Ten minutes later Brock showed and I was right, the boys were in the truck looking freaked and Brock was in it looking pissed. I was also right about Vance; he made his statement, gave his card and took off.
Ten minutes after that, Brock and the boys followed behind my car as we drove to his house.
Ten seconds after I arrived, I turned on the taps in the bath.
* * * * *
“Babe,” I heard but didn’t move. “Tess,” I heard from closer and I still didn’t move.
But a noise escaped my lips and it was, “Mm?”
“How long you gonna stay in the tub?” Brock asked and I couldn’t see him, seeing as I had a wet washcloth on my face, but I knew from his voice he was crouched right by the tub.
“Infinity,” I muttered.
I heard a chuckle then I heard water splash then I heard Brock again. “Water isn’t even warm anymore.”
“If I don’t move,” I told the washcloth, “I can pretend it’s still steaming.”
“Tess, darlin’, get out, you need dinner. It’s nearly nine.”
“I’m too tired to eat.”
“You still gotta do it.”
“If I leave this tub, I enter the world. Damian doesn’t exist in here. Olivia doesn’t exist in here.” Reluctantly, I lifted a hand, removed the cloth from my face, looked into his silver eyes and suggested, “Let’s move in here. We can buy a mini-fridge, a tiny microwave and a camp stove and we’ll be set.”
He grinned. “I think, even for you, it’d be a challenge to make a carrot cake on a camp stove.”
“Yes,” I muttered, looking to my toes at the end of the tub, “that would be a drawback.”
His hand moved to cup my jaw and force my face back to looking at his where I saw his eyes had melted mercury.
“My sweet Tess has had a bad day,” he murmured.
“Yes, officially it becomes a bad day when you make a complaint to the police about your boyfriend’s ex-wife. Then it becomes a very bad day when you make another one about your ex-husband.”
He held my eyes as his hand moved, his fingertips gliding along my neck and down as he said, “Get outta the tub, get some food in you and then I’ll make the day go away.”
His fingertips were still moving down, now at my chest, they kept going, into the water, they slid between my br**sts and kept going down as I felt my heartbeat escalate.
“You’ll make the day go away?” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he whispered, his hand gliding through the water at my belly and down and automatically I shifted my legs to give him access.
He grinned then his hand went down.
My eyes closed slowly and my lips parted.
“You want the day to go away, baby?” he asked quietly, his fingers moving magically.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
Then suddenly his hand was gone but his arms were around me and water splashed everywhere as he pulled me straight out of the tub and put me on my feet in front of him, my wet body tight to his, his arms wrapped around.
“Brock!” I cried, fingers curved around his biceps.
“Food, rest, hang with the boys until they go to sleep then I’ll make your day go away.”
“Okay, fine but you got the bathroom all wet and you all wet,” I informed him.
“I got dry clothes and the floor’s tile, sweetness, it’s not a big deal. What is a big deal is I can’t keep an eye on you and a finger on the pulse of your state of mind and my boys with you hidin’ in the bathroom, turnin’ yourself into a prune.”
“I’m fine.”
“You had a shit day.”
“I know but I’ll survive.”
He shook his head. “My job is not to help you survive, Tess. It’s to make it safe and sweet when you walk through my door. Now, my woman is not goin’ to bed hungry because my ex-wife is a cunt and her ex-husband is a motherfucking dickhead. She’s gonna eat, she’s gonna curl close to me, she’s gonna show my boys she’s okay and then we’re gonna go to bed and I’m gonna make her day go away. Yeah?”
That sounded like a good plan. Actually a great plan. Actually, I should have thought of it myself.
So, of course, I agreed and I did that by saying, “Yeah.”
He smiled. Then he dropped his head and kissed me lightly.
Then he said, “See you downstairs.”
He was at the bathroom door and I had a towel held up in front of me when I called his name and he turned back.
“Vance said you were the reason he was there tonight.”
“Yeah,” he confirmed.
“You didn’t tell me you’d –” I started but he interrupted me, his brows drawing together.
“Yeah I did, Tess. I said the bakery is on radar.”
I stared at him.
Then I told him, “I thought you meant the cops.”
“Cops, Lee’s boys, f**k, I even called Hawk f**kin’ Delgado and asked him to keep his ear to the ground and his eyes open.”
To that, I blinked. This was because I knew Brock was not the still unknown (even though he was Gwen’s man) Hawk Delgado’s favorite person but also because Brock had told me Hawk was not his favorite person either mainly because he screwed the pooch on the Darla deal and both of them were not over that situation as in way not over it and, now knowing the details, I got why on both sides.
“Really?” I whispered.
He crossed his arms on his chest and stated, “Babe, you think I found the woman of my dreams at forty-five years old and I’m gonna let anything happen to her, think again. That’s a long f**kin’ time to wait for what you want. I waited. I found it. I’m pullin’ out all the stops to take care of it. I know you feel the same for me so I’m doin’ the same to keep me safe for you. So yeah, really, I called Delgado. I made peace and asked a favor. His woman is in your posse so she wouldn’t be doin’ cartwheels, he said no and something went down with you or, for you, me. And he isn’t dumb, he’s a man who knows to collect favors and he’s a man whose business means he often has the need to call markers. So his ear’s to the ground and his eyes are open so if a cop isn’t cruisin’ by your house or bakery, one of Lee’s boys or one of Hawk’s commandos are. Smart people pay attention to who’s cruisin’ around people they want to f**k with and smart people will see cops, Nightingale’s men and Delgado’s crazy motherfuckers and, my hope is, they’ll steer clear. So, there you go. Now you got a full explanation of what I mean when I say you’re on radar.”
Ten minutes after that, Brock and the boys followed behind my car as we drove to his house.
Ten seconds after I arrived, I turned on the taps in the bath.
* * * * *
“Babe,” I heard but didn’t move. “Tess,” I heard from closer and I still didn’t move.
But a noise escaped my lips and it was, “Mm?”
“How long you gonna stay in the tub?” Brock asked and I couldn’t see him, seeing as I had a wet washcloth on my face, but I knew from his voice he was crouched right by the tub.
“Infinity,” I muttered.
I heard a chuckle then I heard water splash then I heard Brock again. “Water isn’t even warm anymore.”
“If I don’t move,” I told the washcloth, “I can pretend it’s still steaming.”
“Tess, darlin’, get out, you need dinner. It’s nearly nine.”
“I’m too tired to eat.”
“You still gotta do it.”
“If I leave this tub, I enter the world. Damian doesn’t exist in here. Olivia doesn’t exist in here.” Reluctantly, I lifted a hand, removed the cloth from my face, looked into his silver eyes and suggested, “Let’s move in here. We can buy a mini-fridge, a tiny microwave and a camp stove and we’ll be set.”
He grinned. “I think, even for you, it’d be a challenge to make a carrot cake on a camp stove.”
“Yes,” I muttered, looking to my toes at the end of the tub, “that would be a drawback.”
His hand moved to cup my jaw and force my face back to looking at his where I saw his eyes had melted mercury.
“My sweet Tess has had a bad day,” he murmured.
“Yes, officially it becomes a bad day when you make a complaint to the police about your boyfriend’s ex-wife. Then it becomes a very bad day when you make another one about your ex-husband.”
He held my eyes as his hand moved, his fingertips gliding along my neck and down as he said, “Get outta the tub, get some food in you and then I’ll make the day go away.”
His fingertips were still moving down, now at my chest, they kept going, into the water, they slid between my br**sts and kept going down as I felt my heartbeat escalate.
“You’ll make the day go away?” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he whispered, his hand gliding through the water at my belly and down and automatically I shifted my legs to give him access.
He grinned then his hand went down.
My eyes closed slowly and my lips parted.
“You want the day to go away, baby?” he asked quietly, his fingers moving magically.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
Then suddenly his hand was gone but his arms were around me and water splashed everywhere as he pulled me straight out of the tub and put me on my feet in front of him, my wet body tight to his, his arms wrapped around.
“Brock!” I cried, fingers curved around his biceps.
“Food, rest, hang with the boys until they go to sleep then I’ll make your day go away.”
“Okay, fine but you got the bathroom all wet and you all wet,” I informed him.
“I got dry clothes and the floor’s tile, sweetness, it’s not a big deal. What is a big deal is I can’t keep an eye on you and a finger on the pulse of your state of mind and my boys with you hidin’ in the bathroom, turnin’ yourself into a prune.”
“I’m fine.”
“You had a shit day.”
“I know but I’ll survive.”
He shook his head. “My job is not to help you survive, Tess. It’s to make it safe and sweet when you walk through my door. Now, my woman is not goin’ to bed hungry because my ex-wife is a cunt and her ex-husband is a motherfucking dickhead. She’s gonna eat, she’s gonna curl close to me, she’s gonna show my boys she’s okay and then we’re gonna go to bed and I’m gonna make her day go away. Yeah?”
That sounded like a good plan. Actually a great plan. Actually, I should have thought of it myself.
So, of course, I agreed and I did that by saying, “Yeah.”
He smiled. Then he dropped his head and kissed me lightly.
Then he said, “See you downstairs.”
He was at the bathroom door and I had a towel held up in front of me when I called his name and he turned back.
“Vance said you were the reason he was there tonight.”
“Yeah,” he confirmed.
“You didn’t tell me you’d –” I started but he interrupted me, his brows drawing together.
“Yeah I did, Tess. I said the bakery is on radar.”
I stared at him.
Then I told him, “I thought you meant the cops.”
“Cops, Lee’s boys, f**k, I even called Hawk f**kin’ Delgado and asked him to keep his ear to the ground and his eyes open.”
To that, I blinked. This was because I knew Brock was not the still unknown (even though he was Gwen’s man) Hawk Delgado’s favorite person but also because Brock had told me Hawk was not his favorite person either mainly because he screwed the pooch on the Darla deal and both of them were not over that situation as in way not over it and, now knowing the details, I got why on both sides.
“Really?” I whispered.
He crossed his arms on his chest and stated, “Babe, you think I found the woman of my dreams at forty-five years old and I’m gonna let anything happen to her, think again. That’s a long f**kin’ time to wait for what you want. I waited. I found it. I’m pullin’ out all the stops to take care of it. I know you feel the same for me so I’m doin’ the same to keep me safe for you. So yeah, really, I called Delgado. I made peace and asked a favor. His woman is in your posse so she wouldn’t be doin’ cartwheels, he said no and something went down with you or, for you, me. And he isn’t dumb, he’s a man who knows to collect favors and he’s a man whose business means he often has the need to call markers. So his ear’s to the ground and his eyes are open so if a cop isn’t cruisin’ by your house or bakery, one of Lee’s boys or one of Hawk’s commandos are. Smart people pay attention to who’s cruisin’ around people they want to f**k with and smart people will see cops, Nightingale’s men and Delgado’s crazy motherfuckers and, my hope is, they’ll steer clear. So, there you go. Now you got a full explanation of what I mean when I say you’re on radar.”
