Brimstone Blues

Chapter Thirty

It’d been a long day at the office, and Taz wanted to relax before going to bed. Robertson’s paperwork covered the kitchen table. Taz made herself a cup of mint tea and sat at the far end. “What’s this?”

He glanced up. “Wedding preparations.”

Rafael hummed “Here Comes the Bride,” and Taz struggled not to laugh. She tweaked her mental barrier when her dad frowned as he caught a whiff of her thoughts.

“Oooh, let me help.” She snagged one notepad before her dad could stop her, and she saw it was a guest list. Some of the names she recognized, some she didn’t. Most of the ones she didn’t were couples, except for one.

“Who’s this?” she pointed at one name. “Carla Paloflorio?” Did he blanch?

He took the notepad back. “She’s an old friend.”

“Of who?”

“The family.”

Now she knew he was being evasive. “Whose family?”

Rafael remained quiet. If he knew, he wasn’t saying.

Her dad swallowed, hard. “All right. She’s Matthias’ ex-girlfriend. He broke up with her and then he was with you ten years later. Okay?”

Taz fought the urge to growl. “No, so not okay on about a thousand different levels.” If she had hackles, they’d be up. “Why does he want her at the wedding?”

“He doesn’t. He doesn’t even know she’s on the list.”

“Then why the hell is she on the freaking list?”

He finally looked at her. “Carla is well connected. Annoying, yes. She’s the kind of person that if you don’t invite her, she’ll not only show up anyway, but spin it to make it look like you were afraid to invite her. Then by turning her away at the door she’ll raise a fuss and call attention to herself.”

“If we invite her, she’ll show up.”

He shrugged. “Maybe not. Don’t worry, Taz. There will be plenty of people here. She won’t cause a scene.”

“She’d be really stupid to try,” Taz growled.

Rafe chuckled.

“She’s as much a society whore as she is a sexual one,” Tim said. “Loves to been seen. She’ll hold court in a corner somewhere and simply be happy to be around. Don’t worry, Matthias has no feelings for her whatsoever. Might as well invite her and kill her with kindness.”

“How about I kill her with hollow points, will that work?”

Rafael laughed. “Good one, baby girl.”

Taz sulked in front of the TV. Rafael appeared next to her on the couch. There were times she preferred he didn’t do that, because she couldn’t touch him like she could when he was in her mind.

This time, she didn’t object.

“Don’t worry about Carla, Taz. She’s got nothing on you.”

“Then why invite her?”

“Tim’s right. The best way to ensure she’ll show up is to not invite her. She knows Matts is too much of a gentleman to have her thrown out and cause a scene. If she’s invited, she might not even come.”

“And the odds of that?”

“Not as good as you hitting Lotto Saturday night.”

“Great.” She threw the remote control on the couch. “Maybe we should elope.”

“You’d kill Al and Tim. They’re dying to throw you a wedding.”

She looked at him. “And Matthias wants one.”

“Duh.” He looked at Taz. “He loves you. You. I remember when he dumped Carla, God she was pissed. It was so funny though.”

“Why?”

“Oh, she ranted and raved, but she didn’t really give a rat’s ass about Matts until after she couldn’t have him. He never loved her, never told her he loved her. They had sex every so often.”

“Don’t need to hear this.”

He laughed. “Taz, you’re not a kid. He wasn’t a monk, but they didn’t live together. He travelled a lot, so did she. They’d hook up once or twice a month. He did it more to have something to do, I think. She screwed around on him anyway. He’s always been faithful in a relationship. He knew she was seeing others, didn’t really care because he didn’t love her, just considered her a friend with benefits.”

“A fuck buddy?”

He shrugged. “If you want to call her that, sure.” Rafael’s face changed, but she couldn’t read his emotion. “I remember when Tim first showed him your picture. Matts called me that night, he sounded like a kid on Christmas. ‘Rafe, she’s so beautiful,’ he said. ‘And as soon as I saw her picture, I knew she’s the one. I want to love her for the rest of my life.’”

They were both quiet for a while. “Why?” she finally asked.

“The heart knows what it knows. You of all people should understand that, after what happened.”

She looked down, well aware of that. The heart knows what it knows, and the soul always comes home.

Rafe continued. “That’s why he dumped her, Taz. He was willing to wait for you, as long as it took, because of the feelings he had for you even back then. I know it scares the crap out of you, but he did wait all that time for you.”

“So, you’re saying I should be big enough to be secure in his love for me and not snatch her bald when she shows up?” Of course she had no room to complain, considering what she’d been doing with Rafe.

He laughed. “Exactly. If she shows up.”

“When.”

“Probably, but not guaranteed.” He paused. “Matts didn’t spend your entire life waiting for you. Tim was smart to keep the two of you apart. Had Matts met you as a child, it would have caused some interesting problems. Including you might not have been attracted to him when you were older.”

“Why?”

“Are you attracted to Tim?”

She shuddered. “No, ick. He’s my dad. He’s not bad looking, but I love him like a father.”

“Exactly. Tim wanted to see if you and Matts would hit it off. Fortunately, you did. He kept a lot of information from the big guy while you were growing up. Just giving him the basics, keeping him updated but certainly not informed.”

“He took a big risk buying my dad’s car.”

“Not really. Your dad met him at the office. Tim was careful. Matts didn’t live full-time in LA until after Tim let him know more about you.”

She closed her eyes and lay back on the couch. She was so tired. When she opened them again, Rafael was gone. She closed her eyes and found him in his room. She curled up next to him on the couch there and felt his arms around her.

“I shouldn’t let you do this.”

She put her hands on his arms, holding him, keeping him there with her. “I know.”

“It’s not good for you.”

“I know.”

They sat, unmoving, for a long time. He finally broke the silence. “We need to have a talk.”

“I’m not ready to let you go.”

He didn’t push it. When she was ready, he hoped she’d go along with the plan, but he wouldn’t—couldn’t—force her. He could always leave if he felt she was being harmed. For now, he knew losing him again a second time this soon would crush her.

He swallowed his guilt. “You need to love the big guy. He wants you to love him. He loves you, would die for you.”

“I know.”

This wasn’t helping. “Don’t push him away anymore.”

“I won’t.”

She gave Rafe free range of her mind, places she didn’t even know existed. He knew more about her and her past lives than she would ever consciously know. She still held memories, feelings of before. While she and Matthias were in Key West, Rafe spent the time lost with Cassandra, enjoyed loving her, being with her, reliving the past.

Truth be told, he didn’t want to leave. Not if it meant he could still love her that way.

Taz eventually made it back to the kitchen. Her dad had gone to bed but left his paperwork on the table. She resisted the urge to go through it, and instead played with the pen he left next to the pile. She spun it, watching it make lazy clockwise circles on the table.

Staring, she tried to clear her mind of the jealousy she already felt for the woman she’d never met, the one everybody assured her was absolutely no threat.

And her guilt over what she’d done with Rafe that made her the biggest friggin’ hypocrite in the whole freaky world.

The pen slowed, stopped. As she stared, it started a slow, creeping, counterclockwise turn.

The opposite way it was spinning before.

Her heart skipped. Taz focused on the pen as it slowly gained speed until it was lazily spinning, like before, this time propelled only by her mind. She felt Rafe’s presence and hoped he was watching.

“Well, that’s creepy,” Rafe said.

“You see that, right?” she whispered.

“Uh, duh, baby girl. I wouldn’t be weirded out right now if I didn’t.”

When she heard the garage door open, she snatched the pen from the table. Turning, she saw Matthias and forced a smile. “Hi.”

“Later, Taz,” Rafe said, withdrawing deep into her mind.

Matthias smiled and kissed her. “Glad to see you’re still up.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded, kissed her again, this time deeply and leaving her gasping for breath. “Yeah.”

She put the pen on the pile of papers, making sure it wouldn’t roll off. “Let’s see if I can get you up, big guy.”

“No worries there.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her upstairs.

No, no worries there at all.

THE END

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