Through the Fire (13 page)

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Brandon felt something being placed in

his hand. Sinjin had poured him a scotch. He

hadn’t seen his brother leave the sofa. Brandon

downed it in one gulp. “Thanks.”

“Not necessary,” Sinjin responded. “So

how did Dominique hide being six months

pregnant?”

“She wore bigger clothes, and she wasn’t

showing much at all. That part always

concerned me. I thought she should have been

showing more. The obstetrician informed us

that a lot of women don’t start showing until

later in the pregnancy. Some not until they’re

seven or eight months along.

“And most of Dominique’s weight gain

was in her breasts and hips. If you saw her with

her clothes off, you could definitely tell she was

pregnant. She thought her mom suspected, but

she never said anything. Probably because she

was too busy taking care of Mr. Shaw. Or

maybe she just didn’t want to know. Anyway,

Dominique has lost a lot of weight now. I know

she hasn’t been taking proper care of herself.

That concerns me, too.”

“So all those times you had us thinking

that you were sleeping around, you were

actually grieving,” Tristan said slowly.

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“Yes. Oh, I played hard before

Dominique. It’s just that she was different. She

wasn’t what I was used to, and I loved it. At

first nothing was serious. Then just like that—”

he snapped his fingers “—we had a baby on the

way and I was asking her to marry me. Now I

don’t think I can live without her. I love her

that much.”

“And how does she feel about you?”

Sinjin asked. Brandon looked quickly at his

brother to see if Sinjin was being a smartass,

but Sinjin looked back at him seriously.

He thought for a moment. “Before this

weekend, I would have said I didn’t know. But

now I’m sure that she loves me just as much as

I love her.” Brandon smiled for the first time

since their conversation had started. “I’m glad I

confronted her after the wedding. We still have

a lot to work through, but I’m confident we’ll be

okay.”

“Do you think maybe you both need some

counseling to deal with this?” Tristan asked.

Brandon grimaced. He’d never liked the

idea of telling some stranger his innermost

secrets. But if it would help bring him and

Dominique together again…“I’m not sure. I’ll

be able to tell more in the coming weeks.”

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“Can she have more children?” Sinjin

asked.

“Yes. The doctor didn’t see why not.

There was nothing medically wrong with her.

Her obstetrician thought that she’d been too

stressed. Honestly, me and Dominique have

made love so much this weekend she could

already be pregnant with triplets,” Brandon

grunted.

Tristan and Sinjin both laughed. They

were all quiet for a moment. Brandon broke the

silence.

“Thanks, guys, for listening. I really

needed to tell someone before I exploded.”

“I wish you had told us sooner. We’re

family, Brandon. We could have been there for

you. That was too much for you to handle on

your own,” Tristan said. “You’re a better man

than I am.”

Brandon lifted his brow. “Why do you say

that?” he asked.

“Because there’s no way in hell I’d have

let my wife be away from me that long.

Especially not after we’d just lost a child we’d

created

together.

I’m

just

not

that

understanding, I guess,” Tristan grimaced.

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“I agree with the old man. I hope you

don’t let my sister-in-law get away again

Brandon,” Sinjin said. “Even the old G-man

over here had sense enough to hold onto his

woman. He damn near kidnapped her himself

in the process.”

“Who the hell are you calling old man?

And, I did not kidnap Alisha. We came to a

mutual understanding,” Tristan glowered at

Sinjin.

It was Brandon and Sinjin’s turn to laugh.

“From the way I hear it…she walked into

Brandon’s office and you claimed her on the

spot. Even went so far as to kick our brother

out of his own office,” Sinjin snickered.

Brandon laughed harder remembering

Tristan’s reaction to Alisha. Brandon missed

being with his brothers like this. Usually it was

Sinjin and Brandon trying to get Tristan to

lighten up.

Brandon glanced between his two

brothers—taking in both their looks and

temperament. They were different in some

ways, and yet the same. Tristan was always

dark and brooding. He wore his I-don’t-give-a-

shit expression for everyone to see. Sinjin, on

the other hand, was mostly expressionless. He

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135

had an air of danger around him. Brandon

knew that Sinjin had seen and done things that

neither he nor Tristan could ever imagine.

“Brandon, I’ll stop by to see you in New

York when I return. You better have my sister-

in-law back by then, and I don’t mean three

weeks from now. Hell, if anybody deserves to

be together and be happy, it’s you and

Dominique. Don’t let other’s misconceptions or

misguided values keep you from your woman.”

Sinjin looked at his watch and cursed. “I have

to get out of here.” He got up, embraced

Brandon hard, and then did the same to

Tristan.

“Yeah I have to get out of here, too,”

Tristan said. “I left Alisha up in the room. I

know she’s wondering what’s going on.”

“Tristan—”

“Don’t worry, Brandon, I don’t like

keeping secrets from my wife, but this story is

yours and Dominique’s to tell,” he said.

“Speaking of Alisha…Tristan, where’s

Asia off to next?” Sinjin asked.

“What do you mean where’s Asia off too?

I have no idea as I don’t keep tabs on my sister-

in-law.”

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SERENITY KING

“Can you ask your wife for me…on the

down low, of course?” Sinjin asked.

“No, I cannot ask my wife. By that gleam

in your eye, I’m guessing you’re trying to hook

up with Asia, which is totally out of the

question. And don’t think I didn’t notice you

checking her out at the wedding. Leave Asia

alone, Sin, she’s not like those other women

you bed. She’s out of your league. Besides that,

her brothers will straight kill you if you mess

with their baby sister. Trevon is bat-shit crazy

over his sisters. So move on,” Tristan glared at

Sinjin

“No can do. Ms. Asia is mine. I’m not

worried about her brothers. Besides that,
my

woman
can hold her own,” he said smugly.

“Your woman? How the hell is she your

woman and you don’t even know where she is?”

Tristan asked with a shake of his head. “And, if

she’s your woman, how come you couldn’t get

the information you seek from her yesterday?”

“I tried. She told me to ‘
fuck off.
’” Sinjin

scowled at Tristan.

Brandon laughed out loud and so did

Tristan. “I’m going to have to agree with

Tristan on this one, Sin. I believe she can hold

her own. Especially considering that present

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137

she gave Alisha. Still, Asia is way out of your

league. You need to tread lightly where she’s

concerned,” Brandon remarked.

“Thank you, Brandon,” Tristan said. “If

you need to talk, call me.”

“I will. Thanks again for listening. I’ll tell

Mom and Dad soon enough. Although, I don’t

want to feel the wrath of Sarah Cameron,” he

tried to joke.

“She’s going to be hurt, Brandon. You

can’t blame her. She tried to take my head off

for keeping her in the dark about that situation

with my wife. She’ll understand, though, if you

give her some time,” Tristan said.

“I know. See you guys later. I need to get

ready to leave this place, too. I have a long day

tomorrow.”

“How’s everything going at the office?”

Tristan asked.

“It’s coming along great. David’s back,

and we’re finally starting to get some

semblance of order around there. It will all

work out eventually,” Brandon responded.

“Little David is getting big,” he added as an

afterthought.

“I can’t believe that he’s almost a year old

already,” Tristan said.

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SERENITY KING

“Believe it. He’s the cutest little thing—

light-brown skin, chubby cheeks and full head

of dark, curly hair…He’s a heart stopper.”

Brandon smiled. “He favors both David and

Nadia.”

“You’re okay with being his godfather

after…you know…what happened?” Tristan

asked.

“Absolutely. In fact, I think I love him

more for it,” Brandon responded.

“Okay brothers I’m out,” Sinjin said,

slapping his hands together.

“Yeah, me too,” Tristan said.

Brandon walked both of them to the door

and saw them out. Sinjin was still trying to talk

Tristan into asking Alisha about Asia. Oh man,

Brandon couldn’t even imagine Sinjin with Asia

in any way, shape, or form. After Tristan and

Sinjin left, Brandon finished getting dressed,

packed his case and headed out. No sense in

staying here any longer, he thought. But he was

glad he had talked to his brothers. He felt as if

he had dropped off a five-hundred pound

weight.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Bone-tired and sore, Dominique sat at

her desk. “Oh God,” she groaned. She hurt in

places she’d forgotten existed. After she’d left

Brandon yesterday, she’d gone straight to her

townhouse and fallen asleep. Dominique was

tired both emotionally and physically. Her

weekend with Brandon had been a great one. It

reminded her of the old times she and Brandon

had shared. Days filled with fun and laughter

before life took over.

Dominique had to admit that for the first

time in a long while, she was happy. “I just

hope that I don’t have to do much walking

today. My pussy lips are so swollen, I had to

sleep with a warm towel between my legs,”

Dominique whispered. The pounding Brandon

had given her felt so good at the time. However,

she wished they would have saved some of that

energy for another day, because she was surely

paying the price for the rough sex now. The

shrill sound of her cell phone ringing brought

Dominique back to the present. Reaching for

her phone and looking at the caller ID, she

quickly answered.

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SERENITY KING

“Hey, you,” she chirped.

“Hey, baby, how you are feeling this

morning?” she heard Brandon say in his

cheerful voice.

“The same as last night, as you very well

know. God Brandon, I can barely walk

straight.”

Dominique heard Brandon’s boisterous

laughter through the receiver.

“It’s not funny, Brandon. Seriously, I am

a mess this morning. Not only can I not walk

properly, I had to wear a sleeveless semi-

turtleneck to the office today just to cover the

passion marks on my neck.” Brandon laughed

harder. “Stop laughing!” Dominique snapped,

and then started to chuckle herself.

“I’m sorry, baby, but since I didn’t have

court today, I didn’t bother to cover the one you

left on me. It’s there for the entire world to see

that Brandon Cameron is taken. I’m glad we

had that time together, Dominique. We needed

it. I missed having you in my arms last night,”

Brandon said.

Dominique caught her breath. Brandon

never ceased to amaze her. He actually wanted

people to see that he was taken. She couldn’t

have asked God for a better husband. He’d

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141

already given her the best there was in her

opinion. Now she needed to be the wife that

Brandon needed. “I missed being in your arms,

too. I can’t wait to see you this weekend,

Brandon,” Dominique murmured into the

phone.