Darius then called a cleaning crew to go in, and after that,a management company to ready it for the market.We dropped some cash on somenice, middle-of-the-road bedroom furniture, and got word a few days ago it hadrented, furnished.
In the meantime, I’d extended an olive branch to Danni andGabby by explaining I did need someplace to put my books, as well as new framesfor my pictures that would work in Darius’s space.
They took hold of that olive branch like their life dependedon it (they really did love their brother, and actually me, not to mentionLiam), and now we had three new handsome shelving units, one in the livingroom, another in the family room and the last in the study, where I put mybooks and arranged my newly framed pictures.
And with that, I was good.
Liam and I were firmly in Darius’s home, so it was no longerjust his.
It was ours.
In that time, Ally called to confirm that Jeffrey was indeedhiding assets, not extorting them from the firm, and advised that was the lastshe’d report to me about the situation.She was going to “take care of it,” andshe felt the less I knew, the better.
She said that, considering it was a high probability thatthe only people who knew about it were me, Jeffrey and our networkadministrator, who was the one who probably mislaid the file on my desk, Ishould act like handing it over to Jeffrey was the last I’d thought about it.Especially since his shit was soon to hit the fan.
I thought this was good advice, so I took it and asked herto send me an invoice for her time.
“Chickie, Rock Chicks get my services for free,” was herresponse before she hung up on me.
I wondered how often the Rock Chicks needed investigativeservices, then decided I didn’t want to know.
Toni met with Tod and Stevie for martinis and weddingdiscussion, and I let them have at it…for the preliminaries.I’d butt in assoon as things heated up (that being, when Darius put a ring on my finger).
I was busy with work, catching up with my man, solidifyingmy family, and picking and choosing from the whirlwind of invitations thatswirled around the Rock Chicks (we’d all had brunch this past Saturday, I’dbeen to Daisy’s castle for a facial with Ava and Roxie (and it wasa castle,in the middle of Englewood, Colorado, for goodness sake, complete with moat),we’d pimped ourselves out and gone to watch Tod perform (he was one of Denver’spremier drag queens) the Saturday before (Lena getting initiated that night,Toni was already there when I got there), and select Rock Chicks and Hot Bunchwere always at Liam’s games, even the away ones, with Indy and Lee, Jet andEddie coming to every one of them).
And in quiet times, in fits and starts, Darius shared withme about his years away from us.
He did this like he was confessing, and I couldn’t say itwas fun to hear, nor could I say he shared it all, or ever would.
What I knew from how he told it was that, even if Shirleenwas always there, throughout that time, he felt very alone and very lost, andthe shame he carried was extreme.
However, he explained that shame was tempered by an epiphanyof redemption he felt when he’d saved Ally from certain dangers that, if she’dsurvived them, would haunt her for the rest of her life.
He didn’t seem to realize he was on the periphery, helpingwhere he could, having the Rock Chicks’ backs through all their trials andtribulations.Not to mention, he did, indeed, work with Eddie on keeping theunderbelly of Denver organized and controlled, weeding out “players” who didn’tknow the game and made things messy so people who didn’t choose that lifewouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.On top of that, he often worked on thesly with Lee on jobs he was doing.
But it was Ally’s situation that he felt washed him clean.
Which meant he felt he was finally free to come to me.
I could see that.Lee was his brother, so Ally was hissister.It didn’t happen, thank the Good Lord, but he was willing to sacrificehis life for hers.
He almost did.
And she came away from it unscathed, while he had puckeredscars in the skin of both of his thighs, and jagged ones on the left side ofhis head under his twists and up his right side.
These, I could tell, he carried like badges of pride.Andalthough I didn’t like them all that much (say,at all), for Darius,they were the marks that signified the life he felt he had to live, but hadalways hated, was a life that was no longer his.
He still carried some baggage from that, and as much as ithurt my heart, he was that man, so he always would.
But when he’d saved Ally, the weight had grown a whole lotless heavy.
As for me, I’d been to the grocery store only twice since Imoved in with Darius, and I didn’t carry the bags in from the car.
I paid my mortgage, but Darius switched the utilities at myold house to his name (though he’d soon lose those expenditures when ourtenants moved in).He paid all the other bills and said we’d discuss it “later”how I would contribute.And I knew the way he said this that “later” wouldnever happen.I also knew how important it was for him to take care of us, so Idetermined to find my ways to spoil him (evening out our closet was part ofthat), and I’d let him.
He also cooked most nights, but if I did, he helped, and sodid Liam (Liam also helped his dad, but Darius didn’t let me when he wascooking, I could tell he got off on me sitting with them and drinking winewhile they provided for me, and I got off on it too).The same with doing thedishes.
And he had a cleaning lady, so I no longer had to clean thehouse.
