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They had entered by the kitchen and Derrick’s stomach reminded him of how long it had been since they had eaten as it whined longingly at the delicious scents drifting his way.
“Why don’t we get something to eat?” Derrick had suggested.
“I’m really not hungry.”
“Where have you two been?” Nan had demanded as the kitchen door swung open and she stood in the doorway, hands on her hips and severe displeasure on her face.
“We, uh…”
“Haven’t had a good meal since lunch I am sure of it,” she had accused. “You have got to take better care of yourselves. Now get yourselves to the dining room. I am going to fill your bellies.”
Taylor had quietly sighed, “Nan, we really—”
“Young lady, I will not have you talking back to me about this matter. You and your husband, whose stomach I heard from the driveway mind you, get going to the dining room so that you can relax and have a proper meal.”
Taylor hated being told what to do. She would cut anyone down who even dared tell her what it was she needed to do, something that Derrick thought was incredibly sexy. But when Nan had told Taylor what to do, Taylor didn’t even argue.
And so into the main dining room they had gone, which functioned way better as a dining space than an office, and waited as instructed for their food to arrive.
It was silent all around them. Derrick tried to make small talk with Taylor, tried cracking jokes, tried talking business, but she wouldn’t engage. She was drawing into herself, Derrick realized. She was letting all her thoughts spin wildly out of control and withdrawing from what made sense. She used to do it all the time as a kid, when their,okay when one of Derrick’sschemes would fly out of control and her mind would fumigate itself with all the potential for wrong that could, would and was for sure coming their way. Many times Taylor confessed everything they were planning before they’d even started, her conscience ruining their fun and getting Derrick in the shit.
But Derrick wasn’t going to let her retreat into herself. The best solution was to find out what had happened to Cedric, find out if those things were connected to the attacks at the Gala and hospital, find the motherfucker responsible, and take him out.
However that was a little out of his realm at the minute.
He didn’t particularly care for Henry, but he did know that guy was working his balls off trying to follow up on all these leads and input. And something Henry had said earlier to Derrick had left him with a little relief.
They had been stationed outside the medical examiner’s office, in one of the back alleys, waiting for Taylor to come back out. Henry had wired Taylor up so they could both hear everything that was happening, and they were ready and waiting just in case the plan imploded. Yup, super easy for a huge redhead and a poster-child billionaire to just blend in outside the medical examiner's office of all places. It was in the pressure-filled silence that Henry spoke to Derrick.
“Do you trust me, Derrick?” Henry had finally asked softly.
Derrick had looked at him. “Yeah,” Derrick had said as if this was the most obvious answer. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Henry gave him a doubting glance.
“What?” Derrick said, totally caught off guard by this questioning.
“I just want you to know that this job and making sure you all stay safe is very important to me. I take my job very seriously, but please do not mistake my intensity for interest.”
Derrick’s face scrunched up in confusion. “I’m not following you.”
“I have no other interest in your wife other than what my job entails.”
Derrick didn’t believe him. “Yeah, I know.”
“Because I have someone,” Henry went on, “and I know that it would really piss me off if she had to work with someone as closely as I work with Taylor.” Henry laughed a small humorless laugh then. “To be honest sometimes she does have to work with men that close, depend on those men to keep her safe and, well, it bothers me,” he admitted.
Derrick looked at Henry from the corner of his eye. “Are you married?” Derrick finally asked.
Henry smiled a small smile and blushed, hanging his head in a shy schoolboy way for a second. “No, but she is my whole world,” he said nodding and looking at Derrick. “And yet she drives me bonkers, too.”
Derrick laughed slightly, amazed at the relief that he felt at hearing that Henry didn’t have a thing for Taylor. “Women will do that to you, especially the ones we’re crazy about,” he said.
And now Derrick sat across from his silent wife and decided that while Henry took care of catching the guy, he could provide the only alternative—distraction.
At that moment their food was delivered by two kitchen staffers, and Derrick dismissed them quickly. While Taylor stared at her plate, Derrick used the remote tucked away in his chair’s armrest to lock the two entry doors and draw the shades. His father used to have business dinners in this room, and he had installed this system in order to allow some privacy. Derrick was going to use it for privacy of a completely different sort now.
Derrick rose from his seat and grabbed his folded cloth napkin on the way up. He walked over to his wife, who had now moved on to pushing her food around on her plate, and pulled her chair back sending her fork clattering with the motion.