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Derrick did as he was told, came inside Taylor, and called out something garbled as he did.
Moments later when they had caught their breath Taylor looked at her husband. “What was that you just said?” she asked, a bemused expression on her face.
Derrick shrugged. “I have no idea,” he admitted, amnesia quickly setting in.
“It sounded like ‘guacamole mashed potatoes’ to me,” Taylor said, her brow furrowed in amusement.
“Well that sounds almost as good as what just happened here,” he said.
Taylor laughed and kissed him. “Thank you for helping to clear my mind.”
“Anytime,” Derrick assured her. “Especially if this is how I get to do it.”
“It was definitely a method I have never utilized before,” Taylor agreed, “and it got the job done.”
Derrick reached up and tucked a lock of Taylor’s hair behind her ear. “Will you talk to me now?” he asked gently.
Taylor sighed, “I don’t want this to be so close to home,” she said.
Derrick furrowed his brow, “How do you mean?”
Taylor sighed again, this time heavier. “I feel like this is going to sound stupid,” she confessed.
“Try me,” Derrick offered.
“Okay well, when you got shot, in my head this was a random act of violence to a point. I assumed someone was targeting us, well me, but that it was someone. A stranger. A whack job with a crazy agenda. Then when Tappen attempted to attack me, even though he worked for Preston Corp, he was definitely not acting of his own accord. You saw that footage. So again, I felt someone, in no way connected to us, was responsible.
“When Dr. Parker confirmed that Cedric’s head was bashed in, when he pretty much verified that someone had killed Cedric, my first instinct was that a drug dealer had had enough with his shit, or he had borrowed money from some shady characters,” Taylor explained and then paused.
“What about now?” Derrick prodded.
Taylor looked to the side for a moment, seemingly collecting her thoughts. “Now,” she said looking back at Derrick, “well, when Henry said I couldn’t ask Todd and Charlie, when he said this could be something that went through Preston Corp, it’s just too close.” As she spoke Taylor’s eyes brimmed with tears. “How can something so close, something potentially in my day-to-day be responsible for hurting us? For killing Cedric?” Taylor rolled her eyes, which caused some of the tears to tip over the edge of her lids. “I mean, not that the crazy bastard didn’t have that coming.”
Derrick kissed Taylor’s forehead and pulled her all the way into him, glad she was still on his lap and he could comfort her so easily. “Tay,” he said softly into her ear, “we don’t know anything, and Henry is being careful. You know how cautious he is with everything, and so far that has been to our advantage.”
“What if the company I am trying to save is responsible for hurting you?” she asked, her voice wavering.
“No,” Derrick said, pulling her back a little and looking at her, “this is why we need to talk things out and neither of us should be allowed to tornado in our thoughts. When I do it, I think you are leaving me for a guy in a coffee shop. When you do it, a 150-year-old family legacy company pulled the trigger on me.
“Taylor, even if someone who is linked to Preston Corp was behind us being attacked, and I hate to break it to you, but with access to Tappen they probably are, it is still some whacko with a hidden agenda.”
Taylor searched Derrick’s eyes, quiet. “You’re right.”
“And that has nothing to do with what your family created so long ago that is so important and wonderful to so many people worldwide.”
Taylor smiled at Derrick. “I love you. Do you know that?”
Derrick nodded. “I do, but it is still good to hear you say it,” he said smiling back at her. “And I love you, too, Taylor. Always.”
Taylor’s eyes widened a bit. “That reminds me,” she said, a grin spreading over her face.
“Oh God, what?” Derrick asked because whatever she was reminded of looked devious.
“Remember how you said your tattoo was all gone? Except for those leftover lines?”
Derrick stayed quiet. He hated talking about that stupid tattoo. It was a time in his life that was very bad, very dark, and it still shook him to his core.
“How come you didn’t mention the lines you left that made words?” she asked, squinting at him.