Lovers and Takers (24 page)

“Isn’t it fantastic, Daddy?” Pam finally looped him back into their conversation.
 
“Aubrey is going to be so happy!”

Jake looked at his daughter.
 
Surely she knew that her brother harbored nothing but contempt for their mother after the way she left the family.
 
Surely she understood that much?
 
But he didn’t try to school her here.
 
“Yes, it’s wonderful,” Jake said.
 
“I just wonder why?”

“I need a change, that’s why,” Dena replied.
 
This reunion wasn’t going as she had hoped.
 
Her big eyes and tight ass apparently wasn’t going to be enough to woo him over this time.
 
She still was going to try that ass on him for size, but she knew she had better assume plan B would need to be executed should she fail.
 
As, she feared, it was looking more and more likely.

Especially the way Jake wasn’t letting her get away with her usual bullshit.
 
“A change from what?” he asked her.

“From Colorado,” she said.

Pam frowned.
 
“Colorado?” she asked.
 
“What’s in Colorado?”

“I’ve been living there for the past year, dear,” Dena said.

Jake just looked at her.
 
Was this woman for real?
 
She seemed to be living in another state, town, or country every other year.

“But you never told me that,” Pam said.
 
“Whenever I’d call and talk with you, never once did you mention you were back in the
States.
”

“I know.
 
It just never occurred to me to mention it.”

“But I could have visited you.”

“I didn’t mention it, Pam, all right?
 
It’s not as if it matters now.”

Jake stared at her as the old Dena began to emerge.
 
Anytime she was confronted with her own sick reality, she clawed.

“Hello all,” a voice could be heard entering the room and all eyes turned toward the door.
 
When Aubrey looked up from the orange juice and newspaper he was carrying, and saw, not just his father and sister, but his mother, he stopped in his tracks.
 

Dena’s heart hammered too when she saw her son.
 
It had been years.
 
She knew his resentment, his bitterness, and even his hatred had everything to do with the fact that he saw what happened the night Jake walked in on her and her lover.
 
Unlike Pam, who was just five and never knew shit because none of them ever told her exactly why mommy and daddy were divorcing, Aubrey knew the whole story.
 
And he’d known it since he was eleven.
 
Worming her way back into his heart was going to be just as tricky as worming her way back into Jake’s.

“What are you doing here?” Aubrey asked her bitterly.

Pam was aghast.
 
“Aubrey, what’s the matter with you?
 
Don’t talk to mommy like that!”

Aubrey didn’t know how else to talk to her.
 
“How am I supposed to talk to her?
 
I mean, school me, sis, because I don’t know.”
 
Jake stared at his son.
 
“What do you say to a mother who did nothing in your entire life but give you her ass to kiss?
 
Thanks for the ass?”

“Aubrey!” Pam yelled.

“How dare you talk to me like
that!
” Dena blared.

But Jake just stared at his son.
 
He knew the pain he was feeling, and the anguish, and the bitterness and resentment.
 
He knew what that kind of hate felt like, because a part of him still felt it, too.

Aubrey walked up to the mobile tray Hudson had set up beside the sofa, put the orange juice and newspaper on top of it, and walked out of the house.

Pam looked at her father, worried.

Jake leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
 
“I’ll take care of him,” he said, and began leaving, too.

Dena, astounded by this sudden turn of events, walked over to large living room window and watched as father caught up with son, hugged him in the middle of the driveway, and then walked with him, arm in arm, toward his automobile.
 

Tears welled up in Dena’s eyes as she watched them.
 
She lost so much when she left her family.
 
Not only was Jake the best man she’d ever known, her children once loved her and adored her.
 
But all she loved and adored was
herself
.
 
And any other man who agreed with her.
 
Now fourteen years and bad relationship after bad relationship after terrible relationship, she was running back to where she started.
 

JoNathan, the man Jake had caught her screwing all those years ago, the man she was willing to leave her devoted husband and children over, didn’t last a year.
 
And that was one of her longest and best relationships.
 
She used and abused the best.
 
And when she got older, and needed the stability of love and companionship, she was used and abused by the best.
 

The tears dropped freely as reality set in.
 
She gave up crystal clear diamonds, she now realized, for glass.

Jake drove his Audi onto Roni’s driveway, walked around to the passenger side, and helped her out.
 
They had had dinner together on Jake’s first night back from Russia, but it had been a decidedly subdued affair.
 
Jake seemed distracted the entire time, and looked pretty worn to Roni.
 
She had wondered, given their less-than-enthusiastic reunion, if he was having second thoughts about their relationship.
 
Nothing was settled in Russia.
 
In fact, he was the one who had said they would take it one day at a time.
 
But she didn’t bring it up.
 
Somehow she felt as if he was working some things out in his head, and he would share his concerns with her only after he had reached whatever conclusion he had to reach on his own.

He placed his arm around her waist as he quietly walked her to her front door.
 
When she unlocked her door and opened it, she turned toward him.

“Would you care to come in?” she asked him.

Jake looked at her with weary eyes, and pulled her into his arms.
 
“Yes,” he said honestly, as he kissed her on the lips.
 
“But I can’t,” he added as they released.
 
“I’m going to go back to the office and see if I can get some paperwork done.”

“Oh, Jake, you’re exhausted,” Roni said, sincerely concerned.
 
“You’ve got to get some rest.
 
You can review those papers in the morning.”

Jake appreciated her concern.
 
It had been a long, long time since a woman had shown that level of concern for him.
 
Dena certainly never did.
 
He pulled her into his arms again.
 
“I know, babe, but I’ve been away so long.”

But her face still showed worry.
 
“You aren’t getting enough rest.
 
You’ve been negotiating well into midnight every night for nearly two months.
 
You aren’t some teenager, Jake, who can run around on such little sleep.”

Jake smiled, revealing a little more of his age.
 
“What, are you trying to call me an old man?”

“Of course not.
 
I’m no kid myself.”
 
Then she looked sidelong at him, jokingly.
 
“How old are you, anyway?”

Jake laughed again.
 
“Old enough to know I’d better get away from you,” he said.
 
And then his look turned serious. “Before I can’t,” he added.

Roni look was now serious too.
 
She placed a hand on the side of his face.
 
“Good night, Jake,” she said.

Jake touched her hand with his own hand.
 
And he wondered if he had already reached that point of no return.

“Maybe I’ll shower here,” he said, “get a little sleep, and then go to the office bright and early in the morning.”

Roni stared into his eyes.
 
They were going down yet another road that may lead nowhere.
 
It was just that it didn’t feel dead end.
 
“Maybe I’ll shower with you,” she said, “and we both can get a little sleep.”

Jake felt a profound sense of warmth toward this woman, and happiness, as they stepped into her home, and closed the door.

   
“
Jake
!!!” Roni cried out as Jake’s dick kept slamming into her pussy and causing her to splay her hands against the shower stall and cry out in joy.
 

They were approaching the throes of cum.
 
All that could be heard was flesh slapping flesh as the water rained down on both of them.
 
It was a rough love session and they both wanted it that way.
 
Because it felt
so
good as he pounded her.
 
She felt the friction to the roots of her hair as he thrashed her.
 
Until she could hold off no longer, and her entire body began to clench in release.
 
And he released too, inside of her.
 
And then he fell against her wet, brown body, completely sated, and completely drained.

THIRTEEN

Roni relaxed in the park across the street from the Wingate Law Center and tried to enjoy the breeze.
 
She tried to make it her business to get away from the confines of the office a few times every week, feed the pigeons, and decompress.
 
Of course she always brought work out there with her, and today was no exception as she had witness statements to review, but the fresh air was a welcome departure from the stuffiness of the office.
 
It had already been a hectic day.

The best part of her day, however, was the morning.
 
Jake had stayed over and slept so peacefully for hours, and then they showered together.
 
The thought of his hands on her still excited her.
 
She could get used to him easily, she thought.
 
And then she smiled and sipped from the bottled water.
 
Stop dreaming
, Roni, she said aloud, and pulled out the folder containing her witness statements.

As she read those statements, Kara’s Mercedes drove up and stopped at the curb in front of the law center.
 
She knew Roni’s afternoon habit so before she headed in, she looked across the street.
 
When she saw her cousin sitting there, feeding pigeons and reviewing papers, she grabbed her Dior bag, got out of her car, and dodged traffic as she made her way to Roni’s side.

“Hey, pigeon lady,” she said as Roni looked up.
 
“You are so predictable.”

“Why aren’t you at work?” Roni asked her.

Kara plopped down on the bench beside Roni.
 
“Aubrey got on my nerves so I just took the rest of the day off.”

“Took the day off?
 
With permission?”

“What do you mean with permission?
 
I’m the boss’s girlfriend.
 
What permission I need?”

Ron shook her head.
 
“You’re wrong for that, Kara.
 
Even though you may be dating Aubrey, that doesn’t give you the license to feel entitled.
 
You need to get in that car and take yourself back to work.”

“I’m not thinking about those people,” Kara said, folding her arms.

Roni sat the papers aside.
 
“Okay, give me the scoop.
 
What did Aubrey do this time?”

“Last night he came to my house acting all sad.
 
I asked him what was wrong, and he wouldn’t tell me anything.
 
But I bet it involves some skanky female somewhere.”

“A female?
 
Aubrey?
 
I don’t think so, Kara.”

“Then why didn’t he tell me what was wrong with him?
 
We used to talk about everything.
 
Now he acts as if he doesn’t know me.
 
I’m tired of it!”

“He’ll tell you in his own time, Kay-Kay.
 
Don’t badger the boy.”

“Then that boy had better start acting right or. . .”

“Or what?”
Roni asked.

“Or he’d better start acting right,” Kara said.
 
She wanted to tell Roni about her deal with Druce, but she didn’t go there.
 
Roni could be so sanctimonious sometimes.
 
She wouldn’t understand.