Through the Fire (23 page)

scraping but I have to tell you that eventually

you will probably have to have a partial

hysterectomy. This means we will take the

uterus and leave the ovaries—preventing the

use of any artificial hormones.”

“What if I don’t have the scraping? Is

there some kind of drug to shrink the tumors?

Sandy, I’m only thirty-two and I just lost my

baby girl. Please don’t make me do this,” she

choked out with tears streaming down her

face.

“I tell you what…let’s see what happens. I

can start you with a drug, but I have to tell

you it causes mood swings and such. Almost

like a menopausal state. It’s a hormone drug.

Dominique, the scraping wouldn’t be so bad.

I’d do everything possible to prevent scarring

your uterus. Think about it and get back to me.

In the meanwhile I’ll give you the prescription

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for the drug if you decide to go that route. Give

me a call and let me know what you decide.”

The other woman got up and squeezed

Dominique’s hand. “I’ll leave the prescription

at the front desk. Take your time in here.”

Dominique didn’t say anything. She just

sat there in shock. She didn’t even start crying

until she heard the soft click of the door

indicating that Sandy had left her alone with

her thoughts. She’d cried for her dead baby

and for the babies she wouldn’t have.

A few months later she’d had the

scraping and not the partial hysterectomy.

Sandy was pessimistic. She was certain that

Dominique was going to need to have her

uterus removed. At this point, there was so

much going on with Dominique’s insides that

Sandy wasn’t sure if she’d even be able to

conceive. She’d finished off by telling

Dominique that miracles do happen, so they’d

wait until she started having severe problems.

Then they would have no choice but to do the

procedure.

Dominique didn’t know when Brandon

had reached for her, but she found herself

sitting on his lap, holding his head against her

breast as they both cried.

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237

“Baby, why didn’t you tell me? Do you

really think I’m that shallow? Nothing is more

important than your health and wellbeing. Sure

I would have loved to have a baby, but I’d be

just as happy adopting.”

“Brandon, I didn’t know that. When you

first found out that I was pregnant, the only

thing you talked about was having a house full

of kids. We both did. And to be told that I

probably wouldn’t be the one to give you those

kids was a big blow. I was trying to not be

selfish and to let you go. In the end, selfish is

exactly what I was, because even though my

head was saying one thing, my heart was saying

another.”

“Dominique I understand how you felt.

But that wasn’t your decision to make,”

Brandon whispered against her breast. Then he

lifted his head to look into her tear-stained

eyes. “For better or worse baby. Those were our

vows, and I plan to live by them. What about

you, Dominique…are you going to? This can’t

be one sided. We both have to be in for the long

haul, wherever that journey may lead. I need to

know that you won’t bolt again at the first sign

of trouble. So again, for better or worse. Are

you in?” Brandon asked.

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Dominique gave a quick jerky nod of

affirmation before she spoke. “I’m in. For better

or for worse.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dominique was sitting in her car waiting

on Craig Randolph. She’d asked him if he

would come with her to check out this

apartment complex that was supposedly a fire

hazard from faulty wiring and so forth. This

was just one last piece to her puzzle. After

weeks of the best legal defense work she had

ever done, her client was off the hook, but a lot

of other people were going down. If her and

Brandon’s suspicions were correct, there
had

been a lot of bribery and extortion going on—it

just hadn’t been her client who was doing it.

Johnson’s wife and an ex-business

partner had set him up good. She was sure the

jury could see that now. She just needed to

clear him from this one last building. For some

reason, the ADA didn’t want to drop the

charges against him. He still wanted to

prosecute him, even given all of the evidence

she and Brandon had dug up.

She grinned a little, remembering how

shocked the other attorneys and the ADA had

been to learn that she was married to a

Cameron.

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“It’s amazing how a name will make

people think twice about messing with you,”

Dominique had laughed in Brandon’s arms.

They’d stopped treating her like a stupid little

flunky and started falling over themselves

trying to be nice to her.

It had been a little over two months since

she’d made the announcement at her parents’

house. A lot had happened during that time.

Her mother had moved out of the home she’d

shared with her father. Unbeknownst to her

children, her mother had purchased a small

condo a while back, shortly before her father

had had his heart attack. She’d seen the

changes in him and refused to tolerate his

attitude and his quest for power any longer.

They’d had a terrible argument on the day of

his heart attack and her mother had felt guilty,

that’s why she’d stayed with him. According to

her mother the incident with her and Brandon

had been the last straw.

Dominique wasn’t happy that her parents

had separated, but she understood her

mother’s reasoning. And in light of everything

Chad and Xavier had found out and told her

and Diamond afterwards, it was best her

mother did leave.

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241

Her father had been so busy trying to be

rich and powerful that he hadn’t realized that

his own sons had bought most of the shares in

his companies. They’d saved the financing

company from ruin and from scandal. Her

father had begun to use unethical business

practices and was about to be investigated by

the SEC.

Dominique didn’t know how her brothers

did it, but they’d gotten shares transferred out

of their father’s name so fast, he didn’t know

what had hit him. Dominique had had to shake

her head at the irony of it all. A corporate

takeover by his own sons. Wow!

Of course, her dad had blustered and

blundered, but in the end Chad and Xavier had

given him a choice: suck it up or go to jail.

Dominique didn’t know much of what they had

on her father but it must have been big, because

he resigned from the boards of all of his

companies. Everyone knew he had been kicked

out, of course. His resignation was just to save

face.

Dominique had also found out that

Felton Hobbs had paid off his son’s debt and

shipped him off for parts unknown after Felton

Jr. had gotten the crap beat out of him. Funny

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they’d all hated on Mr. Hobbs for years. Come

to find out that, other than being a douche and

cheating on his wife, he wasn’t that bad after

all. Mr. Hobbs’ wife, who’d always been in and

out of the hospital battling depression, had left

him after he sent their son away.

Life was good. She and Brandon had

decided that they were going to travel a little,

then address maybe adopting one or two

children. They’d also shared their not-so-good

news with their families. She so loved her

family, and she was very surprised by

Brandon’s parents’ outpouring of love. They

often treated her like fine china. The show of

love and support often brought tears to her

eyes.

Dominique started at the knock on her

window. She turned to see Craig Randolph

standing at her door with a huge grin on his

face. Dude was seriously fine.

Dominique unlocked her door and got out

of the car.

“Sorry I’m late. I got caught up on a

project. Are you ready to get this show on the

road?” Craig asked, then looked around.

“Where’s Cameron?

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243

“I’m ready. Brandon had a meeting,” she

responded as she followed Craig into the

building.

“Okay, according to the plans this is one

of the floors that is supposed to have problems.

Let’s start over here to the left,” Craig

instructed her as they walked into the building.

Dominique’s cell began to chime.

Brandon had asked her to keep it with her at all

times. Her husband was a worrywart. True to

his word, he was staying in Atlanta until the

trial was over. He’d only had to fly to New York

twice but he’d made sure that Tristan or one of

her brothers checked in on her when he was

away. “Speaking of Brandon he’s calling now.

Excuse me Craig, I have to take this.”

Dominique enjoyed saying that. It sounded so

good to her ears.

“Hello,” Dominique said into the receiver.

“Hey, baby, where are you?”

“I’m at the building with Craig Randolph.

This shouldn’t take long. Where are you?” she

asked.

“Not far from you. About ten, maybe

fifteen, minutes away. Tristan is dropping me

off where you are. Listen, you and Craig don’t

have to do this. We found what you need to

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clear your client’s name. I’ll explain it all when I

get there. I’m taking you out to celebrate.”

“Really?” Dominique said excitedly. “We

can finally go home? Yes!” Before Dominique

could say anything else there was a loud bang,

like someone had set off a huge firecracker

right next to her ear. She jumped and watched

in shock as the walls shuddered and debris

rained down from the ceiling.

“Dominique, what was that?” Brandon

yelled into the receiver.

“There’s something going on with this

building. We just heard a crash or some kind of

explosion and debris is falling.” Fear and dust

choked her.

“Dominique, get out of there!” Brandon

yelled. “I’m on my way.”

“Move it!” Craig shouted at her. “This

place is going up. We have to get out of here.”

Dominique dropped her phone and took

off at a dead run, but she stopped suddenly

when she heard Craig yelp in pain. She turned

to see he’d gotten hit by a beam. The sheetrock

had fallen away and the beam had hit him in

the head. Blood streamed down his face.

“Oh my God, Craig, you’re bleeding,”

Dominique shrieked.

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245

“Keep going, he said grimly. “I’m right

behind you. Move it, Dominique, the building’s

on fire, and we both know it’s a fucking fire

trap.”

Just then, a piece of the ceiling caved in

before them. Dominique lunged back in

surprise, tripped, and hit her head on the sharp

edge of a beam of wood. Heat, horrible, intense

heat was the last thing she remembered before

losing consciousness.

* * *

Brandon was in a panic. “Dominique!” he

yelled.

“Brandon

what’s

wrong?”

Tristan

grabbed his arm and shook him. “Talk to me.”

“I think a section of the building

exploded,” Brandon croaked out. “Gotta call the

fire department.”

“Fuck!”

“Hurry, Tristan,” Brandon said, dialing

911.

Tristan was known for having a lead foot,

but Brandon had never seen his brother drive

so fast before.

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By the time Brandon and Tristan pulled

up to the building, less than ten minutes later,

people from the surrounding buildings, had