Vale was crossing past the tree. Roman shoved past Aaron and Pitch and moved in closer behind Vale. He shoved his brother’s back and waited while Vale whirled to face him.
“What’d you do, you little shit?” Roman’s voice was a quiet, lethal snarl.
“Ro,” Aaron whispered as he and Pitch came to restrain him. “Not here, kid.”
“You’re crazy, Ro,” Vale shuddered, stumbling back to make a hasty exit from Roman’s path.
Roman was in no state to pursue or to fight Aaron’s and Pitch’s restraining holds. Instead, he crumpled against them, almost sinking to his knees. He was crying heavily by the time Imani drew him tightly to her. Roman pushed his face into her neck while emotion took him over.
***
“I’m so sorry,” Devonny Cane offered the Tesanos a solemn smile when she drew back from Liam’s embrace.
“Thank you for being here, Devonny,” Athena stood between Liam and Aaron. “Stone was blessed to have you on his team.”
“Thank you for saying so, Mrs. Tesano,” Devonny sniffled and pressed a handkerchief to the corner of her eye. “I only wish I’d said more, did something, I...”
“Dev?” Aaron drew close, squeezing the woman’s arm. “What is it?”
“Stone, he,” Devonny smoothed a windblown auburn lock behind her ear and sniffled again. “He just didn’t seem to be himself. That-th-the last night he-he sent me home early, said he was going out of town for a while.”
“Out of town where?” Aaron probed.
Devonny shook her head. “He didn’t say exactly. Something about the Upstate, that’s all. He said he had a few last things to clear from his desk and then he was going home to pack.” She gave a miserable smile then.
“He actually seemed happier than I’d seen him in months. I even teased him about a romantic rendezvous with a lucky lady and he-well he said the oddest thing. It’s not just about me anymore-not about either of us.”
“Come again, Dev?” Liam prompted.
“I’m sorry, Sir,” Devonny shook her head again. “He never clarified. Just said he had to go to them.”
“What?” Athena queried, her voice holding a childlike curiosity. “What did he say?”
“I have to go to them. It’s not about me anymore-”
“Ma!” Aaron called, watching as his mother slumped against his father’s side and into a dead faint.
***
“Li?”
“How did I miss this, Ric?” Liam didn’t turn at the sound of Fredrico Nandi’s voice. He stayed near the casket, idly running his hands across the array of lilacs and lilies that covered the chrome.
“Come with me, Li. Everyone’s heading back to the house. You should be with your family.”
“Is that why I missed it, Ric? Because Stone wasn’t my blood-my true blood?”
Nandi clapped his friend’s shoulder. “Stone was your true blood. You never made that boy feel otherwise. You never felt otherwise.”
“And yet there were things he couldn’t tell me-things he told his mother instead.”
“As men often do, Li,” Nandi grinned. “Sometimes we need assurances that only a mother can provide.”
Liam began to nod. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Come with me now, Li.”
“A young man came to see me the other day,” Liam held back, refusing Nandi’s extended hand. “He was a friend to Stone. He resigned his position after...what happened. He was a close friend to Stone, Ric. A lover.”
Nandi bowed his head, nodded.
“My boy didn’t leave a note. They found him with a gun and a paper-some story about the gay riots that happened back in the summer.” Liam turned back to the casket and recalled his visit with Zachary Billups earlier that week. “This young man told me Stone worried over what would happen if he told anyone and then...Vale found out.”
“Vale?”
“Stone’s friend said he’d told his mother, Aaron, Roman and Vic, but couldn’t handle anyone else knowing. Not even me.” Fresh tears reddened Liam’s eyes when he faced Nandi then.
“Did he think I’d disown him, Ric? I loved him.”
“Stone knew that, Li.”
“Stone’s secretary Devonny Cane she...she saw he was agitated that last day. He kept saying it wasn’t about him, wasn’t about him...that he was going to them and packing to leave. Coming home to us? To tell me he was gay and then leaving home? Did he change his mind and...do you think he was so concerned over what this would do to the business that he felt he had no other choice-”
“Li, enough!” Nandi moved in, taking Liam’s shoulders in a firm grip. “Whatever Stone did or didn’t do is a choice he made and now he’s gone. Your job now as his father is done.”
“My job as his father. His brothers are another story.”
“They’re grown men now, Li.” Nandi’s face was red with emotion. “You raised them the best you could. You sacrificed your happiness to make a home with Athena when most would’ve cut her loose or worse. You’ve done a fine job, old friend.”
