Glenn-Stormy-Love-&-Spaghetti-on-Aisle-Eight (12 page)

Frank frowned. “Why?”

“Because Seth is Micah’s best friend and has been for years. If

anything ever happened to him, my husband would be devastated.

And I would spend every penny I own to make sure Micah is never

devastated.”

“And what did you find?” Frank wasn’t sure how he felt about

being investigated, even if he could understand what motivated

Gideon to do it.

“I found that you and I are more than likely going to be friends.”

“We are?”

Gideon smirked. “You’re an honorable man even if you do skirt

the edges of the law on occasion. You have a clean jacket, no letters

of reprimand that would concern me. You have a strong belief in right

and wrong.”

Frank’s eyes grew wider and wider as Gideon spoke.

“And Seth really likes you.”

“I like him, too,” Frank said. “I just…”

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“You’re afraid to commit.”

Was he really going to discuss his love life, or lack thereof, with a

complete stranger? “Look, this is all well and good, but—”

“Did Seth ever tell you how Micah and I met or what happened

after we got married?”

“Uh, no. Until Seth got hurt, I didn’t even know about you.”

Frank barely knew Seth, let alone anyone Seth associated with.

Gideon’s eyebrows rose. “At all?”

Frank shrugged. “I hate to bruise your ego, but I don’t follow the

lifestyles of the rich and famous.”

“Good.” Gideon laughed. “Neither do I.”

Frank was shocked by that, and it must have shown on his face.

Gideon laughed a little more and settled into the seat behind his desk.

“Do you know what my most prized possession is, Frank? Just take a

guess.”

“A car?”

“No.”

Frank saw some pretty fancy looking artwork on the walls as he

glanced around, some of the artists he even recognized. “A painting?”

“Nope.”

“Then what?” And why was it important to their current

conversation?

“A red tie.”

Frank blinked. “A what?”

“A red tie given to me by my husband. I have it insured for a

million dollars.”

“A tie?”

“I walked into my office one day to find Micah naked as the day

he was born except for a red tie around his neck. He was spread out

over my desk, waiting for me.”

“Damn.” Frank blinked again. He could understand being

sentimental about a gift if it was given to him by his partner while

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said partner was naked, but a million dollars? “Are you insane? It’s

just a tie.”

“It was a tie given to me by my husband in a most imaginative

way. I know what is important. Money comes and goes. I could lose

everything tomorrow. Beyond the hard work it would entail to get it

back, it wouldn’t matter to me if I still had Micah.”

Frank’s heart sank into his toes. “That’s how my mama feels

about my pops.”

“Micah and I had a huge misunderstanding right after we got

married, and I mean right after, like the next day. Our

misunderstanding was so great that I even had divorce papers drawn

up and Micah signed them.”

“You’re still married?”

Gideon smiled. “We are. I was smart enough to want to know why

Micah turned down the three-million-dollar settlement I put into the

divorce papers.”

“Damn.” Three million dollars?

“We were able to work out our problems but that didn’t mean life

was easy for us after that.” Gideon sighed as he pulled one of the files

out of the pile he had tossed on the desk. He held it out to Frank.

“This is the file on Senator Michael Adin, Micah’s father. He’s

currently two years into a three-year sentence for filing a false police

report, fraud, and accessory to an assault. He also lost his senate seat

for what he did.”

“What did he do?” Frank asked as he opened the file and started

reading through it.

“He filed a police report that stated I had kidnapped and sexually

assaulted his minor child, Micah Adin. A cop that wanted to make a

name for himself didn’t even bother investigating. Instead, he came to

my work and arrested me. When Micah tried to tell them that they

were making a mistake, they hit him.”

Frank’s lip curled back in disgust. He hated cops that took the law

into their own hands. If he had learned one thing from his father, a

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retired beat cop, it was that the law was written for everyone and he

was not above the law.

“When I arrived at the station to be booked, this idiot told the

guys in the cell that I was gay that needed to learn a lesson in keeping

his hands off of innocent young boys.” Gideon rubbed his thumb over

a small scar on the skin at the corner of his eye. “As you can guess, it

didn’t go over too well.”

Frank slapped the file closed, so steaming mad he was ready to go

out and hunt this asshole down himself. “What happened to him?”

“The detective was removed from his position, fired from the

police altogether. I was considering a civil suit against him until I

learned he had a wife and two kids. I refused to hold them responsible

for what he did.”

Considering what the man had just told him, Frank was confused

by the grin that suddenly crossed Gideon’s face. “What?”

“While I didn’t sue the man, I did hire a top-of-the-line attorney

for the wife when she wanted a divorce.” Gideon’s grin grew bigger.

“She got everything, including the kids. Last I heard, she was engaged

to a man down in Florida.”

“She moved to Florida?”

“Brown became obsessive during the divorce. Even though she

took out a restraining order and the judge ordered him to have

supervised visits, he continued to harass his wife, showing up her

work and where she was staying with the kids.”

Frank growled under his breath. He hated men like that.

“Things got pretty scary for her, so after the case was finalized, I

offered to help her and her kids get resettled wherever she wanted to

go. She chose Florida.”

“Brown?” Frank started to remember the huge scandal that had

gone through the police department a couple of years ago. “Sirus

Brown?”

“Yes, do you know him?”

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“No, we worked out of different precincts, but I heard my brother

Vinnie talk about him. They might have worked a case or two

together. And what I had heard made me thankful I never had to work

with the man. Sirus Brown is an intolerant jackass.”

“He’s been filing appeals with the police review board trying to

get reinstated. He says he was framed by Senator Adin and myself.”

Gideon snorted. “He said what happened was hatched up between the

two of us because he believes homosexuality is a sin.”

“Um, if the Senator was the one that started all of this, why would

the two of you be working together?”

“That was kind of my thought, but Brown sees it differently. He

believes that the senator changed his mind when he discovered that

his son was gay.”

“And what?” Frank waved his hand absently. “You just picked

some cop at random to frame?”

“Oh no, this is a much bigger conspiracy than that. With Senator

Adin’s assistance, I’ve created an entire network of gay men, whose

main goal in life is to root out the good god-fearing men and replace

them with pedophiles and rapists.”

Frank’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

“Has anyone suggested this man have his head examined?”

“It’s been suggested, but apparently the doctor that they sent to

talk to him was too feminine-looking and Brown started raving that

the guy was another gay man out to convert him. They put him under

twenty-four hour observation in the mental ward.” Gideon shrugged.

“They had to let him go when they couldn’t prove he was a danger to

himself or anyone else.”

“Fucking peachy.”

“It’s the senator I’m worried about,” Gideon said. “He might be

behind bars, but he has a lot of pull. He had a lot of supporters when

he was trying to repeal gay marriage. And I have no doubt he’s made

some unsavory friends in prison.”

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“So, you think the senator is behind all of this?”

“I think Senator Adin is neck-deep in this mess.”

“Why?”

“Because Senator Adin would do just about anything to hurt his

son, and killing Seth is sure to do exactly that.”

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It had been two days, and Seth had yet to see Frank again or talk

to him on the phone or receive a note, nothing. There had been no

contact whatsoever. As much as it hurt to admit it, the lack of

communication was a sign of what Frank wanted.

Seth just had to admit to himself that it was over and move on.

That was proving to be harder than Seth thought it would be. His

mind kept going back to the kiss they had shared right before Frank

went after the shooter. It had been so powerful, so passionate. Seth

had felt it stir his soul.

Apparently, he was the only one that felt that way.

Three times he had given Detective Frank De Luca a chance, and

three times the man had spurned him. If that didn’t tell him what he

needed to know, Seth didn’t know what did. It was time for him to

stop burying his head in the sand and admit that Frank De Luca

wasn’t part of his future.

Seth swallowed the pain and forced a smile he didn’t feel on his

face as he knocked softly and pushed open the door to Ruthie’s room.

He waved the bouquet of roses in his hand back and forth. “Flower

delivery for the beautiful lady.”

“Seth.” Lisa’s smile was warm and familiar, making Seth feel not

so alone in the world.

Seth grinned and leaned over to plant a kiss on Lisa’s cheek,

letting her have the bouquet of roses. “How are our girls doing?” he

asked in a quieter voice when saw that Ruthie had her eyes closed.

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“She’s tired, but the doctor says that’s to be expected. Her body is

working overtime both because of the pregnancy and the

preeclampsia. Bed rest is really the best thing for her right now.”

“I’ll bet she’s bored out of her mind.”

“Actually, no,” Lisa replied happily. “That detective friend of

yours brought her a Kindle loaded with a bunch of books. When she’s

not sleeping, she’s reading her little heart out.”

“My detective friend?” Seth instantly thought of Frank, but

considering Frank’s aversion to having an instant family, he didn’t

understand how it could be the detective. “Frank came by to see her?”

Lisa frowned as she shook her head. “No, it was another detective,

but he said he knew you.”

“Nick?”

Lisa’s frowned deepened, and Seth could tell she was thinking

hard. “That might have been it but…” Lisa shrugged. “I don’t

remember. The nurse was in here at the time checking Ruthie’s vitals,

and I was more concerned with what was going on with her. Besides,

he didn’t stay long, just a few minutes.”

“Oh, well, it was probably Nick.” Seth smiled for Ruthie even

though inside, he was quaking with fear. There was a guard outside

Ruthie’s room, but one flash of a badge and the person who gave

Ruthie the Kindle would have easy access.

“I’ll thank him just as soon as I see him.” And as soon as Seth

figured out who the cop was. But Lisa had enough to worry about

with her partner’s condition. Seth didn’t want to add any more stress

to the already stressful situation.

Seth glanced at Ruthie again, aching to go to the woman and

assure himself that his daughter was okay, safe and sound inside the

womb. But the need to make sure Sophie remained safe was more

important. That had to be his number one priority.

“Hey, Lisa?”

“Yeah?” Lisa smiled as she looked up from where she was filling

a vase with water.

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“I need you to do something for me, something important.”

“Anything, honey.”

Seth swallowed hard. “Until we find out who is after me, I think it

would be best if I stayed away from the hospital. I don’t want

anything to happen to you or Ruthie or the baby. But I’d like to ask

Gideon to send some people to keep you safe. Would you let me do

that?”

“Honey, there’s already a guard outside the room. Isn’t that

enough?”

“No.” Seth felt like a monster as he watched the first hints of fear

begin to fill Lisa’s eyes. He knew that as much as he didn’t want to