ROMANCING HER PROTECTOR (19 page)

situation. I shouldn’t have handicapped my child because of something that had nothing to do

with him.”

“But the woman was dying, at least that’s what she led Driscoll to believe. And you,

being the good, kindhearted person that you are, wasn’t going to saddle that man with more

grief. And then for him to have his wife murdered like that, and then to find out she’d been

lying to him all along? Dang! That’s some heavy duty shit there. I don’t know how he kept

his sanity, girl. So when he came to you with that she’s dying line, what were you supposed to

do, just tell me that, Shay? Make him forget about her and marry you instead? Because he

probably would if he would have known you were pregnant. And you know this.”

Shay exhaled. This was too much. Then she noticed Linda, Fantasia’s assistant,

entering the restaurant. “What’s she doing here?”

Tasia looked. “I’m sayin’. This ain’t her lunch hour.”

“There y’all are,” Linda said as she hurried to their table.

“I don’t recall extending an invitation your way,” Tasia said in her half-jesting, half-

serious voice.

“I’m not here for lunch,” Linda said, sitting at the table, next to Tasia.

“Then what is it?”

Linda looked at Shay. “DSI has sent over a proposal.”

Shay’s heart dropped. “Tell me,” she said nervously.

“Eighty/twenty,” Linda said.

Tasia smiled. “Really?”

Shay was near elation too. But then she thought about it. “Eighty me, twenty DSI?”

she asked, to be clear.

“DSI gets eighty percent of Destiny,” Linda said, being clearer. “You get twenty

percent.”

Tasia could hardly believe it. She looked at Shay. “He has got to be kidding.”

“But that’s how they do business,” Linda said. “I checked around. DSI always clears

the field and then drives the hardest bargain possible for them. They know what kind of shape

we’re in.”

Shay just sat there. Stunned. Had the fact that she left this morning affected him that

much? Or was Linda right, and this was business as usual now for Matty? “Get the Ritz-

Carlton on the phone,” she ordered Linda, “and ask for Matty Driscoll’s suite.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Linda said, pulling out her cell phone.

Tasia looked at Shay. “What kind of game you think he’s playing at?”

Shay could only shake her head. “I don’t know.”

“You think he’s decided not to invest in Destiny and that’s why he came up with this

ridiculous offer?”

“I don’t know,” was all Shay could say. She’d never known Matty to be a vindictive

person, especially because of mere words. But life’s experiences can change a man, and

Matty’s had those kind of bitter, devastating life experiences.

“It’s ringing,” Linda said and handed Shay her cell phone.

“Hello?” It was Jordy.

“Jordy, hi,” Shay said. “Is he there?”

“Hi, Shay, and yes, he’s here. You’re okay?”

“I will be.”

“Hold on a sec.”

There was a pause, and then Matty came on the line. “Yes?” he said, sounding very

matter-of-fact.

“Eighty/twenty, Matty? Was there some error in your calculations?”

“There was no error.”

“Eighty you and twenty me?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve had Destiny for a decade, struggled to keep it afloat for most of that time, and

you just expect me to give my company to you?”

“Your company is hemorrhaging money every second of every day. Your company is

in trouble.”

“I know it’s in trouble, Matty, but it’s still my company!”

“Try telling that to the bankruptcy judge when it becomes his company and you’ll have

to abide by whatever dictates he determines.”

“Yeah, but at least I won’t be just giving it away! At least I’ll be able to restructure and

have something left. What you’re asking me to do is to just give it away to you for virtually

nothing. You’ll not only have controlling interest, but so much control that you’ll effectively

sideline me for good. I won’t have any say in anything that happens to Destiny going

forward. What kind of offer is that?”

“It’s my offer,” Matty said, uncharacteristically harsh. “Take it or leave it.”

“Oh, consider it left!” Shay said, and emphatically slammed shut the phone.

***

Matty felt the reverberations of Shay’s last words all the way deep inside his hotel suite.

He looked at his own phone a moment longer, and then hung up too.

Jordy stared at him. “She’s not what I would call a happy camper,” he said.

Matty just stood there, his mind deep in contemplation, his heart aching. “No, she’s

not happy.”

And neither was Matty, Jordy thought as he watched his boss, his best friend, leave the

room. By Jordy’s calculations, Matty hadn’t been happy in sixteen years, not since that day he

had to leave Shay behind.

***

Later that same night, around ten p.m., Shay was at home in her study, reading over

revisions to the upcoming edition of the magazine. DeAndre was also at home, lying across the

living room sofa talking on his cell phone. Some girl he’d met on Facebook, who was a friend

of a friend of a friend’s friend. Shay’s study was adjacent to the living room and she could

hear him on the phone, although she wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. Her mind

was still on Matty.

She couldn’t believe how strange he sounded earlier today, as if he was so fed up with

her, with life itself, that he didn’t even want to be bothered with it anymore. Take it or leave

it, he said, and he said it with such conviction. She’d never known him to be that way. It

smacked of giving up on her. Of having it up to here with women, with her, with everything.

And just as she was thinking about it, just as she was considering the ramifications his decision

to quit would have on DeAndre, she heard a sudden blast of what at first seemed like

fireworks, but she quickly realized was gunfire.

She dropped out of her chair and crawled under her desk, the sounds so deafening, so

unrelenting, that she thought her eardrums would pop. Were they just outside shooting, she at

first wondered. But when she heard the windows in her living room began to crash, she knew

then that this was no random act. Her house was the target.

Then she thought about her son, about Dre, and all she could do was scream.

“Dre!” she yelled. “Dre!”

When there was no sound coming from the living room, just the continued hail of

gunfire, she knew something was wrong, something was wrong with Dre.

She crawled from under her desk and moved, on her belly like a snake, for the living

room, for her son. Just as she crossed the threshold of the study and entered the living room,

the gunfire stopped, a car tire squealed, and then there was nothingness. Pure, terrifying

silence.

When she saw DeAndre, slumped half on the sofa, half on the floor, his cell phone

fallen from his hand, blood oozing from his chest, she stood up, so stricken that she could

barely stand, so determined to get to her son that she just couldn’t find the strength to get

there. But she had to get there. Her child was in trouble.

But as quickly and as desperately as she had stood, all forces seemed to conspire

against her and she slid back down, like a spineless rag doll with no control, and passed out

too.

FIFTEEN

Matty arrived back at his hotel suite exhausted. He had just endured a four hour meeting

with two different Philadelphia companies DSI had been eyeing, and nothing had been settled

with either one of them. He felt as if he was working himself to death, and seeing little or no

results in return. Jordy had said as much, when they arrived back at the suite.

“How about a drink?” he asked Matty.

“That’ll work,” Matty replied as he dropped on the sofa and laid down. Jordy went

over to the wet bar, to pour drinks, when he saw that it was after eleven. He grabbed the

television’s remote control and turned on the local news. They were talking on and on about

some city council decision regarding redistricting, with reporters getting the various opinions of

the locals where, Jordy thought, the camera was way too close, making not only the residents

they were questioning uncomfortable, but those who were watching the newscast and forced to

see their warts and all. Then there was this:

“When we return there’s breaking news regarding Destiny Magazine publisher Shay

Cooper.”

Matty’s eyes flew open at the mention of Shay’s name.

“Apparently her home has been firebombed tonight,” the news anchor continued. “Our

team of crack reporters have been dispatched and we’re getting the details as we speak. Stay

with us, folks, we’ll be right back.”

And then they went to commercial. Matty sat up on the sofa. And Jordy, who had

been pouring drinks, was now holding one of those drinks in midair, suspended in disbelief.

Neither man said a word, and then the newscast resumed.

“Our early reports were apparently inaccurate,” according to the anchor. “It appears

that the home of Destiny Magazine Publisher Shay Cooper was not firebombed, but was the

target of a massive drive-by shooting tonight. Early reports are that Ms. Cooper and her son

were both inside the home at the time of the shooting and both have been taken to Memorial

hospital. Their conditions remain unknown.”

Matty jumped to his feet. “Dear God,” he said, his heart hammering, and he and Jordy

both ran for the exit, with Matty unable to understand.
Her son
, he found himself saying.

What son
?

***

They entered the hospital at a near-sprint. While Jordy asked for information, Matty

nervously looked around. When he saw Shay seated with her back against the wall in the

waiting area, his heart soared and he hurried to her.

“Shay!” he said as he ran into the room.

Tears filled her eyes as she stood and they embraced. He quickly pulled back and

looked her over. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m okay. They said I passed out, but I’m okay.”

“And your son?” he asked her.

Shay looked at him, then looked away from him. “He’s still in surgery,” she said, still

in disbelief.

“He was shot?”

She nodded. “Three times,” she said.

Matty hesitated, as Shay wiped her tears away. “How old is he, Shay?” he asked her.

Shay closed her eyes, as the pain was almost unbearable. Then she opened her eyes

and looked Matty squarely in his. “Sixteen,” she said, and Matty nearly collapsed.

“Dear God,” he said in anguish, as he pulled her, once again, into his arms.

***

Shay was asleep in Matty’s lap, and they were both, along with Jordy, still in the waiting

room when the surgeon finally arrived. Matty nudged Shay, waking her up.

“Doctor,” she said urgently, and jumped to her feet. Matty and Jordy stood up, too.

“Is my baby all right?” Shay hurriedly asked the surgeon.

“Yes, he’s going to be all right,” the doctor said, causing Shay to fall against Matty in

relief.

“Fortunately,” the surgeon continued, “the all three bullets that struck him entered and

exited cleanly, with none hitting any vital organs. A full recovery is expected.”

“Thank God,” Matty said. “Can we see him?”

“I’m sorry, sir, and you are?”

There was a moment when both Matty and Shay seemed unable to move. Then Matty

spoke up: “I’m his father,” he said, to Jordy’s shock. Shay closed her eyes.

“He’s still in recovery, sir,” the surgeon said. “I would recommend against seeing him

tonight, he’s still under the anesthetic and should he awake, we don’t want him excited. But

tomorrow, yes.”

“Can he be transported to a different facility?” Matty asked the doctor.

“A different facility?”

“In Baltimore, yes,” Matty said. “Johns Hopkins hospital.”

“Well,” the surgeon said, swallowing his pride. “They are certainly the best. If it was

my child I would want the best for him, too. Yes, I don’t see why not.”

“As early as tomorrow?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Matty shook the surgeon’s hand. “Thank-you, doctor,” he said.

When the surgeon left, Shay looked at Matty. “You think that’s necessary, Matty?

Moving him, I mean?”

“I want him to have the best, Shay.” Then he looked at her. “Get your things. Let’s

go to my suite. I’ll bring you back. But right now we have some talking to do.”

Shay understood what that meant. She never dreamed it would be under these

circumstances, but in times like these she was grateful, so thankful, to have Matty, to have her

baby’s father, by her side.

***

They sat on the sofa, side by side, with Matty’s arm around her shoulders. He knew she

had been through a lot that night, and should probably just be allowed to sleep, but he had to