Unexpected (The Protectors 10)

Reese nodded. “She called me and told me she was sorry, but that she was really tired and she just couldn’t do it anymore. It wasn’t… it wasn’t the first time she said that kind of stuff to me. She usually did it because she was feeling lonely and wanted me to drop everything and come be with her. So I wasn’t expecting to find her like that…”

“You couldn’t have known, Reese,” Grady said gently. “Your mother had a habit of kicking her Secret Service detail out of the house whenever she got upset. When she did, they usually just sat in their car across the street.”

“They were there that day,” Reese said. “They recognized me. Even if they’d been able to see the garage from their position, they wouldn’t have been able to see the exhaust… I didn’t when I got there.” Reese paused before saying, “She was gone when I found her. I saw the note in her hand and I… I didn’t want…”

“You didn’t want your father to be blamed for her suicide,” Grady suggested.

“Reese,” Everett whispered in disbelief.

“She never stopped talking about it,” Reese murmured. “How Dad had ruined her life. That he’d fucked around behind her back. She was so disgusted that it was with other men. The things she said…” He shook his head. “I took the note and opened the garage door to flag down the agents while I called 911. We tried doing CPR, but it was too late. When the reports came out calling it an accident, I didn’t say anything. I was so sure that Dad had arranged to cover it up.”

“It was a cover-up and it was instigated by the president, just not the one you thought,” Grady said. “Your father was led to believe the same story the world did. Fortunately, that fucker lost his bid for re-election to our current president.”

“Did you know she was cheating?” Reese asked Everett.

Everett nodded. “I didn’t care,” he admitted. “But I didn’t want you to find out, either. As bad as things were between me and her, I didn’t want you to ever think badly of her. She loved you very much. We both did. You were our perfect little boy—”

“Until I wasn’t, right, Dad?” Reese cut in.

Everett shook his head. “No, Reese, you were. I wish… I wish I hadn’t been so blind to how hard things were for you. I wish I’d made more time for you and that I’d told you more often how proud I was of you—”

“Stop fucking lying!” Reese shouted as he jumped to his feet. “Just fucking stop!”

“I’m not—” Everett began, completely taken aback by his son’s abrupt change in behavior, but Reese wouldn’t let him continue.

“You’re such a fucking hypocrite! It was okay for you to fuck around with guys, but when I… when I…” A choked sob escaped Reese’s throat and he covered his eyes with his hand. “But when I needed you to be okay with that being a part of my life, you…”

I stiffened as understanding dawned. Everett went completely still as he realized what his son was trying to tell him.

“Reese, what—”

“She told me what you said when she told you,” Reese whispered. “You said you’d rather your kid be… be…”

“Be what?” Everett asked, his voice gentling as he moved toward his son. Reese began shaking his head.

“It’s okay, you can say it,” Everett whispered as he stopped in front of Reese. My heart hurt for the other man as he began to cry. He released his cane and covered both eyes with his hands, as if trying to stop the tears that fell.

When he finally spoke the words, it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop in the room. But I still barely heard the whispered admission that I knew was the true reason Reese had fled from his father so many years ago.

“You’d rather your kid be dead then be a fag.”

Chapter 30

Everett

I turned every ounce of rage I was feeling toward Elanor inward and reached up to put my hand against the back of Reese’s neck. Although he was bigger and heavier than me and could have done real damage to me bodily if he wanted to, all I saw was my tormented little boy who truly believed the lie he’d been told. I wasn’t even interested in fixing the damage that had been done at the moment. I just wanted my boy to hear the words he should have heard back then when he’d found the courage to admit who he truly was.

“I love you, Reese,” I said softly. He let out a harsh sob and shook his head. “I love you so much. You are perfect exactly as you are, and I’m so proud to call you my son.”

Reese choked on another sob. He didn’t resist when I pulled him forward. It wasn’t until my arms went around him that he suddenly grabbed onto me and then tucked his face into the crook of my neck. His tears quickly soaked through the shirt I was wearing, but I didn’t care. I just clung to him and kept telling him how much I loved him and how proud I was of him.