Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (105 page)

Seconds
later, rain began to fall in large splats against the limo, and
Morgan moved closer to Julius when the car was lit by another flash
of light. Thunder nearly shook the vehicle as the driver pulled from
front of the building, and into thick traffic. “Looks like
everyone is leaving the city.” Morgan spoke softly, mostly to
herself, as the limo inched by one car after another in a near
deadlock of traffic. She felt Julius move slightly, and realized
that he wasn't listening to her anyway. She cleared her throat, but
he still wouldn't look at her.

Five
minutes later, they still hadn't spoken, and by then, there was
hardly any visibility outside, but Morgan knew exactly where they
were headed.
We are going to Mannie's house.
It was the same
path she'd taken on the scooter, and as they pulled into the long
driveway, Morgan sighed. She hadn't really expected to go to Julius'
home, but she also hadn't fully expected to spend the week at
Manuel's home either.
You guys really thought about this, didn't
you?
She was wondering where Manuel was, when the driver opened
the door, and a wall of rain hit both Julius and Morgan.

“Oh
shit! That's cold! That's really cold!” Morgan giggled and
playfully pushed Julius out of the back seat, so she could climb out.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” She folded her arms around her
chest, and ran toward the front door. The temperature had dropped at
least twenty degrees, and the rain felt like ice, hitting her skin.
It was when she reached the front porch, that she realized, all of
her things were in her hotel room. “Ju..Julius...my...my
things...are at...my hotel. We...have to go..back.” Morgan was
shivering so badly, she could barely speak.

“Right,
I didn't even think about that!” Julius quickly ran his fingers
though his hair. His shirt clung to his chest and stomach, and Morgan
could see the definition of muscles through the thin material.
Sweet
baby Moses.
Morgan swallowed hard and nodded, prying her eyes
away from his body. “Come in, I'll find you something warm and
we can go back out.” Morgan nodded again, and followed Julius
inside the mansion. “Wait here.”

Morgan
watched as he ran up the spiral staircase, and heard him yelling
something in Spanish, to someone she could not see. A few moments
later, he was running back down the steps, with two shirts tucked
under his arm.

“Here,”
he held a sweater out for Morgan, and she smiled as she took it from
his grasp.
Fire. Fire goes with this.
She stifled a giggle, as
Julianne's voice ran through her mind. An argyle sweater, that was
maroon, orange, blue and gray and the feel of it reminded her of the
fuzzy green carpet on a miniature golf course. “I know, it's
ugly, but it's warm as hell.” He gave Morgan a little smile,
and both of them put their ugly sweaters on over their heads. “You
ready?”

Morgan
looked down at herself and giggled, then back up at Julius. “Yep!
I'm sorry to ask to go back out in this, I would just love to take a
shower and...”

They
heard a car door, and both of them looked toward the front door.
Julius was the first to make a move, and he ran to the window to see
who was there. “Fuck!” He turned around, and Morgan
watched, as the color drain from his face.

“What's
wrong? Who is it?” Was Manuel back? That wouldn't be that bad.
Morgan stepped back as Julius did, his gaze not moving from the front
door. “Julius...”

“Fuck.
This...this isn't supposed to happen. I have to...” Hide. He
was going to suggest that they hide somewhere, but he knew that would
not only sound ridiculous, but it would be impossible. “They're
coming. Fuck.”

He
took another step back, just as the knob began to turn. In a flash,
the door flew open with the wind, and in walked an older couple. That
moment allowed Morgan to finally see where the men got their looks.
They were a beautiful blend of Peruvian and African. The traits in
their father, whom they looked just like, showed in his every
feature. Morgan found herself wondering what their mother had looked
like, and if her beauty was just as breathtaking.

The man saw Morgan first, then his eyes moved to Julius.
Anger.
It
was the only word that came to Morgan's mind, to describe the
expression that resolved across the old man's face.
Oh shit.

“Julius?”
It was more of a snarl, than a question, and the words had come from
the bright orange-red lips of the woman. “I told you I never
wanted to see you again!”

“Yeah.
Likewise.” Julius didn't miss a beat, and Morgan felt his hand
tightly grasp around hers.

The
man was the next one to speak. “You're just a mutt on the
street. Nobody wants you, but once in a while, you'll find someone to
give you a place to stay during a bad storm and feed you some scraps.
God damn worthless!”

“I
don't know who you are, but you will not speak to him like that!”
Morgan let go of Julius' hand and poked the older man in the chest.
“You apologize right now!”

The
thunder of laughter that came next was infuriating. “Julius, my
boy, do me a favor and shut your whore up before I...”

“BEFORE
YOU WHAT?” Morgan took another step forward, and Julius grabbed
her around the waist, and pulled her back. She was stronger than he
anticipated, and Morgan was free within seconds. “Tell me,
before you what?!” She was inches from the still-snarling
man's face, and the woman took a few steps back.

“Like
I said,” Julius' father merely walked around Morgan and toward
the stairs, “get your whore and go. Your mother and I will be
staying here until our flight is rescheduled. Goodbye, Julius.”

“She's
not my mother.” Julius spoke to the backs of his father and
step-mother, and neither of them turned around. Morgan thought of
following them, to tell them both that they needed to apologize. Or,
she thought as she smiled, to trip them both back down the stairs.

“Thanks,
Rocky...but we should go.” Morgan turned and faced a smiling
Julius. “Or..,” his head turned once again toward the
stairs, “maybe I should let you do whatever it is you're
thinking of doing.” Morgan giggled, she was never any good at
hiding her thoughts.

It
also could have been her wide stance, her hands on her hips that were
clenched into fists, or the glare of death that she had been giving
the empty stairs. At that moment, however, it didn't matter. They
both pulled their sweaters off at the same time and laughed. “Here's
your god-awful sweater back!” Morgan shouted up the stairs as
she tossed it to the ground.

With
no further thought, the two of them opened the door and ran out to
the porch. It was then that they realized that they had a whole new
problem.

“Shit!”
Julius shouted over the rain that was already flooding the front
lawn. The limo was gone, his car was at his house, and Manuel was
most likely on his way to California right then. Julius took his
phone out and called his brother anyway, just in case. “Mannie!
Man, you have to come and get us.” Julius gave his brother
the short version of what had happened, and was relieved to find out
that Manuel's flight had also been delayed. “Thanks, man. I
owe you big for this.”

Morgan
wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered to the point of being
painful. At that second, the storm intensified even more. “How
long will it take him to get here?”

“What?!”

“How
long?!” Morgan was practically screaming her question from six
inches away from his face. He shook his head as another loud boom of
thunder shook the porch beneath them. It no longer mattered what she
was saying, all he knew was that they had to get off of the porch,
and find somewhere to wait for the limo that Mannie promised to send
back to the house to get them. Fortunately for them, the driver was
still only a few minutes from the house.

Julius
grabbed her hand and pulled her to the yard where they sloshed
through the several inches of water, all the way to the road. There
was no shelter, and Morgan thought instantly of her grandmother when
she wished for at least a tree to stand under.
Sorry, Gran...I
know..don't stand under trees during a storm.
Morgan wiped the
water from her face as more rain beat against her skin. Yes, she
thought, she would absolutely stand under a tree right then.
“There!” Julius still didn't hear her, but Morgan was
pointing to salvation that was heading their way. The limo had
returned, and they both took a few steps out into the street as it
pulled up in front of them.

Both
were laughing by the time they were both trying to squeeze into the
back seat at the same time. Julius won the small battle, but not by
much. The driver had only opened his door to assist them, then
closed it again when his passengers fell into the back in a giggling
heap of sopping laughter.

Julius
sat up and flung his head back and forth like a wet Labrador, then
told the driver where to take them. His house. It was the only
option he had, and it suddenly no longer mattered that his lie was
being exposed to the beautiful, Morgan Holland.

“So,”
Morgan grabbed her bangs with both hands, at least what was left of
them, and flung them dramatically to the back of her head, “your
parents seemed nice.” The laughter started all over again, and
didn't stop until they reached the tiny house, on the tiny street,
that Julius called home.

Chapter
Eleven

“Uh,
this is it.” Julius looked over to Morgan, his breathing still
heavy from the minutes of laughter that had passed. Thankfully, his
house wasn't far from Manuel's, because the roads we're beginning to
flood, more and more. Morgan knew she wouldn't be going to her hotel
that night to get her things, but she was okay with that.

She
smiled back, and once more, followed Julius out of the back of the
limo, then the two of them ran to the front door of the tiny house
together. Morgan saw the ugly green car, and a larger smile fell
across her lips.
I can't believe he brought me here, but I'm glad.

“Home,
sweet, home,” Julius announced with a wave of his arm, and
guided Morgan into his home. The scent of apples and cinnamon was the
first thing Morgan noticed when she walked inside, and the second
thing that caught her attention was an iguana, longer than her leg.

“Holy
shit, Julius! What do you feed that thing?”

“High
end call girls, mostly.” Julius winked at Morgan and walked
over to the large rock the lizard was perched upon, and picked him
up. It was fun to watch, as Julius carried the big boy back to his
habitat, on the other side of the small living room. He stayed in a
tank that took up the whole length of the far wall, and almost half
the height.

“You
made that, didn't you?” Julius nodded at Morgan's question, and
she gasped in awe. The habitat was beautiful, and Morgan knew, that
was one happy lizard. “That's amazing, Julius. It's a beautiful
little home for the guy. What's his name?”

“Claudia,”
Julius answered as he washed his hands in the kitchen. “Yes,
she's a girl,” he went on when Morgan's head tilted to the
left, as if she were looking to see if the reptile were anatomically
correct.
Lizards don't have balls. Do they?
She giggled at her
own question, and walked over to the worn couch, and ran her fingers
across a large hole in the armrest. “I found her eleven years
ago, she was much smaller then,” Julius was still in the
kitchen. “It was kind of funny, I'm not sure how, but she had
managed to get a twig stuck in her mouth and it was just, you know,
kind of holding her mouth open like this,” Julius walked out
into the living room to demonstrate, but seeing the beautiful woman,
sitting on such an ugly couch, made him forget all of his words. “I
guess I need to explain, don't I?”

Morgan's
brows arched with sympathy, and she bit down on the corner of her lip
and she stood and shook her head, slowly back and forth. “I...”
Morgan shook her head again, and took a few steps forward. “I
already know. I know everything. I know about Manuel's account. I
knew about his house, this house,” Morgan looked around the
room and shrugged her shoulders. “I...I saw...” She took
another deep breath. Telling someone you had stalked them, wasn't
exactly easy. “I was already here for a few days, and I went to
your house, Manuel's house, just to, well, to see who you were.”