Shelter Me(67)

He continues to run circles along my thigh.

“I understand, Luke, but tell me what exactly happened?”

He lets out a deep sigh. Taking his hand from my leg and bracing it on the side of the tub, he tells me the story of Ben Menetti and his father, Benito.

Later that night as we are lying in bed, I turn and look at my handsome man who is sleeping so peacefully and stop and think just how much shit this man has been carrying around for years. I vaguely remember hearing about the story of Benito Menetti when Luke and I were still together. While he was telling me everything about the case, I remembered my Aunt Judy paying close attention to all the news coverage when he was on trial for murder and after his conviction. I wonder if she worried I would soon be in danger.

The Menetti family has long been suspected to be linked to the Mafia. It scares me to death and pisses me off even more that Vincent would put his family in this kind of danger over a case. I had asked Luke why his dad couldn’t have just told Benito he wasn’t going to be his lawyer if there was so much evidence against him. Luke’s reply was that Benito and Vincent went to high school and college together; Vincent felt he couldn’t tell him no. Now Luke believes Ben has issues with his family because his father died in prison and he thinks it is all Vincent’s fault.

I continue to stare at Luke as I feel my body finally starting to succumb to the much-needed rest that it needs. I finally fall asleep, but I don’t dream about my handsome, green-eyed man. This time, I dream of the black eyes of Ben Menetti who has a gun in his hands- and it is pointing directly at me.



************



For the next few days, Lucy and I stay home and do nothing but girl things. We paint our nails, lounge around the pool, and enjoy some much-needed time together. Luke is planning a surprise for Lucy in her new bedroom and has had painters at the house for the last two days. The evenings that Luke is home, we have dinner together and spend the rest of the nights outside either riding bikes or playing baseball. Lucy seems to be adapting to her new home and surroundings better than I expected, and maybe even better than I am. I still haven’t told Luke about my dream from the other night or the fact that I am meeting with his father on Friday to talk.

On Wednesday evening after we tuck Lucy into bed, Luke goes into his office to do some work so I decide to go on the back deck and call Bubba to confirm our lunch for tomorrow. Bubba answers on the second ring.

“Don’t even think about canceling on me,” he says without even greeting me.

“Well hello to you, too. And no, I am not canceling on you, you jerk. I am just making sure we are still on for lunch.”

“Hell, yes we are. Just you and me, sweet thing.”

“God, I miss you,” I say, laughing.

“I miss you too, Shayne. And I need to make sure my girl is all right.”

“I’m fine, but we can catch up tomorrow. I will be there around noon. Sound okay?”

“Sounds great, babe. See you then.”

After hanging up, I set my phone down on the table next to the chair and get up to go into the kitchen and grab a beer. Bottle in hand, I walk back outside and lay down in a chair next to the pool. I become entranced at how black the sky is, but yet so shiny with the stars gleaming brightly. I am so caught up that I don’t even hear Luke come outside until he calls out to me.

“You’re deep in thought there, baby.”

I jump a little at the sound of his voice.

“Sorry. I don’t even know what I was thinking, really. I just got lost there for a moment.”

He takes a seat at the end of the lounge chair with his back facing me. I pull myself up and set my now empty beer bottle on the table, freeing my hands to massage his shoulders.

“You’re so tense,” I say.

“Yeah, work is driving me fucking crazy and this thing with Ben has me all worked up.”

“So I take it you talked to him, then?”

“Yes, both Adam and I paid that son of a bitch a visit today. I guess if you want to call me punching him in his face talking, then yeah, we talked,” he says.

Great.

He pauses for a few seconds and then leans back into me a little more. I start to massage his arms as I try to get him to relax.

“God, baby. That feels so good. I love it when you have your hands on me.”

“You do, huh?” I ask with as much seduction in my voice as I can. I realize the best way to make him relax is to show him how much I want to take care of him and to take his mind off of everything, so I remove my hands from his arms and ask him to sit up so I can stand. I walk around and kneel in front of him, placing my hands on his chest.

“Lay back, Luke, and let me show you just what these hands can do.”