Before You

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE



Once Adam fell asleep, he slumbered so deeply, Roth woke often to place his hand on the other man’s chest to feel the rise and fall of breath. He woke at a little after four, missing his brother and wanting his counsel. Easing from bed, he went out into the living room, picked up the cordless handset and dialed on the lit keypad.



Ridge answered on the second ring. “You okay?”



“Yeah. Did I wake you?”



“No.” Covers rustled. “I wanted an early run.”



“You be fucking careful with that chest. You - ”



“Let it go,” Ridge cut in.



In the close background, a sleepy-sounding Jason asked, “Is that Roth? Everything all right?”



Roth smiled at the gentleness in his sibling’s voice as he replied. “We’re all good. Go back to sleep, brown eyes.”



“Wear your vest,” Jason murmured, then sighed.



“He always knows it’s me, Ridge.” Roth settled on the couch in the pre-dawn dark.



Chuckling, his younger brother agreed. “Yeah. Hope that man of yours isn’t too attached. If I off, Jason’ll wanna marry you.”



He laughed quietly. “No, he’d just mother me to death and I already have someone on that job full-time.”



Ridge became serious in a hurry. “You can’t bullshit me. What’s up?”



“I proposed to my lover.” Roth decided to make full disclosure. “I worship him. The thought of continuing without him horrifies me.”



A brief silence. Then, “Why say that?”



“His father was out to take down a major criminal faction. It got the family killed, except Adam.”



“First time you’ve named him.”



Roth idly rubbed his chest. “I know I’ve been secretive. It’s just with what happened to you, and the general drama, I wanted to keep this on the down low.”



“He in trouble?”



“Yeah,” Roth confessed. “It’s a fucking mess.”



“I can be there in four hours air bourn.” The flat, almost military operational assessment emerged in a cool tone.



Roth smiled. “Stand down, baby brother. I just needed to listen to you talk for a bit.”



“I love you. We love you. Can we meet this bastard soon?”



Although he rarely told his brother how he really felt, he considered himself lucky enough his sibling knew. “He’s not ready and we have some concerns to address.”



“Take care, you.”



“I will. Kiss Jason and that self-entitled cat for me.”



“Will do. Later.”



Roth suffered a separation pang. “Later.”







“I hate to make myself an ass pain,” Adam began, “but, I can’t stay in this house another minute. Going with.”



Pausing in dressing for apartment hunting with Naddy, Roth looked at his partner. “Potential landlords might find the presence of bodyguards and FBI agents put-offish.”



“Please.”



Roth folded like a cheap suit. “Okay.”







Naddy met them at the site of the first apartment. Her keen black eyes swept the entourage. “Oh, hell no. As if a single pregnant black woman isn’t cliché enough, I have to have crazy white men.”



Joseph rushed to embrace her. He had that particularly loving aura that no rational being could reject. “This listing looked nice. Shall we?”



Either the apartments just missed the mark or they had an undesirable location. Naddy became rebellious quickly. “I’ve seen ten worth the money. What the hell?”



Late that afternoon, a real estate agent showed them a small, though high-ceilinged efficiency not four blocks from the shelter. Roth asked, “Nine-hundred with utilities included?” He could scarce believe the luck.



The agent nodded. “Yes, sir.”



Adam asked, “What’s the catch?”



“There’re some homeless shelter’s close. Most renters don’t like the crowd that draws.”



Naddy stared up at the inlaid ceiling, gazed down at the sunshine pooling on the mellow wood floor. Unguarded desire flashed over her face.



Roth smiled. “We’ll take it.”







They bought her furniture, appliances, linens, window treatments, towels, lamps, phones and household toiletry and pantry items under Joseph’s direction. Naddy ordered them around like a field marshal.



When her new place stood in welcoming readiness, she broke down and wept. Roth held her head to his chest as they all knelt in a knot on the floor. “You’re not alone. You’re not alone.”



“Goddamn… you,” she sobbed. “You crazy…white man.”



Her arms tightened on him and Roth pressed his lips to her warm ,wonderfully female-scented hair. “No more fear.”







Roth woke in the night, realizing himself alone. A flash of light from his walk-in closet made him glance at the other side of the mattress.



Empty.



Rolling naked from the bed, he strode to the light source.



Adam, equally naked, sat cross-legged on the carpet of the closet. Boxes Roth had not opened since sealing, yawned wide. His gut jerked. “You said you didn’t have anything left of her.”



Roth saw the pictures with Katherine in them. “They’re snapshots. Precious, yet fleeting as memory.”



“She’s not what I expected.” He held up a photo of Katherine at the zoo.



Harsh recall of the day and her enthusiasm assailed Roth. Taking it from his lover’s grasp, he faced his lost love. “I know. People called her plain and frumpy.” Smiling at the light in his lost love’s eye, he handed the picture back to Adam. “I adored her. She was more beautiful than sunlight to me.”



“You took up with the plain chick.”



Roth knew Adam did not mean it unkindly. “I did. To them.”



“Must’ve pissed the beautiful people off.”



Roth sat down opposite the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. “It did. What’re you thinking?”



Adam fixed those extraordinary violet eyes on Roth’s. “I think you loved her with the same heart you honor with loving me. I think you must miss her very much. And, I think you’re an exceptional man.”



His throat closed. Swallowing hard, he asked, “Do you know how much I love you, Adam?”



Leaning close, his partner slid his hand under Roth’s loose hair. “I can see how you loved her in her eyes. We share that privilege, sweetheart.”





They accompanied an entourage of security detail to Naddy’s new place. Roth ordered from a local Italian eatery, requesting six appetizers, soup, five entrees and salad for an army. Adam sprung for delivered movies. Nathan supplied beer and wine.



Sprawled on oversized pillows and blankets, they stuffed themselves and watched movies for almost four hours. Roth thought he had waited everyone out. He slipped from the communal bed, pissed and exited the small bathroom.



Naddy stood with her hand on her hips. “Roth Garrett, you a strange, generous motherfucker.”



“Okay,” he allowed, “but will you let me help you?”



Naddy hugged him. “Yes.”