmur, and his jaw tics as he pulls his eyes from Talon and focuses on me. “As you can see, I’m okay. Just go home.” Please don’t leave me. Take me with you. I love you… so much it hurts.

  “Why didn’t you call me?” The hurt in his tone makes my chest ache.

  Because if I saw you last night, I was so scared, so fucked up, I would’ve given in to what we both want so bad but can’t have.

  “You know why,” I whisper instead, my shoulders sagging. “I told you I can’t do this.”

  God, it hurts so bad. My heart. Oh, my heart. I never knew I could ache like this.

  “So what? I’m just supposed to let you go?” he questions, sounding devastated.

  I fight back a sob along with the urge to fall to my knees. I don’t want him to let me go. And it’s in this moment I realize I’ve never wanted or loved a man as much as I do Winston. He’s everything to me, and yet I have to let him go. I can’t be the reason he loses everything he’s ever worked for.

  “You made your choice, and even though I wish things were different, I can’t live a lie alongside you,” I murmur, recalling his desperate pleas for us to be together in secret. His last-ditch effort to make something out of us that could never be.

  “I love you, Cece.”

  “I know.” My head drops forward, and it takes everything in me not to tell him how much I love him too. He starts to move toward me, but I step back out of reach. If he touches me, it’ll be the last straw. I won’t be able to hold my ground any longer. “Please just go.”

  “This isn’t over,” he whispers before turning and walking away.

  “Come on,” Mia tells me as I watch him get into his SUV, and she wraps her arm around my waist then turns me back toward the house. Once we’re inside, she leads me to the couch in the sunroom and takes a seat next to me, grabbing my hand while Chaz and Talon head out the back door.

  “What the hell was that?” Mom asks, sitting down on the other side of me.

  “Mom.” Mia shakes her head, telling her without words to be quiet while I start to tremble.

  “What? I want to know who that man was and what that was all about.”

  “He’s no one,” I lie, leaning forward and resting my face in my hands. “Can we just have breakfast and forget what just happened?”

  “No, we can’t,” Mom snaps. “For months, you kept your separation from Mike to yourself, thinking you could handle it all on your own, and look what happened. Now is not the time to hide things.”

  “Mom, please stop. You’re not helping things right now. Why don’t you take a moment to go get dressed?” Mia comes to my rescue.

  “Fine.” Mom stands up and starts to storm out of the room, but pauses to add, “But this conversation is not over, not by a long shot.”

  I roll my eyes at her dramatics as Mia rubs my back, then she asks quietly, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m in love with a married man.” I pull my hands from my face. “I’m not okay. I’m an idiot. I don’t even know how it happened, but it did, and… and God, I’m so stupid.”

  And I want him to come back. Make him come back!

  “You’re not stupid, and he obviously feels the same about you,” she tells me, sounding conflicted. “He said he’s been separated from his wife for years. Why won’t he just divorce her if they aren’t together?”

  “They have a prenup. If he cheats or is the one to ask for the divorce, she gets everything, his money, his business, everything. I guess after ten years, it becomes null and void, but I’m not going to live a life where we’re together only behind closed doors for the next three years, and the rest of the time I have to pretend like he doesn’t mean anything to me.” It would be too hard. There’s no way I could hide my feelings for him. They’re just too strong.

  “Wow, that’s… that’s….”

  “Fucked up. I already know, and there is no way I’m going to subject my girls to that kind of drama, not when I would be either lying to them or asking them to lie so the truth didn’t get out.”

  “I can’t believe he’d ask you to do that.”

  He didn’t, not exactly. Not about the kids. “He didn’t ask me, but I’m not an idiot. I know that’s exactly what would happen, and his wife is crazy, like really crazy. She shows up wherever he is and is always making a point to start drama at the restaurant. I don’t even want to imagine what she would do if she found out about us.” I shake my head. “I’m just done. It’s time for me to stop thinking with my heart and to start using my head.”

  “I’m sorry. I wish you weren’t dealing with this on top of everything else,” she tells me, and I lean into her.

  “I’ll be okay. As long as my girls are happy, nothing else really matters.” I’ll just have to learn to live with half my heart missing.

  “Still, you know I’m always here if you need to talk, and I’ll always have your back.”

  “I know.” I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight. “I don’t know what I or the girls would do without you.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” I let her go and stand up. “I’m going to go wash my face and get dress
ed.”

  “Sure,” she replies, and I head for the bathroom down the hall.

  25

  Cece

  “Cece, are you ready to go?” I hear Mia shout.

  “Yep,” I reply, walking around the corner of the living room with my overnight bag over my shoulder. “Do you think we should call Mom and Chaz to make sure they found the rental okay?”

  “I think they’re completely capable of calling us if they need help,” she tells me, grabbing the keys off the table by the door, and we walk outside.

  During breakfast, Bax showed up, and Talon decided to ride with him to my house so they could get started on cleaning up. Since our parents told us they want to find a place to rent for the week, Talon insisted Mia stay behind with me so we could help them, leaving his Jeep to drive over when we were ready.

  “How long do you think Mom is going to be upset for?” I murmur as Mia pulls out onto the main road.

  “Until you’re honest,” she answers quietly. “You have to admit you’ve kept a lot to yourself, and that hurts, especially when all we want to do is help.”

  I swallow and look out the window. I know what she’s saying is true, but I’m so used to bottling everything up that I’m still not used to sharing things. Yes, I’ve opened up a lot to my sister. And when I actually do tell her things, I feel so much better. But the anxiety of leading up to talking about anything serious makes me clam up and just say fuck it. I’ll keep it all inside so no one can judge me. No one will know just how messed up I really am inside.

  And while I love my mom more than anything, she’s emotional and dramatic, and I know I wouldn’t be able to handle her going off on one of her tirades if I were to confide in her.

  We arrive at my house and go inside. Mia heads to the kitchen, and I spot several women in my dining room. I wave at them awkwardly, not knowing who they are, so I introduce myself. “Hi. I’m—”