15. Jacob
15
Jacob
“He’s fired!” Jared screamed into the phone.
“I’m not sure he’s going to make it. The doctors said it is still touch-and-go.”
“I don’t care. He brought a crazed woman into your house. And you need to stop taking meetings there.”
Jared needed to remember he was my brother, not my dad. I knew he cared about us and wanted what was best, but telling me what to do got old. I didn’t need him to tell me to stop taking meetings at the house. After the incident with Rachele and Eric, I had already decided that. “Calm down. I’m fine.”
Jared grumbled something, and it was hard to understand.
“Can you repeat what you said?”
“Nothing you would listen to, anyway. Are you on your way to the office?”
“Yes. Is everything okay there?”
“Kaylene had to work the front desk again. She hates it down there, and I don’t like seeing her upset. We need to figure out another solution.”
I knew Jared had feelings for Kaylene. There was something between the two, but I knew my brother would never act on it. He thought every woman would turn out like our mother. “Talk to her and tell her to get with human resources to do whatever needs to be done, so she doesn’t have to work down there again. I don’t know who we’re going to find to run the foundation now. I looked over the books and didn’t see anything a few weeks back.”
“That’s good.”
“I wasn’t done. Eric and Rachele were working with the caterers to rip off the foundation. They overpaid then split the profits between them. I’ll look at the invoices and hand everything over to the police. I want them both to go to jail. Eric is still in the hospital. The police didn’t find Rachele in time, so she’s still running around the city.” I gripped the steering wheel. Not pressing charges the last time she went crazy was coming back to bite me in the ass. A warrant has been issued for her arrest and I hoped that they would find her before she caused more problems.
“Stop by my office when I get in.”
It was already three o’clock, and I wanted to see Lily after my horrible morning. I planned to pick her up so we could go break Tommy out of preschool early. “I’m just stopping by to pick Lily up, then we’ll head home.”
“Stay safe.” Jared didn’t wait for me to reply before he hung up.
The remainder of the ride was uneventful. When I arrived at work, I headed straight for Lily, knowing her smile would brighten my dark day. When I rounded the corner, her smile wasn’t what I saw. She had tears running down her face, and she was shaking so badly that the piece of paper in her hands was tearing at the top.
“What are you reading?” The words came out more like a demand than a question.
She looked up and wiped her pretty green eyes. “Nothing.” She tried to hide the piece of paper, but I grabbed it out of her hand before she had time. In her lap lay a stack of cash, the same bills I had given Rachele earlier.
I couldn’t believe she thought she could pay Lily to leave or that I would fall back into her arms. I was the great big payoff she wanted. The only thing I wanted was to have her locked away in jail for a very long time. I dialed the detective from earlier in the day. He answered on the first ring. I told him what happened, and he told me to put the letter down and leave everything as we found it. He was on his way.
Lily had a box of tissues to the side. I grabbed one and used it to pick up the stacks of money off Lily’s lap. After I set them down, I pulled her into my arms, and she let out a sob. “I wasn’t going to take the money.”
The idea of her running and leaving with the money hadn’t even crossed my mind, but her leaving because she was scared something would happen to Tommy was always at the forefront. I worried with each incident that she might pack up and leave.
“I know.” I rubbed my hand down her back, and she let out another sob. “The thought never crossed my mind.” I leaned back and wiped the tears from her face.
“Why does she want you back so badly?”
Money was the only thing that came to my mind. “I’m not completely sure. I think the drugs have affected her.”
Lily finally stopped crying. I left her on the white couch in my office as I walked over to my bar in my office, grabbed a couple of glasses, and poured whiskey into each one. Lily was scrolling through her phone when I walked back over to the couch. “What are you looking for?” I asked, as I sat the glass on the table next to her.
“Kaylene brought the envelope to me. I figured the police are going to want to talk to her and find out where the package came from. We were talking, and I didn’t ask her any questions when she handed it to me.”
I sat next to her and pulled her into my arms. Sometimes at work, she would pull away, worried someone would see us together, but she didn’t this time. “Send her a text to come over,” I said. “Tell her to bring Jared. He’s going to want to know what’s going on.”
Jared and Kaylene came running into my office less than a minute later. “What’s going on?” they asked in unison.
“You might want a drink for this one.” Jared nodded, walked over to the liquor, and pulled out two glasses.
“You know that money Rachele stole from me this morning?” Jacob asked.
Jared shook his head. “Rachele stole money from you this morning?”
I spent the next twenty minutes telling Rachele, Jared and Lily the story about what happened this morning. Then Lily told Jared and Kaylene what she found in the envelope. Kaylene didn’t have any information about the package. She said it was on her desk when she got back from the bathroom. Stuck to it was a sticky note with my name on it.
“How would she know I would open it?” Lily asked.
“You open all of my mail,” I replied.
Jared shifted in the chair across from us. “I don’t like that she’s still out there.”
The two detectives from earlier came walking into the waiting room with Sasha. The young cop laughed at something she said. It looked almost as though he blushed.
When the three entered the room, Sasha came over and gave Lily a hug.
“What are you doing up here, Sasha?” I asked.
“Lily texted about what happened. I’m here for her. And if that detective over there strips, I’m not going to complain.”
Detective Quinn turned and shook his head. “No stripping, Mama.”
“Will you call me Mama in bed?”
He didn’t answer and instead turned to me and started asking questions. They took the note and the envelope. We knew where the money came from, so the detectives said I could keep it. They spent another hour questioning Lily and Kaylene. By the time they were done, it was close to five o’clock. After the detectives left, Lily and I went to get Tommy from school. It was movie night, and I craved time with the two people I cared about. I didn’t want to have to worry about anything else.
* * *
“I want to be like Captain America when I grow up. He saves everyone from the bad guys. Mommy would never have to worry about my daddy coming after her again. And then Jacob might want to keep us for real.”
I blinked a couple times as I let Tommy’s words sink in. We’d just finished watching the movie. Lily’s eyes widened at her son’s statement. I turned to Tommy. “Why would you think I don’t want you here?”
Tommy’s eyes went to his mom. “Because we are only here until my dad goes to jail. Then Mom and I are moving.”
I turned to Lily. “Where are you planning on going?”
“Tommy, how about we get you ready for bed and save this conversation for another night?” she said.
The boy took off toward his room. Lily got off the couch, and I grabbed her hand before she could follow. “This conversation is not over.”
She nodded and bit her lip before she headed down the hall after Tommy.
I didn’t care if it looked like I was a creeper—I watched as her perky ass swayed. Every day, I fell a little more for her.
Over the past month, we’d talked about normal things to get to know each other. She told me more about growing up in a strict family and how she wanted to be a chef one day, I could see her being one, she’s had no training and yet her meals are delicious. Even Jared had found out about her cooking, and she recently started packing lunches for him as well. I told her she didn’t have to, but she had a soft spot for my oldest brother. I think she worried he wouldn’t eat if she didn’t feed him.
We talked about her going into a culinary arts program and she said she would one day, when she had enough money saved. I offered to pay, but she shut that down—she wanted to put herself through school, and I respected her decision even though I didn’t like it.
Lily walked back into the living room. “I’m going to go to bed.”
There was too much unsaid between us. “Come here.” I rested my arm against the back of the couch and waited for Lily to decide what she was going to do. She looked from the chair she was in earlier to the spot next to me. “Come sit next to me.”
“I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
“It’s been a long, hard day. I want to hold you, and we have something to talk about. I want to do that with you in my arms.”
Lily stood in front of me, twisting her fingers. “I’m really bad at sex,” she blurted out.
Her words came out as I took a sip of my beer, and I choked as the liquid went down my throat. Lily rushed to my side and patted my back. I used the opportunity to pull her onto my lap. “Wow. You're taking the conversation ten steps ahead of what I planned to talk about.”
“I didn’t want to keep leading you on and then have you find out I’m bad in bed.”
“First of all, I like you, and I highly doubt you’re bad in bed.” I held my finger to her lips. “I’m assuming this is coming from your ex.”
She nodded.
“Fuck him.”
Lily cocked her head for a second. “Yeah, fuck him.”
“Do you want to tell me why Tommy thinks you guys are leaving the second Greg is taken care of? You know he hasn’t done anything, and I don’t think he will.”
Lily relaxed into my chest and ran her fingers up my arm. I was going to give her all the time she needed to answer the question. “I figured you’d want us out. I didn’t want Tommy to become too attached in case you want us to leave. He’d be crushed, and I’m already worried he will be.”
“I love having you and Tommy in my house. If I had a choice, you’d never leave. But I hadn’t said that because the thing between us is new. I didn’t want to scare you.”
“But you haven’t tried to sleep with me,” Lily told me, cuddling even more into my chest.
I shifted Lily on my lap. “Can you feel that?”
She nodded and smiled.
“I’ve been hard since the first day I saw you. I don’t think I’ve jacked off this much in the shower since I was a teenager.”
Lily giggled and slowly rubbed her ass against my hard member.
I threw my head back and closed my eyes. I didn’t know how many more days I could wait before I ravaged her body. “We have as long as it takes. No rush.”
“Okay.”
I pressed my lips to her neck, and her breath hitched. “Now, let's find something to watch.”
“Or we can go to bed?”
The temptation was at the forefront of my brain. “Is Tommy going to his friend's house on Friday?”
“Yes.”
“Good, if you’re ready. I plan to spend the whole night enjoying your body and making you scream in pleasure. Then we don’t have to worry about Tommy hearing.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“Now, let's watch something. Documentary or comedy?”
“Let's watch an episode of House .” We were slowly working our way through different TV shows. Lily hadn’t had TV, so a lot of shows were new to her.
“Okay, let's do this. You're in for a good episode.” I clicked the start button. “House goes crazy in this one.”
She patted my chest. “House goes crazy in every episode.”
Hours later, I woke up. Lily was still pressed to my chest, sound asleep. I could hear a faint snore coming from her. It was cute, and I didn’t want to move and wake her, but if we stayed on the couch, our backs would hurt in the morning. I slowly stood with Lily in my arms and walked to my bedroom. I wanted her next to me.
Her eyes faintly opened. “I can walk,” she mumbled.
“Go to sleep.” I set her down in my bed and tucked her in. I crawled in next to her, and she turned and wrapped herself around me. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea.
I didn’t want to ever forget that moment. I vowed to take care of Lily and Tommy and find a way for Greg to leave them alone. I didn’t care what the cost was. I didn’t want to lose either one of them.