No Greater Loyalty (12 page)

She smiled. "Oh, I don't deny that, baby, but tonight you outdid yourself."

"Was it good?" He lifted his head to nibble the lobe of her ear.

Keisha shivered. "Off the damn charts," she whispered, turning her head and offering him her lips. "Love you."

Dom brought his mouth down to hers. The kiss was slow and soothing. "Love you too, baby," he said, his voice thick and sluggish from fatigue. Giving her one last sweet smack, he lay back and closed his eyes.

Five minutes later, his soft snores told Keisha he was asleep. Good. He needed to rest. Suppressing a yawn, Keisha released a sigh of contentment, wishing they could stay like this forever, but she knew that was impossible. The thought sobered her. She was so scared for him. More frightened than she'd ever been in her life. If anything happened to Dominick...

"Please come back to me safely," she whispered into the darkness as she brought her hand up to cover his. Then she closed her eyes and prayed like she'd never prayed before.

CHAPTER 19

Keisha had just fallen into a deep sleep when a persistent buzz finally penetrated her slumber. Slowly opening her eyes, it still took several moments for her to realize the buzzing she heard was the vibration of her cell phone. She must have forgotten to set it back to ring.

Pushing herself up on her elbow, she looked back at Dom, relieved to see that he hadn't woken up. Carefully untangling their intertwined legs and arms, she reached over and grabbed her phone off the end table where she had placed it last night. As soon as she had it in her hand, it stopped ringing.

Combing her hair out of her face with her fingers, Keisha squinted at the screen of the phone.
Five missed calls?
Frowning she went to the caller ID.
Elena? What the hell?

At that moment, the phone vibrated again. Slipping out of bed, she glanced over her shoulder at Dom before hissing impatiently into the phone. "Hold on!"

Scurrying to the bathroom, Keisha quietly closed the door behind then put the phone up to her ear. "Elena? Why are you calling me so early? I told you last night that I'd be in touch as..."

"Why are there two big men in a big black truck guarding your house like the President and First Lady themselves are inside?"

Keisha swiftly inhaled. "You're
here
? What are you...?" Realizing the volume of her tone was gradually getting louder, she clamped her lips together and started pacing. "What are you doing here?" she whispered furiously.

"There's a problem at my magazine, so I'm taking a flight to L.A. in two hours, but I really wanted to talk to you before I left, Kee."

Keisha didn't even try to keep the impatience out of her voice. "Why? Elena, I told you I would call you, but now is not a good time."

"What's going on, Kee? This isn't like you. Look, can you just tell 'Ike and Mike' that I'm not a threat and to let me in? Geesh, this is fucking ridiculous."

Pulling the phone away, Keisha's head dropped back. She stared at the ceiling, swallowing the frustrated scream that threatened to curl itself from her throat. This was the last thing she needed right now. She and Dom were finally back in a good place; she wasn't going to let Elena mess it up.

Bringing the phone back to her mouth she all but growled, "I'm on my way down but, Elena, you have five minutes and that's it, do you understand me? Five minutes."

Disconnecting the call, Keisha grabbed a robe off the hook on the back of the bathroom door, then cautiously opened it and peeked out. She held her breath, expecting Dominick to be sitting on the side of the bed staring at her with an accusatory glare. She almost fainted with relief when she saw that he was still asleep. He must really be worn out because usually Dom was a super light sleeper.

Not to mention the work he put in by giving me the best sex ever
, Keisha grinned as she hurried out the bedroom door.

But the smile fell away from her lips as she skipped down the stairs and to the front door. El was her girl for sure, they'd had some wild times back in Atlanta, but things were different now. As Elena pointed out, Keisha had a family, a husband, and children who she loved with everything in her. They came first, above anyone and anything else, even if it happened to be her career.

Walking towards the front door, Keisha raised up on her tiptoes and peeked through the peephole. Sure enough El was leaning on the side of her luxury rental with arms folded, glaring at Benny, whose bulky frame blocked any entrance to the front door.

Disarming the alarm, Keisha unlocked then opened the front door. When Benny turned around, the sunglasses the bodyguards seemed to wear 24/7 were firmly in place.

Keisha smiled. "Good morning."

The large man's expression remained uncompromisingly stoic.

Keisha nervously cleared her throat. She glanced at Elena who had now straightened up from the car and was peering at them with suspicion on her face.

Keisha turned back to the bodyguard. "Um, you can let my friend in. She's good." Keisha beckoned for Elena to join her.

The huge hulk of a man moved in front of Keisha. He looked behind her as if seeking out Dominick to get his permission before allowing anyone to enter.

Keisha frowned. "Seriously. It's okay. I know her." When Benny seemed as if he still intended to deny Elena entry, she fixed him with a smoldering stare. "Could you move, please?"

Keisha couldn't see Benny's eyes behind the dark lenses of the shades, but she could feel his cool gaze resting on her. He stayed where he was for a full five seconds before reluctantly stepping back.

Mumbling under her breath, Elena shot him a withering glare as she brushed past him and stomped into Keisha's house. She barely waited for Keisha to close the door before she started bombarding her with questions.

"Keisha, what the hell is going on? Who are those men? They look like actors from some cheesy gangster movie or something."

Keisha held her hands up to stop her. "El, don't worry about it, everything's fine." Elena began to protest, but Keisha talked over her and asked again, "What's so urgent that you had to stop by before you went to the airport? I told you I would call you later."

"I just don't understand why you're backing out on me all of a sudden. You’ve always wanted to be a part of something like this. Hell, we came up with the business plans together, remember?”

“
Of course I do.”

“
I understand you not wanting to commit to a partnership, but you seemed open to this position. I know how much I want you to be a part of this venture. You were so excited about getting back into photography, then all of a sudden you don’t want to do it?"

"I have my reasons, Elena. Right now, I have to do what's best for my family."

Elena threw her hands up. "Ya' know, sometimes it's impossible to reconcile the person you are now with the Keisha I knew back in the 'A'. What happened to the ambitious woman who was on the fast track to taking the world by storm? Huh? Why would you give that up to become a stay at home wife and mother?"

Keisha's brows shot up. "You say it like it's a step down. Believe me, it's not. I love my family."

"And there's nothing wrong with that, but you can't tell me you don't want more. Keisha, you were one of the most sought after photographers in the business. Hell, you could've written your own ticket if you wanted to. All I want to do is help you get back to that. You're my girl. Remember all the dreams we used to have of us making it in this business together?"

"El, that was back then. I'm not saying I'll never pursue my career again, because I will, but now is not the best time."

"Why, because your husband says it's not?" The catty response was said with an ugly sneer. "I never thought you were the kind of woman who lets a man control her and tell her what to do.  Is the dick that good?"

The tight smile that stretched thinly across Elena's mouth told Keisha the question had been intended to come out as a teasing joke, but the tone in which it was delivered killed the humor. 

Dumbfounded, Keisha stared at her, barely stopping herself from snatching Elena's ass up. She forced herself to respond in a calm manner. "Dominick doesn't control me. Elena, I'm not goin' to stand here and defend, discuss, or explain my marriage to you, but I
will
say one thing. You ask me if his dick is that good? Hell yeah, it’s good. Outta this fuckin' world good."

When Elena sucked her teeth, Keisha's eyes narrowed threateningly. Silence gathered around the two women as they faced off with each other.

Keisha thought about how much she'd grown as a person these last few years. She now prided herself on being able to curb her famous temper, which could be set off at the drop of a hat, but got dammit she was a work in progress. Elena was coming mighty close to waking up the old Keisha and she sure the fuck didn't want to do that. When it came to females outside her immediate circle of friends inquiring about her husband, she didn't play that shit.
At all
.

Keisha suddenly thought about what Dominick tried to tell her about Elena being jealous of her. Now she was beginning to see exactly what he meant.

Keisha shook her head and turned to open the door. "Know what? You need to leave, Elena."
While you still can
, she added silently.

"Why because you don't want to hear the truth?"

Okay, that's it
, Keisha fumed. Whirling around with fists balled up, she had just taken a step towards Elena when a deep voice stopped her in her tracks.

"I would advise you to leave now because I promise you, my wife won't tell you again. Not with words, anyway."

Keisha looked past Elena and saw Dom slowly descending the stairs wearing a little mocking smirk. Shirtless and feet bare, the faded jeans he wore rode low on his hips and fit him in all the places that emphasized his masculinity.

Forgetting all about Elena for the moment, Keisha stared at Dom as he took his time coming down the steps. He was so damn fine, his swagger hard to ignore. The picture he made was damned near sexual foreplay. When their eyes met, he winked, letting her know everything was all good between them. He apparently had heard enough to figure out what was going on.

Keisha exhaled the breath she'd been unknowingly holding and relaxed a little, but when she glanced at Elena, her body knotted up again. Elena had an unmistakable look of raw hunger on her face as she visually devoured Dominick's muscular body.

Oh
hell nah! This bitch want to die today fa' real!

Visions of her painstakingly tearing the perfectly coiffed hair out of Elena's scalp, one highlighted strand at a time, danced temptingly in Keisha's mind.

"Baby..."

Keisha turned her head towards Dom's voice...but kept her eyes on Elena.

"Keisha."

This time, she reluctantly gave him her full attention. Dom shook his head, silently telling her to leave it alone and gestured for her to come to him. 

Throwing Elena one last evil glare, she walked to his side and slipped her arms around his waist. Dom's hand rested low on Keisha's hip. Kissing her temple, his eyes sent a clear message to Elena. He and Keisha were a team. They may have had a momentary hiccup in their relationship, but that’s all it was. They were good now, and there wasn’t a person on earth capable of coming between them.

Elena's mouth twisted to the side; she'd gotten the message loud and clear. Flipping her hair back, she adjusted the strap of her purse onto her shoulder. "Fine, Keisha. If you want to sit here and wallow in suburban boredom, then have at it. Do you, boo. I just hope and pray I never let a man become more important to me than my dreams and aspirations. I worked too hard to ever let that happen."

Keisha was ready to respond with a scathing reply, but Dom's hand tightened to let her know he'd handle it. "What makes you think Keisha is giving up her dreams?"

"Isn't it obvious? The only reason she decided against working at my magazine is to appease you. Let's be honest here, Dominick. You never liked me and I never liked you, but for you to deny Keisha the fulfillment of doing what she loves, what she was damned good at all because you don't want her working for me is selfish and inconsiderate of your wife's needs, don't you think?"

Dom's nostrils flared but his voice remained neutral. "You let me worry about my wife's 'needs', Elena. I take care of them very well. And since we're getting everything out in the open, let me say this. That stunt you pulled a couple of months back, if you had been a man and made a pass at my wife, you would've found your ass laid up in a hospital somewhere. I suggest you not let it happen again."

Elena's laugh was one of amused unconcern. "Or what? It sounds like there's a threat somewhere in that statement."

"There is." Dominick's smile chilled her to the bone. His tone told her that he was deadly serious.

Elena swallowed hard, nervously curling a stray strand behind her ear. Her eyes went to Keisha, but Keisha only stared back at her with an arched brow. She knew Dominick would not physically put his hands on Elena, but there were other ways of hitting her where it hurt and she knew Dom wouldn
’t hesitate to use them.

"And as far as my wife working
for
you, my wife ain't gotta work for you or anybody else. Understood?"