No Ordinary Romance (22 page)

Connie handed her the breakfast sandwich and
went to get coffee. "No she's Thomas's ex-wife. She came here to
start trouble, and I quickly showed her the door."

"Shoot! I always miss all the action around
here."

If Beth had arrived fifteen minutes earlier,
she would have been a part of the show. Connie could imagine Beth
scratching Elise's eyes out for even daring to look at Chad. "You
didn't miss a thing. I'm sure Chad will tell you all about it
later.

Connie was certain that Chad listen to the
whole conversation. He was waiting for her in her office. "Please I
don't want to hear how beautiful she is, that's what's wrong with
men always being led by the wrong head."

Chad chuckled. "Elise is a beautiful woman,
I'm sure her beauty attracts a lot of attention, but she has no
depth. A woman like that can only be charming as long as she gets
her way. Rather spoiled for my tastes. What did Thomas ever see in
her?"

"Well from what I could ascertain, Elise had
something he wanted back then, power and prestige. Once upon a time
Thomas was an arrogant jerk, and he wanted to show all the Anglos
that he had the biggest dick in town." She took a bite of her
sandwich enjoying the bacon, eggs and cheese on the toasted
Ciabatta bun. "Jesus this sandwich is good."

Chad stood there watching Connie. "Yes, it's
very good, especially with hot coffee and entertainment you and
Elise just provided. Look Connie there's something I've been
meaning to tell you.

Connie raised her head, her brief melee with
Elise quickly forgotten. She gave Chad her full attention as he
grabbed one of the chairs setting it down closer to her desk. Chad
became so serious and solemn that she had a great sense of
foreboding. "I've known for a while that you've had something on
your mind. You can tell me whatever's troubling you."

Unable to look at Connie's face he focused on
his hands as he relayed the story of his life. "My father was a
drug dealer who spent most of his life in prison. He became
enamored with a woman with two young children, and he wanted her to
come away with him. The woman cared for my father as well, but she
was concerned about her children. My father didn't want to take on
the responsibilities of another man's children, so he gave her an
ultimatum. He told her to choose between him and her children, this
woman chose her children."

As Connie gasped for air, Chad raised his
worried eyes to meet hers. The story Chad was telling seemed
hauntingly familiar. "I remember him." Connie whispered. "He was
tall and mean. He never wanted David and me around when he came to
visit my mother. Is this what's been troubling you? Were you afraid
that if I found out you were the man's son I would cut you
short?"

Chad grabbed her hands to reassure her, "No
Connie, your jumping the gun. Let me finish the story. One night a
fire broke out at the woman's house while she was at work. She
believed that her children were dead, so she never came forward.
She moved to another city with the man who loved her, but she never
got over losing her children."

"Can't be true." Every feeling of disgust and
hate had for her mother began swirling around her head.

"She became pregnant by her lover and was
beginning to heal when both she and her lover were brought up on
drug charges. Only in prison did she learn that her daughter had
survived the fire when the state of Nebraska requested her to sign
a release of all parental rights. She went into labor that night,
giving birth to a son."

"You're that son...my brother."

"Yes Connie, I'm the baby who was born in
prison to our mother." He wondered if he'd made a grave error,
Connie pulled her hand from him wrapping them around her body as
she began to cry. Not the tears of happiness he'd come to expect,
but the painful tears of someone who'd lost so much. He got up and
wrapped his arms around her shoulder to comfort her, and she
lowered her head onto her desk crying harder. He was so focused on
Connie that he didn't feel the presence of Thomas and Beth.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Thomas
dragged him away from Connie and slammed him against the wall. "Who
are you and what have you done to my woman?"

Beth ran around the desk to comfort Connie.
"He didn't mean to hurt you."

Chad wasn't a slouch, but he had never been
in danger of having his face rearranged. He realized he had better
come up an explanation quick before the pissed off; green-eyed
alpha beat him to a pulp. "Listen man I was just trying to comfort
my sister!"

"Sister! Constantina doesn't have any
siblings!" He turned his head around to face her. Constantina
raised her head, and the sight of her misery felt like a jab to his
heart. He released Chad and got on his knees in front of
Constantina. Beth gave him a narrow eyed look before checking on
Chad.

He'd never seen her in this state, not even
at the New Year's party. Her eyes were ocean blue and full of pain.
She put her arms around his neck melding her body into this. "Baby
I'm here." He grabbed a couple of tissues and dabbed at her
face.

"All this time I thought our mother hated us.
I just knew that she started the fire because she didn't want
us."

Chad hovered in the background with Beth at
his side, he was sorry for upsetting Connie. "No Connie. Our mother
didn't hate you. The truth is she chose you and David over my
father. In his rage, he started the fire; hoping that once you two
were out of the way, she would pick him. I'm sorry Connie I should
have kept my big mouth shut."

Connie pulled herself from Thomas's arms,
walking towards Chad and hugged him. "How long have you known about
me?"

"Since I was a teenager, I've been checking
the internet trying to find more information about you. I have the
news reports about the fire, but they never mentioned if you were
dead or alive. Then your name popped up one day, you were at the
grand opening of the first youth home. I was so proud that my big
sister would be a part of such a enormous endeavor. After
graduating from high school, I moved to campus and my first job was
at The Purple Feather as a stock boy in the warehouse."

"Why didn't you tell me right away? Did you
think that I would have turned you away?"

"My grandmother told me to tell you, but I
kept putting it off. I didn't know how you would feel about having
a grown brother just show up into your life."

"This means so much Chad; I've always felt so
alone in the world."

Chad frowned not understanding her position.
"Connie you never been alone, you were raised by a family that
loved you. Your friends are like your sisters." He nodded his head
towards Thomas. "You also have a man so crazy in love with you that
he nearly tore off my head thinking I had harmed you."

Connie laughed and held out her hand to
Thomas. "What were you doing here? I thought you were going to
Lincoln today?"

Beth was about to read Chad the riot act, how
dare he tell Connie his news when she wasn't around. Before she
could say a word, he gave her a quick peck on the lips to silence
her. "We'll talk about this later." Chad wrapped his arm around her
shoulder pulling her to his side. All of her objections suddenly
left her body.

For the first time since he arrived, Thomas
felt the tension leave his body. "Elise called my office just as I
was leaving; she said that she came by your office. I knew that she
was up to no good, I called you work phone and cell; you never
picked up, so I thought the worst. Instead of going to Lincoln I
came here, I walk in, and this blonde Adonis had his arms around
you, and it was just more than I could take."

"Oh Thomas I'm sorry today has been full of
revelations. Elise did stop by; she was full of idle threats."

Now it was Thomas's turn to frown,
Constantina didn't like being threatened. "She struck out with you
and decided to take a final stab at me. She called, so I knew I
didn't have to worry about helping you dig a grave."

"You would have been proud of Connie, she
basically handed Elise her ass on a silver platter."

Beth jabbed Chad in the ribs. "Yeah and I
missed the whole thing.

"Thomas before we go any further, I have an
introduction to make. Although I've talked about him and the
wonderful work he's doing for the foundation I'd like to introduce
you to Chad Roberts, friend, colleague, and he's also my brother."
Connie beamed as the two most influential men in her life shook
hands.

Thomas rubbed his stomach, the drama from
this morning made him hungry. "Hey are you guys' hungry?"

"What do you have in mind, I'm starving?"

"How can that be you just ate a breakfast
sandwich?"

"What can I say, drama makes me hungry."

"You two really are related, Constantina
never turns down the opportunity to eat. My trip to Lincoln is a
bust I had my secretary cancel the meeting and reschedule. What do
you say we go to Friday's? If we hurry, we can beat most of the
lunch crowd."

"Come on guys, I didn't get a chance to
finish my breakfast sandwich." Connie grabbed her purse, then
ushered everyone out the door."

***

"Who's the tall dangerous looking guy?"

"He's her boyfriend; I must say my little
Tina has excellent taste in men."

"Who's the other guy?"

"He's a bonus; he's Chad Roberts, Tina's
brother."

Jimmy Lee gave Crystalline a nervous glance,
"Her brother, I thought her brother died in the fire."

Crystalline watched the four people get into
the dark SUV; they were laughing and joking as if they hadn't a
care in the world. "Chad is my youngest child. I had him while I
was doing time in prison. We'll grab him tomorrow night, Tina will
miss him when he doesn't show for work. Then I'll place my call to
get the ball rolling."

"What if she doesn't cooperate and goes to
the police?"

"Then we'll make sure she suffers the
consequences of her actions."

Jimmy Lee swallowed the lump in his throat,
only now did he realize he'd gotten involved with a crazy woman.
"Whatever you say Crystalline."

***

After several hours of heart palpitating love
making, Connie was sprawled out over Thomas's body feeling as if
she had been taken by a tiger. He claimed her as his woman and took
those words seriously. She really didn't understand the depth of
his feelings for her until he tried to rip Chad's head off. His
green eyes were blazing, not with lust, but serious intent to harm.
"I'm sorry about today."

Thomas tilted her head so he could look into
her eyes. They were back to their beautiful violet state, moments
earlier they were royal blue, color of passion. "You have nothing
to apologize for. Today was a very emotional day for all of us. Did
you mean what you said about being alone?"

"Momma Lettie was the mother of my heart, but
there's a little part of me who yearned for the woman who gave me
life. Like most adopted children, I wanted to connect with my real
parents. You can love your adopted parents and still want to know
where you came from. People who haven't been adopted can't
understand the yearning to know where you come from. It wasn't
until today that I learned that my mother actually put David and me
before her lover. I lived most of my life thinking that my mother
tried to kill me. I found it hard to believe that anyone could love
me especially since my own mother didn't."

"Constantina there's nothing wrong with
wanting to know your people. On my mother's side, I come from
strong people who are proud of their heritage. I have no wish to
know my father's family history. My father was a monster, and I
think I was always afraid that I would become just like him. This
morning I lost control when I saw Chad's arms around you the animal
inside me reared its ugly head. It is I who should apologize to you
for behaving that way."

Connie rubbed the wolf tattoo on his chest
hoping that her touch would ease the tension form his body. "You're
nothing like your father Thomas. When I saw you this morning it
wasn't a man in a jealous rage, but a man intent on protecting his
woman."

"You are my woman Constantina; nothing about
background can change that. There's one thing we haven't talked
about, what did Elise say to you?"

"Oh she came into my office like a
territorial ex-wife, trying to convince me that I wasn't good
enough for you."

Thomas chuckled; visions of Constantina
putting Rachel Creswell in her place at his mother's luncheon came
to mind. "I wish I could have seen that, it makes my cock twitch
when your eyes change color, and you go for the jugular. Seems to
me that you're my match in more ways than one."

Connie straddled him with vigor eager for her
man to take her again. "We are perfect in every way."

"No more running Constantina, I want the
world to know that you're mine."

"No more running Thomas."

***

Chad wasn't going home to an empty apartment
tonight, Beth was ripe for the picking and he was tired of denying
himself. "Are you sure about this Beth?"

Beth knew that Chad consider himself a lady's
man, but she saw a lot more than a man on the make. "I've been
ready Chad; you're the one holding out on me." Beth rubbed his
thigh easing her hand closer to his crotch.

If she kept that up, he's going to lose
control quickly. "Could you stop doing that while I'm driving and I
haven't been putting you off? I know that we've gone out a couple
of times, and you expected more than a quick peck on the cheek." He
tried to find an expedient way to explain his actions. "You're not
the type of girl I could screw and walk away from."

Beth gave him a brilliant smile. "That's the
nicest thing any man has ever said to me." Beth reached over and
kissed his cheek. "I expect you to come into my apartment tonight
and put my fantasies to shame. You can't stay the whole night
because we have to work in the morning, but if you please me, I'm
free for the weekend."