ROMANCING HER PROTECTOR (20 page)

know the truth. The whole truth. He couldn’t take another surprise in his life, not any more.

He had to know now.

“I found out the day before you told me about Dr. Graham,” Shay said. “I had planned

to tell you that same night when you were supposed to come over. But you never came.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that next morning, Shay?”

“I couldn’t,” she said with conviction, that worried look he used to know so well

overtaking her again. “Not after what you said to me. Dr. Graham had been handed what

amounted to a death sentence, and you was prepared to take care of her for the rest of her

life. I couldn’t put my situation on you, too. I couldn’t.”

Matty held her closer. “It wasn’t true, you know that? She didn’t have ALS.”

“I know. Jordy told me. And the way she died, my goodness.” Shay looked at

Matty. “That had to be devastating for you.”

Matty’s eyebrows raised, as if she’d just said the understatement of the year. “Yeah,

you can say that,” he said with a smile that had nothing to do with humor. “The same doctor

who had called me to his office to tell me the somber news was her lover, and was in on the

scam, and that’s what it was, a scam, the whole time.”

Shay shook her head. “That is so bogus,” she said. “How could Dr. Graham be like

that? She wanted you that badly?”

“It wasn’t about me. Alex would have said so, but it really had nothing to do with me.

It was all about her, all about what she wanted and her tunnel vision getting it.”

“She was a mess.”

“Yes, she was,” Matty admitted. “But despite all of that, she still didn’t deserve what

ultimately happened to her.”

Didn’t deserve it? Shay wasn’t sure if she agreed with that, but she didn’t say

anything. Matty apparently actually loved that witch.

“Tell me about Dre,” Matty said. “That’s his name, right?”

“DeAndre, yes.” Shay tried to smile. “He’s a good kid, Matty, he really is, but he’s a

handful.”

“Problems?”

“He idolizes this gangster, some dude named Burma, and it’s just been one thing after

another. I try to get him to see where fooling around with a loser like that would lead. But he

doesn’t listen to me.”

“According to the police,” Matty said, “they believe DeAndre was targeted because of

his affiliation with this Burma character. It was a payback. Apparently somebody in Burma’s

posse had disrespected some other gang and they wanted retribution.”

“By trying to kill Dre and everybody in his home?”

“That’s how they roll, Shay,” Matty said. “They don’t give a damn about themselves,

you know they don’t give one about you and DeAndre.”

Shay shook her head. “I tried to tell him to leave those kind of people alone. Lord

knows I tried. But he thinks I don’t know anything.”

Matty pulled her closer. “I’m sorry you had to deal with all of that by yourself, Shay.”

Shay looked at him. “It’s not your fault, Matty. You know that, right?”

Matty didn’t respond, he simply continued to caress her shoulder.

Shay turned her body all the way toward him. “Matty, how can you blame yourself?

You didn’t even know Dre existed!”

Matty leaned forward, unable to staunch the tears that were attempting to appear.

“What is it?” Shay wanted to know. How in this world could he blame himself?

“I should have tried harder to find you.”

“But you searched for me. Jordy told me so.”

“I searched for one year. Just one year, Shay. And that was something like fourteen

years ago.”

“But you didn’t know anything about Dre. You didn’t know I was pregnant. You

didn’t know I wasn’t taking my birth control the way I should have.”

“You was a kid, come on, and I had you underneath me almost every single night. I

should have been checking on that.”

“Oh, Matty, get real. You talk like I was some air-headed fool. I was doing exactly

what I wanted to do. Yeah, I was a little irresponsible, I wasn’t paying attention like I should

have, but that was on me. That’s my fault, not yours.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, Shay, I understand it. But the fact still

remains you have had to raise my child alone. That’s a fact. And nothing, not what you say,

not what no-one else says is going to change that fact.” He exhaled. Looked at Shay.

“You’re coming back to Baltimore with me. You get that, right?” Then he added, terrified of

being hurt again. “At least until DeAndre recovers.”

“Yes, of course, I’ll be there for that.”

Matty stared at her. “And after that?”

Shay didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know,” she said. “My life is here now. My

business is here now.”

“DSI will handle Destiny going forward, Shay.”

Shay began shaking her head before he could finish. “No.”

“Listen to me--”

“No, Matty. That’s all I have. I’m not letting you or anybody else just take it away

from me.”

“I’m not taking it away from you. You will keep one hundred percent controlling

interest.” Shay looked at him. “DSI will manage it only.”

Tears began to fall from Shay’s eyes. She frowned. “You’ll do that for me?”

Matty looked at her. “Of course I will, Shay. You’re the love of my life. And the

mother of my only child.”

Shay moved up to him and he wrapped her in his arms. They leaned back, holding

onto each other.

SIXTEEN

It was, for both of them, the day of truth. DeAndre had been transported to Johns

Hopkins and was progressing extremely well. After consulting his doctor, Matty had agreed to

hold back, to stay out of the picture, until the boy was completely out of danger. He was now

medically out of danger. And Matty arrived in his hospital room for the first time.

Shay was already there, seated beside Dre’s bed. She had moved into the hospital,

staying with her son day and night, ever since they arrived in Baltimore. Matty had been

meeting up with her in the hospital cafeteria every day, begging her to come to the house to at

least get a good night’s sleep. But she refused. She also agreed with the doctor that they

should take their time telling Dre about Matty.

And as Matty came into the room, he could tell on her face that she was doubtful that

even now was the time.

“Good afternoon,” he said to Shay. DeAndre was in bed, feeling better than he’d felt

since the moment before the shooting. He had already sensed that something was up, his

mother had been too distracted the last day or so. Now he figured this man who just entered

had everything to do with it.

“Hi,” Shay said, attempting to suppress the natural elation she felt every time she saw

Matty.

Matty, too, moved gingerly. He looked at his son, fully awake, for the first time. He

looked so familiar that it stunned him. His heart dropped.

Shay looked at DeAndre too. She had a bad feeling that this was not going to go well,

but she knew there was no other way. He had to know. “Dre,” she said, “I want you to meet

Matty Driscoll.”

Dre looked at Matty, his striking green eyes wide and alert. “’Sup?” he said to Matty.

“Dre,” Shay said, and then swallowed hard. She didn’t know how to say it. She

looked to Matty.

“I’m your father, Dre,” Matty said without hesitation. He stared DeAndre straight in

his eyes, man to man. DeAndre didn’t blink.

Shay looked at her son. “You heard him, Dre? He’s your father. I know I told you he

was dead.” It sounded so real, so wrong, so typical of the kind of colossal errors in judgment

she made throughout her life that she just knew her son would hate her for this. But he didn’t

say a word. He just stared at Matty.

“I know it’s going to be hard for you to forgive me son,” Shay continued. “I was so

scared and alone, I didn’t know what else to say. Matty was in a difficult situation then and I

didn’t want to add to his grief. That’s why I didn’t tell him about you. He just found out too.

The night of the shooting was when I told him.”

DeAndre still said nothing. Matty placed his hands in his pant pockets. He could not

recall ever being this nervous.

“Listen, son,” Matty started, but DeAndre stopped him.

“Don’t you call me that!” DeAndre exploded, his finger pointing directly at Matty.

“Don’t you ever call me that!”

“Dre, what’s wrong with you?” Shay asked him, stunned. “I told you he just found

out.”

“He better stay away from me, that’s all he better do. I don’t wanna have nothing to

do with him!”

“Dre! He just found out, what are you talking about? You can’t blame him for this.”

“Yeah, he just found out all right. But I’ll bet ‘cha he ain’t just found out about his

white kids, I’ll bet you that.”

Shay was confused. “What white kids? What are you talking about?”

“It’s all right, Shay,” Matty said. “The boy’s just upset.”

“Don’t you call me boy!” DeAndre exploded again.

“I’ll call you anything I damn well please!” Matty fired back. Then he calmed back

down. “I know you’re upset, but I am your father.”

“DNA say so?” DeAndre wanted to know.

“DNA?” Shay asked. “Boy, you better not be going there.”

“Who says he my father? Hun? Who say so? Him? That don’t mean it’s true.”

“I say he’s your father, fool! And I should know. I wasn’t with any other man sixteen

years ago!”

“Well, whatever, he just better stay out of my way.”

“Don’t you dare---”

“Shay, it’s all right,” Matty attempted to reassure her, although his heart was tearing

apart. “This is heavy news and he needs time to take it in.”

“You stay away from me!” DeAndre yelled at Matty. “You hear me!”

A nurse hurried in. “Is everything all right in here? I could hear you down the hall,

young man.”

“Get him out of this room now,” DeAndre ordered, prompting the nurse to look at

Matty.

“I’m leaving,” Matty said and Shay stood to her feet.

“Matty,” she started, but he held up a hand, attempted to smile.

“It’s all right, Shay. Truly it is.” Then he hesitated. “Come see me later?” he asked

her.

All Shay could do was nod. Matty left out of the room.

When the nurse also left, Shay sat on the edge of DeAndre’s bed and looked at him.

DeAndre looked at his mother and his anger turned into pain right before her very eyes. He

fell into her arms sobbing almost uncontrollably. Shay closed her eyes. What a mess, she

thought. What a mess she’d made of this boy’s life.

***

at the railing sipping wine, and Matty seated on the lounger in shorts and an open shirt. He,

too, was sipping wine, although it tasted like paste to him. All he could think about was

DeAndre, and that sadness in that boy’s eyes, that pain.

Shay turned and looked at him. She had taken a long bath and put on one of Matty’s

dress shirts. She looked radiant, it seemed to him.

“The doctor said he can be released by the end of the week.”

“I know,” Matty said.

This surprised Shay. “You know? How do you know? I just found out before I came

here.”

“I spoke with him earlier. We talk everyday about DeAndre’s condition. He told me

then. I’ve got to be in Memphis tomorrow, but I’ll be back Thursday night come hell or high

water. I’ll be there when he’s released.”

Shay exhaled. “He wants to go back to Philly,” she said.

“So those gang friends of his can finish the job? No way.”

“But he’s lived in Philly most of his life, Matty. We can’t just uproot him like this.”

“We can and we will. He doesn’t get a vote.”

“But he’ll hate us more if we even try it.”

“Then he’ll have to hate us,” Matty said this at a cost. All he wanted was a little peace

in his life, but he continued to turn up confusion, drama, pain. “He’s staying here, both of you

are staying here. With me.”

Shay looked at the wine in her glass. She didn’t know what she was going to do at this

point. She wanted to be with Matty, but it was all so confusing now. And Dre just seemed to

despise him.

“Come here, Shay,” Matty said, feeling her anguish.

She walked over to the lounger and sat down beside him. He took her drink and his

and put them both on the side table. Then he threw his arms around her and held her tightly.

“It’s not going to be easy, Shay. It’s going to take a lot of time. But I will be a father

to our son. I’ll make up for every day I’ve missed in his life. I promise you that.”

Shay looked at Matty. She knew it was true. And she kissed him.

But Matty had been craving her too desperately to be satisfied with a kiss. He pulled

her onto his lap, straddling her as she faced him, and kissed her passionately. As they kissed,

he removed his shirt from his body, and then the shirt she wore from hers. He slid down his