Through the Fire (7 page)

phone like you told us to…Anyway are you

okay? Xavier and Chad are about to send out a

search party.”

Brandon tensed. That was
not
how he

wanted his brothers-in-law to find out about

his marriage to Dominique. He could hear their

conversation from his position on the bed. Ms.

Olivia was in a tizzy.

Dominique motioned to Brandon that

everything was under control. “I’m fine, Mom.”

“Diamond and Rafe arrived safely.”

Olivia’s voice came down a couple of notches.

“They called earlier. By the way, are you riding

with Daddy and me to the barbeque, or are you

driving yourself? You are still coming?”

“Oh. I’d forgotten all about the barbeque

at Domino’s. Yes, I’ll be there. Please let Xavier

and Chad know that I’m okay. No search

parties are necessary.”

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69

Dominique moaned involuntarily as

Brandon’s large hands massaged her neck and

back. “Oh, that feels good.”

“What was that Dominique? Are you with

a man?”

Damn Brandon and those exquisite

hands. She swatted them away. “I’m not with a

man, Mom. That’s…er…that’s the television.”

Brandon snickered behind her and she

elbowed him hard in the stomach, pleased to

hear his low groan of pain before he retaliated

by biting her on the neck.

“You were talking to the television?”

Olivia was asking unbelievingly.

Dominique reached back and popped

Brandon upside the head before answering her

mom. “No. I just got out of the shower and was

moisturizing myself. I was talking to myself.”

“If you say so. I didn’t know you had any

close friends in Texas.”

Dominique bit back a sigh of regret. She

hated keeping secrets from her mom. “Listen

Mom, I have to get dressed. I love you, Mom.

I’ll see you later. Bye.” Face flaming red,

Dominique quickly disconnected her call.

“What was that Dominique?” Brandon

teased. “I’m not a man? What am I? Chopped

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liver, perhaps? Or maybe your boy toy?” He

turned her in his arms to face him.

“Stop kidding around, Brandon. I think

my mom suspects something.”

“So what if she does? It’s about time, as

far as I’m concerned. When are we going to tell

our families the truth Dominique? I refuse to

live a lie like last time.”

“Soon. We’ll tell them…soon. Can we talk

about this later? I need to get dressed and get

over to Domino’s house.”

“How are you getting there?”

“Rental car. I’ll drive over. Are…are you

going to be there as well?”

“I take it you don’t want to drive over

together?”

“You know we can’t just yet. When I tell

them, I want to tell them everything at once.

And I don’t want to put a damper on everyone’s

weekend. Look, this is a happy occasion for

Diamond. Throwing our crazy lives into the mix

will just ruin her celebration. Let’s face it, the

people we love don’t need any more stress right

now, especially after that entire episode with

Alisha. It would also mean that I would have to

go into the entire episode about the baby, and

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71

I’m just not ready to do that yet,” she

murmured.

“You’re right. But we are man and wife,

and we are going to be together, Dominique.

Get dressed,” Brandon added, some of the

sternness leaving his voice as he looked into her

suddenly unhappy eyes. “You need to get going

if we’re going in separate cars. I’ll be along

later. We don’t want to arrive too close together

or your family and mine will become

suspicious.”

Dominique encircled Brandon’s neck with

her arms and brought his lips down to meet

hers. “Thank you. I’ll make it up to you, I

promise,” she murmured against his lips.

“You bet you will, just as soon as we get

back to this hotel room.” He kissed her deeply

then forced himself to release her. “Enough of

that, or we’ll both miss the damn barbecue.”

“You’re right,” she said and turned to go.

“Oh, my God!”

“What!”

“I forgot my clothes; hence the reason

why I’m wearing your t-shirt.”

Brandon burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny. What am I supposed to

do? I can’t go down to my room in your t-shirt,

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and the only thing I have here to put on is my

ball gown. What am I going to do?” Her voice

was panicky.

“Calm down. We’ll figure something out.”

“What was I thinking? There’s nothing to

figure out. I’ll have to put on the gown and

hope I don’t run into any family on the

elevator.”

“I would offer you my sweats but you’d

still need shoes. Looks like you’ll have to put on

what you were wearing last night and hope for

the best,” he agreed.

“Hope for the best,” she mimicked. “Gee,

thanks. Where’s my dress?”

“That sassy mouth is going to get you in a

lot of trouble, wife. I placed your gown on the

sofa over there.” He pointed in the general

direction.

“Okay. Thanks.” She snatched up the

dress, tore off Brandon’s t-shirt, slipped the

dress over her head, and shimmied until the

curves fell into the right places. She looked

down at herself and bit her lip. “
Shit!
Well, wish

me luck.” She brushed her lips quickly against

Brandon’s and was gone.

After Dominique had gone, Brandon

picked up the remainder of their food from the

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73

bed and placed it on the tray for room service to

pick up. Housekeeping had left bed sheets

while he and Dominique were in the shower.

They’d both made the bed and left the dirty

laundry out in the hall for housekeeping to pick

up. Just your ordinary married couple enjoying

a special weekend.

Yeah, right.

“Lord, please give me my wife back,”

Brandon said before going to the bed and

flopping down on his back. He needed a nap.

Brandon closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

CHAPTER FOUR

Dominique took the elevator down to her

room. Once the elevator hit her floor she

peeked out just to make sure there were no

family members around to see her in

yesterday’s clothes.

Friends, she could handle. It was her

family she was worried about. She loved her

mom and dad, but they still treated her and

Diamond as if they were children. Okay, even

her mom she could pretty much handle. Her

dad on the other hand, though she loved him

very much, raked her last nerve. She was so

tired of him trying to fix her up with his friends’

sons. It was ridiculous.

“Come over, Dominique. I’m having a

dinner party with just a few friends,” he’d say.

Few friends, my big toe.
More like his best-

friend Walter Hobbs and his son Felton. Even if

she weren’t married to Brandon, Felton Hobbs

would be her last choice for a man. He had a

roving eye just like his father. She didn’t know

why her own father couldn’t see that his friend

was hog slime, as her grandma Betsy would say.

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75

“Oh well,” Dominique murmured to

herself. Rushing out of the elevator, she ran to

her room. Her keycard in hand she made a

move to open the door, and was stopped by the

sneering voice of none other than the man

himself, Felton Hobbs.

“Well, well, well. What have we here? The

little princess has been out all night. Guess

she’s not as innocent as she would like

everyone to think. Where have you been?” he

snarled at her. He grabbed hold of her wrist

and jerked her around to face him.

Dominique winced from the pain. She

jerked her arm free of the tight hold and looked

up into the eyes of the man intruding on her

personal space. Did he really not realize he was

about two seconds away from getting a knee in

his crotch?

“Excuse you? It’s none of your damn

business where I’ve been. Last I checked you

weren’t my daddy, my husband, one of my

brothers, or anything else for that matter. So

what the hell gives you the right to ask me

where I’ve been?” Her tone dripped acid. “And

if you ever in your life think about touching me

again, it will be the last thing you ever do.”

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The smile that curved his lips didn’t

match the coldness in his eyes, which flashed

something akin to hatred. It was brief, but

she’d caught it. What reason would he have to

hate her? What the hell? Well, that was his

problem not hers. She didn’t have time for him.

She needed to change and get over to

Domino’s.

He continued to look at her with those

hateful eyes and that fake smile. “I’m sorry,

Dominique. I didn’t mean to hurt you.

Sometimes I don’t know my own strength. I

was just worried about you. There are a lot of

crazies out there you know. Wouldn’t want

anything to happen to you.”

“So far, the only person that’s bothering

me is you.”

“Your dad sent me to your room to see if

you needed a lift to the festivities at what’s-his-

name’s house, and when you weren’t here

earlier, I decided to come back and check on

you. So here I am, and here you are, still in

yesterday’s attire.” The sneer was back.

“I’m aware of my state of dress. I don’t

know why my father would send you in search

of me, but I can assure you that I can get to

‘what’s-his-name’s’ house all on my own. I have

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77

a rental. Your services won’t be needed. Now if

you will excuse me, I have to get changed and

be on my way.” Her tone brooked no argument.

Dominique knew better than to turn her back

on him so she waited for him to leave.

“If you insist, Miss Dominique. We’ll talk

later. I am most sure of that,” he said in a voice

that held more than just a hint of menace.

When she didn’t break eye contact with him

though, he muttered something under his

breath and walked away.

“Talk later? Not if I can help it, dick

head,” she murmured, letting herself into her

room.

She would have to have a word with her

father when they got back to Atlanta. Enough

was enough. Why, of all people, would he want

her to be involved with Felton? Just because

Felton was African-American? No, it was more

likely he just had a huge blind spot when it

came to his best friend and his best friend’s

jackass of a son.

Dominique dressed quickly in a pair of

denim shorts, a tank top, and slip-ons; grabbed

the keys to her rental, and left. She never

noticed the sneering eyes that followed her.

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* * *

Felton stood back out of sight. He

watched the jean shorts-clad woman walk to

her rental car and get in.

“So, where were you all night,

Dominique?” he whispered. “What are you

hiding? Or rather who? I guess Little Miss

Prissy isn’t so innocent after all.”

Whatever the case, he needed to get back

in his father’s good graces. That last bout had

his father cutting him off and threatening to

fire him from his cushy job. His father had

found out about his gambling debts and paid

them off. He’d promised he wasn’t gambling

anymore. But of course, that wasn’t true. He

had debts even now that needed to be paid.

This was not the time for his father to be giving

him ultimatums. His father told him to get it

together or he’d fire him with no problem. He

was tired of cleaning up after his messes.

His father and Mr. Shaw wanted him and

Dominique to get married. Why, he had no

idea. He didn’t want to marry anyone, but if

marrying the uptight bitch would help him get

the money he needed, then why not? Besides, if

he had to marry someone, Dominique was a

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79

good choice. She was an attorney with her own