Chapter 42

Grissom was standing in his office in LA, looking out over the concrete jungle that was the city of fallen angels.  This was where he felt the most at him.  He couldn’t explain why, but he was more at home in LA than he was in New York or Washington.  It was just homey.

There was a solid knock on the door.  “Mr. Grissom, there’s a package for you”, his receptionist said.

“Come in, Holly.”  Once he heard the door open, he spoke again.  “Who is it from?” he asked.

“There’s not return address, Mr. Grissom.”

He looked at her in confusion.  “What do you mean, no return address?”

“Exactly that.”

“Did you have security check it for explosives, right?”

“They did that as part of the routine.  No explosives.  Just a wooden box.”

“Leave it on my desk, then, Holly.”  Once she left, he sat down at the desk and carefully opened the package.  Once the wooded box was removed, he tossed the outer box in the floor and opened the wooden one.  Inside he found a note card.  “‘It is weakness rather than wickedness which renders men unfit to be trusted with unlimited power’  Your empire will soon crumble, Mr. Grissom.  We know about the trouble you’re really in.  Enjoy your seat on the top while it lasts, M .”  He read over the card, then looked beneath it.  There was a familiar ID and a spill proof container.  Young Cody Green- the young woman who was like a daughter to him- was the name on the ID.  He started shaking as he picked up the container and unscrewed the lid.  He saw ash.  His hands trembled as he screwed the lid back on the container, causing him to cross thread it.  He finally got frustrated enough with it and threw the entire container across his office.  Ash was flung everywhere.

His temper flared as he watched all that was left of Cody spill from the container as she flew across the room.  He picked up the first thing he put his hands on and started throwing things.  He didn’t care what it was or how valuable.  If he could lift it, he threw it.  He was beyond angry.  He wasn’t sure who ‘M’ was but he had crossed the line by sending him the ashes of someone he loved like a daughter.  He loved Cody more than his own daughter who was the same age.

Potted plants went flying.  Picture frames went flying.  His computer went flying.  If he could lift it, he threw it.  Nothing and no one was safe from his fury.  Pissed didn’t cover how angry Porter Grissom was when he was ashes and the ID of the young woman he considered a daughter inside the box.  He was beyond pissed; beyond furious.  Someone was going to pay.  The first person to come through his office door was going to die, even if he had to shoot them himself.

And he screamed.  He screamed his anguish at the windows and walls of his office.  He screamed at the top of his lungs and let his pain be felt throughout the office suite of York Industries.

Now, Grissom knew loss.  He knew the pain that he was going to put David and Brie Draiman through when he was going to kill their daughter Jordan.  Now, he knew what it meant to lose a child.  And he was going to make the Draiman parents feel that loss tenfold.

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When they walked into the house, Reece Tyson took a deep breath and Jordan smiled at him.  “You’re going to be ok, Reece.  Trust me.  The boys will behave themselves or I’ll call Dad in the middle of dinner.”

“I believe you.  I’m just nervous to meet your family, that’s all.  I was nervous to meet your parents.”

“Why, for crying out loud?”

“Your Dad’s a living icon.  How can you NOT be nervous?”

“I don’t see it.  He’s just Dad to me.  That’s all he’s ever been.”

“Just try to think about from my perspective.  I grew up listening to him music.  I would watch the music videos on TV or online, and I would be amazed.  It was awe inspiring.  Then, out of NO WHERE,  I get a phone call from the man I idolized as a kid telling me that he wants to meet me.  I freaked after we hung up.”

She thought about what he said.  “I still don’t get it.  He’s just my Dad.  He wasn’t David Draiman, Rock star when he was at home.  He was just my Daddy.  He was the guy I knew would hold me while I cried over something stupid that someone said to me at school, or would scold me when my grades weren’t what he expected of me.  He knew that all of us were destined for greatness and he wouldn’t tolerate anything less than our best.  Even when I was on the road I was still doing my lessons online while we were on the bus or sitting at the venue waiting to go on.  But, Dad didn’t tolerate slacking out of any of us.  He wasn’t the Rock star the rest of the world saw.  He was, and still is, my Daddy.  All of us feel that way.”

“All of you?  Like, all ten of you?”

“Yeah.  All ten of us.  We all just think of him as our Dad.”

“But you all knew what he did, right?”

“Well, yeah.  Kinda hard not to when he’s getting music from Uncle Danny and he’s disappearing for months at a time to go on tour.  But, it didn’t matter where he was in the world; if we fucked up bad enough for Mom to have to call him, he was on the first flight home to deal with the problem when he had a chance to get away.  He didn’t play around, either.”

“I’ll bet not.”  He took a deep breath.  “Let’s get this over with.  Time to brave the gauntlet.” 

“That’s the spirit”, she laughed.  “Come on.”  She opened the door and led him inside.

Jake looked over his shoulder from the couch when he heard the door open and all of the boys stood.  “Hello Reece”, he said with a pleasant smile.  “I’m Jacob, Jordan’s twin brother.”

Reece extended his hand and they shook.  “It nice to meet you, Jacob.”

Jake then went around the room and introduced everyone else that was present.  The kids were all in their lessons, so it was only adults in the room.  Once everyone was introduced to one another, they all sat and talked.  The boys all got to know Reece and he got to know them.  He learned that everything that Davina said about everyone in the family was a complete and utter lie.  He hated being lied to.  He was honestly pissed by the fact that one of the women he trusted to carry his child would lie to him the way she did.  Jake was good natured, Jeremiah- insightful, Marc- so chill he was nearly in a coma, and James- very confident.  All of the Draiman boys were confident, but James seemed to have an extra dose.

When the kids’ lessons were over, they all excused themselves.  “Wow, your brothers and sisters are nothing like what Davina told me.”

“I told you.  They’re all really awesome.”

“Just like their sister”, he said with a smile.

“Don’t kiss ass, Reece.  It’s unbecoming.”

“Who says I’m kissing ass?”

“I know that look.  I’ve seen it before.”

“Not from me.”

“I have nine other siblings and two parents.  Not to mention aunts and uncles.  You can’t pull one over on me.  Don’t try to kiss my ass.  It’s unflattering.”  She took a deep breath in through her nose.  “I’m going to change and go for a run.  I need to get out and let my ankle flexors and extensors know that they’re still loved.”

“What?”

“I need to work my calf and shin muscles out.  I had to have a titanium rod put in to stabilize my leg after an accident.  I’m not going into details about it now, but let’s just say that it was a hairy ordeal.  Now I run a few times a day as well as do other exercises to strengthen them all back up again.”  She pushed to standing.

“Mind if I join you?”

“If you want Morbus kicking your ass, then no.”

“What do you mean?”

“Morbus is helping me get back into shape after my accident.  He’s a harsh task master, but I need it right now.”

He nodded.  “Never mind then.  What can I do while you’re doing that?”

She grinned.  “Come on.  I’ll show you to my room.  You can watch movies in there until I come back.  Then, we need to talk.”

He stood.  “Alright.”

When she started up the stairs, he followed, grabbing his bags as they went.  A short distance down the hall, she opened a door and let him in.  “My room.”

He looked around at everything.  There was a decent sized LCD flat screen TV on the wall.  It had a built in DVD player.  The bed sat in the middle of the room.  There was no desk and was modestly decorated with pictures of the family.  It looked a lot like Jordan’s living room at her house, except there were pictures of the kids and her nieces and nephews at home.  There were only pictures of her parents, brothers and sisters in the bedroom.  “Nice.  This is the room you grew up in?”

“Yep.  Malachai’s in his old room, Jake is in the Master suite.”

“Formerly your parents’ room.”

“Yep.”  She showed him the remotes and explained how the internet in the house was set up before stepping into her closet to get changed for her workout.  Once she was ready to go, she left without another word as he made himself at home in her bedroom.

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Neither David nor Brie were sleeping very well.  They both laid in bed and stared into the darkness.  “Are you awake?” David whispered softly to his wife.

“Not by choice, I assure you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My shoulder’s bothering me.”

“Which one?”

“The one I was shot in years and years ago.”

His arm constricted around her shoulders and he held her as close as he could.  “A night I’ll never forget.  Seeing you with a bloody hole in your shoulder was one of the most painful experiences in the world for me, second only to the miscarriage you had two days later.”

She unconsciously reached up and rubbed at the scar in her shoulder where the bullet entered her.  “I remember you cleaning the wound for me.  God, it hurt so much.”

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

She pressed her lips to his chest with a sad smile.  “No honey, you didn’t hurt me.  It was a combination of the fact that you had just cauterized the wound on both sides and the fact that I’d just gotten shot.  It had nothing to do with how harsh you were.  You couldn’t have been more gentle.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, dear.  I’m positive.  You are the most wonderful man I’ve ever known; always trying to take care of me.  I know you love me and you know that I love you.  There’s nothing in this world that you could ever do that will make that change.”

He smiled as he laid a kiss against her hair.  “You’re my angel, Brie.  Why wouldn’t I want to take care of you?  I wouldn’t want to give God a reason to take you from me.”

“Who’s to say that you’re not going to be the one that goes first?” she giggled.

“Trying to get rid of me?” he chuckled.

“Not at all.  I’m just saying.  You are the older of the two of us, so if either of us is going to lose the other at this point, it’s going to be me that loses you.”

“Haven’t the kids always said that we’d go together?”

She laughed.  “Yeah, they have.  At least we don’t have to raise anymore.  We’re just babysitting for the time being and I don’t plan on leaving this planet anytime soon.  What about you?”

He laughed as well.  “Me neither.  I think  I wanna stick around a little while longer so that we can continue to torment our children.”

“And that sounds like a perfect plan to me.”  She yawned.  “I think I can sleep now, if only for a couple of hours.  What about you?”

He yawned as well.  “Sounds like a plan to me.  Let’s try to get a little rest.  We’re going to be dealing with the grandkids doing their lessons in the morning.  We’ll have to be on top of things to handle that.”

“Oh great!  Lessons.  Did we do this already when our kids were young?”

He sighed.  “Yes, but we’re the ones that decided to bring them out here, so we’re the ones responsible for making sure that they stay up to date with their education.”

She groaned softly.  “Damn it!” she said with feeling.  “I thought we were done making sure small children went to school when Jessi and Marc started driving.”

“I know, but they’re our grandkids and they need their education.”

“I know, I know.  If they want to go anywhere in life, they need to stay in school.  We wouldn’t be very good grandparents if we didn’t make sure that happened while they’re here.”

“Exactly.  Now, let’s got o sleep.”

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When Jordan came back in, she grabbed a change of clothes before heading into the bathroom to get a shower.  She could feel herself getting stronger and stronger.  She was glad that she never had to do physical therapy.  It would have been too big of a pain in her ass.

As the cool water beat down on her skin, she pushed thoughts of her strength and her injuries from her mind and considered the man that was currently passed out on her bed.  She had to laugh at that.  There was a man asleep in her bed.  That had never been something she had to worry about.  Anytime she brought a lover home, it was a woman.  She’d told her parents early that she wasn’t into men. 

But, for some reason, Reece Tyson was the exception to that rule.  He was, honest to God, the first man she’d ever felt any form of attraction to.  She didn’t understand it.  Sure, he was the father of her children, but the children were created through artificial insemination.  She’d never slept with a man before.  It was against her nature, wasn’t it?

She shook the thought away and finished bathing before getting dressed in her lounge about the house clothes.  When she walked across the hall to her room she was toweling off her hair, which hung in wild curls in her face.  She kept all of her hair care products in her room.  As she went about taking care of her messy curls, she heard Reece stir behind her.  “Hey there.  Back so soon?” he asked sleepily.

“I was gone for two and a half hours”, she laughed.

“Whoa.  I must have laid down and just crashed.”

“So it seems.  I slipped in long enough to grab some clothes and you were out”, she said as she crumpled her hair into her hands to apply the anti- frizz gel that kept her hair from getting too poofy when it got humid outside.

“I’m sorry.”

She waved a hand in dismissal.  “Don’t be.  You just flew from Jerusalem to Colorado.  I’m sure that’s an exhausting trip.”

“But, I’m not sleeping in here, am I?”

“You can if you want.  I’ve never shared a bed with a man, so it will be an interesting experience, but it shouldn’t be too creepy.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.  I mean, I’m willing to move in so that the kids understand stability, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

She sighed.  She knew that she was going to have to admit her feelings for him to him at some point.  “Listen Reece. This is why we need to talk.  Ever since I met you after my break up with Sam, I’ve had this strange attraction to you.  I’ve never felt that toward a man.  You can ask my parents.  When I snuck someone into the house, it was a girl like my older brother and twin did.  But, for some strange reason you’re the exception to the rule.  I can’t explain it, but I do want to see what might possibly become of it.  If you don’t feel the same way, that’s fine.  You can still move in so that the kids know that no matter what, we love them and we’re looking out for them.  I just figured that I needed to clear the air between us so that all of the tension between us can subside a little.”  She picked up the towel and wiped her hands on it as she spoke.

He smiled.  “Jordan, I feel the same way.  Oddly enough, I’ve felt like I was back in high school all these years that we’ve known each other because I’ve had a crush on you since the day we met.  Then, when you asked me to father a child with you, I was excited.  I thought, ‘Wow, I’m actually going to get to make love to her’, then I met Davina.  Talk about a spirit crusher.”

She laughed softly.  “Yeah, I’ve noticed recently that she has that tendency.”

“Are you really going through with the divorce?”

“Yep.  I’m citing irreconcilable differences.”

“Good.  The kids don’t need to be subjected to being pulled away from home every time you go on tour anymore.  You deserve to have some time away to have a career.  Be a Mom while you at home and a Rock star while you’re on the road; not a Mom 24/7 as well as a Rock star when you go on tour.”

“What about your skating, and the video game deals?”

“I don’t travel nearly as much as you do, and we can work around my schedule.  Don’t worry about that.  You shouldn’t have to worry about that.”

She stretched out on the bed and lie on her stomach as they talked.  “Are you sure about that?  Honestly, Reece.”

“Skateboarding competitions take place mainly in the spring, summer, and fall.  I’m a pro, so it’s harder to find invitational’s these days that I haven’t already dominated.  I’m considering snowboarding as well, but if you and I move in together I’m not going to.  Someone needs to be at home with the kids all the time.  I understand that and I won’t resent you if your career comes first.”

She looked at him cautiously.  “Seriously, Reece?  You mean it?”

He smiled softly at her and nodded.  She knew what the smile meant.  Her father got a similar look when reassuring her mother.  “Yes, Jordan.  I mean it.”  He gently brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his finger tips softly caressing he cheek.

Her breathing shuttered and her eyes fluttered shut.  She hadn’t been touched like that in a very long time.  It was as if he were in love with her, but there was no way… was there?

He pressed his palm against her cheek, his thumb softly caressing her cheekbone.  “You’re so beautiful, Jordan”, he whispered softly.

As she lay next to him, her hand came up and trapped his against her cheek.  She took in the scent of him.  The touch of cologne at his wrist; the woodsy scent of it.  It was intoxicating.  She couldn’t think with his wrist so close to her face.  The next thing she knew, his lips were touching hers and her ability to resist him was gone.  She went with the kiss, her free hand reaching out to explore the plains of his abs and chest.  They were so firm that they felt like flesh covered stones under her hands.

She couldn’t help herself and moved to where she straddled his waist.  He was slightly taller than she was so she laid flat against him as they kissed.  Her hips moved.  She couldn’t keep it from happening.  It was force of habit when she was aroused like this.

His hands wandered up her spine and pushed her camisole up so that he could slip it off of her by pulling it over her head.  Once her shirt was in the floor, his hands slid back down her back to push her pants slightly off of her hips before he sat up and placed her on her back with a hand on her neck and at the base of her spine.  He worked her pajama pants off of her body as he kicked his shoes off and she pulled his shirt off to toss it in the floor as well.  As they worked each other’s pants off, Jordan moaned softly against his lips; a mix of desperate need and uncertainty.  Reece broke the kiss.  “Are you sure, Jordan?”

“Stop talking, Reece.  I wouldn’t have put myself in your lap if I wasn’t.”

He claimed her lips again as he contemplated his first move.  His back arched as he pushed himself inside her, stealing her breath and forcing her to tear her lips from his as she gasped.  The sound pleased him.  She’d just admitted to him that she’d never been with a man, so he wanted to make her first experience a beautiful one.