Topaz Heat (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) Read Free Page A

behind a large half-mooned desk. Scrolling brass letters on the wall behind the desk read, “ He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 ”
    She smiled warmly and directed him to go through the frosted panes of the double doors. He stepped through into the outer office and found Tony’s secretary, Margaret, at her desk.
    A decade before, she’d stood when he entered and greeted him by name. “Derrick, it’s nice to finally meet you. Mr. Viscolli told me to expect you.”
    He hadn’t understood her cordiality and had no idea how to respond in kind. Inside the imposing office, Tony had greeted him genuinely and with warmth. Derrick didn’t understand him, either. Tony had a roast beef dinner and hot tea brought up to his office and talked to Derrick for hours, asking him questions about his family, the neighborhood, his schooling, his thoughts about God. At the end of the meal and conversation, he offered Derrick a job.
    And a home.
    Bringing himself out of nostalgia and back to the present, he gave her his most charming smile. “Margaret,” he said, “I have missed you.”
    She laughed and stood. “Always a charmer, you,” she said, then opened one of the heavy oak doors leading into Tony’s office.
    “Would you care for something to drink, Derrick?”
    Finally, someone who didn’t cow-tow and call him Mister. He remembered back to his early college days when Margaret had given him a very thorough tongue-lashing for using a foul word in her office. “Ginger ale would be great,” he said as he walked past her and fully into Tony’s office.
    Tony quickly ended his conversation and hung up the telephone as Derrick entered. Then he stood and walked around his desk.
    Derrick could see Tony summing him up as he crossed the room. He wondered if the older man still saw the skinny, dirty kid he’d brought home out of a life on the streets ten years earlier. He had grown a little taller than Tony and filled out a lot. Like his mentor, his Italian heritage was very much a part of his appearance. His hair was jet black, his skin olive tan, and his rich eyes chocolate brown, all set in a lean face with sharp angles and an aristocratic nose.
    Despite his upbringing, Derrick very purposefully proclaimed class. He had paid attention, soaked in the details, until he’d cleaned the streets and the hard living of his childhood completely off his persona.
    No one meeting him for the first time would think for a second that he hadn’t been born in a stately mansion, eating from silver spoons and riding in long cars that someone else drove. They could never even imagine that perhaps, as a child, he had eaten sometimes only because he’d stolen a couple of those spoons or cars from time to time. Instead, they saw the quality Derrick nearly exuded. They saw youthful good looks, and clothes that were always the epitome of style that Derrick wore as if born in them. They heard the upper crust accent in his voice that he had perfected after long practice. Not a trace of South Boston ever spilled from his well-trained lips.
    “My brother,” Tony said warmly, arms outstretched for a warm hug. “Welcome home.” He embraced Derrick then gestured to his sitting area.
    Derrick lowered himself into one of the chairs. “How’s the lovely Robin faring these days?”
    “Pitiful,” Tony said, his eyes softening at the thought of his wife. “TJ started second grade last week, and Madeline started kindergarten. Robin’s been randomly bursting into tears for the last week. I finally convinced her this morning to go to Hank’s Place and work on new menus.”
    “I’ll have to swing by while I’m in town, give her someone to mother for a couple of hours.”
    “You should. She will be so thrilled to see you. She’s at Hank’s all day today. That may be just what she needs.” He leaned back in his chair and his face lost