TOTAL ECLIPSE: The Evolution (Sin City Heat Series Book 7) (5 page)

Keeping her attention on Lorenzo, Jerra stubbornly refused to acknowledge Darrell’s compliment.  “Thank you, but you know I was already obligated to practice at my firm. After all, they did pay my way through law school.”

Lorenzo tilted his head as he stared at Jerra. “I’m surprised Justin Sullivan hasn’t scooped you up. Remember him from law school? His firm is set up in Vegas, isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course I remember Justin. As a matter of fact, he bugged the hell out of me when I first moved here, but I’m not with a firm. I took the bar exam when I moved to Vegas so that I would qualify to practice law if I decided to later, but so far, I’ve been a stay at home mom to my son.” She saw the flash of surprise that lit up Lorenzo’s eyes and added, “I’m not sorry, it’s been one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had.”

“You don’t have to explain. Being a mother is a lot more demanding than almost any other job I can think of. I’m glad you’re happy.”

Jerra nodded, but her face was so stiff the fake smile she kept pasted on threatened to shatter it into a thousand pieces. Again, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Jerra deliberately changed the subject.

“Renzo, are you married? Any kids?”

Lorenzo grinned as if the very thought somehow amused him. “Me? No. I don’t think marriage is anywhere in my foreseeable future.” His eyes went to Darrell to include him in his next comment. “Apparently that’s not the case with you two. How long have you been married?”

Darrell grudgingly answered, “Just made six years.”

Lorenzo nodded slowly. “That’s great. What do you do, Darrell, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I develop commercial properties.” Darrell’s response was brief, almost to the point of being rude.

Jerra added, “Darrell’s company just finished development of a resort in California last year.”

When she told him the name of it, Lorenzo’s expression reflected his surprise. He whistled under his breath and studied Darrell with a newfound respect. “I’ve heard of that resort. Off the coastline of Newport Beach, right?” he asked. “That’s your work?”

Darrell nodded. “Mine and my business partner’s.”

“That’s a beautiful piece of property. From what I’ve seen online, the facilities themselves are a work of art. Reminds me of the Venetian countryside,” Lorenzo commented. “My cousin and I were actually just talking about it recently. It supposedly has one of the best golf courses in the U.S.”

Momentarily distracted, Darrell looked at Lorenzo and snorted. “Supposedly? John Holston designed those courses,” he said, naming a famous golf champion. “You haven’t experienced golf until you’ve played on one.”

Eyes sparkling, Lorenzo chuckled at Darrell’s admonishment. “My bad. Now you
really
got me anxious to try it out.”

“You should do that.”

“Believe me, as soon as I find the time, I will.” Deciding to bring the conversation back to the reason for his visit, Lorenzo fixed Tina with a curious gaze. “Do you have any other children?”

“Yes, I have a daughter. Her name is Gabrielle.” Some of the tightness left Tina’s features. “She’s twenty-four years old.”

“Gabrielle,” he repeated softly. “I’d like to meet her one day soon.”

“Actually, she just moved to New York. When she finds out about you, she’s going to be shocked, but overjoyed.” Tina sent a tentative smile Darrell’s way. “I remember when she first found Darrell, she…” Seeing the coldness in her younger son’s eyes when he looked at her, Tina’s sentence cut off abruptly.

Lorenzo glanced from Darrell back to Tina, his confusion evident. “What do you mean when she ‘first found’ him?”

Darrell’s eyes glowed like smoldering coals as he waited on Tina to answer. When she didn’t he prodded her on using a sharp tone. “Go on. While you’re sharing all of your past tragedies and regrets, why don’t you share
that
one too?” 

CHAPTER 3

Momentarily rendered speechless by Darrell’s hostility, Tina managed to stutter out a response to Lorenzo’s question. Her distress only emphasized her delicate beauty.

“I…I wasn’t the best mother to Darrell. After I, um, left New York and moved to Philadelphia I soon fell back into the same destructive behavior that had taken over my life in New York. I relied on men to take care of me, used them as a crutch to soothe my insecurities. In the process, I ended up…neglecting my son. When Darrell was seven years old, I signed away my parental rights and gave him up to an orphanage.”

Darrell’s harsh laughter interrupted Tina’s story. “Is that the politically correct phrase for what you did? Let’s be clear, you more or less abandoned me. You never wanted to be a mother. I was just a way to trap some man who never really cared about you to begin with. You thought he wanted you for a housewife when all you were to him was his whore on the side.”

“Darrell!” Jerra knew the depths of Darrell’s anger, but it served no purpose to be deliberately cruel. “I know you’re upset, but–”

His brows shot up at Jerra’s choice of words. “Upset? I’m not upset, but I would appreciate a little honesty and forthrightness if we’re putting everything out on the table.” His gaze seared over Tina like a hot branding iron. “You checked out on me a long time ago. You never wanted me, and I know why now.” He jerked his head towards Lorenzo but kept his eyes on Tina. “It’s because you wanted
him
, right?”

“That’s not true, Darrell.” Angling her body so that she faced him, she scooted up to the edge of the couch. “It’s just that…the older you got the more you favored your father. Little things you did reminded me so much of him. The way you tilted your head, the intensity in your eyes when I found you quietly staring at me…it made it hard to–”

“Hard to what, love me?” Darrell cut in harshly when she hesitated. He started to add more but brought himself up short when he remembered the audience they had. Feeling emotionally exposed, his eyes met Lorenzo’s. “What the hell are you lookin’ at?”

   His face tightening, Lorenzo gave him a hard stare. He’d clearly had enough of Darrell’s attitude. “Tina’s right about one thing, you do remind me of my…
our
father. I can see that right now. You’re stubborn, only willing to see your point of view, and you refuse to bend even a little bit.”

Darrell’s dislike was blatantly obvious. “And I can see you have a tendency to comment on shit you know nothin’ about.”

Lorenzo’s brows knitted together, his expression fierce, but before he could deliver a scathing reply, the doorbell rang.

Jerra hopped up from the couch, her relief at the interruption obvious. “That should be Angie to pick up D.J.” She looked at Darrell. “Did you want to come and say goodbye to him?”

Darrell knew she was trying to get him out of the room and away from the tension before it escalated even further. Giving Lorenzo one last glare, he gave Jerra a brief nod and followed her out.

A heavy silence settled between Lorenzo and Tina after they’d left. Tina cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “I’d like to answer your question about how you came to be raised by Isaac and his wife…your…mother…” Tina stumbled over her words before forging on. “Isaac came to the hospital a few hours after you were born. He told me he didn’t want things to change between us, and me caring for a baby would do just that. So he presented me with an ultimatum: I could either give you to him and his wife to raise, or keep you…and lose him.”

Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed, but he let Tina finish.

“I was horrified. It never occurred to me that he wouldn’t let me keep our child. The prospect of giving you up was unbearable, but in my mind, losing him meant losing…everything. I would be kicked out on the streets with a child to raise all by myself.”

“That doesn’t make sense. My father would never give up his heir.”

“I didn’t know that back then. I had no one. He’d isolated me from my friends or anyone else who might have been able to help me; my life revolved around Isaac, and that’s the way he intended it to stay. So I did as he wanted. A couple of days later, he took you home.”

“You got pregnant again not long after that.”

Tina nodded. “Yes. Isaac was furious because he didn’t want any more children. I still remember the night I told him. He went…crazy. Eventually, he broke things off between us, left me some money, told me to get rid of the baby and never contact him again.”

Lorenzo studied Tina in silence. There was much more to the situation than he’d imagined. If she was telling the truth…

“You obviously defied him and didn’t get an abortion.”

“No. Maybe I was being naïve, but I thought Isaac would change his mind once our baby was born. As you can guess, that wasn’t the case. I didn’t see him again until after I’d given birth. One night I wrapped Darrell up and tracked Isaac down at one of the clubs he owned, but he would barely even acknowledge me.” Tina stared across the room while remembering that night. “I was understandably upset, caused a scene, said some things to goad a reaction. He had me and my baby thrown out onto the street as if we were trash. Days later, he and a couple of men came to the apartment I stayed in. He wouldn’t even look at Darrell. We had a horrible argument. Isaac was just…out of control; he practically destroyed my apartment.  I’d never seen him so angry. I was afraid he was going to kill me.”

Tina blinked. She looked around as if in a daze and still caught in the past. Composing her features, she glanced at Lorenzo.  “To make a long story short, Isaac told me I was to leave New York that night and never come back. His men took me directly to the bus station and stayed until the bus left.”

“And you never saw my father after that? Never tried to contact me until recently?”

Tina shook her head and shrugged. “I’m sure you know your father better than anyone. I was afraid of him.”

Lorenzo tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair without replying. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of everything. Yes, his father could be a hard son of a bitch, there was no denying that, but there were too many gaps that Tina left unfilled. Something wasn’t adding up.

““Please don’t take this the wrong way, but your explanation is a little vague. I have a hard time believing my father would just let you and his son go like that.”

Tina blanched at the statement. “Excuse me?”

“He has his flaws, but for him to just walk away from his own flesh and blood like that… I’m not saying it didn’t happen that way, nor am I excusing his behavior if he did. However, before I leave, I’d like a clear understanding of
all
of the facts. Not just bits and pieces.”

Tina’s hand fluttered up to massage the left side of her chest. “I…I don’t understand. That’s what I’ve given you. The facts. I can only imagine what he’ll tell you, but Lorenzo, your father was a very possessive man. He monitored the places I went, the people I spoke with. If another man even looked at me, he would accuse me of cheating on him.”

That snagged Lorenzo’s attention. Now they were getting somewhere. Watching as Tina squirmed much the way witnesses on the stand did under cross-examination, he stood and slipped his hands in his pockets. Patience had always been his most effective weapon. He would get the truth before he left, but it was imperative that he pace himself in order to arrive at the desired destination.

“Is that what caused the fallout between you two? My father thought you cheated on him?” Lorenzo’s eyes latched onto her face and never looked away. “Did he think you were carrying another man’s child?”

For a moment, Tina sat stunned and at a loss for words before her face twisted up in an ugly sneer. “You’re trying to blame me for your father’s actions, aren’t you? Trying to find a way to excuse his cruelty.”

“That’s not what I’m doing at all,” Lorenzo answered calmly. “I’m just trying to piece together what really happened thirty years ago, and the only way to do that is for you to be completely honest with me.”

The two of them squared off with each other, their features closed but watchful. Suddenly Tina’s face relaxed. Her mouth tilted in amusement as she let out a short chuckle.

Lorenzo’s expression never changed. “Want to tell me what you find so funny?”

“You accuse your brother of being so much like Isaac…which he is. But you?” Tina stood up gracefully. She hesitated for a moment before cupping his cheek in her palm. “You don’t see it, of course, but you’re more like me than you realize.”

The corner of Lorenzo’s eye twitched, but he didn’t move away from her touch. “And why do you say that?”

“Your father and Darrell are very hot headed individuals. More times than not, they let their temper and emotions dictate their actions without thinking them through. You and I are slower to react. We analyze situations and evaluate circumstances before deciding on a course of action. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Tense moments passed before Lorenzo spoke. “Are you saying that’s what you did when it came to my father?”

Lorenzo saw something flicker in Tina’s eyes in reaction to his question, but before he could pursue it, they heard the raised voices of Darrell and Jerra outside the room. Lorenzo frowned, turning his head in that direction. He thought he’d detected tension between the two of them earlier. The heated argument they seemed to be having now only confirmed it.

“Take…your hands…off me!”

Lorenzo froze when he heard Jerra’s anger filled words, but stayed where he was. Their marital issues were none of his business.

“They had a horrible argument just before you got here,” Tina told him quietly. She had been watching him the entire time. “I’m just glad D.J. isn’t here to witness it this time.”

He was silent for a moment before sighing in resignation. Ignoring the side of him that cautioned he was making a mistake, Lorenzo headed out the door to at least make sure Jerra was okay.

He didn’t see the sly smile that stretched across Tina’s mouth before she followed behind him.