Through the Fire (17 page)

let her have her way until after her trial was

over. She was really stressing out over this trial.

He knew she wanted to win, not only for her

client but for the simple fact that everyone else

expected her to lose. Brandon’s mouth lifted at

the sides in a smile. They didn’t know his wife.

She was a crackerjack attorney and soon

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173

everyone would be privy to just how good a

lawyer she really was.

Dominique didn’t know it yet, but he

planned on staying in Atlanta just as long as it

took for her trial to be over. He would be in that

courtroom every day if he could. He’d just call

David and let him know that he’d work out of

the office here in Atlanta. No more separation.

As of Dominique’s father’s last call, Brandon

was staying in Atlanta until he could leave with

his wife by his side.

Brandon didn’t like the frown on

Dominique’s face. He got up and walked over to

where she was sitting at her dressing table.

“What’s wrong baby?” he asked, concern in his

voice.

From her startled look, she hadn’t

realized that he’d left the bed.

“Nothing,” she murmured, not looking

him in the eye.

“Yes, there is. Now tell me what’s

bothering you.”

“How do you know something’s bothering

me?”

Brandon waved off her protest.

“Please Dominique, you’re about to pull

that strand of hair out of your head. You always

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do that when something’s bothering you. So

stop denying it and tell me what’s wrong.” He

scowled for emphasis.

Brandon watched as Dominique lifted

one perfectly arched eyebrow and returned his

scowl with one of her own. Brandon crossed his

arms over his chest and deepened the frown

lines on his face. Dominique sighed.

“Okay. You win. This thing with my father

is getting out of control. He’s obsessed with the

idea of me and Felton, and for the life of me, I

can’t understand why,” she sighed. “I’m

thinking of having a dinner, inviting both our

families, and just telling them everything.”

Brandon couldn’t hide the surprised look

on his face. His insides were doing flip flops.

Well, it was about damn time. This was what

he’d been waiting to hear since forever. Now

that she’d said the words, he was afraid to say

anything for fear she would back out. From the

look on Dominique’s face, she wasn’t finished

talking. He would wait. She needed to make

this decision herself. But once she made it, he

would make damn sure that they both followed

through.

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175

“Diamond and Rafe will be back next

week. How about I set something up with my

family for next weekend?” she asked nervously.

Brandon didn’t give her a chance to

change her mind. “Let’s do it. Where do you

want to have the dinner? And, what are we

telling our families the dinner is for?”

Brandon’s voice was laced with excitement and

approval.

“My mother is a perfect hostess. I’ll talk

to her and see if she’d be willing throw together

a dinner party by next weekend. Nothing fancy,

a buffet type thing. I’ll just tell them I have

some exciting news for the family and leave it

at that. Rafe and Diamond are due back on

Friday. We’ll make it for next Saturday, if that’s

alright with you?” Dominique asked, trying to

sound more confident than she felt.

Brandon knew she was scared. This

would be the moment of truth. All would be

revealed. He hoped she was able to handle the

fallout because he had a feeling that there was

sure to be one. Her father was determined. But,

dammit, so was Brandon. He was determined

not to let Dominique’s father, or anyone else,

keep them apart. When her trial was over he

was taking her away for a month. To hell with

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everything else, God was giving him and

Dominique another chance and he was running

with it.

“Brandon, is next Saturday okay with

you?” she asked him again studying his

features.

Brandon

recovered

quickly.

“Next

Saturday is perfect,” he said taking Dominique

by the hand and pulling her up to stand thigh to

thigh with him. Brandon looked down into her

hazel eyes and whispered. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too,” Dominique said,

wrapping her arms around him.

Brandon stepped back, and lifted her chin

up so that her lips met his. He parted her lips

with his tongue and kissed her passionately.

Their tongues mated just as their bodies had

hours earlier. They were all lips, tongues, and

teeth.

Brandon grabbed her by the ass and lifted

her up and into his erection. He loved this

woman with every breath he took.

Dominique was the first to pull away.

“Brandon, we have to go. It’s getting late,” she

whispered against his lips. Her voice was filled

with desire.

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177

“I know. Just let me hold you for a few

moments longer. Okay?” his voice full of

emotion. At her nod, he tightened his hold on

her and breathed in her flowery scent.

“Are you okay, Brandon?” Dominique

asked, concern evident in her voice.

Brandon

inhaled

deeply

before

answering. His body began to shake. He was

still too choked up to speak. His chin was atop

her head as he nodded and tightened his hold

on her. He was probably holding her too tight.

He didn’t want to let her go.

They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms

for a few moments more before Brandon finally

released her. “Put your shoes on baby. Let’s go

meet with your expert,” Brandon said.

“Okay, give me a minute,” Dominique

said dashing across the room to slip on her

shoes.

An hour later, Dominique and Brandon

pulled up to the construction site to meet with

her expert, Mr. Randolph. Her client, Randal

Johnson had been accused of using shoddy

materials along with a host of other allegations.

One of the floors had collapsed in this building,

causing several people to be killed. On top of

that, there was an explosion in another one of

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Johnson’s buildings. His firm had hired the

construction crew that built it. Mr. Johnson

had insisted that the specs the DA had were not

the specs that he’d given his approval on.

Since then, the whole case had

deteriorated into accusations of bribes, arson,

and just about every other charge but the

kitchen sink.

It was now up to Dominique to prove her

client’s innocence. From the insurmountable

evidence against him, this seemed impossible.

But something in Dominique’s gut told

her that her client was innocent, and she would

see that he got the best legal representation

that she could offer. Neither of them was going

down without a fight.

“Looks like your expert’s already here,

Dominique,” Brandon said, moving closer to

Dominique.

Dominique frowned and looked in the

direction of Brandon’s gaze. Oh my, the man

didn’t look like an expert at all. Tall, with

shoulder length, blond hair, broad shoulders,

and impeccable dressed, he looked more like he

belonged on the cover of a romance novel.

Dude was fine as hell. No wonder her husband

had moved closer to her.

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179

Mentally shaking her head, Dominique

snickered. Oh brother, from the frown lines

gracing Brandon’s face as he looked over at Mr.

Randolph, who was slowly approaching them

with his eyes fixed on her, this was going to be

one long meeting. She’d never met the man in

person before, only talked with him over the

phone after reviewing his curriculum vitae. “Hi,

I’m Craig Randolph.” He smiled, his hand

outstretched. “You must be Dominique Shaw.”

Dominique felt Brandon stiffen beside

her and cleared her throat.
Oh no
. Mr.

Randolph was looking at her as if he was very

interested. Before Dominique could decide how

to politely discourage him, Brandon had

wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer

to him and out of Mr. Randolph’s reach.

Dominique

blushed

in

embarrassment.

Brandon was letting Mr. Randolph know she

was taken. She could have hit him.

Dominique saw the devilish smile around

Mr. Randolph’s eyes at Brandon’s show of

possessiveness. There was no doubt he knew

what Brandon was doing.

“It’s like that, huh?” Mr. Randolph

laughed heartily.

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“Very much so,” Brandon barked, causing

Dominique to flinch and Mr. Randolph to laugh

even harder.

Mr. Randolph nodded, turned to Brandon

and held his hand out. “Craig Randolph. You

can call me Craig. And you are?” he asked as

Brandon reluctantly accepted the hand

“Brandon Cameron. Dominique is taken,”

he said through squinted eyes.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Randolph

snickered. “No disrespect intended. I thought

you were a colleague of hers. My mistake.” He

then turned to Dominique. “Nice meeting you

Ms. Shaw. Now let’s get this show on the road.”

He turned on his heels and walked away,

leaving Brandon and Dominique to follow.

Dominique elbowed Brandon in his side

so hard he screeched in pain. “What the hell

was that about, Brandon?” she fumed. “That

was so rude. You wouldn’t even let me shake

his hand.”

“I didn’t like the way he was looking at

you,” Brandon grumbled.

“I meet men every day in my profession,

Brandon. You can’t become all he-man

possessive every time a good-looking man is in

my presence,” she said angrily.

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181

“Who says I can’t?” he shot back.

“Besides, he understood,” he added bending

down to place a quick kiss on her lips as if there

could be any shred of doubt left that she was

Brandon’s woman. Dominique heard Mr.

Randolph’s chuckle and groaned.

“I am so going to kill you, Brandon,” she

whispered for his ears only.

“Looking forward to it, sweetheart,” he

said as his hand roamed from her waist to her

ass and squeezed. “As a matter of fact, I can’t

wait to get this over with so we can get on with

it?” He winked.

“Ugh,” she groaned.

Brandon laced his fingers with hers and

started to whistle.

Dominique and Brandon had spent over

an hour with Craig Randolph. She had to admit

that after Brandon got over acting like a

complete jackass, he’d asked Craig questions

that she would never have thought to ask.

They all left the site and went for a bite to

eat at a nearby cafe. Craig outlined most of

what he was going to say during his testimony,

and Dominique found him to be a very

knowledgeable and creditable witness.
Don’t

give up on me yet, boys
, she thought bitterly. It

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SERENITY KING

was nice to have an ace up her sleeve for a

change.

The weekend went by in a flash. She

really enjoyed having Brandon there with her.

Her father called again and Dominique agreed

to dinner on the condition that they invite all of

the family. She didn’t say anything else. She

would leave her father in ignorant bliss. She

and Brandon had agreed that since he was

staying in Atlanta until after the trial, maybe he

should stay in a hotel or with his parents until

they made the announcement on Saturday.

Brandon had reluctantly agreed once she’d

informed him that she didn’t want the added

stress of her father finding out before Saturday.

Besides, she needed all of her energy to

concentrate on this trial. Dominique and

Brandon both had come to the conclusion that

her client was being setup to take a fall for

somebody. Somebody big. The problem was