The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2 (37 page)

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Authors: Latrivia S. Nelson

BOOK: The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2

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That was a low blow. Leo would have honestly preferred a left hook to the cold hard truth. “I’m sure you have at least one question you want to ask me. Now’s the time,” Leo said with a deflated huff. He knew that once he left out of these doors, no one here would ever see him again.
He’d make damn sure of it.

“About Amy?” He rolled his eyes. “No questions,” Brett said, walking away. “She wasn’t that important.”

“I have one,” Leo said before Brett could leave.

Brett stopped and turned around. “What’s that?”

“How did you find out about the life insurance policy? I mean, the lawyer wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information on it. Amy designed it that way.”

Brett thought about it and smiled. “I’m going to have to plead plausible deniability on that one.” In truth, he didn’t know. Gavin just showed up with it one day.

“So is the money coming to you? Because I never saw who the secondary beneficiary was?” Leo couldn’t help it. He had to know after all of this.

“Yeah. I should get it in about 20 days.” Brett smiled. “But I will tell you this.” He chuckled and wiped a hand over his face. He folded his arm across his chest. “And it’s going to fuck you up,
but
if you had just come to me
like a man
, instead of trying to snatch my son out of my life, and told me what you wanted, I would have gladly given it to you. Cameron is worth a lot more than $735,000. But if you ever knew him, then you’d know that already.”

Leo glared at Brett. He
had
met Cameron once in Wilmington in a Mexican bar, but he’d never tell anyone that. “You would have just given it to me?” He said the words like he couldn’t comprehend such a thing.

“Yeah. All I would have asked is that you never seek custody or visitation, which I’m sure you wouldn’t have been interested anyway. And it would have been a win-win situation for both of us. You would have gotten your money and I would have gotten peace of mind.” Brett shrugged. “But now, I’m just going to use $250,000 for legal fees and put the rest up for my son.”

Leo shook his head.
This guy was unbelievable.
“Just that easy, huh?”

“Yeah, it would have been just that easy,” Brett said, turning back around and walking out of the door. He didn’t want to give Leo any more of his time, anymore of his life, anymore of his thought. When he walked out of this room, it would be as if Leo Tabor had never existed.

As the door to the courtroom slammed behind him and with it the last link to his sordid past with Amy Riley, Brett was met in the hallway by his family and friends who cheered him on and hugged him as they prepared to go out and celebrate their victory. The trial was over and so were their worries.

This had been the longest few months of Brett’s life, but he had survived. In truth, it was the hardest battle of his life, the hardest lessons learned, the hardest glories earned and he was damn proud to be standing her with everyone who meant anything to him celebrating that fact.

Locking eyes on his beautiful wife, he grabbed her by her hand and pulled her into him. Kissing Courtney on her full lips, Brett hugged her tight. “I couldn’t have done this without you,” he said sincerely. “Thank you, baby.”

Courtney wiped her happy tears. “I love you so much. There is nowhere else I’d rather be then right here with my family.”

“I love you,” he said, wiping her face. He turned to his group of friends and raised his hand to the air. “Now, let’s get out of here and have some fun!”

Epilogue

Six months after the court case ended, Brett and Courtney Black moved away from the sunny shores, mossy lakes and pine trees of Camp Lejeune and re-rooted their little family in Palo Alto, California to start their new life together. Gavin’s cottage home was spectacular – modern and roomy, it was already large enough to consider adding yet another family member in the very near future.

A great little extra surprise was that the property on the beach came complete with an awesome boat and peaceful dock that Brett immediately took a liking to and claimed as his own. Finally, he’d have a hobby when he found time. For now, he was starting the certification process to become an official new member of Gavin’s security firm.

Courtney was accepted into Stanford and was already taking classes both on campus and online, so she could still spend plenty of time with Cameron and Bella. Plus, she had joined a female surfing team that loved the water as much as she did.

Life was coming together for them finally, and they were moving forward and never looking back.

Back on the East Coast, Gavin made a B-line down the coast to Atlantic City. As he entered into Mr. Benson’s empty office on an early Saturday morning, he found him sitting at his desk in a Cowboy’s T-shirt and jeans, most unlike the man who seemed to love a good suit.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Mr. Benson said, wiping his tired eyes. He hadn’t slept a wink in 24 hours.

“Don’t mention it,” Gavin said, closing the door. “It sounded pretty urgent.”

“It is.” Benson motioned at the chair. “Have a seat.” Turning around his computer, he showed Gavin a photo of Mae Warford on his monitor. “Recognize her?”

“Yeah, she’s the female judge that heard Brett’s case,” Gavin said, scooting his chair up closer to the desk.

“No, this is her twin sister, Judge
Mae
Warford, my girlfriend.” He met Gavin’s shocked eyes.

“Explains why you wanted Barrington out of the way.”

Benson put up his finger in protest. “I said out of the way. I never said poisoned. That was your call.”

Gavin shrugged. “It didn’t kill him, just slowed him down and helped him lose about ten pounds with his fat ass. It was just a little
Delhi Tummy
. Anyway, what’s going on with your girlfriend?”

“Mae has been receiving death threats from a neo Nazi group near Raleigh, North Carolina. The threats have come over the phone, via email and then yesterday, she walked out and found that they had a swastika spray painted on the front door of her house. This has gotten out of control. If they know where she lives, it’s because they are following her.” He gritted his teeth.

“FBI on it, yet?” Gavin asked, pulling out his notepad. He wrote down a few notes.

Benson was not about to put all his faith in the FBI. “Yeah, of course.”

“I’ll need the FBI contact she’s working with,” Gavin said, scribbling fast.

“I need someone who can be with her all the time. Someone who knows trouble when they see it and can be creative when they need to be. I need a grunt on this one, Gavin. Nothing less.” Benson turned the monitor back around. “I have to warn you. She’s bullheaded, but it’s only because she’s a black woman in a white male dominated profession. But that still doesn’t mean she should be subjected to this shit. And I have to do something about it.”

“Why does this Neo Nazi group want to kill her?”

Benson sat back in his chair. “She’s hearing a very important case. It’s making national news. They want to put pressure on her so that she’ll go easy on their leader.” He threw the USA Today on the table in front of Gavin.

“Okay, I remember this guy. He’s responsible for a string of Church burnings and vandalisms and the murder of a community activist,” Gavin said coolly. “What do you want from me on this?”

“I need you to be her security until this case is over,” Mr. Benson said, reaching behind his desk and picking up a small overnight bag. He threw it on the table. “That’s $200,000 cash, completely untraceable and non-taxable if you don’t report it. If you do, just let me know, so I can get my paperwork straight.”

Gavin took the bag and opened it. Looking at the bands of cash, he raised a brow. “How long do I need to be there?”

“As long as it takes,” Mr. Benson said. “And there’s more where that came from. Just make sure that no one hurts a hair on her head.”

“Does she know that I’m coming?” Gavin asked, putting the bag beside him.

“I told her that you’d be there tomorrow,” Mr. Benson said, knowing the sudden move might inconvenience him, but hopefully the money would change his mind.

Gavin sucked in a breath. “Tomorrow?” That was sort of pushing it.

“I’ll owe you,” Benson said, desperately. “And that’s always a good thing. I have resources that would be beneficial to a man like you.”

“No shit.” Everyone knew that Benson was someone you wanted on your side when things got strange, and for him, things always got strange. Gavin rubbed his temples. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll do it.”

“Good.” Mr. Benson stood up and offered his hand. “I truly appreciate you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Gavin said, throwing the bag over his shoulder. “I’ll touch base with you once I get to Raleigh. For now, don’t tell her anything about me over the phone. I’ll call back and get with my guys to come up with a plan tonight.”

“Keep her safe, Gavin,” Benson said seriously. “I think she might be my wife.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll watch out for her,” Gavin assured. “For now, just get some rest.”

The End.

About the Author

Latrivia Welch
(formerly Latrivia Nelson) is a USA TODAY, Amazon and National Bestselling Author of interracial romance and interracial romantic suspense novels. She divides her life into three professions: author, women’s reproductive rights advocate and CEO of RiverHouse Publishing, LLC. Based out of Memphis, TN, she is considered one of the founders of the bw/wm romantic suspense genre. Latrivia is married to the love of her life, Bruce Welch, and is the mother of 2.5 beautiful children. She has penned over 20 novels under the Latrivia Nelson brand. This is her last book under that brand.

Books from now on will be under Latrivia Welch.

Visit her website at
www.latriviawelch.com
to learn more.

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