Two Sides to Every Story (Love Spectrum Romance) (25 page)

Chapter 26

Raphael pulled into the lot of the prison and killed the engine. He had no desire to go back inside, no desire to see Adrian Reed because he didn’t know if he’d be able to restrain himself from hitting the man. He was sweating and used the back of his hand to wipe it away.

“Are you okay?” Angela asked.

He turned toward her. “I’m okay.”

“I guess I should have thought about how hard it would be for a policeman to walk into a prison. I suppose a lot of people hate you in here. You don’t have to go in, Rafe, I can do this alone.”

“Going in together was our plan. We discussed it and decided it was the best way.”

“Our plan, Rafe? I’d say you badgered me until I gave in,” Angela said with a smile. “It really doesn’t take both of us to accomplish this, so you can wait for me here in the car.”

“No more doing things alone, Angel. We’re doing this together.”

“But you don’t have to, really it’s alright. I understand.”

He smiled. “What do you understand?”

“I read. I know how it is.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Angel, that’s not how it is in my case.”

“Then what is it?”

“Memories.”

“Memories? You haven’t ever been arrested, have you?”

“No, but I have been to visit relatives in prison. I know the kinds of things that go on. I know that after awhile the men don’t care about themselves or anyone else.”

He smiled at her. “As much as I hate it, I can understand why your brother has gone to so much trouble to remain a man. It’s no joke,” he said.

“Were you molested visiting someone in prison?” she asked.

He looked into her eyes, looked for the disgust, the pity. He didn’t want either from her. But he wanted her to know the truth. He held her gaze. “When I was eight.” He paused, waiting for her to digest that information.

She remained silent.

“My uncle. I was visiting him in prison, and he touched me,” Rafe said softly, still watching her. “After awhile I guess he did a bit more than touch me. He gave me money afterward and I kept quiet.”

“Did he rape you?”

“Not my body.”

“It’s a pity what kids have to go through to reach adulthood,” Angela said. “With me it was one of my parents’ friends. I was about ten. He gave me five dollars to let him put his hands in my pants. I never told anyone,” she said.

There was neither pity nor disgust in her eyes. What Raphael saw was understanding.

“I felt like a whore,” he whispered.

“So did I,” Angela answered.

“I wondered if I were a man.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I doubted myself for years.”

“You are a man.” She smiled at him. “Take my word for that.” She traced his face with the tip of her finger. “You’re the man of my dreams, the one I thought didn’t exist except in fantasy.” She traced his lips, felt the tingle of electricity, and kissed him. “I thought all men, with the exception of my brother and my father, were dogs.”

“And now?”

“I was never looking for love, Rafe. I didn’t really think it existed. You’ve proven me wrong time and again. You saved my life, you saved your partner, and you’ve lived by a set of values that should make you proud. You’re very much a man.”

Her eyes closed, and she felt his lips pressing against hers. His tongue pushed at her, and she opened her mouth to receive him, sucking on his tongue, leaning in closer.

He ended the kiss. “We’d better go in before we get arrested.”

He got out, came and opened her door.

“I meant it, Rafe, you don’t have to go inside.”

“Like you said, I’m a man and I’m not sending my woman in there alone.” He reached for her hand, closed his fingers around hers and tugged her along toward the door of the prison. The feeling of tightness that always prevailed when he thought of his past was gone.

Rafe couldn’t believe how easy it had been. Something that had plagued him his entire life had been taken care of in less than a minute—no pity, no disgust, no questions, just understanding and anger that they’d both had to endure the same pain. Nellie had been right all along. Raphael had found his soul mate and he’d found his soul. He gave his angel’s hand a little squeeze.

No, he still didn’t want to go inside the prison. He would probably never want to go in, but he would walk through hell for the woman who now held his soul. He would do whatever it took to bring her to heaven, and keep her there.

Rafe pulled out his driver’s license and gave his name and waited as Angela pulled out her ID and gave the name Cassie Williams.

He smiled to himself; he’d known it. At least her brother had had the sense to keep his sister safe by preparing for her visits.

Adrian Reed came to the room and looked at his sister before his gaze barely flicked over Rafe. He frowned at the two of them, turned and walked away, and they followed.

“I don’t believe this shit,” Adrian said in a voice loud enough to carry to his sister and Rafe.

“What don’t you believe?” Raphael asked. “Did you think you were going to get away with terrorizing your sister? I told you if you hurt her I would kick your ass.”

Adrian turned suddenly. “And if you’re here to do that, bring it on.”

Before either man could make a move, Angela was between them, pulling Rafe’s hand, moving him away from her brother. “We didn’t come in here for this,” she said sternly to Rafe. “I’m not leaving this place without you at my side, so cool it.” She faced her brother. “Besides, I can handle this.”

She looked at Adrian, hoping her disappointment showed on her face. “I know the whole story,” she said softly, sitting down and motioning for Rafe to do the same. “Matter of fact, I know more about it than you.”

“What do you know?” Adrian asked, curious.

“I know that your not wanting me to date Rafe is personal. You know how Spanish men feel about Black men dating their women because you were dating Teresa. You’re a hypocrite.” She bit out the words coldly.

“So what?”

“So there is a difference. I’m in love with Rafe and he’s in love with me. Teresa was not important to you. You only wanted me to find her to get your money back.”

Something flickered and glowed in her brother’s eyes and Angela blinked. Some of her anger retreated. She saw something in her brother she’d not seen in over a year, a caring.

“She is important to you, isn’t she? You love her.”

Adrian didn’t answer.

“Why did you cheat on her if you loved her?”

Again Adrian didn’t answer. He glanced at Rafe, then back at his sister.

“Adrian, talk to me. Why all the lies? Why are you letting Mom and Dad sell the house?” She closed her eyes for a second; it hurt to breathe. “Why did you hurt Rafe?”

“That wasn’t supposed to happen. No one was supposed to get hurt. I just wanted you to stop seeing him.”

“Because he’s Spanish?”

“Because he’s a cop,” Adrian growled. “Did you really think I wanted a cop messing around in my business? Look what happened. You’ve brought him here with you. What does that tell you? I was right not to want you with him.”

He bit down on his lip and opened and closed his hands before making them both into fists. “I had people looking out for you. I’m not a monster. I made sure you were safe. I knew you were fighting with the cop before you told me. My friends thought it was funny.”

“I never saw anyone.”

“You weren’t supposed to. But they told me that you almost spotted them one night and ran into a store. When you came out you were with the cop.” He turned and glared at Rafe. “He stayed the night. The fighting between the two of you was no longer funny. Then he took it upon himself to have his friends watch out for you. By doing that he made it harder for my people to keep an eye on you without anyone knowing they were doing it.”

“So you told them to shoot him?” Angela couldn’t believe it. How could so many people have been watching her without her knowing it?

“You can’t prove anything.” He glared at Rafe.

“I’m not here to prove it,” Rafe growled. “Do you think I would be here with your sister if that were the case? You’re not going to get her killed over money. I’m not going to let you. You’ve got gang bangers looking for her.”

“They don’t know who she is.”

“For now.” Rafe was not appeased. “Okay, that was good that you thought to make her into someone else, but people aren’t stupid. A fake license is easy to come by. Sooner or later they’re going to find out who she is. I know you don’t care about your sister but I do. And I plan on keeping her safe.”

Angela moaned without meaning to. She looked across the huge common room at all the other families. None of this was supposed to happen. Adrian had no business being in prison. He was smart. He could have done anything with his life but get involved with gangs.

She felt someone touching her hand, holding it, and at first thought it was Rafe but the electrical tingle wasn’t there. She turned and stared at her brother.

“I was scared,” Adrian began. “I did it because I was scared.” He held her hand tighter. “You have no idea how it is in here.” He gripped her hand. “I hardly sleep. Sleeping can get you killed or worse. I’d rather die than…”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that? I would have understood. You could have told me the truth.”

“How? You always thought I was so perfect, that I couldn’t do anything wrong. I couldn’t disappoint you.”

“I never thought you were perfect, Adrian. You were my brother and I loved you, so I supported you. It never meant that I was a fool.”

Angela held her brother’s gaze, then squeezed his hand in return. “I just need you to be honest with me about all of this. That whole fight that night, what happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know. It had nothing to do with me and that’s for real. I was there doing business. I had teamed up with the Latin Lords, just a few of them. We were trying to diversify, go legit.”

“Legit is not selling knock-offs,” Rafe interjected.

Adrian ignored him and continued talking to his sister. “We were trying to end the war between us, Blacks against Latinos, at least in the beginning. We were trying to do something together, then Manuel found out I was dating his sister and he got pissed. And I got pissed that he didn’t like it.

“I wanted to show him I didn’t need his sister. I thought I didn’t need her.” He paused. “I was with someone else. I wanted Manuel to see me, but I never intended for Teresa to see me.

“She did. She got pissed. She split,” Adrian finished.

“But the fight,” Angela insisted. “Tell me about that.”

“What happened after that, I don’t know, except everyone thought they’d been double-crossed and before you knew it, the cops were there and it was crazy. Now I’m here.” He looked around. “It wasn’t supposed to go down like this, I shouldn’t be here.”

“And you’re really going to let our parents lose everything because you shouldn’t be here? Maybe initially you didn’t belong here but for all the things you’ve done since, you do belong here, Adrian.” Angela shook her head sadly. “You brought all of this on yourself.”

Her brother cringed and looked away and the sting of tears burned the back of her eyes like crushed stones.

“I understand your reasons, but you went about it in the wrong way,” Raphael offered.

Angela glanced at him. She’d not expected sympathy from him for her brother’s actions. He’d been hurt the most by her brother and with the threat hanging over his family she wondered how Rafe could even speak civilly to Adrian.

“That’s not the only reason I want to get out of here.” For the first time since they’d entered the room Adrian was addressing Rafe.

“There are other more important things I have to do. I have to get out of here.”

“You want to find Teresa?”

“Yes.”

“For the money?” Angela asked. “So you can give it to her brother?”

Adrian’s eyes closed and he shook his head. “That’s not the reason I need to find her.”

Angela stared at Rafe and found him staring back at her. “You knew she was pregnant, didn’t you?” she asked. She saw a genuine look of surprise on her brother’s face. “Yes, we know,” she said. “She has a son.” She watched as tears filled her brother’s eyes. “You have a son. I have a nephew.”

“She said she was going to get rid of it.” Adrian sighed, closing his eyes and shutting Angela and Raphael out. “She didn’t do it.”

“Apparently not. But now that you’re a father you’ve got to think about the legacy you want to leave your son. Your sister didn’t do the crime with you, Adrian, but she’s been doing the time. It’s time she was paroled.”

“What are you planning on doing? I wasn’t selling drugs, I didn’t shoot a cop and I didn’t tell those fools to shoot you.”

“I know you didn’t have a weapon. I checked your records. That’s why you’re not doing more time. You’re lucky. And I also know you weren’t found with drugs on you. That’s why you got off easy. Still, you weren’t clean. I know that also,” Raphael answered Adrian.

“As for what I plan to do, the answer to that question is nothing. I can’t, this is between you and your sister.”

“Angie, looks like it’s falling to you. What are you going to do?” Adrian asked, worry and hope coloring his voice.

“If I could convince Daddy not to sell the house I would. But they think I’m a traitor. They want you out regardless of what you’ve done, so it doesn’t matter,” she answered.

“So why did the two of you really come here together today?”

Rafe spoke first. “Because we’re together. We want you to know that your threats are not going to stop us. But to tell you the truth, if something happens to my family you’re going to wish for the days that you were only afraid of Manuel. Those will seem like the good old days.”

“What about my sister?”

Rafe looked at Angela. “Do either of us want her to make a choice?”

“Seems like she’s already made her choice,” Adrian answered.

“You have to pay for what you’ve done, Adrian,” Raphael said softly.

“You have to do the right thing,” Angela said softly to her brother, then stood to leave.

When they were inside the car Rafe turned to Angela. “Hand it over,” he said. He held his palm open and waited for Angela to fish the fake license from her wallet. She dropped it into his palm and smiled. “To serve and protect, baby,” he grinned. “And to stop crime.”