TOTAL ECLIPSE: The Evolution (Sin City Heat Series Book 7) (23 page)

CHAPTER 25

As expected, the first couple of weeks were an adjustment for all three of them. Darrell offered to drop D.J. off at camp in the mornings, but as Jerra said, it really didn’t make sense for him to do that because she was closer to its location than he was, so they decided to go with her taking him, and Darrell picking him up in the afternoons. Things grew tense once or twice when the time got away from Darrell and he was late picking D.J. up. The second time it happened, the two of them got into an argument in front of D.J. when Jerra stopped by the condo on the way home.

Darrell had honestly expected them to be closer to reconciling by now, but that wasn’t the case. With Jerra starting her new job, the only time they saw each other seemed to be when she came to pick D.J. up in the evenings. She left the office at 7, sometimes 8 p.m. By the time she made it home and got D.J. settled, it was after his bedtime. That became another bone of contention between them. Darrell felt their son should just stay with him if Jerra saw she was going to be that late, but Jerra refused, which caused another argument. Darrell accused her of trying to be superwoman at the expense of D.J. Jerra countered that she could handle it and that D.J. needed to be home in his own bed.

Darrell was at the end of his rope and said as much to Marcus and Dominick. Seeing how tightly wound Darrell was, they’d taken him out to
O’Ryan’s,
one of their favorite sports bars, to watch the game and get a couple of drinks Saturday evening. 

After the waitress brought them a refill on their beer, Darrell took a long swig of his before continuing to vent. “I’m trying to be patient, but I’m tellin’ ya’ll, I’m about to lose it.”

“Come on, D., calm down,” Dominick said.

“I’ve been tryin’ to, Dom, but I ain’t never been a part-time father to D.J. and I don’t intend to start now. Jerra acts like I don’t have a say when it comes to certain decisions about our son. She wants to be in control of everything.”

“You know how she is,” Marcus chimed in. “She’s stressed out just as much as you, but she channels hers in different ways.”

“Yeah,” Dominick grimaced. “You handle stress by blowing up and exploding. She keeps everything inside behind a barrier of ice until she cracks and lets it out.”

“It doesn’t make sense for her to take him home late then get up early the next morning just to bring him back. She has to realize that, for now, the condo is just as much D.J.’s home as the one he’s sharing with her.”

Marcus and Dominick exchanged exasperated looks when Darrell continued his rant as if neither of them had spoken.

“If I want him to spend the night, then he’s gonna spend the night. I don’t need her permission, and that’s what she thinks. What kind of foolishness is that?”

“D., you need to chill out, take a deep breath. You don’t want things to get ugly between the two of you. It’s going to take some time until things run smoothly, but one of you needs to keep a cool head.”

“I’m tryin’, Marcus, but–”

“No, just listen to me. I understand what you’re saying, I do. I know this is hard, but believe it or not, it’s probably harder for Jerra. For all intents and purposes, she has been the one to make most of the decisions when it came to D.J. because she’s the one who’s been at home with him. Does she need to loosen up? Yes, but give her a little bit more slack and help her ease into it. I can’t even imagine how stressful her job is. Jerra’s an excellent attorney; this particular firm wouldn’t have been after her for so long if she wasn’t. Knowing the perfectionist Jerra is, she’s putting more pressure on herself than anyone.”

Darrell was quiet as he mulled over what Marcus said. “She does look tired. I already know what she’s doing, once she gets home with D.J., she’s trying to spend a little time with him, then stayin’ up and workin’ until she falls asleep. She’s gonna burn herself out if she doesn’t let me help.”

“Things will even out before that happens, but it might take more than a couple of weeks.” Dom’s voice was sympathetic. Everybody hated the fact that Darrell and Jerra were going through this. “In the meantime, maybe you need to think about getting someone to come in for a few hours to help out for a while.”

Darrell frowned. “What, like a housekeeper or somethin’?”

“More like a housekeeper/nanny.”

But Darrell was shaking his head before Dominick could go further. “Nah, I know both of ya’ll have somebody like that, but no offense, I don’t want some stranger comin’ in and raisin’ D.J. Your situations are different. Marcus you have the babies, plus Olivia and Dillon. And Dom, you have Christian, Samantha, and now Manny. Keisha should be ready to open her photography studio soon, so I understand why ya’ll got somebody to help out. But with me and Jerra livin’ like this right now, I want to be there as much as I can for D.J. He doesn’t need some stranger babysitting him and thinking we don’t have time for him.”

“And you picking him up from camp in the afternoons and bringing him back to your office until you finish with your day has been better?” Marcus posed the question as tactfully as he could. Before the anger Marcus saw in Darrell’s eyes could come spewing out, Marcus held a hand up to stop him.  “No one’s blaming you, D. We care about you, man, but the same thing you said about Jerra goes for you: You can’t do it all.”

Dominick leaned closer. “Think about it, D. This makes perfect sense. It doesn’t have to be every day. A lot of times, you can finish work from home, but let’s face it, you got a business to run. Sometimes it’s inevitable that you’ll get caught out at a site, or in a meeting like what happened before when you were late picking D.J. up from camp. This will eliminate some of the stress on both you and Jerra on days like that.”

After a moment, Darrell seemed as if he were prone to agree, but then he sat back in the chair and shook his head. “I see what ya’ll sayin’, but Jerra will never go for it.”

Marcus and Dominick looked at each other with identical expressions on their faces before turning back to Darrell.

Darrell glanced from one to the other. “What?” he asked when neither of them said anything.

Dominick picked up a handful of cashews and threw some in his mouth. “We know she won’t like it. Aleesha and Keisha already tried to talk to her about it.”

The scowl Darrell directed at them was fierce. “Okay, what am I missing? First you tell me how hard this is on Jerra, and I need to ease up on her and be patient. Then you suggest something that you know she’s already flat out said no to. Are ya’ll mu’fuckas deliberately trying to get me in trouble?”

“‘Course not,” Marcus said, signaling their waitress to bring another order of hot wings.

When neither of them elaborated, Darrell threw his hands up. “Then…?”

“Look, true enough, we think you should cut J. a little slack, but…” Marcus shook his head. “We ain’t sayin’ lie down and let her walk all over you with her red bottoms either. I mean, even if it’s temporary, the condo is home for now. Just like she wouldn’t appreciate you trying to run her household while you’re not living there, technically, she has no say about what you do with yours.”

“She can’t have it both ways,” Dom added. “You’ve given her everything she’s asked for so far, but she has to make some concessions too. Compromise a little.”

Darrell nodded slowly, but didn’t respond. That told Dom and Marcus that he was thinking about it, so that was good enough.

“If you decide you want to give it a try, Mrs. Bailey gave me the name of a woman she says would be perfect, so just let me know.” Deciding to change the subject, Marcus asked, “So how did it go with Dr. Williams? You had your first session with him today, right?”

Still deep in thought, it took a moment for Darrell to answer. “Yeah. It was alright I guess. He’s actually a pretty cool dude.”

“Good.” Marcus nodded in approval. Not only did the psychologist he’d recommended to Darrell come very highly recommended, but Marcus knew him personally. He’d actually accompanied Aleesha a few times to talk to him after she kept having nightmares about the traumatic experience she’d gone through at the hands of Paula and Bethany. “I knew you’d like him. He’s easy to talk to, unconventional. Not your typical doctor.”

Darrell shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“Have you told Jerra you’re going to therapy yet?” Dom asked.

“I haven’t had a chance to, but with D.J. spending the night at Angel’s I plan on taking the opportunity to talk to her this weekend.”

Before Darrell could add anything else, their regular waitress, Lori, came over and placed the huge platter of hot wings in the middle of the table. Her ever-present cheerful smile stretched across her face. “Here ya’ go, guys. Gimme a minute and I’ll bring you another round of beer.”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Marcus smiled before directing his attention towards one of the big screen televisions.

“No problem, handsome.” Lori grinned. She was turning around to go to the bar for their beers when an image on the screen captured her attention.  “Lord have mercy, that is one fine specimen of a man,” she sighed.

Darrell had just taken a bite of chicken. Glancing disinterestedly up at the screen to see who had put the dreamy look on her face, Darrell did a double take when he saw the athlete the female sportscaster was interviewing. Tobias “Hurricane” Johnson.

Immediately losing his appetite, Darrell threw the half-eaten buffalo wing down on his plate. Leaning back in his chair he made a sound of disgust as the reporter practically touted Cane as the greatest thing the sport of football had ever seen.

Cane’s confidence in his team was evident as he predicted the Wolverines would win the Super Bowl for New York this year. He went on to say that they were hungry for it and that nothing would distract them from their goal.

“Cocky son of a bitch just might do it too,” Dominick commented. “Miami didn’t have a prayer of winning once Dallas Trosclair retired, but Cane stepped up and did the impossible.”

Marcus nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I hate to say it, D., but he’s good. One of the best quarterbacks in the league right now, if not
the
best. Miami was crazy to let him go.”

“They let him go because he was a distraction,” Darrell said with distaste. “Always in the headlines for some bullshit. Asshole thought he was irreplaceable, but they showed him. Traded him to one of the worst teams in the NFL.”

“And that was probably the stupidest mistake they could’ve ever made,” Lori said, shaking her head. “The Wolverines have always sucked, but they might just have a chance this year. Wish I could say the same about having a chance with
him
,” she smirked, staring at Cane.

Darrell rolled his eyes. “Well, since he’s up there on the screen and you’re here in
O’Ryan’s
, how about, uh…” He pointed to their empty mugs, causing Marcus and Dominick to crack up with laughter.

Lori punched Darrell lightly on the shoulder. “Whatever, D. You’re such a hater.”

“Be that as it may, I’m a
thirsty
hater. And just an FYI, each second you stand there gushing over that overhyped idiot on television, your tip is plummeting faster than stocks on Wall Street.”

Ignoring Darrell, Marcus and Dom shook their heads at Lori, letting her know they would take care of her. Lori stuck her tongue out at Darrell, but left to get their drinks.

“From your reaction, I take it Gabby’s still seeing him?” Marcus laughed.

“Not sure. She didn’t mention him last time I talked to her.”

Darrell stared at Cane while he flirted shamelessly with the reporter. He made a mental note to call Gabby soon. He’d only spoken to her once since he’d left New York. Her tone had been subdued, and he knew it was because of Tina, but Tina’s wellbeing was the least of his worries. In fact, he tried not to think of her at all, and would swiftly change the subject whenever D.J. brought her name up. He didn’t wish his mother any ill will, but Tina was no longer a part of his life, and never would be again as far as he was concerned.

And that’s the way he intended it to stay. 

CHAPTER 26

“Come on, Lil’ D. This way.”

Darrell took his son’s hand as they stepped off the elevator and took a right to get to Jerra’s office. In his other hand, D.J. clutched a red rose that matched the dozen Darrell carried.

After venting last night to Marcus and Dom, and letting off some steam last night, Darrell decided to pick D.J. up early from camp and bring him to Jerra’s office as a surprise. Afterwards, Darrell was taking him to Angel and Nikki’s house. That way, Jerra could have the rest of the evening to relax and get some much-needed rest.

“Mommy’s gonna be surprised, huh Daddy?”

“Yep.” Darrell looked down at his son and gave him a wink. “She’s gonna think we’re the bestest ever.”

Darrell chuckled when D.J. bobbed his head proudly. He nodded to a couple of people who smiled at them as they passed by. Several women stopped to lean down and say hello to D.J. and tell him how cute he was. Each time, D.J. thanked them and gave them a charming smile, which only caused the women to gush over him even more.

Darrell shook his head as they stopped in front of Jerra’s secretary’s desk. Heather, the name plate on her desk said. As he waited for Heather to get off the phone, he couldn’t help but smile at what a chick magnet D.J. was. Several of the ladies in his condo had already used him as an excuse to come up and talk to Darrell. A few of the single ones, and married ones too, had even mentioned setting up play dates for D.J. and their children. By the vibes they gave off, he had no doubt that several of them would love to have a “play date” with him as well.

After Heather hung up, she looked at Darrell with a pleasant smile and said, “Hello, may I help you?”

“Yes, I’m Darrell Monroe, Jerra’s husband. Is she available?”

Heather’s eyes lit up as she nodded. “Hello, Mr. Monroe, I’m Heather. It’s very nice to meet you.” Her gaze softened as it landed on D.J. “And let me guess, you’re Darrell, Jr., yes?”

D.J. nodded. When Darrell gave his hand a little squeeze, he said, “Yes ma’am.”

Heather laughed, clearly delighted. “Even though you look just like your daddy, I still would have recognized you because your mommy has several pictures of you in her office.”

“She does?” D.J. asked with wide eyes.

“Yes, she sure does.” Heather gave him another smile, which remained as she looked at Darrell and picked up the phone. “If you give me one second, she’s in with Mr. Sullivan, but I’ll let her know you’re here.”

Darrell nodded and led D.J. over to a couple of chairs, but before they could even sit down, Heather hung up with Jerra and told him it was okay to go in. With a guiding hand on D.J.’s shoulder, Darrell opened the door to Jerra’s office and stepped inside. The first thing that caught his attention was his wife. Jerra stood in front of her desk, her eyes anxious as they landed on him then D.J.

“Hi. Is everything okay?” she asked with concern.

“Hi, Mommy!” D.J. ran over to her full speed. Jerra smiled and leaned down to give him a big hug until he started squirming. Once she loosened her hold, he proudly gave her the rose. “This is for you. Daddy brought you some too.”

Jerra looked up at Darrell with eyes shining, before giving her attention back to D.J. and exclaiming how much she loved the rose.

Darrell’s gaze slowly ran over her outfit. She was most definitely wearing the hell out of that red suit. It was classy and professional, but flattering and sexy at the same time. The lapel and pockets were trimmed in black to match the buttons on the jacket. The skirt, which fell a couple of inches above the knee, along with the red bottomed black pumps, showed off her killer legs to their advantage.

Damn.

He’d been unaware that he was staring until he heard someone clear his throat. Pulling his eyes away from Jerra, Darrell saw Justin coming towards him with his hand outstretched.

“Hello, Darrell.”

Just that quickly Darrell had forgotten that Heather said Justin was in Jerra’s office. Somewhat reluctantly, Darrell transferred the bouquet of roses to his left hand and grasped Justin’s a tad bit more firmly than necessary.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Justin, who lifted his left brow in surprise. “Good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too. How are you, Justin?”

“I’m great, thanks.” Still smiling, he looked at D.J. and shook his hand. “And how are you, young man? Stopping by to surprise your mom?”

“Yes.” When both Darrell and Jerra glanced at him sharply, he quickly corrected himself. “Yes sir.”

Justin laughed quietly, just as charmed by D.J. as everyone else seemed to be. “You are quite the little gentleman. You remind me of my son when he was your age.”

Darrell looked at him in surprise. “You married?”

“No. I have a twelve year old son, but his mother and I aren’t together.” That was all Justin said, but Darrell heard an inflection of what seemed to be bitterness in his voice, but as Justin continued speaking, Darrell wondered if he’d imagined it.

“Jerra, I’m going to leave now so that you can visit with your family.” He glanced at his watch. “Matter of fact, it’s Friday. Get out of here. You’ve been staying late almost every day since you started.”

“Yes, and by the time I leave, you’re still here, so you’re one to talk,” Jerra laughed.

Justin shrugged. “Hey, what can I say? I have no life.”

As before when he first met Justin at their house, Darrell was quiet as he watched the two of them interact. He silently took note of the easy rapport the two of them seemed to share. It felt like a kick in the gut to see Jerra smile so naturally with another man like that.

“Darrell, make sure you take her with you when you leave,” Justin said. “I don’t want to burn her out before she’s been here a good month.”

Darrell forced a smile. “Yeah, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell her, but she won’t listen.”

“Same as she was in law school. It’s part of what makes her a brilliant attorney.” Justin nodded to them as he prepared to leave, but almost as an afterthought, he turned back to Darrell. “By the way, I’m sorry you won’t be able to attend the party we’re throwing Jerra tomorrow night to welcome her to the firm. She said you had a business meeting? I offered to change the date, but hey, maybe the three of us can all go out to dinner or something one night.”

Darrell stared at Justin for a moment, his face shadowed with confusion. “What party?”

But as soon as he asked the question, he realized what was going on. Sullivan, Baker & Lewis was having a function to welcome Jerra to the firm…only Jerra had decided not to invite
him
. His eyes shifted to her and caught the guilt that spread over her face, as did Justin.

The smile on Justin’s face slipped as his eyes flew from Darrell to Jerra. It was painfully obvious that Darrell didn’t know what he was talking about. “I, um, I guess I’ll talk to you tomorrow night, Jerra. Nice seeing you, Darrell.”

Darrell didn’t acknowledge him, nor did he blink when Justin left the office. His attention remained riveted on Jerra’s expression, his face reflecting a multitude of emotions that ranged from accusation and anger to hurt.

He addressed D.J. without taking his eyes from her. “Son, why don’t you go and sit at the table over there while Mommy and Daddy talk.” He indicated the conference table on the other side of the room. “We won’t be but a minute.”

Darrell waited until D.J. was safely out of earshot. “I guess you weren’t planning on telling me about tomorrow night.”

“I probably should’ve at least mentioned it to you. It’s just that…”

“Just that what?” Darrell asked when she hesitated. “I’m still your husband.”

“But we
are
separated. Quite frankly, I don’t owe you any explanations.”

Darrell’s brows shot up and his head cocked to the side. “Oh really?”

“You know what I mean.”

“So, instead of respecting me enough to give me a head’s up, you make me look like a fool in front of Sullivan? You lie and tell him,
I can’t make it
?” Darrell growled out angrily as he quoted Justin.

Jerra shot a quick glance towards D.J. who was now staring at them through wide eyes. Jerra gave her son what she hoped was a reassuring smile before saying to Darrell in a hushed tone, “Please lower your voice.”

Darrell glanced at D.J. and grimaced. “It’s okay, son, Mommy and Daddy are just talking.”

“Use your quiet voice,” D.J. said.

Darrell gave him a curt nod and struggled to smooth out the ferocious frown he was almost sure he wore before turning back to Jerra, who was standing with her arms folded staring at him.

“Darrell, Justin doesn’t know we’re separated. Frankly, it’s not his or anyone else’s business.”

“I’m sure he’s got his suspicions now.”

Jerra glanced nervously at D.J., who was spinning around in one of the chairs but still casting leery looks at them.

Darrell counted to ten. When he felt he was a little calmer, he nodded slowly. “So this is the way we’re going to do this, huh?” He hunched his shoulder. “Fine. At least I know where I stand now.”

“Darrell–”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s cool. Do what you think is best, J.” He looked down at the bright bouquet of flowers he still held and felt even more foolish about the romantic gesture. Snorting softly, he tossed them on her desk. “I’m dropping D.J. off at Nikki’s so you won’t have to. I wanted to give you a break, get a little relaxation time in, but I see you got that covered. I guess I’ll see you Monday evening when you come to pick him up after work.”

“Darrell, wait.” Jerra lifted a hand as if to touch his arm, but Darrell deliberately avoided it by stepping back and turning to gesture at D.J. that it was time to go.

“By the way,” he said, glancing back at her. “I’m hiring someone to come in a few days a week to help around the condo and watch D.J. in the afternoons for a couple a hours.”

Jerra’s expression turned from shock to outrage. “You…you’re
what
?”

Darrell ignored her and looked down at D.J. and said in a brisk tone, “Go and tell your mother goodbye.”

“Darrell!” Jerra hissed, but pasted on a smile as D.J. half trotted, half jumped back to her.

“Bye, Mommy, I love you.”

Glaring at Darrell over the top of her son’s head, Jerra replied, “I love you too, sweetie. Have fun and be good for Aunt Nikki.”

“I will,” D.J. sang out excitedly. Pulling away from Jerra, he ran to Darrell and grabbed his hand, anxious to go. “Is Dillon coming too, Daddy? And Samantha? And Olivia? And Christian?”

“I’m not sure, buddy, I think Uncle Marcus said Dillon was coming but Samantha’s going to be at her mother’s, and Aunt Aleesha is taking Christian for the night. I think Uncle Dom mentioned that Manny might stay, though.”

“Cool!” D.J.’s eyes lit up as he pulled Darrell towards the door. “I like Manny. He’s teaching us Spanish. Wanna hear?”

“Darrell!” Jerra quickly interrupted D.J. to stop them at the door. “You hiring someone to watch our son is something we need to discuss. I’m not comfortable with it at all.”

Darrell stopped and stared at her for several, long seconds. “Looks like both of us are gon’ have to get comfortable with a lot of things, aren’t we?” His eyes were cool and indifferent as he turned and walked out. “Enjoy your weekend.”