“You play?” I lift my chin, gesturing to his shirt. His eyes follow mine and he grins, shaking his head.
“No, but my brother does. A quarterback. He left this in my car and I was cold.”
“It’s late. What are you doing here?” I cut to the chase and ignore Cereus nearly combusting with rage next to me.
“I actually came to see your wife,” he says and I scowl at him.
“He’s majoring in journalism, Dad. I told him Mom might have an intern position for him.”
“Then why is he here so late?”
“Because Mom called and said she’s picking up food and is on her way home so I text him to come over.”
What the hell? She didn’t call me.
“Well, I guess you should come in then,” I say, stepping aside to let Matt inside. I still don’t see why he needs to be here so late. This could easily have waited until the morning.
“Thank you,” he politely replies. Cereus guides him through to the kitchen and glares at me over her shoulder.
My cell beeps at me from inside my pocket and I sigh when I realize it’s the work cell.
“Blake,” I bark into the receiver.
“Braxton, we have a situation that needs your attention.”
No matter how many times I tell Bells, the motherfucker, to not use my last name he still does it. Everyone else calls me cap or captain, but that little shit likes to get on my nerves.
“Give me twenty.”
I end the call and follow Cereus and her guest into the kitchen. She’s pouring him a drink and giggling at something he said. Since when did my baby girl start giggling and being interested in boys? I stare at her, all grown up and looking like a young woman, and stomp down the urge to take my gun to every man out there so none of them can get near her. She looks like her Mom but she has my darker personality, and has never really shown interest in the opposite sex until now. She finds most people her age immature, even though she can be stubborn and immature herself at times. A perfect example is how she is with Melody lately. Melody can’t breathe in the same air as Cereus without Cereus getting upset with her these days.
The front door opening draws my attention to Mel’s heels click clacking towards us. She is so fucking beautiful, her suit jacket curling around her curves and emphasizing her womanly figure. Her knee length skirt showcases her long sexy legs ending in some seriously hot heels. Fuck, my cock is straining against my zipper and I’ve already been inside her three times today.
“You’re drooling,” Cereus snaps. I tear my eyes away from Melody to answer her.
She’s my wife, and if after eighteen years of marriage her beauty can still mesmerize me, I should drool all I want, but her angry eyes are focused on this Matt kid whose cheeks are now bright red.
“He must just be hungry, Cereus. Don’t be mean,” Mel says, and looks over at me with pleading eyes.
So the boy has a thing for Melody and Cereus has a soft spot for him! Wow. This shit I can’t deal with.
“I have to go into work, I love you,” I rush out, and walk over to drop a kiss on Melody’s cheek. Then I flee the awkwardness in my kitchen, with Mel’s eyes burning into the back of my neck.
I can’t blame the kid. Mel is as stunning as she always has been, age apparently forgetting she’s in her late thirties. But Cereus is a mini me of her Mom and had never struggled to gain boys’ attention. None of them had gained hers until now. I decide this is something my sister, Ruth, can help with and I’ll go visit her tomorrow and plead for her advice.
The precinct is a flurry of activity when I arrive, the stench of over-brewed coffee stagnant in the air being pushed around by the air coolers. Voices carry over phone lines and detectives busy themselves at their desks as I lift a hand in acknowledgement as I pass them. Mason approaches me, his eyes heavy with bags beneath them. He needs sleep and a vacation but in the ten years I’ve known him, he hasn’t taken any time off. He lives for his job since his wife up and left him, taking his son with her a few years ago.
“Hey, I’ve got something for you,” he says with a nod, handing me a file. “Joey Max is in interview room one.” He tilts his lips into a smile.
My stomach rolls at the name. We’ve been looking for this son of a bitch for nine months. He’s wanted for the murder of his wife, three kids and brother, and had gone AWOL, presumed to have crossed the border into Mexico.
“Picked him up in a strip joint a few miles from here. We were in to question a bar maid about a robbery that resulted in the murders of three dancers. Pure coincidence. Un-fucking-believable right? Thought you would want to question him.”