Through the Fire (8 page)

money—money that, when they married, would

become his.

And let’s face it, marriage didn’t mean

he’d have to give up his other women. Why

would he? His father hadn’t, and his mother

had never said a word about it.

Well, granted, his father’s affairs had

slowed down. Felton knew of only one woman

that his father still carried on with. Still, his

mom didn’t seem to mind, so why should

Dominique? In his opinion all women were the

same.

“I think I’ll go drop a bug in my father’s

ear about my intentions towards Dominique,”

he decided. His father would surely tell Mr.

Shaw. It would help move things along faster.

As for Dominique, if she had a little play-

thing, she would just have to give him up. He

might not be faithful, but no wife of his was

going to sleep around.

“Mrs. Dominique Hobbs. Has a nice ring

to it,” he said to himself. Grabbing his crotch,

he rubbed himself. The thought of being

between Dominique’s thighs on a regular basis

gave him a hard on. He needed to move

quickly.

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He’d put his plan in motion just as soon

as they all got back to Atlanta. Felton smiled

and walked to his car. He’d purposely given

Dominique a head start. She’d arrive at

Longhorn’s house just a little before him.

Anyone watching would get the impression that

they’d been together. Then he’d just hint at a

few things and let the rest fall into place. They’d

think
he
was the cause of her not being around

and being late for this little gathering.

Felton smiled, walked to his car, and,

using the directions he’d received earlier from

Mr. Shaw, drove to Domino Longhorn’s house.

Things were looking up. Yes, indeed.

* * *

Dominique pulled into the massive

circular driveway of Domino’s estate. Parking

her car, she got out and made her way to the

front door. She was met by Domino’s

manservant, Ben.
Manservant my ass
, she

thought. He looked more like a football player.

“Hey, Ben. How are you?” Dominique

asked.

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81

“Fine, Ms. Dominique. How are you? I

haven’t seen you in a while. Everyone’s out

back.”

“I’ve been around. And I’m okay. Thank

you for asking.”

He gestured towards the back of the

house. “You know the way.”

“I sure do. Thank you,” she said and

made her way out back, only to be met by her

cousin, Alisha.

“Well, it’s about time you showed up,”

Alisha smiled.

“You mean Tristan let you out of his sight

long enough for you to notice that I wasn’t here

yet?” Dominique laughed.

“Oh, be quiet. Tristan is not glued to my

hip you know.”

“You sure could have fooled me. If I call,

you can’t talk. If I come by, you two are locked

in the bedroom. I just gave up. I talked to you

more when you were living in New York than I

do now that we live in the same state.”

“Miss me?” Alisha joked.

“Yes, I do. I don’t have anyone to talk

crazy law talk to anymore,” Dominique pouted.

Alisha laughed. “We’ll have lunch soon. I

promise. Besides I need to catch up on what’s

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been going on with you. You’re smiling Domi,

but you don’t look happy at all. Like

something’s bothering you.”

“So cousin, how do you like Georgia?”

Dominique said by way of changing the subject.

“I love it!” Alisha responded. “I’ve always

wanted to move back to the south, but didn’t

think I’d love it as much as I do. I start working

at the office on Monday. I figure it’s time to get

back to doing what I love.”

“Oh wow, Alisha! That’s great news.”

Dominique gave her a quick hug. “Are you sure

you’re up to it? Don’t rush it. You’ve been

through a lot.”

“Yes, Mother, I’m fine. Trust me, my

husband will be there to make sure that I am,”

Alisha laughed. “And don’t think I didn’t notice

you changed the subject, cousin. We are going

to talk for sure. I insist.”

“Speaking of your husband, he’s on his

way over now,” Dominique said, shaking her

head. It was nice to see her cousin so happy.

For a while Dominique hadn’t thought she’d

ever see Alisha smile again. No one other than

her and Trevon had known the extent of

Alisha’s pain when she’d found her former

fiancé in bed with another woman.

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83

Trevon had caught up with Wayne and

kicked his no-good, cheating ass, but Alisha

had still been so unhappy, so different from the

radiant woman before her now. Dominique

was brought out of her reverie by Alisha

greeting Tristan.

“Hey, baby.”

“I was wondering where you’d gotten off

to,” Tristan said, taking Alisha into his arms

and planting a kiss on her lips.

Dominique watched the couple, both

amused by and envious of the by-play. “Oh,

brother,” she said with an exaggerated sigh and

a scrunched-up face. “Stop or get a room.”

Alisha and Tristan, arms still around each

other, both chuckled.

“Stop hating, cousin,” Alisha said sweetly.

“Whatever.”

“How are you, Dominique?” Tristan

asked, releasing Alisha and giving Dominique a

hug.

“Apparently, not as good as you two are,

but good all the same. How are you

bro…Tristan?” she corrected herself.

God, she’d almost said
brother-in-law
.

What was the matter with her today? Before

she could ponder any further, they were joined

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by her cousins, Darion, Trevon and Darius. Her

brother Chad was not far behind. She had no

clue as to Xavier’s whereabouts.

“Hello cousins,” Dominique said with a

smile. Her cousins were so handsome.

Especially Darius, and he knew it, too.

They all greeted her with a hug.

Dominique looked over at her brother.

“Chad, have you seen Xavier?” Dominique

asked.

“He was here earlier and said he had

something to do. He’s flying out tonight instead

of tomorrow, you know. He said he’d checked

your room and tried reaching you on your cell

but got no response. We were about to send out

a search party for you until Mom informed us

that you’d called her. Xavier plans on giving

you an earful when he finds you. So be

prepared,” Chad said, wiggling his eyebrows in

warning.

“I am not Xavier’s child. Why he thinks I

answer to him, I have no idea.” Dominique

shook her head then quickly snapped to

attention. “Oh, Lord.”

“What?” Chad, Alisha, Tristan, and

Darius said simultaneously, looking around for

the cause of Dominique’s distress.

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85

“That fool is coming over here,” she

responded, indicating the fast-approaching

Felton Hobbs with an angry wave of her hand.

“Isn’t that the guy from the reception last

night?” Tristan asked with a scowl.

“Yes.”

“Who is he?” Tristan wanted to know.

“A pain in my as…rear end,” she

murmured, rubbing her temples. A headache

was building there.

“I’ll handle him,” Chad said.

“Chad, don’t do anything stupid,”

Dominique warned. A fight would not help her

headache or the problems they’d have with

their father.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head off,

sis. I got this,” Chad responded. Felton walked

up on them, coming to stand by Dominique.

“Hello, all,” Felton said, then turned to

Dominique. “I see you made it here safely. We

could have driven together. After I left you, I

went to get changed, and when I came back,

you were gone.”

Dominique heard the collective intake of

breath. She could understand why. The son of a

bitch was making it sound like they’d spent the

night together.
As if
. “Excuse me?” she

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snapped, enough fire in her voice to discourage

most men.

But Felton was not most men. “Oh,” he

said innocently, looking at each of them. “I’m

so sorry. I didn’t know it was supposed to be a

secret.”

“And why would my sister have cause to

let everyone know whether or not she’d spent

time with you?” Chad asked in a deadly voice.

“I would think that would be a private matter.

Wouldn’t you?”

Dominique noticed a small, but decidedly

real, tremor in Felton’s hands at the dangerous

tone of Chad’s voice. Maybe he wasn’t so stupid

after all.

If she weren’t so pissed, she might

actually feel sorry for Felton. No, she’d still

want to kick him between his legs. Hard.

“Trust me, there’s nothing between the

two of us.” Dominique would have said more

but then she would’ve had to reveal that she’d

been with Brandon.

Brandon! Thank goodness he wasn’t here

yet.

Felton, meanwhile, was struggling to

recover. “Yes, of course, you’re right. I meant

no disrespect. I…uh…I think I’ll go say hello to

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87

your father, Dominique,” he said, and walked

away quickly. If he’d had a tail to put between

his legs, the resemblance to a whipped puppy

would have been complete.

“Yeah, you do that. It might just save your

life. Dominique, please tell me you didn’t get

drunk enough to sleep with that fool,” Chad

whispered.

“There isn’t enough liquor in the world to

make me sleep with that degenerate, Chad. I

have no idea what he’s talking about.”

Dominique saw Chad’s look of disbelief.

“I’m serious,” she insisted. “He’s crazy. It’s

Daddy’s dream that we’ll get together. Frankly I

don’t want anything to do with the man and

until now he’s never indicated that he’s wanted

anything to do with me. His escapades are well

known.”

“So you’re saying that he made that whole

scene up?” Chad asked doubtfully.

“Most of it, yes. He came to my room

because Daddy thought I’d ride over with him. I

told him his services wouldn’t be needed and he

left.” Dominique didn’t elaborate on the part

where he found her sneaking into her room

wearing the same clothes she’d had on the

night before. She also left out the part about

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Felton grabbing her wrist. The last thing she

needed was for Chad to go to jail for killing the

creep. Besides, she could handle Felton if need

be.

“You want me to have a talk with Dad

before I have a talk with Felton?”

“No! I’ll handle both Dad and Felton

when I get back home. Just let it go.”

“You’ll handle who when you get back

home?” a familiar voice behind her asked. It

was a voice that made her body tingle all over.

Okay Dominique. You can do this.

Compose yourself. Goodness, could this day

get any worse?
Dominique turned slowly to

face Brandon. She cleared her throat and said,

“Um…my father. I have to set my father

straight on a few things.”

“Really, it must be serious then,” Brandon

said eyeing Dominique cautiously.

The atmosphere grew tense around her.

Before she could react, her cousin Alisha

stepped forward. “Hi Brandon,” Alisha said.

“Hi Alisha, I see my brother finally let you

up for air,” he said, grinning from ear to ear as

he gave Alisha a bear hug.

“Hey, let go! Go get your own wife,”

Tristan yelled as the other party-goers laughed.

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89

Dominique’s entire body stiffened. She

gave Brandon a sideways glance to see how he’d

react.

Calm and collected, completely unfazed.

Brandon laughed good-naturedly as he greeted

her cousins, Alisha’s brothers. She let out the

breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been

holding.

“Wasn’t that the guy you had words with

last night, Chad?” Brandon asked, gesturing

towards Felton. He came over to stand close

beside Dominique. His physical closeness was