Double Trouble (7 page)

Cherise’s face lit up as she smiled. “Yes, just turned two and is a terror. He’s at daycare for half a day, Lenora’s in school. I didn’t bring him this time, I wanted to meet Pam first make sure she had a good impression of me before releasing my brood on you guys. But I’d like to invite the two of you over for a cook-out, nothing fancy, just some food on the grill and light company. But the kids will be there running around.”

“Kids are fine, and it sounds like fun. We’d love to come,” Pam said, grinning. “I have a recipe for a carrot cake I’ve been dying to make, that’d be the perfect opportunity.”

“Are you a foodie?” Cherise asked with way too much excitement for Belinda, who cooked rather than starve.

“Yes, I enjoy cooking, it relaxes me,” Pam said as she took her seat at the table.

“Me too,” Denise said. “The girls prefer my baking, but I love trying new recipes.”

Belinda met Vianca’s amused smile. “Not me,” she said softly. “Not my thing. Smoke’s pretty good in the kitchen though.”

Recognizing a kindred spirit, Belinda picked up her water glass and saluted Vianca.

“Ladies, enjoy your lunch,” Julio said after placing a quick kiss on his wife’s lips. He nodded to them and left the room.

Vianca watched him walk away and sighed, loud and long. “I don’t know which one of them has the best ass, Smoke or Julio.”

“Neither, Ross has the best ass,” Cherise said before popping a cherry tomato in her mouth from her salad.

“Wrong on all counts, ladies. Red’s ass is smackably delicious,” Denise said with a wicked grin.

Belinda’s hand flew up to cover her mouth as she choked. “Smackably?” She groaned as they all broke out laughing. Oh yeah, this group of ladies were beyond cool.

Chapter 5

Donald tossed the pebble into the pond and watched the rippling of the water. After all these years, Belinda Moore was front and center in his mind again. The name tasted alien, even in his thoughts. He had always called her Lindy. His sweet Lindy had left seventeen years ago to visit her godmother in Georgia somewhere and then blew them off without a word or backwards glance. Many nights he had laid awake wondering if seeing him and his twin go at it that day in the park had scared her to the point she couldn’t face them. That didn’t fit the Lindy he had loved, but what else could it have been?

The fight never should’ve happened.

She had been honest and upfront with the two of them. He and Blaine had discussed the both of them dating her and agreed it would be okay. But no matter what she said, he always felt she liked Blaine’s easy going personality better. It seemed the places Blaine took her made her laugh more than the sporting events or the small jazz clubs where he took her. In his mind, he didn’t receive the same lighthearted responses. At that time it never occurred to him it was the places they visited that had created her reactions. He’d been blinded by jealousy that day he saw Blaine pushing her in the swing. Her joyous laughter reached him and the green monster went to work. Before his mind could process what to do next, his feet moved and he stood in front of the surprised couple.

Not once did she turn on him, instead she smiled at him, inviting him silently to enjoy her pleasure. But at the time, he didn’t interpret anything in such simple terms. No. He saw another man bringing his woman joy and it pissed him off. Every conversation he and Blaine ever had regarding their relationships with her flew out the window. He had stepped closer to his brother and grabbed his hand to stop him from touching Lindy. Of course, Blaine took exception to his attitude and pushed him away.

Equally matched, the pushing and shoving escalated to fists being thrown and wrestling on the ground while Lindy yelled at them to stop. By the time they were too winded to continue and stopped throwing punches, she had left the park. His father locked both of them down the next few days, preventing him from going to her and apologizing since she did not answer his calls.

After three days of lengthy lectures from their dad and Uncle Nate on the proper actions of O’Connor men, they were allowed to leave the house again. He’d driven like a crazed man to her home, where her older brother told them she had gone to visit her godmother in Georgia. He remembered she had told him of the visit but with everything going on, he had forgotten. With Lindy out of town, he and Blaine had their first real heart to heart on allowing women or anyone to come between them. Having similar tastes in almost everything, it wasn’t that surprising that they had fallen in love with the same woman, but the fallout was too great to ever repeat what happened with Lindy. From that day, if it appeared there might be a problem with a female, he nipped the relationship in the bud.

“Why did you leave?” He whispered the question on the airwaves. More importantly, he wondered why she hadn’t contacted him, not once, in seventeen years. He had talked to her friends and no one had heard from her. Was she ashamed of the pregnancy? Is that why she cut everyone off? It boggled his mind that she had a baby, and possibly went through that alone. If only she had called, he and Blaine would have been at her side every step of the way.

“Megan and Cameron are waiting for you in the dungeon, they said you told them to meet you there…should I tell them to go to their rooms?”

Donald nodded. He wasn’t in the mood to play with the servants. No doubt they would be disappointed, but he never wielded a paddle or whip when his head wasn’t engaged. And right now his thoughts were in Michigan with a deceitful bitch. He threw another pebble.

Donald glanced over his shoulder at Blaine, who spoke softly on his cell.

“You okay?” Blaine asked.

“No. But that’s not important. I did some research on Belinda. There’s no information on her after she left here, it’s like someone wiped away those years. Nothing until ten years ago. She worked in Social Services.” He chuckled at the image of someone trying to sell her a load of BS and her calling them on the carpet.

“Yeah, I saw that.”

Donald smiled. “You checked her out too?” He wasn’t surprised, for the most part he and Blaine thought so much alike it shocked people.

“Yeah. I came out here to share what I got. She joined some type of religious cult not long after she left us. She stayed with them for years, that’s probably why the information is so sketchy. She must have home-schooled her son, because I found no public records of him.”

Donald nodded. “Must’ve been a self-contained group who educated their kids on-site.” The idea had merit. “At least she wasn’t alone.”

“No…no she wasn’t. But I can’t see her in a cult, following rules, withholding her opinions, allowing others to provide a roadmap for her.” Blaine stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I guess she didn’t have much of a choice, huh?”

Releasing a long stream of air, Donald shook his head. “No and that…that bugs the hell out of me.” He gazed at his brother. “Why didn’t she contact me? Or You? Why put herself through all of that? She had to know either one of us would be there for her.”

“I plan to ask her that when I see her,” Blaine said. “But first I’d like for us to go over a few things.”

Donald turned and faced him head on. “Okay.”

“Can we agree not to tell her straight-out about our lifestyle? If she is interested in either of us, then that might be the time to share what we’ve been up to the last ten years.”

“You scared it might make her run?”

Blaine shrugged. “It might.”

“I’ve never hid who we are before. Everyone I’ve met could either accept me as I am or kiss my ass. I’m not changing that for anyone,” Donald said meeting Blaine’s gaze. “I can’t believe you asked me to do that.”

“I want a shot at a relationship with my son or your son.”

Donald stared at him as the full impact of what Blaine hinted at hit him. “There’s nothing wrong with…” He exhaled and thought of the men and women who served them. Not everyone understood the non-sexual relationships they had with their servants. But the idea of dominance and submission was a gray area for a lot of people. “Okay, I see where you’re coming from. Although… the boy is at an age that the courts will allow him to have a say in where he goes.”

“Courts? You plan to flash the idea of going to court in front of Lindy?”

“It might be necessary. Obviously she wanted nothing to do with us, but if that’s my son she’s been hiding, I want him to know the real me. And I will do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.”

Blaine shook his head and turned to the side. “You can’t bully her, that’s not going to make him want to know who you are or spend time with you. You’d shoot anyone who did that to mom.”

“True. So what if she continues lying? What should I do if she refuses to allow us to see the kid? Just let it slide? Wish her another happy fifteen years?” His scowl deepened just thinking of any of those possible scenarios and he knew he’d sue his former lover in a heartbeat if she tried to keep his son from him despite what Blaine said.

The silence between them grew.

“We have to wait and listen to what she has to say. If the child is old enough to apply for work in construction, he has an opinion on what he wants. That’s all I’m saying. We’re not even sure how much we’ll have to deal with her yet. But I don’t want us to get there and be all defensive. That won’t help the situation. No need to tell everything.”

Donald nodded. His twin was right. “Okay. I’m good as long as everybody’s cool.” Hesitating, he glanced at Blaine. “What if there’s still something there? What if she’s available and still interested?” He released a breath as he forced out the crux of his dilemma. “What if she wants both of us?”

“Won’t be the first time a woman has wanted that,” Blaine said sardonically.

“True, but Lindy is the only woman
I
have ever wanted like that. So what do we do?”

Blaine shrugged. “It’s ladies choice.”

Donald ground his teeth. It was the knowledge that his twin was not deliberately being evasive, as a financial analyst Blaine rarely spoke in absolutes when it came to future events, which kept him from snapping. “I’m aware of that. But the last time we tried to share her affections it caused us problems, I don’t want that to ever happen again.”

He met his brother’s gaze. “This time we’re older, and hopefully wiser. We both fell in love with the same woman and she loved us. If, and this is a big if…there is still something there, I propose we look at this as a poly relationship, especially with a child involved. At the appropriate time, we can explain to her how it all works and see if she would be interested. Other than that, I don’t see how it will work.”

Since he had been thinking along those lines himself, Donald nodded. Neither man spoke. It seemed incredible that after all this time he would finally get some closure on what he quietly admitted to himself, had been the roughest patch of his life.

“I loved her. But I also hated her for ripping my heart out when she kicked me aside. Seeing her again is raking all of that up again. I don’t like being unsure of what’s going on inside me,” Blaine said into the silence.

“Yeah, me neither. I didn’t find any pictures of her, you?”

“No. Not yet. I guess my guy would have to travel or send someone to Flint. I don’t want to spook her. Red sent another message that the kid signed up with another mentor,” Blaine said softly. “Just as well, I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Donald exhaled hoping to dispel the butterflies that had taken flight in his belly.

Chapter 6

Donald glanced at the house numbers on the large two story dwelling and exhaled before glancing at Blaine. “This is the address Red gave us.”

“Yeah.” Blaine remained in the passenger seat, staring at the house.

“Ready?”

“Give me a minute.” Blaine shifted in his seat as he continued to gaze at the building. “A son, it’s possible he’s inside. I need a sec to process that.”

Donald nodded. His stomach had been twisted in knots since last night. Not only would he confront a run-away lover, but there was a possibility that he’d meet his son. Silence settled comfortably between them as they gazed ahead.

“Who’s that?” Blaine asked, pointing at an older woman who'd stepped outside and headed toward a parked vehicle in the driveway.

Donald opened his door. “I don’t know.” He straightened his short-sleeved collarless shirt and headed toward the female. He heard the other car door close behind him.

“Hello, ma’am,” Donald said in a lowered voice when he was still a short distance from the woman. Her head snapped up as her eyes narrowed.

“What?” She wrapped her arm around her waist and took a step backward.

He held his palms up and offered her his best smile. “Sorry to startle you, my brother and I are here to talk to Lindy.”

Her brows furrowed as she glanced over his shoulder and then met his gaze again. “Lindy? Who is that?”

He smiled as he shook his head. “Belinda.”

The landscape of the older woman’s face changed as she smiled. “That’s sweet, you call her that.” She chuckled and relaxed. “You just missed her, she went to the library down the street.” She pointed to the left. “If you go down this street, make a right, then go a few blocks and turn left, you should see it. Can’t miss it.”