Chapter Eleven
Donovan
The following morning, Tulya met me in the common area and we headed down to the car without a word spoken. It was devoid of any pomp or circumstance too—the tether binding us the afternoon before long broken.
She’d stood by the bar and listened when Magnum called; he’d been yelling up a storm, saying Valerie was furious with him.
She was losing her shit over us meeting Blake.
I’d not-so-politely told him that Valerie should’ve thought about that before running away, and like the fool Magnum could be, my brother admitted she was back at home with her daughter.
Tulya overheard this and her face fell. I understood her sadness.
She knew her task was upon her. Almost immediately, Tulya had retreated to her room, and I didn’t see her again until she appeared for her coffee an hour ago.
I’d told her we had to go see Valerie, and the only response I received was a short nod.
It wasn’t exactly how I’d wanted or expected the previous night to go, but such was my life, steeped in family responsibility and doing what was right for Rubia.
Tulya didn’t seem to understand we couldn’t be together indefinitely or forever, whatever kind of whimsical ideas she had, so it was for the greater good.
Except when my lips were on hers, I didn’t get it either.
“Are you sure we should go? What if we scare off Valerie before Magnum and Cinder get here? It could be a while.” Tulya spoke softly in the car, her voice full of trepidation.
“You heard?” I asked, and she confirmed.
“My sister told me Cinder is giving your brother a hard time. She didn’t mean it as gossip,” Tulya quickly added the last part.
“I know.”
We drove along, and I took a quick glance at Tulya’s profile.
Today, she wore her hair back in a sleek ponytail.
With the sunlight hitting it through the window, it sparkled like a ripe cherry.
Her creamy skin complemented the brightness in just the right way, whatever it was, and I wanted to run my tongue all along it.
I ached to be with this woman in ways that didn’t make sense.
“I’m hoping he gets her to change her mind quickly, while I’m hoping to get Valerie used to the idea of Blake coming with us…”
“You may have a better chance at getting pigs to fly.”
I couldn’t help the laugh rumbling out of me.
“Seriously,” Tulya added. “No mother is just going to say bye-bye to their baby, and ‘Have a good life, I’m never going to see you again.’” She stared out the passenger window, presumably fuming.
“I’m sorry this is so upsetting to you, but there is no other way.”
“There is.” She whipped her face toward me, her mouth in a tight line. “Blake could have visits with Valerie. Valerie could come to Rubia. She clearly knows all about us, so who cares? Her daughter will be living there. She’s not going to risk anyone getting hurt or discovered.”
I turned the car onto the street with the small bungalow we’d visited yesterday, and a rock began to form in my stomach. In my heart, I knew all of this was wrong, but what could I do? “How about this—you ask the Minister.”
“Fine, I will.” She had the door open before I even shifted the car into park and was trekking the sidewalk to the front door.
I jogged to catch up with her and we rang the doorbell.
The door swung open and a short brunette in a pair of jean cutoffs and a skimpy red tank stepped out, barefoot.
“No! Go away. I didn’t invite you here,” she said, giving me a death stare.
“Especially you.” She turned her focus to Tulya and then she spat, the spittle landing on the ground, making it clear my brother had shared more than we even considered.
I watched the rude gesture hit equal to a slap in the face, as Tulya turned her head abruptly to the side as if she’d been smacked.
“Valerie,” I said in as soothing of a voice as I could.
“Nope, don’t Valerie me,” she mocked, mimicking my tone. “I don’t know what kind of voodoo you want to practice on me, but not today, not now, or ever,” she said, stumbling over her words, jamming her finger in Tulya’s face.
I started to think Tulya had been right—this was a mistake.
“And as for you, Donovan.” She said my name as if we’d been introduced. “Your brother let me know your plan, and my answer is a firm no. Blake will stay right the fuck here with me, and so will your brother if he wants to see his daughter.”
I caught a look of shock on Tulya’s face at Valerie’s using such a vile swear word. Only a few days with Tulya, and I knew that wasn’t her style.
Clearing my throat, I considered telling Valerie to calm down, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think it would work.
She would come at me for mansplaining and I wasn’t up for the lecture.
Instead, I asked, “Can we go inside?” I didn’t think she would oblige, but this wasn’t the type of conversation I wanted to have outside.
Valerie crossed her arms over her chest, the tops of her breasts popping out of the tank, and I knew in an instant how she’d bewitched my brother. And it wasn’t only her booming body. Magnum liked an attitude, an edge, and this woman had enough for the entire neighborhood, maybe all of Florida.
“Blake isn’t here,” she said defiantly.
“Valerie, listen,” Tulya interrupted, taking a risk I wouldn’t have. Yet she was Tulya, her tone gentle despite being verbally attacked earlier. “We don’t have to see Blake…today…but we do need to talk with you. Could we do that?”
“Talk,” Valerie demanded, her painted red lips forming a pout.
“It would be best to do it without all your neighbors listening in and watching,” Tulya added.
“We will be quick,” I bargained. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what I hoped to accomplish. Clearly, this woman was not going to enter into any agreement with us, and I didn’t even know if my brother was entirely on board with…anything, quite frankly.
“Five minutes,” she said to me, refusing to look in Tulya’s direction.
She turned and walked through the same door we’d entered yesterday; I held it for Tulya, my free hand grazing her lower back as she entered.
As soon as we were inside, Valerie turned and shrieked, “You had no right to come here.”
Recognizing we weren’t making it into the kitchen again, I spoke in the small foyer. “You might have been right if Blake didn’t exist, but now we know she does. And we have every right to be here.”
“Whatever you want to say, say it.”
Tulya started to respond. “We don’t want to overstep, but—”
Valerie turned to Tulya and cut her off. “Not from you. I know you’re here to assert some sort of dominance or voodoo on me, and you won’t be doing any of that.”
“She is not here to do any voodoo, as you call it.” I defended Tulya, thinking it wasn’t a lie in the actual moment. “Valerie, Blake is part of our community.” I treaded carefully, not knowing how much she knew.
“Oh, I know all about your world, Donovan. If you couldn’t put two and two together, I’ve been with Mag for a long time.
We have a freaking baby, a kid now, and he wants me to come with him to your Rubian paradise.
I know all about what you can do to others and what she can do, and it is not going down,” she said, glaring at Tulya.
“I’ll tell you this—I’m well aware of what my daughter can do.
And you must be na?ve if you think I would risk anything happening to her. ”
“She belongs in Rubia, and you don’t.” I couldn’t help myself. I felt my fists and teeth clench.
“Get out,” Valerie said while stomping to the door.
Tulya tried to smooth things over. “What he means is…we’ve never had a human in Rubia, not even to visit.”
“Go, and don’t come back. Magnum is the only one I will speak to about his daughter.”
“I hate to break this to you, but Magnum is my younger brother, and it’s thanks to our family’s business that he can afford to come back and forth to see you. So I will be back with him.”
I thought I’d gotten in the last word, but the woman my brother had fallen for bested me when she added, “Then I would chat with your mother and make sure she knows Magnum is with me and not the woman she picked.”
The door slammed behind us as soon as we stepped out, and I practically ran to the car. Inside the vehicle, I slammed my hand into the wheel before pulling out of the spot. About two minutes into my ride, I turned to tell Tulya she was right, we shouldn’t have gone, and realized she wasn’t there.
Fuck, I left without her.
Stopping in my tracks, I did a quick U-turn and drove back to find a very agitated woman standing on the sidewalk, arms crossed, toe tapping.
I didn’t care that I jammed the car into park and jumped out; it was a rental.
“I’m sorry, there’s no excuse. I’m an ass,” I rambled.
“I’m only happy you didn’t run me over.”
“Fudge.” I almost swore again, this time to Tulya. “I’m an ass, like I said. I was so mad.” I put my arm around her and guided her to the passenger side. “Here you go,” I said, opening the car. She slid into the seat, and I gently closed the door.
I ran around the front and jumped in. I didn’t shift into drive, rather turned and looked at the woman next to me. She was sitting there giggling.
“What? You thought this was funny?”
She attempted to get each word out through laughter. “You…said…fudge.”
“I’m trying to be polite in front of you, turning over a new leaf and all that.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a delicate flower. But I’m sorry I’m such an afterthought.” She mumbled the last part. “I tried to help in there.”
“Tulya, you are not an afterthought. Never. I was so livid, and then I went to tell you that you were right. We shouldn’t have gone there—I don’t think this is going to end well for Magnum.
He is convinced he is stronger with Valerie by his side, and now I know why.
She is formidable and a real lifeforce, and he has a kid with her! ”
She shook her head. “You cannot take that girl away from her mom. But we all know my mother, Ceci, my uncle, and whoever else is involved is going to force the issue. That’s my burden, and yours.” I watched a tear spring to the corner of her eye, and I gathered her hand in mine.
“We’ll figure it out, okay?” I said it, but knew she was right. We weren’t here to figure anything out; we were here to do something Tulya didn’t want to do.
She gave my fingers a squeeze and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
All I could do was grip her fingers back. Why? Because upsetting the kindest person I knew wasn’t high on my agenda, yet I’d lied to her. There was zero chance of figuring anything out.