Through the Fire (18 page)

they hadn’t figured out whom.

Brandon was doing some background

work for her. Dominique had to smile when she

thought of him telling her that nobody was

going to make his wife look like a fool. The

more Brandon read her case file the angrier he

got. He wanted somebody’s blood. Dominique

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183

had had the hardest time trying to get him back

on track.

It was now Monday morning and she was

back in court waiting for the trial to begin.

Dominique watched as the judge and the bailiff

walked in.

“All Rise.”

* * *

Brandon walked into the Cameron Law

Office in Atlanta and was met by Alisha, who by

the expression on her face, was shocked to see

him.

Brandon watched her rush over to him.

Alisha was both graceful and beautiful. She

seemed to glow all the time. He was glad to see

her so happy. “Brandon, what are you doing

here?” she asked, stepping into his arms for a

quick hug.

“I’ll be working from here for the week.

Have some things I need to take care of,”

Brandon responded, placing a kiss on Alisha’s

cheek.

“Umm hmm,” she said giving him a

knowing smile.

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“What? I’m helping someone with a case

and I need to be here to do it.” He chuckled at

her look of disbelief.

“If you say so,” she beamed.

“I say so,” he grinned. “I need to see

Tristan. Is he in?”

Alisha snorted. “Please, you know your

brother is still reluctant to let me out of his

sight. He’s in his office. I’ll walk with you since

I’m on my way there.”

“Lead the way,” he said, falling in step

beside her.

Once they got to Tristan’s office, Alisha

pushed the door open. “Honey, guess who’s

here?” she said walking all the way into the

office with Brandon on her heels.

Brandon saw Tristan lift his head from

the papers he was looking at in surprise.

Coming from behind his desk, Tristan stood in

front of them.

“Brandon, what are you doing here?” he

asked, then frowned. “Is something wrong?”

Brandon waved off his concern. “No,

nothing’s wrong. I’m here helping out on a

case,” he said, and watched as Tristan’s frown

deepened.

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185

“Don’t believe him honey, I think it’s

more. Brandon’s keeping secrets,” Alisha

laughed as she walked over to Tristan. Tristan’s

arm automatically snaked out around her waist.

“You think so, Beauty?” he asked kissing

Alisha full on the lips.

“Oh, please don’t start that,” Brandon

groaned. “I’ll never get anything done if you

two start the kissy-face thing.”

“You can always leave,” Tristan said,

removing his lips from Alisha’s.

“Yes, but I need to talk to you, and then I

need to borrow an office,” Brandon responded.

“You two talk. I have work to do anyway.

I’ll see you later,” Alisha said, placing a quick

kiss on Tristan’s lips and moving out of his

arms. “Brandon it’s good to see you again. I’m

looking forward to you being here for the

week.” Alisha quit the room, closing the door

behind her.

Brandon watched Tristan watch Alisha

leave. Man, his brother was besotted. He

couldn’t blame him, though. Brandon was the

same way with Dominique.

“So, brother, have a seat and tell me

what’s going on,” Tristan said.

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Brandon sat in the chair in front of

Tristan’s desk and crossed his legs. “Two

things, really. The first is that Dominique has

decided to tell her family about us. She’s set up

a family dinner for Saturday. You and Alisha

should be there.”

He sighed. “I would invite Mom and

Dad—they should be there, too—but I have a

feeling this might be ugly. I’ll tell them the

entire story beforehand, though. They can

decide whether or not they want to come. I’m

only inviting you because I know you will show

up whether I do or not. Just be aware that

Dominique’s father thinks she’s meeting them

for other reasons. He has no idea that my

family will be there,” Brandon said.

“I’m there,” Tristan said immediately, as

Brandon had known he would. “Her father is

still trying to hook her up with Hobbs?”

“Unfortunately, yes. He’s stressing

Dominique out. What he thought would wear

Dominique down has actually forced her hand

in telling him sooner.”

“Well, I’ve checked into some things on

the down low. There’s no way that Dominique’s

father doesn’t know about Hobbs’ issues.

People talk. I called in some contacts. Mr. Shaw

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187

is looking to be governor and wants to keep

their two families tied together. I really can’t go

into more detail, and even if I could, I wouldn’t.

The more I tell you the more you’d feel

obligated to tell Dominique. The less you know,

the less you can claim to have known when the

shit hits the fan.

“In my opinion, you and Dominique have

gone through enough. You withholding secrets

from her won’t make it better. Just know this:

Her father’s hands are not all that clean. I have

to tell you, Hobbs has nothing on Dominique’s

father. I think the Shaws are condemning the

wrong person.”

Brandon whistled. “Do Chad and Xavier

know?” he asked.

“Not sure. Not my place to say anything

to them. If they do, I hope they can clean it up

before it gets too bad. That’s all I’m saying. You

said two things. What’s the other?” Tristan

asked.

Brandon went on to tell Tristan about the

case Dominique was working on. It was

Tristan’s turn to whistle.

“I’m familiar with that mess. I agree with

you. Someone set your lady up to fail. Come on,

let’s see if we can make it backfire on whoever

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tried to set her and her client up,” Tristan

barked. “You can use the other office and do the

lawyer thing. I’ll start making calls.”

“Thanks, bro, I appreciate it,” Brandon

said sincerely.

“No thanks necessary. It’s your firm too,

Brandon.”

“I know. I just wish this trial was over.

Dominique is already stressing from her dad

and this trial. The emotional turmoil that she’s

going to go through after our announcement on

Saturday is only going to add to it. She was so

pissed with her father that she shot from the

hip. I was so happy that this entire secret

incident was going to be behind us, I didn’t

really think of the consequences this trial and

her confession were going to have on her

psyche,” Brandon confessed.

“Just be there for her, Brandon. I have a

feeling that you two will have to lean on each

other for this one. You’re so busy worrying

about the emotional strain this is going to have

on Dominique that you haven’t considered

what it’s going to do to you. I can read people

well, Brandon. It’s how I’ve stayed alive as long

as I have being a cop and working for the

Bureau. And I can see that you haven’t grieved

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189

properly yourself. You need to do so if you’re

going to be of any help to Dominique.”

Brandon didn’t say anything. He couldn’t.

He knew Tristan spoke the truth. He would

grieve in time. Right now, his wife needed him

and that’s all that mattered as far as he was

concerned.

Brandon cleared his throat. “I will. I just

need to concentrate on her for now, Tristan. I

love her so much. When I didn’t see her for

those six months, I thought I’d lost her, and I

almost went mad. I can’t go through that again.

We’ll get through this together this time. In the

meantime, all of my energy has to be focused

on her well-being. You can understand that

can’t you?” Brandon asked his voice filled with

emotion.

Tristan nodded. “Yes, brother, I can and I

do. Come on, let’s get started.”

Brandon and Tristan worked for hours

before Brandon finally called it a day. They had

made some headway but not enough to count.

He needed to check on Dominique and then get

to his parents’ house.

Brandon called Dominique. Getting her

voicemail, he left a message for her to call him

as soon as she got out of court. He wished he

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could be there with her, but at this point he was

more help trying to find pertinent information

that she could use to help her case.

CHAPTER TEN

Pulling into the spacious driveway of his

parents’ home, Brandon killed the engine of his

rental, got out and walked to the back of the

SUV. He retrieved his bag from the trunk,

closed it and walked up the walkway to the

double front doors. Brandon didn’t bother to

knock, preferring to use his key instead. Taking

a deep breath he inserted the key into the lock

and turned it. The door chimed as he pushed it

open and walked inside.

Once inside, Brandon was met by the

butler, Niles. Niles had been with his parents

for years.

Brandon smiled at the gray-haired man.

“Hello Niles, is Momma around?”

“Mr. Brandon, it’s good to see you. Here

let me take that,” Niles said reaching for

Brandon’s bag.

“No need, Niles, just let me know which

room is ready and I’ll take my bag up to it,”

Brandon responded.

“Very well, Mr. Brandon, sir. Take the

room you occupied the last time you were here.

I’ll let your folks know that you’re here.

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Dinner’s in ten minutes,” Niles said to

Brandon’s retreating back.

“No problem. I’ll be down,” Brandon

called out from the stairs.

Brandon put his things away, washed his

hands and face, and was back downstairs in ten

minutes. He decided he would speak to his

folks after dinner. No sense in ruining a

perfectly good meal.

He walked into the formal dining room

where his folks were sitting down waiting for

him. When he entered the room his mother got

up and met him.

“Brandon, dear, what a nice surprise,”

Sarah Cameron said as she embraced him.

“Hey, Mom, sorry for the intrusion but I

need to speak with you and Pops after dinner,”

Brandon grabbed his mother up in a big bear

hug. “How are you Dad?”

“Son, what brings you here?”

“Just wanted to discuss something with

you two. It can wait until after dinner.”

Brandon watched his parents about to protest.

“In fact, I’d prefer if we waited. Please,”

Brandon added.

His mom’s concern showed on her face

and he was quick to reassure her. “Mom,

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193

everything’s fine.” He kissed her brow. “Now

let’s eat, I’m starving.” His mom didn’t look

convinced, but she didn’t push. Instead she

released Brandon and went to sit next to his

father at the table.

They all ate for a few minutes in silence

before his mom threw her linen napkin on the

table. “Oh, this is ridiculous. None of us shall

eat another bite until I know what’s wrong with

my son,” Sarah Cameron said. “Come along,

Brandon and Lawrence, we shall discuss this in

the family room.”

His dad just chuckled. “Sarah, honey, you

lasted longer than I thought you would,” he

said, shaking his head and getting up from his

seat. “Come on son, we might as well get it over

with or no one will have peace tonight.”

Brandon knew that by ‘no one’ his father

meant himself. His mother still had his dad

wrapped around her finger. Lawrence would do

anything for his wife.

He tried to protest anyway “But Dad—”

“Now, Brandon,” his father said, his voice

calm yet firm.

“Yes, sir,” Brandon mumbled and

followed them to the family room. The family

room was where they talked about things that

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couldn’t be discussed at the dinner table. It was