Slightly Imperfect (16 page)

"How is he?"

"Even more beautiful," she murmured. "He's being released in less than a month if... all goes well."

"What could go wrong?"

"I could tell them he's not ready. I have a hearing with his doctors before he's released."

"Why you?"

"I'm the grieving party." She smiled disparagingly.

"Is he ready for release?"

"How much do you remember about Coby's and my relationship when Tommy died— remember from the media, I mean?"

He remembered little, but he knew a lot. He had gone into Houston yesterday, to the newspaper that had exploited the scandal. He looked up every dead file article containing her name as well as Coby's, Cordera's, and Christian's. Now he knew more than he'd wanted to. Enough to want to know everything. "The media called it incest."

She lowered her gaze, sucked in her breath, then forced her eyes up again, sipping champagne while he waited. Finally she said, "But knowing that, you still came to dinner."

"Was it incest?" He held her gaze.

"We never had sex."

"What
did
you do?" Holding the champagne glass with one hand, the chair arm with the other, he watched a single tear well, slide down and land on her red leotard. "Can you tell me?"

"You remember the picture I showed you in Portofino, of Coby and me as children?"

He remembered. The two of them, raveled together, sleeping.

"Coby was the child of my father's distant cousin. We were born only hours apart. Coby's father... died before he was born, and his mother—I don't really know. She couldn't keep him, but we?ve never known why. Pierce and my mother never seemed to want us to know. Coby came to live at Chandler House the day I was brought home from the hospital. Pierce adopted him, and we were always referred to at home as
the twins
."

She faltered, faded out of reach for a moment, as she was capable of doing, and then rallied. "My father was a twin. Coby and I look so much alike that... . " Zac watched her take a deep breath, frown. She pressed her temples with her fingertips for a moment, hard. "When you meet him, you'll see there's a remarkable resemblance between us. I've always felt —"

After a moment, he urged, "Felt what?"

"I don't know. Linked with him in some way. Spiritually. The feeling started when we were Ari and Alex's age, but it never changed. Coby was my world. Pierce gave me no affection, never held me. Almost never touched me. Coby did.

"I don't know if Pierce and Anna—My mother's name was Anna. She died when I was sixteen. I don't know if they weren't aware of the quality of Coby's and my relationship, or didn't know what to do about it. It went... unmonitored... until we were twelve when they suddenly sent Coby away to school. I went crazy."

He watched her remember, distress pinching her flawless face.

"I spent my life between then and the time I was twenty-three trying to get Coby back. I craved affection, physically and emotionally. Coby met those needs when we were together."

She stopped, took a long drink, actually took a shrimp from the plate, biting and chewing like an automaton. "If Coby and I are only cousins—only
very distant
cousins—why were Pierce and Anna so frightened—so adamant about separating us?"

Zac waited, feeling privileged yet feeling sick. "What happened when you were twenty-three?" he asked finally.

"Tomas Macario Cordera," she whispered. "Everything changed."

"How?"

"I was a virgin. I began to live."

He hadn't realized women put so much emphasis on sex. Something brief stirred in his groin, then settled in his heart, while Tomas Cordera lurked on the edges of the emotion.

"Coby went crazy with the knowledge of me sleeping—He began a campaign against Tommy and Tommy began one of his own. I was in the middle, but I couldn't let Tommy go."

Then she had married Christian. Same era, different story.

She went for more champagne, refilled their glasses, took her time reseating the bottle and returning to her chair. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm telling you this."

He hoped he knew.

"You're my friend, so, I want you to understand." He saw her throat move. "I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Of Coby coming home."

"Of what he'll do, or what you will?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "I can't deconstruct all the vagueness."

He wondered if that had instigated the phone call from Kerrville last night.

"Life was so crazy for so many years," she said quietly.

"It won't happen this time."

Something akin to hope washed over her face.

"Just believe that."

"I'm afraid for Ariana and Alexander. The same thing could happen to them."

A shiver ran up his spine. "It won't. There's no mystery in their relationship."

"But there's no male affection in Ari's life."

A tender, touchy subject he felt unworthy of addressing. "You know what to be on guard for, though, where your parents didn't."

Her eyes clouded, teared. She cleared her throat and sniffed, so he handed her a napkin. After blotting her nose, she touched the back of her hand to her eyes. "The twin relationship involves sacred aspects I don't want to deprive them of."

Zac realized Victoria had an eerie concept of being a twin herself, one she both feared and cherished.

"My years with Coby... " She managed to smile. "... aside from the confused libido syndrome, were the sweetest of my life. What if I ruin that for Alex and Ari?"

A distinct possibility, given her state of mind. He wanted to hold her, just as he'd wanted to in Portofino. He didn't.

"God," she exclaimed in a whisper. "I am so scared, Zac."

"I'll help you."

Her smile appeared genuine. "You really are kind. And you're sweet."

He shrugged, drained the champagne glass, popped a shrimp in his mouth. What, and where the hell, was being sweet going to get him?

Abruptly, she switched topics. "I'm taking back the design position at my old dress company. Love Victoria."

He nodded, sufficiently informed. Details on Love Victoria had gorged the newspaper dead files.

"I have to go to New York for two weeks—a refresher crash-course in current design trends. I'll take the twins and Lizbett with me."

"I'll keep Marcus."

"Would you?" She proved inept at feigning surprise. The disingenuous nature of her dinner invitation was a disappointment, but patience could be a virtue.

"How can you keep him, though? You have such a rigorous schedule."

So she
had
noticed. "I'll take him with me during the day. Josh can watch him in the evenings while I'm in school."

"That would be wonderful. He won't be cooped up in a hotel room, and he won't miss his Spanish lessons." By way of her eyes, jade now, he watched her mind racing. "Maybe you could start his tennis lessons."

"You'll miss
your
Spanish lessons."

"Maybe you could give me private lessons."

He recognized that smile. Delilah had probably used it just before she sheared Samson in the Old Testament story.

"Maybe." He raised his eyes to a noise on the stairs, half whispering, "Better head for the showers."

Her gaze followed his.

He rose with fervor, moving toward the staircase. "Look who's here. It's an angel with some bad
hombres
."

Ariana jerked her hand from Lizbett's, lost her footing and tumbled down the last three steps. Scooping her up, Zac kissed her tears away, he and Marcus exchanging tolerant smiles while Alex tugged Zac's pant leg insistently.

When Victoria disappeared quietly through an unexplored doorway, Zac admitted his curiosity for the intimacy beyond, and his patient determination to satisfy that interest.

Zac looked down into Marcus's uplifted face as they stood watching the Valdez Hotel limousine pull away from Bay Shore. Lizbett and Alex waved out the back window.

"Well,
compadre
?"

"Well,
amigo
?" Marcus tried to smile.

"Women. What's a man to do?" Zac squatted, put his arm around the narrow shoulders.

"We can't live with 'em, but we sure as hell don't want to live without 'em. Have you noticed?"

Marcus nodded and swallowed in the wake of the car disappearing around a corner.

"And that Alex. Pretty cute, don't you think?" Zac coerced.

"He's cool."

Zac's heart wrenched as Allie's ghosty voice echoed in his head. "It's all that yellow hair, that makes him cool, I guess."

"I like it."

Yeah. Zac could relate. He hugged Marcus, ruffled his jet-black mass. "What can we get into while they're gone? We've got two weeks to do some damage." He rose, ambling toward the house, his touch light on Marcus's shoulder.

Delilah bumped against their legs, staggering them, vying for attention.

"Do you know how long two weeks are?" Zac had seen long weeks, and short. These were shaping up to be a little of each.

Marcus gave it no consideration. "Fourteen days. Three weeks are twenty-one days." He walked backwards before Zac, half-hugging, half-scratching Delilah. "A month is thirty days."

"Sometimes," Zac countered.

"Sometimes it's thirty-one. Or twenty-eight." He smiled, triumphant.

Zac would have to get up earlier to get ahead of Marcus.

* * *

Zac answered the buzzing mobile phone. "Zac Abriendo and Marcus Cordera here. Captain and first mate of the ship Toyota."

"Zac?"

"He's fine, Victoria." He held the phone out to Marcus. "Say '
hola
' to Victoria."

Marcus grinned tolerantly, raising his voice from the far side of the truck. "
Buenos tardes
, Vitoria."

"That's beautiful." She sounded breathless.

"Have you arrived yet?"

"We're at Kennedy waiting for our luggage."

"Are you going to worry about Marcus the whole time? I was kidding in Portofino about taking him and running away." He caught Marcus's pleased grin. "He'll be here when you get back." Zac would be here, too. "You haven't lost the twins, have you?"

She exhaled, laughing feebly. "I've never left Marcus before."

"Yeah. He told me."

"I'll try not to bother you."

"Never." He smiled at Marcus. "We're doing guy things, though. We may be hard to catch."

"What kind of guy things?" He detected wariness.

"Breakfast at Big Mac. Lunch at Taco Bell. We bought a sleeping bag so he can sleep in my room instead of that big, girly guestroom."

"How sweet, Zac."

That word again. "We're on our way to Fischer's Landing to give those women down there hell."

"What women?"

"I'll explain later. If we talk to you all day we won't get to go fishing." He held the phone out again. "Say goodbye to Victoria."

"
Adiós, mi corazon
."

Zac grinned. "How'd you like that, Mom?"

"Oh, Zac, I loved it."

"Do you know what it means?"

"Yes."

Yeah. She?d already been taught all the endearments. "We're hanging up."

"I'll call tonight."

"We'll be home."

* * *

"Who's this?" Gerald pushed his glasses up on his nose and smiled, laying down the file he held.

"Marcus Cordera. My new best friend." Zac stood in front of Gerald's desk and Marcus rounded the corner, stuck out his hand, as Zac had coached him.

"
Buenos días, Señor
Fitzpatrick." He struggled a little with the name.

"
Ingles
," Zac corrected.

"
Perdoname
." Marcus smiled, adding, "Excuse me."

Zac tried not to laugh, finding Marcus's cunning a little scary. He guessed it was in the genes. Maybe Tomas Cordera's ghost wasn't larger than life after all.

Gerald was loving it.

"We're grandfather shopping." Zac took a seat in one of the leather barrel chairs. Marcus came and scooted his little rear in beside him. "Are you interested,
Señor
Fitzpatrick?"

"You bet. What are the qualifications?"

Zac appreciated Gerald's lack of hesitance. "Lunch at Taco Bell when we're finished putting those women in line."

"My favorite place. I'll be ready."

Admiration ignited in Marcus's dark eyes.

* * *

Jan and Maggie looked up from plans spread on the floor as Zac and Marcus entered the model apartment. Shock and curiosity tangled on Maggie's face. Zac saw Jan's recognition.

"Marcus, these are the women we have to put in line," he said. "Just because they're beautiful, don't let them get away with anything. We run a tight ship at this landing."

"Hi," Jan said. "Didn't I see you at
Cinco de Mayo
?"

"I'm Marcus. I danced with Estella. Could she come over to Zac's house?"

Zac laughed. "He's a fast mover. Hi, Maggie."

"Hello, Zac." She busied herself rolling plans, then stood and approached them, eyes on Marcus. "He's wonderful. Did he come with the new house?"

He had hoped for a different reaction, one that shared the bittersweet memories Marcus awoke in him. Maggie's memories hadn't transcended bitter. Yet.

"Marcus, this is my special friend. Maggie."

Marcus's hand shot out and Maggie eyed it skeptically before she took it, smiling finally.

"Maggie and I had a son. He died when he was your age."

Her head bolted up, eyes defiant for an instant. The familiar look wrenched his heart, allowing him to remember how he had enjoyed putting that fire out when things had been good. Today the fervor cooled of its own volition, replaced with a softness that nudged his regret.

Marcus frowned a little. "What was his name?"

"Alejandro. He was named after his grandfather," Maggie said softly. "We called him Allie. Would you like a donut?"

She raised her eyes to Zac's and he nodded. She put her arm around Marcus's shoulders, turning him. It was easier for Maggie. She was more Marcus's size.

"They're in the kitchen. Do you like chocolate? Or plain?"

"I don't know," Zac heard him say. "Victoria doesn't let me eat donuts."