When I’m With You (Indigo) (22 page)

“B-But how?” Ken stammered, trying to collect his thoughts as he looked at his sliver and onyx tie clip. “W-Where did you find it?”

Marcel offered a sympathetic smile. “Alex found it underneath Caitlyn’s vanity table.”

“Marcel, I didn’t take a thing, I swear. I was just trying to find the bracelet Alcee told me about. I thought if I could see it I’d know if Caitlyn’s mother was my Della. The bracelet belonged to my grandmother and the night I asked Della to marry me, I gave it to her. I couldn’t afford a ring.”

Marcel flashed a smile. “You probably don’t know this, but shortly after we met, Caitlyn asked me to help her find her father.”

Ken’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Marcel nodded. “I started the ball rolling at the same time I asked Alex to investigate who was behind the bidding war for the dealership.” He cleared his throat. “Ken, Louis is responsible for that ruckus.”

Ken shot to his feet and angrily shouted, “That son-of-a-bitch.”

Marcel knew he had to keep the focus on Caitlyn instead of re-opening a wound inflicted years ago, one that obviously still hadn’t healed. “Listen, Ken, I understand your anger, but right now it won’t help me to keep Caitlyn safe.”

“Safe?” Ken’s gaze darted wildly around his office before landing back on Marcel. “What do you mean, safe? What’s going on? Did Hennings do something to Caitlyn?”

“No. It wasn’t Hennings, but a man named Cole Mazzei.”

“What did he do to her?”

There was no way on earth Marcel was going to reveal to Caitlyn’s father of all people what Cole had done to Caitlyn. “He’s a stalker. She’s been on the run from him for three years.”

Ken paced behind his desk and rubbed at the tension in his neck. “Whether she’s my child or not, I swear, if I ever lay eyes on Mazzei, I’ll kill him.”

“Right now our concern should be focused solely on Caitlyn,” Marcel reminded Ken.

Ken nodded. “I-I understand.” Suddenly, tears formed in his eyes. “What happened to Caitlyn all those years?”

“She lived in foster care from the time she was five.”

“Dear God.” Ken sat down and held his head in his hands. “If I had known, I never would have let her go into foster care.”

“I believe you. But everything worked out, and you’re going to love her once you really get to know her.” Marcel scooted to the edge of his chair and braced his elbows on his knees. “Ken, let me tell you here and now, I love Caitlyn more than life itself, and I will do anything—and I mean anything—to protect her and keep her safe. You understand me?”

Ken offered a genuine smile. “Marcel, I know that. You’re an honorable man, and you and your family have always done right by me.”

Marcel flashed a wide grin to the man who’d been a part of his life for as long as he could remember.

Ken stared at the wall, and after a pregnant pause, spoke. “Caitlyn’s mother—Della—I fell in love with her the moment I laid eyes on her. After I got out of the service, I settled in Memphis—that’s where we met. Della told me about Louis, but she never went into any great detail about what happened between them. I kinda sensed that it was too painful for her to talk about, so I didn’t press the issue. The only thing that mattered was that she was with me.” He stood and swallowed back a lump. “Then she left. It was like she’d disappeared from the face of the earth.”

“Did you try to find her?”

Ken nodded and stuffed sweaty palms in his pockets. “When I couldn’t, I figured she went back to Louis.” He shook his head. “Since there was nothing left for me in Memphis, I headed back down to New Orleans. Alcee and I worked at a car dealership for about a year until Angelique graduated.” He shrugged. “And well…you know the rest.”

Marcel stood, walked behind Ken’s desk and patted his shoulder. “Listen, you go home and get some rest. As soon as I get the results of the DNA test, I’ll let you know.”

Once Marcel left BF Automotive, he went back over to Alcee’s house. With everything that had gone on today, he wanted to clear his head before he headed home and faced Caitlyn. He stood alone inside his father’s study at a huge picture window with both hands behind his back.

“Son, what’s wrong?” Mama Z stood at the door’s threshold and posed her question.

He didn’t bother to turn around. “Nothing, Mama Z.”

Quietly, she closed the door and walked to the front of the desk. “Don’t ya lie to me, boy. Don’t never see ya do what ya doing unless somethin’ troubling your mind.”

Marcel turned to her. “Do what?”

She chuckled. “Stand at that there window with yo hands behind your back. Ya know, ya looks just like yo daddy standing there. When his mind’s troubled, he do the same thang.”

He cast a half-smile. “You know me pretty well, huh?”

“I better. I raised ya from fourteen, remember?”

He walked over and placed a kiss against her left cheek. “I remember.” He released a frustrated sigh. “Just got a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

Mama Z’s eyes narrowed. “You and Caitlyn all right?”

“We’re fine. It’s…it’s just that…”

“Just what, Son?”

“There’re some things I need to tell her, and I don’t know how.” He plopped down on the black leather couch with both hands covering his face. “I don’t know whether to tell her the truth. You see—”

“Uh-uh. Don’t tell me.” Mama Z held up a silencing hand. “Ya needs to tell Caitlyn. Y’all both is grown, and I don’t get into grown folks’ business. That child needs to hear it first.”

With his arms on his knees, Marcel leaned over with his head down. “I can’t lose her, Mama Z.”

She grabbed both his hands and tugged until he looked at her. “Do ya love her?”

“With all my heart.”

“She love ya?”

“Yes.”

With a gentle smile, she declared, “Then that’s all that matter. Whatever ya gots to tell her, no matter how hard ya think it is, no matter how much ya think it will hurt, y’all be protected by the love ya has for one each other.”

“But—”

“No buts, child. I knows what I’m talking about here. Remember, I gots more years behind me than in front of me.” Reaching up, she stroked the side of his face. “Trust is the best proof of love. If ya love her, then you gotta trust that whatever ya tell her she can accept, and ya needs to be there for her. Understand me?”

Marcel kissed the tip of her nose. “I understand.” He scooted over to wrap his arms around her neck. “I can’t see my way through this one, Mama Z,” he whispered.

“Yes, you can, Son. Ya might not know it now, but ya got everything ya needs to get through this right in front of ya. God don’t place ya in no situation and not gives ya a way out. Just needs to ask Him to show it to ya, that’s all.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Trust me, child. I knows I’m right.”

After Mama Z left, Marcel sat back on the couch and lifted up a silent prayer for guidance of how to tell Caitlyn everything that was going on.

Suddenly, a vision came into view, and without warning, he bolted upright. His plan of action flashed before him step by step. Only one problem existed: time. Telling Caitlyn he’d found her father wasn’t an issue, but bringing Cole back into her life, if only for a little while, would be a challenge. But it was a gamble he’d risk if it meant Caitlyn would be rid of Cole once and for all.

* * *

Marcel walked into his bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks. Since the break-in, he’d convinced Caitlyn to stay with him until he could find out who was responsible. She walked toward him and the sight of her in a sheer white robe caused his knees to buckle. The soft light from a small lamp cast a glow around her, and the translucency of the robe enabled him to delineate every sensuous curve. Her smile darn near caused him to go into cardiac arrest. Before she could issue a greeting, he kicked the door shut. He grabbed her wrist, spun her against the door and kissed her with a possessiveness he’d never felt for any woman. She was his, and he wouldn’t lose her without a fight.

He slid his mouth along the scented column of her neck. “You know I love you and I’d never hurt you, right?”

“I know that.”

He tugged at the sash until the robe parted and pushed it over her shoulders where it pooled on the floor. He trailed his hands up her arms and cupped her face as his tongue played along the seam of her lips before plunging deep to taste the sweetness inside.

“Tell me.” His voice was low and husky. “Tell me you trust me.”

“I trust you,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“And you love me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Show me.”

He watched her loosen his belt, unfasten his pants and slide them and his silk briefs down his hips. In one swift motion, he ripped her white thong away.

He wrapped both arms beneath her bottom, and lifting her off the floor, entered her hard. He held himself in check for a moment, focusing at a pinpoint on the door, trying to regain what little control was left. Love, passion and protection for the woman in his arms soared beyond boundaries, eradicating all levels of comprehension. At that moment, he was her prisoner and would gladly live a lifetime locked away as long as she was with him. This woman, his woman, had him shackled, mind, body and soul.

“Marcel…”

His gaze locked with hers. “Tell me you love me.”

“I love you.”

He thrust again, deeper this time, reveling in the sensations only she could bring forth. “Again.”

“I love you.”

“Say it again.” His voice was gravelly, and he hardly recognized it as his own. He stroked her, impaled her, and savored her sighs and groans. He pumped harder with an urgency that bordered on desperation, to protect her against what lay before them. He felt the sting from her clawing at his back, but he didn’t care. He held her, and she clung to him with all the strength she could muster.

“Marcel,
Je t’aime
.”

That was all he needed to hear. Those words provided the catalyst to put his plan in motion.

* * *

“Baptiste, you didn’t tell me you were bringing your posse along with you.” Louis directed the sarcastic comment to Marcel as he strolled into his office and glanced at him, then Alcee and Alex.

Louis glared at Alcee. “It’s been a long time.”

Alcee offered a chilly response. “You’re right. A long time.”

Then Louis looked in Alex’s direction. “And our other guest is…”

“Alex Robinson.”

Seated behind his desk, Louis drummed his stocky fingers against the top. “Robinson, Robinson. Now why does that name ring a bell?” He snapped his fingers. “Could it be the Robinson of Robinson’s Investigative Services?”

Alex’s expression was stoic, his voice flat. “One and the same.”

With a smirk, Louis looked at Marcel. “So, Baptiste, is this how you found out that I was your competition for the dealership?”

Marcel’s expression was bland, his tone laced with wrath. “That’s a moot point, Louis.” The anger in his voice was controlled. “Let’s get down to the business at hand.”

Louis reared back in his chair, releasing a deep, cynical rumble. “So, gentlemen, exactly what is the business at hand? Concession perhaps?”

“Save the sarcasm, Hennings,” Marcel warned. “We’re here for two reasons. Just so you know, BF Automotive withdrew its bid for the dealership this morning.”

Louis smirked. “So, Baptiste, what brought about this change of heart?”

The only evidence of the storm raging inside Marcel was a piercing gaze. “What’s at stake now is far more precious.”

“Come on now,” Louis taunted. “I figured you to be a more astute businessman than that. You didn’t get to where you are by simply walking away from a golden opportunity, right?” When he didn’t receive an immediate response, he added, “Or perhaps you’ve taken after your old man here.”

“Louis.” Alcee’s tone held a violent warning. “Whatever bad feelings you have for me, I can live with, but leave my son out of it.”

Louis ignored Alcee’s comment and looked dead at Marcel. “Maybe I don’t want just one dealership. What if I want all of BF Automotive? You’re willing to give that up, too?”

Leaning slightly, Marcel braced his hands on the edge of the desk, his voice so low he barely heard himself. “I’m willing to give up every penny I’ve got.”

Louis’s eyes narrowed and he exploded. “That’s a crock of bullshit, Baptiste, and you know it. No man with the power and wealth you’ve got wakes up one day and decides to walk away from it.”

Marcel flashed a flinty smile. Where Caitlyn was concerned, he’d go broke and become homeless before he’d let any harm come to her. “Try me.”

With his gaze narrowed, Louis steepled his hands in front of him. “You said there were two reasons you were here. What’s the second?”

Marcel took a seat. “I want you to hire Cole Mazzei.”

Louis was stymied. “How do you know him?”

A wry smile turned the corner of Marcel’s lips up. “I make it my business to know my enemies.”