Danny and Lacey made it through the majority of the week relatively unscathed.
Tuesday's trial was for Rico and Doug. Danny, Lacey, Jo and several others were called to testify. Rico and Doug each avoided jail time and ended up with five years of probation thanks to Danny's positive testimony. Rico may have been a snitch, but Danny knew how diabolical Gloria really was. Those two didn't stand a chance.
Wednesday's trial was for Scott Ogden and Cole Farrell. Lots of people in town testified against them. It's was Danny's repeat testimony about his severe trauma at their hands that really pushed the judge to reinstate their previous sentences just like he did for Charlie. Their total time behind bars: 25 years, each.
Mr. Ogden, Green Grove's now former DA, had been a no-show to support his son. The people in town seemed to believe he was now in Argentina, perhaps to avoid being hauled in and prosecuted himself.
Thursday's trial was hard for all of them. Regina Crane was their friend, their friend who had also just lost her mother and had been in jail ever since. Regina had always tried to keep her lonely home life and her lively social life as separate as possible. Unfortunately, home life included Gloria as a mother.
Regina's friends took the stand one by one and tried their best to be honest and fair. As the day progressed, it was revealed that Regina had been helping her mother with her drug empire since she was a baby. Since she had been so immersed in this world the judge sentenced her to five years in jail to run concurrent with a significant therapy program.
Every day after each trial, Danny and Lacey focused all of their time on the two of them.
Tess figured out where they were staying and why. She made good on her dinner rain check Tuesday night and invited Danny and Lacey to her studio for a private date night and dinner on her. They each made a ceramic mug for each other to use after they had to return to their busy schedules apart.
By Wednesday, Sam and Judy also noticed their daughter had been missing all week and invited them over for dinner too. Danny and Lacey were appreciative of not having to spend any more money.
Thursday, after Regina's trial, Kyle invited them to the farm for dinner and his famous ice cream. He invited all of their friends, knowing Regina's trial would be hard on them and that Danny would be leaving for the city again soon. They had a blast.
"How's Archie doing?" Danny asked Kyle.
"Okay, he should be out of recovery around Halloween."
"Is he still headed to SU?"
"No idea. I haven't been able to speak with him directly since he left for his program."
"Jo, walk?" Danny asked and left Lacey to catch up with Sarita and few other people from school.
"I'm so glad all of this is over." Jo said as they took a lap around the big field.
"Me too."
"So tomorrow is just some Gloria stuff, how does that work?" Jo wondered.
"My lawyer teamed up with a few of Gloria's victims and sued her estate. I guess we find out if the judge agrees if we should be compensated for our trauma, but I'm told it's a long process with minimal results so I'm not holding my breath."
"Well for what it's worth, I think you should make bank after all that shit.
"We'll see I guess. Did you talk your mom?"
"Danny—"
"That's bullshit, Jo. The deal was, if I talked to Lacey, you'd talk to Tess. Have Lacey or I been bothering you with questions all week?" Jo didn't answer, "Have we?"
"No."
"No. I've been keeping her very busy actually." Danny smirked.
"Ew."
Danny smiled bigger, "We had a deal."
"Yeah, I get it."
"Tess is here now—" Danny kept pushing.
"Why does this matter to you so much?"
"You three are all I got. I'd like to not have separate Christmas'."
"Um, two Christmas' means double presents, DUH!" Jo smiled.
She found it incredibly sweet and sobering to hear Danny talk about her Mom and Dad like they were his own. Danny needed this.
"I'm just saying, I have some pretty shitty parents. Yours aren't like them at all. They love you so much. You're so lucky and I don't want to watch you grow any further apart. The issue is between them anyway and they're working on it—look at them."
Danny pointed to Kyle and Tess as the worked together to keep the fire going in the backyard. They were laughing together. Happy. They were her family.
"Okay. I'll talk to her tonight."
They ended the night around the fire, Lacey in Danny's arms and Tess and Jo talking like old times. Kyle knew that Danny had been worming his way into his family this week and spreading his charms. Seeing his daughter and his wife speaking again and actually laughing together made him forever grateful.
Danny and Lacey announced that they were they were leaving to head back to the apartment. While Lacey made her rounds to say goodbye, Kyle pulled Danny aside.
"What's up, Chief? Everything okay?"
Kyle's eyes were twinkling, "Thank you. I don't know what you said to the girls, but thank you, Danny."
"Oh, no sweat. I'm happy they're talking again too." Danny smiled back and looked over at Jo and Tess.
"Jo said something to me the other day, kinda stuck with me."
"Whats that?"
"She told me to stop being such a cop all the time and to just be a dad." Kyle tested the words.
Danny never knew a father figure to not call him a burden, stupid, worthless or a waste of life. Kyle's weird way of doing a low level version of that all summer seemed normal to Danny on a good day with Vikram.
Danny didn't understand what it meant to have a fun, loving dad that also instilled the benefits of structure and order with life on a farm like Kyle offered to Jo. Kyle knew when to not be a cop with Jo, but found it harder to do the same with Danny. That changed this week.
"I'm done being a cop with you."
"Okay—" Danny had no idea where this was going, but Kyle being less of a prick sounded nice.
"I'd like to just be your dad if that's okay? We can figure out what that means as we go."
"I—I already have a father—" Danny stumbled over Kyle's offer.
"I know, I'm not trying to take his place, I'm just offering to be a dad. Your dad."
The idea was suddenly very heavy for Danny. No one had ever taken that role before. His father was cold, callous and angry all the time. Vikram was his father but he was no dad. Kyle was a happy guy that made ice cream and offered the best advice. He'd love a dad like him.
Danny teared up and tried to cover it by messing with the loose strands of hair that hung down around his face. Kyle was crying too.
"You're an amazing kid and you need to hear that. I'm so proud of you. Every time I've seen you go through something difficult or unfair or—or life threatening for God's sake, you always get back up and you keep going. You're kind and I'd be proud to call you my son."
Danny lost it, not realizing how badly he needed to hear those words come out of someone's mouth like that.
Kyle grabbed him and hugged him tight like any dad would. Danny hugged him back, clinging to this stupid white cop who owned a farm for Christ sake, how in the world did he end up here? Still, he understood what Kyle was offering and Danny gladly accepted.
"I'd like that." He sniffled as he pulled away, Kyle wiping his own face.
"It's done then."
Jo came to say goodbye and spied Danny and Kyle both wiping their faces.
"Uh, are you both CRYING?" Jo squinted at them in confusion.
"Yeah I just stubbed my toe." Danny smiled and released a tiny laugh.
"Stubbed your toe?" Jo looked at Danny skeptically and then turned to her dad, "Why are you crying then?"
"I saw the whole thing, I just feel so bad about Danny's toe."
Danny laughed harder.
"You've both lost your minds. Later, Bro." Jo hugged Danny goodbye and headed inside for the night.
"Ready?" Lacey walked up close and snuggled into Danny's side, "I'm freezing."
"'Night, Chief."
"'Night guys."
Friday morning Lacey woke first and slid down Danny's toned legs, wasting no time sticking his softened dick in her mouth.
"What is happening—" Danny said, still half-asleep.
"Time to wake up." Lacey kept on, his dick definitely waking up before his brain.
"You don't have to—"
"Oh it's happening." Lacey refused his usual bullshit and got back to the task at hand.
Danny just stared down at her and let Lacey's mouth keep doing whatever nasty things it wanted.
He made it two minutes.
"Fuck, Lace. Why are you like this in the morning?" He groaned, "I'm about to—"
Lacey used her hand to keep stroking him, her mouth still sucking his soul through the tip of his cock. Danny came in short, hot spurts, Lacey collecting it in her mouth until he was done and then dashing off to the bathroom to spit it out.
Neither of them had the energy for making love after they returned from Kyle's dinner the night before. Danny was emotionally drained and after Regina's trial, so was Lacey. After they had updated each other on Danny's new dad status and how much Lacey missed Regina, they went to bed early.
Danny eventually heard the shower turn on and he literally peeled himself off of the air mattress to join her.
"That was a nice way to wake up." Danny said as he slid himself in front of Lacey in the shower.
Danny poured Lacey's body wash in his hands and lathered her up the way he had all week. His mouth was incessant with its kisses, Lacey heating up quick from the combination of his mouth and his hands all over her body.
"I'm going to miss this." He admitted as he rinsed her off.
"Me too." Lacey purred.
The sound of Lacey's voice and the ten minutes that had lapsed since she sucked him off got Danny's dick back in the game. He reached behind her and turned the water off, his lips still attached to hers as he pulled her out of the stall and laid her wet body down on their bed.
Lacey giggled at his intensity when his lips finally left her mouth and kissed a trail down to her v. Danny ate her hungrily, like he hadn't had food in days.
"D—" Lacey's body was scorching. She burned for him hotter than she could ever remember before.
After she came, Danny intended to make her come at least once more. Thanks to Lacey pre-gaming him he knew he'd be able to last longer.
He grabbed ahold of Lacey's thighs and yanked her closer to him in one smooth jerk. His strength always surprised her because he was usually such a passive guy.
"Okay?" Danny asked, his tip already knocking at her door.
"Please—"
Danny pushed his way in and took care of her, doing all of the things she liked and paying her back for taking care of him all week even though he knew that's not how that really worked.
"Fucking, YES—" Lacey was having a good time.
Danny felt her body contract a few minutes in. He slowed and watched her enjoy it, nowhere near reaching his end yet. Once she was back on earth he sped up, increasing his hold on her wrists, switching it up and lifting up her hips, and making sure to grind himself against her off and on.
"I love you—" Danny cooed before licking her neck and latching his lips there.
Lacey scratched her nails down his back and got her hands around his ass, changing his rhythm and his depth to whatever she needed right now.
"Wow." Lacey uttered just above a whisper as her vision whited out again.
It was never ending after that. Danny and Lacey had stumbled upon Lacey's ability to have cluster orgasms and Danny was going for broke. A few climaxes later and Lacey was now clawing at him, trying to anchor herself so she didn't float away.
"What is even happening right now, baby?" Danny felt like they had won the lottery, "I'm not even trying."
"I can't—I can't do it again—" Lacey wasn't entirely sure her body could take another climax after the last one made her left leg shake uncontrollably.
"Does it feel good?" Danny kept his mouth busy sucking on things and kissing her while he waited for her to give him the answer he already knew.
"Yes—" She hushed out quietly against his lips.
"Then I am not stopping."
"Don't stop—"
Lacey was dripping wet, her own fluids gushing out as if fleeing the sudden earthquakes happening inside her body. Danny loved feeling her body respond that way and kept his movements consistent, working two more out of her before he started to feel his own climax rising.
"Danny—" Lacey's feet were completely numb at this point, she couldn't catch her breath.
"One more."
He worked her same sweet spot. Lacey dropped her knees apart this time and let Danny have full access to do his thing. She came again but noticed he hadn't quite arrived yet, the tiny ache in his balls growing at double speed now.
"I just need a minute—"
"Let's go, Desai. C'mon—" She smiled, confirming he could keep going, squeezing his ass tighter.
"Damn, Lace." Danny fucking loved this. Them.
After a few more of his expert strokes, Danny felt her come apart again. This time Lacey screamed out a mix of what sounded like his name and a couple various swears. Small, appreciative grunts began to spill from Danny's throat as he finally came with her.
His hips refused to stop gliding through their combined wetness, it still felt too good to stop.
"I'm—"
Danny's continued movements caused Lacey to come again, she had a hair trigger at this point. He smiled as her face blissed out again, she was so beautiful.
"Your body is still after it—" Danny growled, still rutting against her clit, he felt another one, "Holy shit."
"Just get out of there, man. Save yourself." Lacey smiled.
"Let me keep working—" Danny made no move to stop.
"No, no—" Lacey slid her hand down to help him slide out, not that he needed help, but she knew it was something he loved watching her do, "Out, big guy."
"You screamed. You never scream." Danny noted as he reluctantly retreated and collapsed on top of her, trying to get his own breathing under control, their chests battling for room to expand.
"You are magic." Lacey still couldn't fully feel her toes.
"I wish we figured out your body could do all that on Monday." Danny admitted, lazily sucking on her left nipple, his fingers threatening to head south to rub her swollen clit and see if he could earn another climax from her that way.
Lacey's whole body was over stimulated and raw, she squirmed her hand around her breast and nudged Danny away from her. Danny understood and rolled to the side to lay like a log beside her.
"I'm not sure we would have made it to court all week." Lacey felt amazing now that her lower half had calmed down a little and she could breathe normally again.
"Definitely not." Danny dragged his fingers gently across her lower belly, tracing shapes and hearts, "Did I hurt you?"
"Nope. And I already know what you're thinking, we can't do that every time." Lacey insisted. She wrapped her arm around Danny's head as he snuggled in just under her armpit.
"Oh, I'm gonna fucking try. We need to explore this!" Danny ignored her attempt at reeling him in, "How many was it anyway?"
"I can't even remember what day it is right now."
Danny laughed out loud.
"I counted eight, nine if you count my breakfast." Danny boasted to himself, his ego definitely a little inflated.
"You're nasty." Lacey smiled big, "I am honestly not sure I can walk."
The alarm clock on Danny's phone went off and forced him up to turn it off. He carefully pulled Lacey to her feet, the weird nerve sensation taking its time recalibrating. She hobbled around a little.
"Shit, Lace." Danny panicked a little, "You okay?"
"I usually get the jelly legs with you, but this is crazy."
"I would tell you that I promise to go easier on you next time but that would be a definite lie. Full stop."
Danny pulled her back into the shower with him, hoping the warm water would help further. It did. Lacey washed him this time like every other day this week, the intimacy of it something both of them cherished. They hid nothing from each other.
They continued kissing under the warm water for a very long time.
"We. Have. To. Stop." Lacey whispered when Danny pulled away to change the angle of their faces.
"I'm just trying to save them up."
"Save what up?"
"Your kisses." Danny pouted a little, not happy about leaving her again today.
Lacey's heart melted and if she could ovulate she was certain her ovaries would have just exploded too.
"Five more minutes." Lacey decided and crashed their lips back together.
It's was only one minute and thirty-seven seconds later when the hot water ran out and sent them jumping out of the shower, squealing like baby pigs. That helped to cool them off and push them out of their bubble.
"What's the plan today?" Lacey asked with a fair amount of gravity as they got themselves dressed.
"Right after court I've gotta head back to the city. I have to work tonight."
Just as they both finished getting dressed someone knocked on the apartment door.
Danny and Lacey looked at each other, knowing right away that neither of them expected company. Everyone they knew would have just texted them. Maybe it was Johnny?
Danny moved toward the door quietly.
"Yeah?!" He shouted heartily.
Lacey couldn't hide her smile while she watched her sweet man try to act tougher than he was. Sometimes the fact that Danny was actually from the city would bleed through and make her laugh.
"Open this door." A frustrated man's voice came through from the other side.
"It's my father." Danny said, truly stunned.
Danny opened the door to find his parents waiting on the other side.
"Pop, wh—"
Vikram and Karen made their way inside, looking around at the air mattress on the floor and their clothes strewn about everywhere.
"Wow, this is—" Vikram was speechless, something he never was.
"Exactly how I expected you to be living." Karen finished her husband's sentence.
Danny's first instinct was to defend it or explain it but after reliving his horrific summer all week, gaining a dad and over-pleasing his girlfriend, Danny was feeling more confident than he had ever been and frankly, pretty bulletproof.
"I didn't invite you in." Danny asserted and held the door open.
"Are you wearing Armani?" Karen pulled her sunglasses off, cringing when her toe bumped into one of the coolers on the floor.
"How did know I was up here?" Danny wondered.
"Easy." Vikram shrugged, "Small town, lots on inbreeding I'm sure. Everyone knows you're up here."
"Why are you here?" Danny wanted this to be over.
"We read about the trials online, thought we'd come show our support." Vikram said as if they were doing some sort of unmatchable good deed.
Danny let Vikram's words marinate for a few moments and then it clicked.
"Get out." He said calmly at first.
"Excuse me?" Karen asked in her usual 'mom' tone.
"You're here to support me." Danny nodded and stood up taller, "On the day when the only court date I have left to go to is about money." Danny looked over at Lacey and shook his head.
"Nonsense—"
"Bullshit. Get out."
"Daniel—" Karen was about to start again but Lacey had enough.
"He said get out, twice. Clear as day." Lacey walked over and stood beside Danny, "Do you want help? Those stairs are probably rough for assholes to climb."
Karen's jaw dropped and Vikram ushered his wife outside.
"Don't go out there—" Lacey warned him.
"I'll be right back." Danny said before he followed his parents out.
"Your girlfriend is insufferable." Vikram scolded Danny, "How dare she talk to us like that."
"I don't think we need to do this anymore." Danny ignored his father's ranting and got right to the point.
"Do what?"
"Be a family." Danny said plainly, emotionless, "I have my own family now, I'm all set being abused by you two for another second."
"Maybe you were right." Vikram said as Danny turned to walk away.
"How's that?" Danny was curious what Vikram's last piece of fatherly bullshit would be.
"We'll make sure you never get a cent of the money you may win today. You've still got a lot to pay us back for."
"I've paid my debt to you."
"It was Gloria who sent us the money, not you. Who's to say that it wasn't a gift? Gloria's certainly not able to explain further now, is she?"
"So you came just to threaten me then?"
"I'm just telling you how it's going to be." Vikram corrected as if his word was gospel.
"The debt was paid. That money was for the attorney fees and court costs that you asked me to pay and you know it!" Danny fumed.
"Who's to say?" Vikram repeated, smiling wickedly at his only son.
"It didn't have to be like this."
"Pardon?"
"You and Karen, if you never wanted me, why did you keep me?" Danny wondered.
"You survived." Vikram shrugged.
Danny watched his parents hop in their jag and zoom away. Lacey had heard everything and met Danny at the bottom of the stairs to help him back up. She forgot how truly awful those two really were.
"You know who your real family is, D. You're loved and wanted now and that's all that matters."
Danny cashed in on having a new dad immediately. He called Kyle and explained what had just happened. Kyle jumped on it, contacting Danny's attorney and getting a plan in place to protect Danny from whatever scheme Vikram and Karen had dreamt up. Kyle told Danny to not speak with them again and to show up for this last court appearance as planned.
Lacey was not among the group of Gloria's victims named in this joint civil effort to gain a payout from her estate. She remained by Danny's side for as long as possible, only parting when the general public had to take their seats. Danny and the other victims remained in the private room.
The victims were anonymous, but everyone knew Danny was obviously one of them. The victims all agreed to forgo their anonymity with each other and be there for mutual support.
The victims had all submitted statements to the judge before the trial to explain the grief and ongoing terror Gloria Crane had brought to their lives in varying degrees. Fifty people submitted statements.
It took three hours for the judge to review and structure a possible payout. Gloria's wrath was complicated. While the judge agreed a payout should be in order, determining Gloria's available assets was difficult.
Just before lunch, the judge ruled in favor of the victim's group. He sealed the motion to keep the victim's names private. The judge requested that the person responsible for Gloria's estate give him all financial documents so he could expedite liquidating everything, paying her debts and calculating what was left to be split amongst the victims. They wouldn't know the final figure for some time.
Danny's attorney and Kyle escorted Danny and Lacey from the courthouse, flanked by half the town. Everyone quietly rallied around the victims to protect them under the guise of the nosey reporters.
Kyle put out a private BOLO through the police department requesting that he was told immediately when the Desai's jag had left Green Grove. The notification came about a half hour later.
Danny said goodbye to his friends and his new family, before driving away from the courthouse with Lacey en route to unplug from their first apartment together.
Once everything was packed up and Danny had returned the key to Johnny, he embraced Lacey in front of Whitney's car. They were exhausted.
"Thanks for everything this week, Lace. You did so much for me."
"You did so much for me too, but it was just one specific thing over and over and over." Lacey laughed, the sound rumbling through Danny, making him smile.
"I love you."
"I know."