Through the Fire (5 page)

I give you up for any man, let alone an African

American. I hate having to sneak around to see

my own wife. I can handle anything your family

brings.”

“But it wasn’t just that.” Dominique hated

herself even as she said the words and heard

Brandon’s short, pained intake of breath.

Dominique couldn’t tell him that she’d blamed

herself for the loss of their baby or that

sometimes she did suspect that her father knew

something was up with her and Brandon. She

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SERENITY KING

couldn’t prove it, but things were just not

adding up.

She hadn’t seen it before, because she’d

been a basket case, literally. No one knew that

she’d secretly gone to see a therapist. It’d been

a total waste of her time, but she’d tried. Lord

knows she’d tried. Dominique had done the

next best thing in her mind to do…throw

herself into her work. She worked so much that

by the time she made it home she was so tired

that the only thing she could do was fall into

bed and go to sleep just to awaken the next

morning to start the process all over again. It

dulled the pain of her loss. Dominique didn’t

want to feel anymore. It hurt too much.

She lay quietly, thinking about the baby

they’d lost. The nurse’s face, screwed up with

sympathy, the doctor’s cool, professional voice.

The crib and the high chair they would never

use. Somehow, the loss of the baby had

cemented the secret when it should have blown

things clean out of the water.

“She was by baby too, Dominique. You

never wanted to talk about what happened or

my feelings.”

“I didn’t want to talk about it, period. I

was so upset…” she began, by way of apology.

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49

Brandon shook his head wonderingly. “So

was I Dominique. I’d lost a child and by all

accounts, a wife, and there wasn’t a damn soul I

could go to for comfort. Not even my own

family.”

Dominique sighed deeply, laid her head

on Brandon’s chest, wrapped her arms around

him, and hugged him to her. Her body

trembled.

“Do you miss me, Dominique?” he asked.

Dominique

nodded

her

head

in

confirmation. “I miss you and our baby. I don’t

understand what happened. I keep going over it

in my head and I just can’t make sense of it all,”

she cried. “The pain just won’t go away.”

Brandon felt her tremble in his arms. It

broke his heart. She must not have cried in a

long time, because the tears were falling even

harder now, wetting his chest, and she was

making little hiccupping sounds.

“Shush, sweetheart. It’s okay. We’ll get

through this together. Together, Dominique,

that’s the way it should have been from the

beginning. We’ll talk about it in the morning. I

didn’t realize that you were still hurting so

much.”

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SERENITY KING

“I’m sorry, Brandon,” she hiccupped. “I

just couldn’t deal with it all.” Then she began

to sob uncontrollably.

“I know, sweetheart,” Brandon choked

out, as he tightened his hold on her. He placed

his hands in her hair and began to remove the

pins from Dominique’s hairdo, massaging her

scalp in the process. “Sleep, baby, I have you.”

The flood of tears had been painful, but

necessary, like lancing an infected wound and

watching the pus pour out before the wound

ran clean blood. Brandon brushed her damp

hair from her face and placed a kiss atop her

head.

“Okay,” she whispered, before giving in to

the sleep that claimed her.

“Jeez, what a mess,” Brandon murmured,

looking down at Dominique’s sleeping form. “I

won’t let you go again, sweetheart. You can

count on that. I promise we’ll make more

beautiful babies together.”

He didn’t relinquish his hold until he

heard her breathing even out. He then eased

himself away from her soft form to retrieve his

cell phone to call his brothers. He hadn’t gotten

the chance to speak with either Tristan or

Sinjin before he’d left the party, and since he

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51

was planning on keeping his wife in bed the

rest of the weekend, a call to his brothers was

necessary.

Picking up his cell phone, he walked

naked over to the wet bar to pour himself a

drink before placing his call. The hands on his

Rolex read 11 p.m. Brandon knew Sinjin was

still up. Tristan, on the other hand, was a

different story. Tristan and his new bride were

always in bed.

Thinking back on how Tristan had staked

his claim on Alisha the first time she’d walked

into Brandon’s office almost a year ago,

brought a smile to his face. He also thought

about how Tristan hadn’t let anyone or

anything get in the way of his feelings for

Alisha. In the end, his brother had married the

woman that he loved, and they were extremely

happy. Brandon was happy for them.

Downing his finger of scotch, he placed

his call to Sinjin.

After about the third ring, his brother

answered.

“Sin, it’s Brandon.”

“No shit. What’s up?”

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SERENITY KING

“I just wanted to let you know that I won’t

be around for the rest of the weekend. If you

need me, call my cell.”

“Oh. Why’s that?”

“I have some personal things I need to

take care of,” Brandon said carefully.

“Really? What kind of ‘personal things’ do

you have to take care of in the good old state of

Texas? Last I heard, you lived in New York.

And why are you calling me so late?”

“Sinjin, if I wanted an interrogation, I

would’ve called Tristan first.”

“No you wouldn’t have. We all know that

our brother can’t keep his hands off of his wife,

so the likelihood of you reaching Tristan at this

hour is about zero to nil.”

“Tell me about it,” Brandon scoffed. His

gaze was drawn to his own woman sleeping

soundly in the bed across the room. “Uh…just

so you know, I’ve changed rooms.”

“Now this is getting mighty interesting.”

“Well I didn’t exactly
change
my room. I

still have the one I originally booked. I thought

it best to get another one though.”

His brother’s voice lost its teasing note.

“What’s going on Brandon? Why all the cloak

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53

and dagger? Are you in some kind of trouble?

You’ve been preoccupied for a while.”

“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s

complicated,” Brandon sighed.

“Un-complicate it. I saw one of the

models approach you at the reception. Did you

hook up with her or one of her friends? I can’t

imagine you going through all this trouble for a

quick lay, so this must be serious. Talk to me.”

“Damn, Sin, I thought Tristan was bad.

No I didn’t hook up with that model. Not

interested. Anyway, as I said before it’s

complicated but I’ll explain everything soon

enough. I just need this weekend to put some

things in order without interruptions. I can

guarantee you that I am not in any kind of

trouble.”

“I’ll take your word for it for now. Did you

remember that we are all expected to be at

Domino’s estate for the after-festivities

tomorrow? Or had you forgotten? You probably

wouldn’t be missed, but I know the bride’s

sister would be.”

Brandon started. “Christ, I did forget. I’ll

be there. Wait! How’d you know about

Dominique?”

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SERENITY KING

Sinjin laughed. “I didn’t. You just told

me. I saw you looking at her during the

reception. I speculated but wasn’t sure. You

just confirmed my suspicions.”

“Shit! Do you think anyone else noticed?”

“You mean other than Dad? I doubt it. I

saw you gazing at her a few times and

wondered. After you didn’t make a move, I

figured you’d just been checking her out. But

seriously, watch yourself, Brandon. You have a

reputation with the ladies and I don’t think

Chad or Xavier would appreciate you messing

around with their sister.”

“I’m not
messing around
with their

sister,” Brandon growled into the receiver.

“Listen, like I said, it’s complicated. I promise

to tell you as much as I can as soon as I can.

And please don’t let on to Dominique that you

know she was with me. I need this time with

her, Sinjin.”

“This is getting more interesting by the

minute. She won’t see or hear a thing from me,

brother, but I want a full report soon. And I

suggest if you don’t want anyone else to know

about your little secret, you stay away from her

tomorrow and keep yourself occupied with

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55

something else. Don’t follow her around

looking like a lovesick puppy.”

“A lovesick…? What the hell is that

supposed to mean? Sinjin!” but his brother had

already disconnected the call.

Damn. He was never going to get quality

time with his wife. Dominique would surely try

to avoid him at the dinner tomorrow. That

gave him less then twenty-four hours with her.

He didn’t care if he missed the whole dang

thing but Dominique not showing up would

raise more than one eyebrow as Sinjin so gently

put it.
Lovesick puppy, indeed!

Brandon quickly returned to the bed

where he’d left Dominique. She must have been

really tired because she hadn’t stirred once. He

gently got in beside her and pulled her back

into his arms; her back to his front.

“Brandon,”

Dominique

whispered

sleepily, wiggling over to face him and

snuggling closer to his body.

Brandon smiled, smoothed her hair away

from her face and placed a kiss on her brow.

“I’m here, love.”

“Love you, too,” she murmured so soft he

barely heard her.

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SERENITY KING

Brandon’s heart raced, his breathing

accelerated, and tears welled up in his eyes.

He’d waited what seemed like forever to hear

her say those three simple words. She loved

him.

Ever since she’d lost the baby, he’d

wondered. When she listlessly suggested she go

home for a while, Brandon had readily agreed.

He hadn’t known how to help her or what to do.

Dominique had been inconsolable. However,

she had still insisted that they not tell anyone of

the marriage or the baby. Dominique had been

twenty-five weeks pregnant—just a few days

shy of twenty-six weeks— six months—when

she’d given birth to an almost still-born girl.

The baby lived for an hour, too tiny to survive

the rigors of the outside world. That was over a

year and a half ago. Felt like a lifetime ago. Felt

like yesterday.

Brandon and Dominique had traveled

each summer for three years, having fun and

enjoying each other’s company. If the truth be

told she’d held a piece of his heart from the

moment they’d run into each other at the Bar

Association banquet they’d both attended. After

the banquet, they’d gone back to his place for

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57

drinks. It was great. They’d laughed and talked

into the wee hours of the morning.

Dominique had stayed over. Not wanting

their time to be over, he’d offered to drive her

to her condo to change clothes, then to

breakfast later that morning. That was the first

time in his life that a woman who wasn’t a

family member had stayed at his place without

having sex with him.

Chad had called him a week later to thank

him for looking out for his sister at the banquet.

He wanted to know if Brandon would continue

to keep an eye on Dominique. The family had

been concerned about her being in New York

alone. That was one of the best days of his life.

Not only had it provided him the chance to be

with Dominique again, it was the beginning of

his and Dominique’s relationship. At the time

they’d called it friendship.

As it grew and changed…well he’d been