Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
“ Y ou raped my brother!” Rebecca gasped as she stood, moving closer to Torres.
Torres slumped in a chair. “What are you talking about?” He rasped. He knew that could be the only way, but he really didn’t want to believe it.
Catherine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “It was when me and Paul were fighting.”
“You were upset he couldn’t give you a child.” Torres said, nodding. He knew about the fights they all did. Catherine wasn’t shy about belittling his brother in front of people.
“Yes, the only thing I wanted from him and he couldn’t give it to me.” She snapped bitterly, throwing a glare over her shoulder at Paul.
Torres saw the utter devastation on his brother’s face. “Maybe because he was in a bad car wreck when he was younger, preventing him from ever having children.” He said while he didn’t get along with his brother he would defend him because he tried to be a good man and a father and that meant something to him.
“You bitch!” Rebecca raged.
Torres held up a hand to calm her. “Walk me through what happened.” He demanded. He had to know.
Catherine licked her lips and refused to look at anyone but Torres. “You came home one night upset. It was very clear you were drunk. You were going on and on about someone named Kade and you sat on the couch. I asked you what was wrong, and you told me to just leave you alone.” She huffed. “I took some classes in college about sexual techniques so when you were mostly asleep…”
“Please, for the love of god don’t tell me you actually fucked me.” Torres’ said in disgust, his anger and shame making it hard to swallow. Tears threatened, but he refused to give her the satisfaction.
“No,” she snapped. “I just jerked you off into a bowl.”
“Jesus.” Paul whispered as Leo appeared behind Torres.
“You ok?” Leo asked as he caressed the back of Torres’ head. He didn’t know what to do to help, but he wanted the man to know he was still there and wasn’t going anywhere.
“No, but at least I know I didn’t touch her.” Torres shivered. “Girls are gross.” He muttered under his breath.
Leo chuckled weakly.
“Paul…” Torres tried, but his brother held up a hand to stop him.
“Please don’t.” The man was barely holding onto his emotions. “You’re telling me my son isn’t really my son?” Paul's voice broke. When he got no answer, he closed his eyes. “I want a divorce.”
That got a reaction. “Fine.” She mumbled.
“And I will be fighting for custody of my son.” Torres told her.
She jumped up. “You are not taking my son.” She roared at him.
“He’s my son too, one I had no idea about. You took something from me that was not yours to take.” Torres snapped, standing as well.
“They won’t give you custody, with what you do for work.” She smiled nastily at him, thinking she had the upper hand, and she had a point.
Torres tried not to get angry. His job would count against him in a custody battle.
“Well, considering I’m his partner and I work from home, not to mention I have nine brothers and two loving parents that will jump in to help, he’ll have more of a shot to take care of him than you will.” Leo told her. “Maybe you two can come to an agreement for joint custody.” He said as calmly as he could, watching Torres out of the corner of his eye to make sure his man was ok.
Torres nodded. “I would never want to take him completely away from you, but I have lost so much time with my son to sit back and do nothing and I know damn well you won’t just let me see him anytime I want to. You will fight me every step of the way because you’re a bitch.”
“Who’s your son?” Gabe asked as he joined them. “Dad?” He asked, confused when he saw the tears in his father’s eyes.
“I’m not your father.” Paul said softly. He saw the confused hurt on Gabe’s face as the kid looked at his mom.
Gabe turned to his mother. “What did you do?” He demanded.
“Gabriel!” Catherine snapped.
“Enough,” Torres’ father barked. “Catherine, you have lied to my family enough. Tell the boy the truth and then get out of my house. Gabe will stay here until you and Paul figure things out.”
“Tió Vince?” Gabe asked, softly, his bottom lip trembling as he took in the scene.
Torres was at a loss on what to say to Gabe. His son! His fucking son! Holy shit, he thought for a slip second he would be sick, but Leo’s warm hand on his arm calmed his frazzled nerves.
“Vince is your father, Gabe, not your uncle.” Leo told the boy softly.
“What! How is that possible? He hates my mom.” Gabe said, bewildered looking back and forth between the two.
“And people wonder why.” Torres hissed under his breath and grunted when Leo smacked his arm. He glared at Leo but kept his mouth shut.
“It’s a long story, and one you’re too young to hear about.” Leo said easily, hoping his demeanor would help soothe the confused kid.
Paul cleared his throat. “Gabriel, your mother and I are getting a divorce and you will be staying here until we figure out what we’re going to do with the house and everything, ok?” He gently caressed Gabe’s cheek, pain and regret clouding his eyes. He had loved this boy as if he was his own. He’d been so happy and relieved when he had been told he was going to be a father. He hoped the fighting would end and they could be happy as a family. Now he didn’t know what to do with himself or the feelings that were coming from all angles.
Gabe swallowed hard. He wasn’t really surprised about the divorce. He’d been waiting on it since he’d realized his parents didn’t love each other. “I’m sorry you got hurt, Dad.” He said shakily. The man had raised him and, for the most part, was a good dad. He listened to him, took him places, and spent quality time with him. He was so grateful to him.
Paul choked on a sob as he pulled Gabe into his arms and hugged him tight. “It’s not your fault, kiddo.”
“Is it ok if I stay with Vince and Leo instead of Grandma and Grandpa?” Gabe asked softly.
Paul looked at Torres with tears in his eyes. “Is that ok with you?”
Torres nodded immediately. “I want to make it clear, Paul. I won’t be taking him away from you. You raised him and you’ll be in his life.” Torres threw caution into the wind and pulled his brother into his arms, hugging him tight.
Paul cleared his throat and nodded, pulling back. “I appreciate that, Judas, but I need some time to be able to deal with everything.” He turned to Gabe. “Just know I love you.”
Gabe nodded. “Love you too, Dad.” He said instantly. While the man may not be his real dad, he was his dad and now he had two, but that would never take away from Paul raising him.
“You’ll stay here, Gabriel.” Catherine stated.
“Gabriel can go where he wants.” Torres’ mother stated as she glared at Catherine. “You don’t have a say in that. He will be taken care of and that will be that. You need to leave and start packing. I want you out of my son’s house by next week.”
Catherine opened her mouth to answer when Gabe jumped in. “Go, Mom.”
She studied her son in shock. She had never wanted to hurt anyone, but she had desperately wanted to be a mother. “You need to come with me to pack a bag.”
Gabe shook his head. “I have clothes at Vince’s. I’ll come by tomorrow and get more. You and Dad need tonight to deal with each other and I don’t want to hear you two fight anymore.” He crossed his arms as he stared at his mother. He loved her, he always had a boy’s first love is always his mother, but he didn’t want to look at her right now. While he didn’t understand all that was going on, the looks on the other people’s faces in the room hinted at it. To find out his mom had been lying about Vince being his dad hurt. She had always talked badly about Vince and then to find out he was his dad didn’t make sense. He knew about the birds and the bees. He winced. Gross.
“I’ll bring him by in the morning before I have to go to a meeting, then I’ll pick him up later that evening. That will give you time to talk, ok?” He was looking at Catherine but he was really asking Gabe.
Gabe nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
Torres walked up to his sister after Catherine stormed out. “Happy birthday,” He said sheepishly.
She groaned as she pulled him into a hug. “Thank you for making it not boring. I was about to fake a heart attack.” She whispered into his ear.
He snickered into her neck, trying to hold in his tears. “You’re welcome.”
“Are you ok?” she asked him worriedly.
He sighed. “I don’t know. I guess only time will tell.” He gave her a watery smile.
“Call me if you need me, you understand?” She demanded, pinching him in the side.
“Ow, yes Jesus abuse.” He yelled as he pulled away from her. “Rude.”
“I mean it.” She warned him.
“Yeah, I got that.” He mumbled, rubbing his side as he stuck his tongue out at her. Torres waited for Paul to say goodbye to Gabe before he turned to his parents. He nodded and turned to head out. “We still have time to make it to dinner with your parents. Do you want to head back?”
Leo cocked his head. “Gabe, you wanna come meet my brothers? They love video games.”
Gabe grinned. “Yes, are they any good at them?”
Leo grinned and looked at Torres. “Yes, they are. If you’re up for it.”
Torres laughed. “Up for your mother’s cooking. Are you serious? Woman is fucking amazing.”
Leo laughed. “Yes, she is an amazing woman, always has been.” He could see Torres’ parents wanted a moment to talk to their son, so he ruffled Gabe’s hair. “Why don’t we go wait in the car? I’ll let you press all the buttons.” Leo whispered conspiratorially.
Gabe grinned and raced him to the car.
“Judas…” His father started, then paused to look at his wife. “I’m not sure what to say.” He said softly.
Torres shrugged. “There’s nothing you can say. Had I been able to speak with Catherine alone, you wouldn’t even know what she did. You never protected me as a child or cared what I thought, so there’s no point in pretending you care now.” He stared at his shocked parents for a few moments before he turned to his sister. He stuck his tongue out at her. “Happy birthday, you fabulous bitch.” He grinned at her cackle as he left. “You ready?” He asked Leo and Gabe as he slid into the driver’s seat of his car.
“Yeah, Leo’s been telling me all about his brothers, is Kade going to be there?” Gabe asked excitedly, bouncing in his seat. He freaking loved Kade. The man was badass.
“He should still be there.” Torres told him. “Now sit back and put your seatbelt on.” He watched Gabe through the rearview mirror to make sure he did what was asked before he pulled away from the house. He looked over at Leo and smiled softly at him. “Thank you.”
Leo caressed the side of his neck. “You’re welcome.”