Damen (The Marquette Family Book Two) (2 page)

“Free,” his uncle emphasized.

“Are you sure?”

Uncle Stefan smiled and winked. “Positive. Go on. Give it a try. Our chefs are the best in New Orleans.”

Gideon couldn’t help it. He stuffed the burger into his mouth and took a huge bite. Flavors he couldn’t figure out danced on his tongue, but it didn’t matter. All he knew was it was better than fast food and any of the restaurants his mother had taken him to in the past. He bit and chewed as fast as he could. Between bites, he stuffed French fries into his mouth and sipped his soda.

“I’m guessing it’s good,” Uncle Stefan teased.

“Yeah, thanks a lot.”

Then Gideon forgot the food entirely. One of the double doors with circle windows in it opened, and his dad appeared. Gideon followed him with his gaze as he stopped at various tables, talking with the customers, laughing with them. He shook the hands of the men and said something that made the women’s faces turn red, but they all looked happier after talking to his dad.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gideon saw his uncle leave the table. Uncle Stefan signaled to his dad, and the two stood together with their backs turned away from Gideon. Then the both of them looked around at him. Gideon slipped to the side, teetering on the edge of his seat. Why were they looking at him? Had they found him out? Had his mother called? No, that was impossible. She didn’t know where he was.

Both men started toward him. He jumped to his feet, a little dizzy. The thought to run washed over him, but just like outside when he first got there, he couldn’t move. What if… What if…

His dad stood before him, towering over him and smiling. He laid a heavy but gentle hand on top of Gideon’s curls. “Hey, there, bud.”

Bud? No one had ever called him bud. The word was weird, but it was okay, he guessed. Since it was his dad.

“Why don’t you have a seat and finish your food?”

Gideon swallowed and sank into his chair. To his surprise, his dad sat down too. Gideon ducked his head and fiddled with a fry, but then he peeked up at his dad. He looked exactly like his picture, maybe a little older. His hair was neater than in the picture, dark, and his glasses were smaller. He couldn’t believe his dad wore glasses. Maybe he should believe it. Gideon was supposed to, but he kept breaking or losing them. His vision wasn’t so bad now, but his mother said if he wasn’t careful, it would get worse. Gideon had always felt he looked like a nerd, but his dad didn’t look bad at all. Those women seemed to like him.

“What’s your name?” his dad asked. “I’m Damen.”

“D-Damen,” he said softly. His mother would kill him if he called her by her name. “My name’s Gideon.”

“Wow, cool name. I like it.”

“T-thanks.” Gideon ducked his head again, and to his disgust and shame tears fell down his cheeks. He scrubbed an arm across his eyes. What a wuss. Why the heck was he crying at a time like this? His dad would think he was an idiot.

“It’s okay.”

The deep voice settled him down somehow, and Gideon sniffed.

His dad squeezed his shoulder. “If you’re in trouble, we can help find you somewhere warm and dry.”

Gideon laughed. He had been mad when the woman near the door insulted him, but he didn’t blame his dad for thinking he was a bum. The jacket was pretty bad. “I’m not homeless. I’ve got a mom, and she’s nice most of the time, except when I do something stupid. Then she lectures me until I think my ears will bleed.”

His dad chuckled and crossed his eyes. “Moms are like that.”

A burst of joy rose in Gideon. He leaned forward. “What about dads? Do they lecture?”

His dad bent closer to him and looked around as if he was about to share something top secret. He put a hand next to his mouth to keep others from hearing. “Dads help start the stuff that make the moms lecture.”

Gideon’s eyes bugged. “You, too?”

“Me? Of course.”

“I knew it!” Gideon’s voice came out kind of hoarse, but he didn’t worry about it. He felt bolder, as if he could tell his dad the truth now that he’d met him. The two of them could get into all sorts of stuff just for fun, but most of all, his dad looked muscular enough to protect his mom. Maybe he was even as nice as his eyes looked so he would never hit her. That was the most important. Okay, he’d made his decision. He’d tell him right now. Gideon breathed deep a few times.

“I’m the best dad ever. Just ask my daughter. Right, Nita?”

Gideon hadn’t noticed the little girl walking over. She stood next to his dad, and his dad touched her back with one hand as she leaned dramatically over the table. Long, dark hair splayed on the table, and she groaned.

“Daddy, I’m hungry.”

Gideon blinked. Daddy? The article never mentioned he had a daughter. She looked younger than Gideon and neither black nor white. His dad was white, and his mom black, so he looked like a mix of the two, but this girl didn’t. Maybe she wasn’t his real daughter.

The girl raised her head and studied him. Gideon tried not to notice she had the same nose as him and his dad and the same lips. “Who’s this dirty boy, Daddy?”

“Who’s dirty?” Gideon snapped, balling his fists at his sides.

“Easy, you two,” his dad said. “Nita, don’t be rude. Gideon, I’m sorry. She gets a little cranky when she’s hungry. Nita, I’ll get Shada to make you something.”

“No,” the girl whined, “I want pizza.”

“I’m on duty, sweetheart, and I told you we would get pizza tomorrow night.”

“Pizza, now, Daddy! Why can’t we have pizza now?”

Gideon blinked over and over at her. He kept waiting for his dad to tell her to stop being a big baby. If he’d acted like that, all his mother would have to do was look at him with one eyebrow raised, and he’d pull himself together. No way would he test her the way this girl was doing.

Gideon didn’t like the girl, but as he watched, his dad bent over and kissed the top of Nita’s head while he rubbed her back. “Okay, you win. I’ll get one of the waiters to run out and get a pizza. You can eat it in the office so the customers don’t think we serve it here.”

“Yay!” Nita bounced up and down, grinning.

His dad drew her into his arms and hugged her tight. Gideon didn’t know why, but he felt like the world was crumbling around him. All of sudden, it seemed as if everyone laughing in the restaurant were laughing at him. A glass wall slammed down between him and his dad, keeping him on one side and his dad with Nita on the other. Gideon’s chest hurt.

His dad was saying something, but it was hard to hear. Gideon thought it might be “enjoy your meal” or whatever. His dad stood up, but he didn’t touch Gideon again. He just smiled, took Nita’s hand, and led her away from the table. Gideon watched them get farther and farther away. The restaurant grew bigger with each step. He dug into his pocket and threw all the money he had on the table and walked out of the restaurant.

Gideon pushed the ear buds into his ears and blasted his music. Before he put his phone away, he checked the texts. Just as he thought, his mom wanted to know where he was. He sniffed a few times and texted back.

“I’m fine.”

Another message came in, but he didn’t look at it. He dropped the phone into his pocket and started a slow pace toward home. The music flowed over him, and he let it sink in from his head to his body, and especially to that place deep down inside that was tight right now.

I won’t cry. I already did that. I’m not a sissy.

At least he had gotten to see his dad once. That would have to be enough. So they wouldn’t be a family. Big deal. His dad already had a kid, a little daughter, who even though Gideon hated her, was pretty. His dad had everything he needed, brothers, a kid, a business, and money. He didn’t need Gideon too or his mom.

A sob escaped Gideon, but he suppressed it. He tried to zip the jacket, but the two sides came apart from the bottom as soon as he reached the top. Maybe he should throw this thing away. He clutched it in his fists and ducked his head until his chin touched his chest. All he could do was watch his feet and keep walking.

His dad had talked to him. He had smiled and touched the top of Gideon’s head.
That’s enough.

Chapter Two

Heaven fired off another text and frowned when her son didn’t answer. Where the hell was he? Gideon knew better than to ignore her texts or her calls. She studied the screen of her phone a few minutes, waiting. Nothing. Of course, he could have his music blasting in his ears. He was famous for that, but she had gotten onto him about checking every so often.

Pissed, she bypassed the last box she needed to unpack and marched next door to his room. The disaster area that met her gaze wasn’t a surprise, but it did set her off even more. That scrawny butt boy had lied to her, saying he was almost done. Well, he could forget about Chinese food. Whatever they had at that tiny storefront down the street was what he was getting, and it wasn’t going to be fancy if she had to cook it.

She slipped into her shoes and stepped out of the apartment. Right away, the humidity of the South hit her, making it hard to breathe. The New Orleans weather would take some getting used to, but at least the winters would be milder. New York snow was no joke.

Heaven manipulated the screens on her phone until she came to the tracking app she had installed not too long ago. Gideon hated her having the ability to find him wherever he went, but too bad. He was eleven, and they were in a new city. That boy’s head was in the clouds a lot, and she wasn’t risking him being safe. Period. He could get over it. Besides, she didn’t follow him around, spying on him. The app was for times like now, when he didn’t answer her. Gideon could be stubborn just like his dad.

She had started walking down the street, but at the thought of Damen, she came to a stop. Her heart hammered for no reason.
Get a grip, Heaven.
This was why she had come to New Orleans in the first place, to finally tell Damen about his son. Over the years, she had been tracking him and knew about his marriage and the ending of it. Heaven knew about the little girl, Anita, and the restaurant. She wasn’t worried about Damen being able to love her baby as much as he loved his daughter. What concerned her was
would
he. Would Damen accept Gideon?

Heaven got moving again, following the little arrow that told her the direction of Gideon’s phone. She heaved a sigh. Right now, worried about Gideon and what he was doing, and Damen and whether he would accept Gideon, she couldn’t focus on the beauty of New Orleans. On some level, she was aware of how narrow Saint Louis Street was and how it seemed like every building had balconies with wrought iron railings and hanging plants to decorate them. There was a lot of history here and uniqueness of the South, but she had plenty of time to explore once she found her son and gave him a piece of her mind.

The closer Heaven drew to the arrow, she began to realize Gideon was moving in her direction, slower, but still making progress. She glanced up at the sky and caught sight of the sun dipping low on the horizon. A ball of orange, much less painful from its position but still beautiful, she realized it would be dark soon. Worry stirred in her. Gideon must be hungry. He ate like a horse but didn’t gain an ounce of weight. She was thin as well, but that had more to do with the relationship she had come out of. Gaining weight wasn’t an option.

She cringed, thinking of her ex-boyfriend. Now that she had made the move to New Orleans, she wondered how she had stood the abuse for so long. Maybe it was because Leon had never done it in front of Gideon. Her son didn’t know how bad it had gotten, and she had hidden the bruises from him and her dad, during the infrequent times she saw him.

At first, she’d wanted Gideon and her dad to have a relationship, but when it became clear it would never be normal just like her own relationship with her dad, she gave up. Always hoping something would give, she kept visiting the man, but he was cold and as distant as ever. That’s why she hoped with everything inside her that Gideon and Damen could meet and get along. Damen was different. Yeah, he was smart—a certified genius actually—but he had always been nice and kind of introverted. Damn, she had loved that man, and she couldn’t have asked anything more of the time they had spent together than to walk away with his baby. Gideon would be a reminder of him forever.

When the two arrows were about on top of each other, Heaven looked up and scanned the street. Gideon walked with his head down on the opposite side of the road. Heaven stepped around a parked car and checked for oncoming traffic before crossing over. She stood in Gideon’s path and let her son bump into her.

He staggered back and started around her. “Sorry.”

“Gideon!” She snatched a bud from his ear.

He jumped and raised his head. Heaven’s heart constricted when she saw the look in his big brown eyes, her eyes. Then he wrinkled his nose and the sadness disappeared. He hunched his shoulders the way he always did when he was guilty of something.

“Where have you been, boy?” she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, Mom. I was just walking around, looking at stuff. I got lost a little.”

“Lost!” She laid a hand on his shoulder and glanced in the direction he’d come from. Suddenly, she realized where they were, so close to Marquette’s she thought she could smell the food. No way would her son have gone there, would he? Of course not. He didn’t know who his dad was because she had never told him, and she was hiding the reason for their move until she met with Damen herself. This must be a coincidence. She sighed in relief, having eased her mind. “I told you not to go off without telling me where you’re going, Gideon. This isn’t New York. We had friends and neighbors who know us and who could look out for you. We don’t know anyone here.”

He opened his mouth, but then snapped it closed and lowered her gaze. “Yes, ma’am.”

“That’s what I thought.” She noticed his jacket and frowned. “Ugh, Gideon, how many times do I have to tell you to stop wearing that thing? If you’re going to hang on to it at least stop wearing it in the street. It makes me look like I don’t take care of you, and you have a brand new hoodie.”

“I know.” He seemed to consider what she said, which was a first, and it looked like he was remembering something. “You’re right.”

“I know I’m right.” She grinned. “I’m not going to force you to throw it away. Just have mercy on your mother for a change.”

“Okay.” His fingers fiddled with the ear buds, and she rolled her eyes. “Can I listen to my music now?”

“Fine. Go ahead.” They walked alongside each other with Heaven wrapping her arm around his narrow shoulders.

She stroked her son’s curls once before he could brush her hand away. The texture of it was softer and silkier than her own, although hers wasn’t bad with a little help from a flat iron. Gideon got his hair from a mixture of hers and Damen’s, but she suspected Damen’s hair grew a lot faster. That had to be the case as Gideon’s hair grew like a damn weed. He hated barbershops, so she didn’t take him as often as she would like to. Not that she minded much. She loved his hair and everything about her son’s appearance.

Gideon’s smooth skin was lighter than her chocolate brown but darker than his dad’s, even when Damen’s was tanned. To her eyes—a mother’s eyes—he was the cutest kid in the world, and she loved him with all her heart. Heaven would make any sacrifice for him, but she longed more than anything for him to get to know Damen.

Because she had loved Damen almost twelve years ago during their brief affair, she had never let either of the two men she had been with since get too close to her son. Maybe she had been wrong, but the last one, Leon, wasn’t worth Gideon’s affection either way. Everything would change with Damen.

* * * *

Heaven wrung her hands. They were moist, and she wiped them on her skirt but didn’t feel it did any good. Not when her underarms felt damp, putting her deodorant to the test, and her blouse stuck to her back. None of it had anything to do with the warm weather. In fact, with a cool breeze blowing off the Mississippi River, she should feel fine. She didn’t. Nerves threatened to send her screaming down the street like a maniac.

Not even that serious, Heaven.
She told herself that, but it did nothing to calm her down. The fact was, this was serious. She’d made the decision and was here outside Damen’s restaurant.

Thoughts like
what if he isn’t the same man
swirled through her head. Logic said of course he wasn’t the same. Everyone matured over the years, and Damen’s circumstances had altered drastically. Who hadn’t heard of money changing people? When she knew Damen, he’d been working his way through college. She learned later, that was just before his breakthrough when he started a stockphoto website with his brothers. Over the next decade, the company Damen and his brothers owned had made them billionaires. Talk about terrified of stepping out of the woodwork. She should have done it before he became rich.

Heaven noticed the sign again she had spotted the day before when her courage had failed her. Yesterday, she had come to the restaurant with the determination to march in and demand to see Damen. Then she’d seen the sign, saw the elegance, the important-looking clientele, and whatever backbone she had grown, burst into powder and blew away on the breeze. She had fled, but she had recalled seeing the Help Wanted sign for wait staff.

Could she? Should she? No, that was stupid. If she applied for a job as a waitress, Damen would recognize her right off the bat. Then she would look shady. Well, either way, she needed to get her butt inside and see what was what.

Heaven grabbed the door handle and opened the door. A breeze stirred her hair, and the scent of some type of meat wafted out, along with the scent of something sweet. She had expected to find a bunch of customers laughing and eating at the tables and waitresses whizzing about, but the place appeared empty. No music played, but she picked up the clink of dishes from somewhere behind the door with the porthole windows.

Heaven braved a few more steps into the restaurant and noted the sea of tables had their chairs upended on top of them, but at the far side of the room, a woman was taking them down and covering the tables with white tablecloths. Heaven might have come at a good time after all, when they weren’t so busy. Damen might have a minute to talk.

Voices reached her, and then the porthole windowed door opened. A man strode through, followed by several women. “This way. If you’ll all take a seat, we can get down to the interview.”

Heaven stilled. She recognized the man, although she had never met him in person. This was Creed, the oldest brother. Eyes that were identical to Damen’s but cold as ice focused on her. Whatever courage she’d dredged up earlier disappeared that quickly.

“You’re here for the interview?” he asked. “Join the others at the tables. I’ve already given a quick tour, the last place being the kitchen. If you were on time…”

Heaven floundered between telling him the truth and getting the heck out of there. His ugly attitude riled her temper, but she had learned over the years not to argue too much. Mouthing off got her hit. Not that she thought this man would do that to her, but he might be the abusive type. She had no idea.

“Hello?” he grumped.

A black woman in a chef’s uniform came from another direction and sashayed in front of Creed. She whacked him in the chest. “Jeez, you’re grumpy today. How do you think you’re going to get any of these applicants to want to work here? Get a grip.”

Several gasps rose from the scattered group, along with Heaven’s. The woman kept moving toward what Heaven realized now was the kitchen. Creed’s gaze followed her every step of the way, and Heaven drew in a sharp breath. She had never in her life seen a man look like that. For a few amazing moments, Creed had stared at the woman like she was his entire world, and even though the look wasn’t directed at Heaven, it stole her breath. He loved this woman, whoever she was. Heaven would give anything to have a man look at her like Creed had stared at the chef.

Maybe Heaven should wait a little bit longer to reveal herself.
It’s just curiosity, not me hoping he’ll be like…
She shut her thoughts down and rushed to grab a seat amid the other women. While Creed shuffled through some papers he held in a blue folder, he wasn’t watching all of them. Heaven peered around to find every one of the women there to be interviewed checking their hair and makeup.

Are they serious?
She shook her head. This was a job, not a bride selection ceremony. She kicked herself mentally for being a hypocrite. The Marquettes were gorgeous, single men, and even if Heaven hadn’t been in the market for a man, she noticed too. In fact, she knew something inside her strained for the moment when Damen showed himself.

She didn’t think she still loved him or anything. Those feelings had died down years ago, but he would probably always hold a special place in her heart because he was Gideon’s father.

Creed looked up from his papers and cleared his throat. The murmur that had risen with his distraction quieted down. “Uh, I apologize for my earlier gruffness,” he said, surprising Heaven with his honesty. “My fiancée keeps me in line, as you can see.”

Several grumbles of disappointment rose in various directions. Heaven kept quiet.

“If you are hired here at Marquette’s,” Creed continued, “you should know we’re fair and generous. That is my and my brothers’ policy. However, if you’re the sensitive type, it might not be a good fit.”

He had the nerve to look sheepish, and the kitchen door opened to emit another man. He slapped Creed on the back. “Yes, because Shada isn’t around him twenty-four seven, you’ll have to learn he’s all bark and no bite. Don’t worry, though. I’ll look out for you all. I’m Damen Marquette, by the way.”