Safeword (14 page)

Mason looked speculative for a moment. “Give him a job. I didn’t think of that one. I’ll talk to casino management tomorrow and see if I can work something out. Thanks, Ben.”

“Don’t mention it.”

As if on some shared signal, Sandra and Ma began to gather the dishes around them, stacking them for clearing. Myah, Ben, and I took a cue from them and followed suit.

Cole cleared his throat. “Uh, before everyone scatters, there’s something I want to say.”

All eyes turned to him, curious. Even Marcie and Annalise stopped their butter knife sword fight at the nervousness in Cole’s voice. We waited while he took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“The last couple years have been pretty tough on this family. The four of us have grown up with certain expectations, and I think each of us has found a way to live within those expectations and still be happy. Sure, we’ve rebelled some, and we’ve pushed back when we needed to, but at the bottom of it, we all want what’s best for each other. After watching what Gavin’s gone through in the last year and a half, I’ve also realized, even if we do unexpected things, we’re all still here for each other. We’ve got each other’s backs. I should have seen it all along, considering you’ve supported me even though I’ve skirted what’s expected of me as much as I could.

“For years, you’ve all wondered if I’d ever settle down, do the family thing, or if I’d stay the black sheep forever. Ma, I know you’ve worried about me, and to tell you the truth, I thought I was doing fine on my own. But Gavin, seeing you get control of your life again and find someone who makes you happy while being yourself got me thinking. I realized, as long as I was with the right person, I can be me and it isn’t so much ceding control of my future as it is sharing it.”

He reached for Myah’s hand and looked at her with such adoration, I couldn’t help but smile. Was he really doing this? Here?

“Myah, you’re the right person. I like who I am when I’m with you. My family loves you, and when we’re together, I don’t want to be anywhere else. I also see every day how easily such things can be taken away, and after Gavin and Ben’s ordeal, I see how much
time
I’ve wasted paying more attention to going my own way than listening to those who love me to see if they’re right that I should want more. They are right. I do want more.”

His chair scraped the hardwood as he pushed it back and knelt on the floor, still holding Myah’s hand. There were gasps around the table, and a pin dropping would have detonated in an explosion of sound.

“Myah, whatever time I have, I want to spend with you. I want the world to know you’re the person who makes me happiest. Will you marry me?”

He pulled a ring box from his pocket, and with shaking hands, cracked it open and presented it to her. We all stared at her face, stunned and unmasked in a way Myah rarely showed. She was astonished, touched beyond belief, and utterly, completely in love with my brother. She tried to speak, swallowed, tried to speak again and failed. Cole’s already tensed shoulders inch toward his ears while the silence stretched. Beneath the table, Ben grabbed my hand and laced our fingers, his thumb stroking mine. I gripped back tight, waiting with the rest of my family for her answer.

When it was clear she wouldn’t be able to speak, she plucked the ring from the box, her hands trembling so violently I thought she might drop it in the mashed potatoes on her plate. But it slid safely onto her finger, the diamond catching the light and flashing as she cupped his face with both hands. A tear tracked down her cheek as she gave him a watery smile, and nodded.

The release of several held breaths rushed around the table, Ma’s riding an undisguised sob. The happy couple stood and kissed while the rest of us all started talking at once. Annalise and Marcie raced over to Cole and launched themselves at his legs. Marcie even forgot how uncool it was to jump into someone’s arms and practically climbed Cole until he saved her from gravity with a steadying arm.

“Welcome to the family,” Dad said, giving Myah a kiss on the cheek.

Ma, openly crying, smacked him on the arm so she could get at her future daughter-in-law and give her a solid hug.

“Herman, she’s been family for a long time already.”

The rest of us crowded around the newly engaged pair and waited our turn to congratulate them. I gave my partner a bear hug, and she smeared mascara on my shoulder in her enthusiasm, laughing through her happy tears. When I got to my brother, I gave him the same bear hug, but I froze when I felt his hands exploring my lower back.

Shit! The corset!
In the excitement of the moment, I’d forgotten all about it, and I abruptly pulled away from Cole in the hopes he wouldn’t have time to figure out what his fingers were tripping over. But he didn’t let me go. He scraped a nail over one of the laces, and his eyes widened, then gleamed wickedly.

“Say a word, and I will end you before you even leave this house,” I hissed.

“Ah, what joy my brother has for me in such a special moment,” he quipped, finally letting me go. He still spoke low though, hiding his words behind the chatter around us. “I won’t tell, you kinky bastard. Is it lacy? Bright red?”

The color infusing my cheeks was so warm, I thought my face would burst into flame. “No, it’s not.”

“C’mon,” he needled. “I just got you out of any more family scrutiny for the rest of the day, and you can’t even humor me by telling me what it looks like?”

Ben leaned over me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder, encircling my waist with his arms. He’d clearly heard Cole, though I was confident he was the only one. “It’s beige, shoestring ties, and made of coutil. Kind of like what camo pants are made out of, but even sturdier.”

“That’s actually... really boring,” Cole said, disappointed he wouldn’t have as much ammunition to tease me. “But why? I don’t get it.”

I cut Ben off. “And you don’t have to. It’s between me and Ben.”

Cole must have decided to take pity on me, because he nodded to concede the point. “Fair enough.”

“Quit hogging him,” Ma broke in, shoving me back into Ben in her enthusiasm to squeeze my brother within an inch of his life. “It’s about time, baby boy.”

“Ma,” he grumbled. “I’m thirty years old. Not a baby.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she grinned, floating on a cloud. “I’m very happy for you, sweetie. And she’s a lovely girl.”

His eyes lit up as he glanced at his fiancée. “She really is. Thanks, Ma.”

Ma’s eyes went flinty. “Don’t screw this up, or I’ll have your head.”

“Well, that didn’t last long,” I deadpanned, clapping Cole on the shoulder. “Once the black sheep, always the black sheep.”

§§§

“NO WONDER your brother was so adamant you be there today,” Ben said, shifting the two containers of leftovers my mother had insisted on sending with us to his left hand.

“Yeah. I didn’t think women liked those kinds of sweeping romantic moments to be done in front of a crowd. Or if they did, the crowd should be bigger than a few. Or so I’ve heard.” My ex-wife’s best friend had given me nightmares with her “advice” back when I was in my last year of college and looking to propose.

“Myah didn’t seem like she cared one way or the other.” Ben turned to me. “Can you take this? I can’t get my keys out.” He passed off the food and finally got the set out of his pocket, jingling while he searched for the correct one to unlock the door.

The already open door.

“Don’t move,” I barked, immediately setting the food on the low stone wall enclosing our back patio.

His head snapped up. “What? Why?” Then he saw the crack between the door and jamb, a few inches of space mocking both of us.

“Did you set the alarm when we left?” I asked, pulling out my phone and wishing I hadn’t left my gun locked in the safe inside.

“No,” he said, chagrined and standing well back from the door in case something unexpected flew through it. “To be honest, I was preoccupied with making sure you were doing okay with the corset and getting us in the car on time. I didn’t even think about it.”

“So no signal went to your monitoring company.” I didn’t have to ask if he’d locked the door. He may occasionally forget the alarm, but he wasn’t stupid. There were high crime areas in any neighborhood of the city. Our street being on the well-to-do side made it more of a target, not less of one.

He shook his head just as my favorite dispatcher, Lawanda, picked up at the station. “Lawanda, it’s DeGrassi.”

“Which one, hon? There’s so many of you.”

I ignored her banter. “I need two patrol units and a CSI team to seventy-eight Westmoreland Place, possible ten-thirty-one at an officer’s dwelling.” A 10-31 was a crime in progress, generally used to note something amiss but the details weren’t yet known. It basically meant “move your ass” to the entire squad.

Lawanda was all business. “Acknowledged, Detective DeGrassi, units dispatched, running silent. What details should I relay?”

“A door we locked when we left the house is now ajar. No sign of movement inside, nothing broken from where I stand. My firearm is inside.”

“How accessible?”

“It’s locked in the safe.” At least I’d gotten that part right. Jogging to my car parked just outside the garage, I gave it a once-over for anything unusual before unlocking the passenger door and digging in the glove box for my backup gun, an Airweight snub nose I’d taken to keeping in a hip pocket holster. The gun was just as familiar in my hand as my primary piece since I’d gotten certified on both in order to return to active duty. Maybe it was time to start carrying everywhere, not just on duty.

“Officers responding, detective,” Lawanda assured me, either in subtle admonishment not to enter the house without backup or to help keep me calm.

Truthfully, I was already calm. Ben and I were in no immediate danger, despite the very real threat. I’d kept Ben from walking into something he wasn’t prepared to deal with, and help was on the way. He stood well away from the house, and I passed him my cell, carefully approaching the door, gun pointed at the ground in steady hands.

“Gavin,” Ben hissed, holding the phone away from his face. “Wait for the cops.”

I didn’t look at him, only whispered back, “I am the cops. Plus, I know all the good hiding spots. Patrol doesn’t. Stay here.”

“Gavin,” he growled. “Don’t go in there. She says two minutes, tops.”

I ignored him, peering through the crack for a hint of movement. With a small amount of pressure on the heavy wood, it swung silently inward. No sound, not even the rustle of clothing, reached my ears. I carefully stepped inside, hearing a muffled curse from Ben behind me. Measured breathing, measured steps, measured sweeps with my eyes. I saw nothing.

I moved from the living room to the kitchen, checking the pantry and making a quick detour to the small basement Ben used for a wine cellar. Clear. I’d just returned to the main floor and moved toward our bedroom when I heard patrol enter the living room from the courtyard. I peered through the open doorway at them, holding my badge in plain sight. They nodded, and I pointed to the hallway bisecting the kitchen and dining room that led to the guest rooms, Ben’s office, and the stairs to the loft. Both officers nodded again and moved stealthily in that direction. I returned my attention to our bedroom, clearing both the walk-in closet and the bathroom. All that was left was the reading area.

No one.

Whoever had been in the house was gone, unless the two responding officers found someone. I was just passing the bed en route to the living room when a dot of black on the brown duvet caught my eye.
What is that? A spider?

Moving closer, I squinted at the object, realizing it was too big to be a spider, though it was still small, only about the size of a lighter. But it was stringy, and I approached with caution, though it didn’t move. If it was a creature of some sort, it was possibly dead. Drawing up to the side of the bed, my breath caught as I finally made out the shape of it.

A tiny black flogger.

Keychain sized, no longer than one of my fingers, and splayed as if whoever put it there wanted it admired, displayed. I searched the room with wild eyes for anything out of place, any other trinkets that might make themselves known.

“Clear!” one of the two patrol officers shouted.

It took me a moment to find my voice, but I eventually did. “In here!”

The pair appeared, holstering their weapons.

“Detective?”

“The bed.”

They approached with caution, staring at the small souvenir in confusion.

“What is that?” the taller one asked. He reached out to prod it.

“Don’t touch it. We might be able to get prints.” My voice was steady, a smooth lie belying the turmoil twisting my insides.

“Okay. Anything else out of place or missing, detective?”

I shook my head, unable to take my eyes from the intrusion of my safe space. “No, not that I saw on my first pass through.”

“What about the homeowner? He been through yet?”

“No. We came home and saw the door ajar, and I kept him outside while I checked it out.”

“You both live here?” the shorter one asked. I looked for signs of disgust on his face and found careful neutrality.

“Yes.”

“Have you been to your bedroom to see if something similar has been left?”

Jaw clenched with impatience, I took a calming breath, running through the first five elements of the periodic table before answering.

“This is my bedroom, and this is the only thing out of place. Where’s CSI?”

“They’re on their way, sir. Let’s step outside so we can get both your statements. Are you filing a report of the break-in?”

“Absolutely.”

I followed them through the living room and back to the courtyard, where Ben was pacing, arms crossed over his chest, my cell phone clenched in his fist.

“Anyone?” he asked, ignoring the uniforms as he passed them to hand me my phone, the worry plain on his face.

“No. Whoever it was left before we got home.”

“They break or steal anything?”

“Not that I could see with one pass. They left something, though.” Ben raised a brow but said nothing, waiting for me to elaborate. “A keychain-sized flogger in the middle of the bed.”