by S. K. Hardy
“Lorenzo, no, I’m fine. Darrell and I…we…well, we were just…”
But the rest of her explanation became lodged in her throat when Darrell deliberately swiveled his head around and leveled an intense, fevered stare down at her. Although his features remained smooth and his face expressionless, the silent message he sent Jerra left no room for doubt that he didn’t want or need her to explain a thing to anyone.
Folding her arms, she glared back at him in defiance while struggling to bite her tongue. If she responded the way she wanted to, it would only fan the flames of anger she saw building in his eyes and provoke him to really act a fool in a way only Darrell Jamar Monroe could. Jerra’s throat worked convulsively as she swallowed. However much it aggravated her to do so, it was best to remain silent to stop the situation from escalating.
Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, Darrell turned back to Lorenzo. “I asked you a question. What would make you think my wife wasn’t okay with me?”
“I heard the two of you arguing, heard her telling you to let her go more than once.” Lorenzo squinted, brandishing his frigid glare like a loaded weapon that was cocked, aimed, and ready to fire. “As I said, I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
Tilting his head, Darrell stood so still he looked as if he’d been sculpted out of clay. “In other words, you thought I was hurting her. Is that what you sayin’?”
He waited on Lorenzo’s reply, but of course he already knew the answer. Darrell’s entire body grew tense. He still wasn’t sure of the exact nature of Jerra’s past relationship with Lorenzo, but his imagination was fuckin’ with him hard. Images of Lorenzo touching his wife intimately and bringing her to heights of ecstasy were only some of the pictures that flashed through his mind. Just the possibility of the man he’d discovered was his brother having slept with his wife–even if it was before he knew her–drove him positively insane.
Darrell wasn’t gon’ lie, he really wanted to fuck Lorenzo up…and this gave him the perfect excuse. His muscles hardened into a bundle of tight knots, but he was already in enough trouble with Jerra, so he did his best to keep ahold of his temper.
Still, he couldn’t help deliberately letting his chilly gaze inch over Lorenzo and size him up. Snorting at what he saw, Darrell’s eyes locked with his brother, making sure he had his full attention. He didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding about what he was getting ready to say.
“Let’s get something straight. Don’t worry about Jerra, she’s good. I take care of what’s mine. Jerra Monroe is at the top of that list. Anything, and I do mean anything, having to do with her needs, best believe that ain’t your concern.” His eyes grew colder, reflecting the horrific storm brewing inside him that was ready to unleash havoc on anything in its path–mainly Lorenzo. “You don’t wanna play this game with me because I promise you, you won’t win.”
Lorenzo wasted no time picking up the gauntlet Darrell threw at his feet. “You got me fucked up if you think I’m scared of you, bruh. Say the word, we can make this happen right now.”
Heart thumping in her chest, Jerra rushed around to stand in front of Darrell and look up at him. A sense of dread squeezed her lungs like a tight fist when she saw his face. She clutched his bulging bicep with both hands and tugged, trying to get his attention off Lorenzo and focused on her.
“Darrell, please don’t. I’m asking you to stop this. I’m asking both of you to stop.” She paused and sent a furious glare over her shoulder at Lorenzo. “You’re acting like boys on a playground instead of two grown, intelligent men. I won’t have you fighting in my house and upsetting your mother even more than what you’ve already done.”
Darrell’s hands went to her waist to move her out of the way, but she bunched the material of his t-shirt in her hands and held on.
“Look at me. Please,” she added in a voice tinged in desperation.
His jaw ticking furiously, Darrell reluctantly dragged his attention away from Lorenzo and did as she asked.
Jerra released a sigh of relief. “You’re right, there has been enough fighting for one day. Can you just calm down and get back to the matter at hand, which is resuming the conversation with Lorenzo and your mother? Please?”
Darrell stared at her for a long moment before answering. “And afterwards, we’ll talk?”
Jerra’s lips parted to answer, but nothing came out. Her heart sank when Darrell’s eyes narrowed at her lack of response to her question. A sudden series of short, muted buzzes indicating he’d just received a text interrupted his next words.
Jerra latched on to the interruption with both hands. “I don’t have my cell with me, can you make sure that’s not about D.J.?”
Darrell’s lips pressed together. The look on his face told her he knew she was using that as an excuse, but he pulled his phone out and glanced down at the message on the screen.
“What tha’ fuck?” he murmured to himself.
Lorenzo’s cell buzzed seconds later. Darrell glanced up from his phone and found Lorenzo watching him. “You might want to read that,” he told him in a gruff voice.
For a moment, Lorenzo didn’t move. Confused, his eyes went to the phone in Darrell’s hand. Retrieving his own out of his pocket, he put in the passcode and scanned the text. His expression mirrored Darrell’s when he glanced up.
“Looks like we’ve been summoned.”
Darrell’s face twisted up in resignation. “Yeah. I should’ve known.”
Now Jerra was the one confused. She stared up at Darrell. “What is it?”
Darrell answered her with one name. “Angel.”
“Angel?” Jerra’s puzzled glance went from Lorenzo to Darrell. “I…I don’t understand. He sent a text to both of you?”
Darrell stared at the message again before giving the phone to Jerra to read it:
On my way home. I expect to see you both shortly.
Giving the phone back to Darrell, Jerra looked at Lorenzo. “You got the same message?”
When he answered that he had, Darrell snorted in disbelief. “Of course. You know Angel.”
Lorenzo nodded. “He’s been an…acquaintance of my family’s for years.”
Still squinting, Darrell turned his head as if working something out that was just starting to make sense. “Lucas and Hawk Pattel. They helped Angel and Dom with Melania Cruz.”
Lorenzo hesitated. Always cautious when it came to his family and their business, he remained vague. “Lucas and Hawk are my cousins. How do you know Dominick?”
“He’s one of my best friends.”
Both men grew quiet, each waiting on the other to offer more detail. Finally Darrell conceded. “I take it you’re aware of everything that went down with Dominick’s kidnapping?”
“Yeah,” Lorenzo answered slowly. “Not many people escape the clutches of Melania Cruz. I’m glad he’s okay. The outcome could’ve easily been just the opposite. I would say your friend is a very lucky man, but quite honestly, luck had very little to do with it. There was no way Angel was going to let anything happen to his brother.”
Darrell shook his head, slightly disgusted. “So Angel knew all this time. He knew who my father was and never told me. Dammit!” Darrell’s gaze flitted around the room as if looking for something to take his anger out on. “What is it with him that always makes him want to play God with the lives of the people around him?”
“You can’t be sure Angel knew that you and Renzo were brothers,” Jerra offered.
“He knew,” Lorenzo muttered quietly.
A delicate scowl formed a frown on Jerra’s forehead. “How do you know that?”
Both men unknowingly wore identical expressions of disbelief when they looked to Jerra.
“Other than the fact that Angelo LaCroix makes it his business to know everything about the people closest to him, my father admitted it as well,” Lorenzo said in a grim tone. “Apparently the two of them had words a couple of nights ago. Somehow, Angel found out Darrell had been calling
around asking about the Pattels. He probably guessed you’d discovered who your father was.”
Darrell’s expression turned fierce. “So he called Isaac Pattel to warn him?”
“He was warning him, but not in the way you think. Angel called my father to let him know you and your family were under his protection.”
Lorenzo’s words marinated for a few moments before their meaning sank in.
“Why?” Jerra asked sharply. “Did Isaac threaten Darrell in some way?”
Lorenzo paused before answering. “Not in so many words. Let’s just say Angel apparently knows Darrell very well. I think he was trying to stop the situation from spinning out of control.” His eyes bore into Darrell’s. “He wanted it understood that no harm was to come to you or yours.”
Tina had been quietly listening up to this point, but once she heard Lorenzo’s explanation, she stared hard at Darrell and whispered fiercely, “Now do you see what I was saying? Not only is Isaac Pattel dangerous, he’s evil. Believe me, he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you–or worse– if it came to that. That’s why Angel gave him the warning.”
“I don’t need Angel to fight my battles.”
Tina’s eyes flashed with frustration. “Darrell…”
Lorenzo ran a hand over his brow. “Look, uh, I think we need to get this business with Angel out of the way. I’m gonna head over there and see what he wants to talk about.”
“How long will you be in town?” Jerra asked.
“One or two more days. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been out of the country on business for the last couple of weeks, so there’s a lot I need to catch up on back in New York.” He looked at Tina, choosing his words carefully. “I’m sorry if you thought I was…attacking you. That wasn’t my intention. Everyone had a hand in what happened back then…including my mother,” he added. “If it’s okay with Darrell and Jerra, I’d like to stop by tomorrow so we can finish talking.”
“Of course you can come by.” Jerra felt the intensity of Darrell’s eyes on her, but she refused to look at him.
Tina’s eyes ran over Lorenzo’s face as if committing it to memory. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you deciding to meet me in spite of Isaac. I realize none of this is easy for you either, finding out the woman who raised you wasn’t your real mother, and then the circumstances of your father’s and my past. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
Lorenzo nodded then sent Jerra a half-grin. “It was good seeing you again after all these years.”
She gave him a small smile and nodded. “You too, Ren.”
Lorenzo’s smile faded when he turned to Darrell. “I have a rental outside. Did you want to ride over together or…?”
Darrell glanced at Jerra. “Nah. I have to take care of something here first. I’ll leave in a minute.”
Tina told Lorenzo she would walk him to the door. Once they were alone, Jerra sensed Darrell readying to pick up where they’d left off. “Please don’t. I’ve had enough for one night.”
Darrell was prepared to ignore her protests until he caught a glimpse of an emotion in her eyes that brought him up short. She looked like a cornered animal desperately trying to find a way out. That wasn’t something he ever wanted her to feel with him.
From the moment he met Jerra, he’d experienced a pull that went deeper than physical attraction. She’d presented a cool exterior to him and the rest of the world, but it hadn’t taken him long to see beneath that. Once he dug below the surface he’d witnessed first hand the damage she carried around. Darrell had recognized it because he’d been just as damaged himself. Still was in a way, but not with Jerra. She made him feel like King fuckin’ Kong, able to take on the world and crush everything it threw his way. The two of them were good together, and after the upheaval their marriage survived last time, he had promised both her and himself that he would never be responsible for making her feel that way again. The fact that he hadn’t kept that promise was like a knife lodged in his heart.
Looking at her now, he took a couple of steps back to give her some space. The immediate sigh of relief she gave shoved the knife in a few inches deeper. Instinctively, he knew this was not the time to push her.
“Alright. I’m leaving, okay? I, ah, I’ll be at Angel’s then…I don’t know, I’ll crash somewhere tonight.”
Darrell glanced around the room, shaking his head and hoping he didn’t appear as shell-shocked as he felt. The pain gnawing away at him was worse than any physical injury he’d ever endured. He felt stunned and…scared. For the first time in his marriage the possibility of losing his wife was undeniably real.
Darrell stared at her, his grey eyes silently begging her to look at him, to give him some indication that she was willing to work with him to get through this, but she kept her attention fixed on a spot just over his right shoulder.
The helplessness he felt at the moment was foreign to him. He didn’t know what to do. Everything in him urged him to take control and fix this now, but somehow he resisted.
“If you need me for anything, you can call my cell and–”
“I’ll be fine.” Jerra’s words cut him off like a sharp blade. Clean and precise. “Just…go.”
Looking for the world as if he’d rather take a bullet than do as she asked, it took Darrell a moment to get his feet to move. Once outside, he slid his shades on and climbed into his beloved Ferrari, but for the first time that he could remember, his Italian beast failed to give him the burst of pleasure he usually got while driving it. All he could think about was the mess he’d made of his marriage and how to fix it. If he could fix it.
Nah, ain’t no ‘ifs’ about it Monroe, he told himself as he backed out of the driveway and sped off with a loud screech of tires. He would give Jerra the time she needed, but they would work this out no matter what they had to do to make it happen. The alternative was unacceptable.
CHAPTER 6
Almost forty-five minutes later, Darrell pulled up into Angel’s circular driveway and parked his car. He looked around as he walked to the front door, thinking about all of the security he’d had to go through before getting there.
As with Darrell’s own gated community, it had strictly controlled entrances staffed by private security guards. Angel’s property was the largest, and certainly the grandest, of all the luxury estates and villas there. As he waited for someone to open the door, Darrell glanced around at the men discreetly patrolling the grounds. Before anyone even entered through the security gate in front of his home, verification was again checked, and visual identification made. No one got through who wasn’t authorized to be there.
Hearing the door open, Darrell turned and nodded to Jonathon, Angel’s butler, and followed him inside.
“Mr. LaCroix is waiting for you in the library, Mr. Monroe,” Jonathon announced. “This way, please.”
Darrell followed him down the large hallway that served as the main avenue of traffic. They passed a small sitting room to the right and continued down the corridor until they came to a closed door. Darrell nodded to Jonathon then entered the room without knocking.
Decidedly masculine, the informal office was sophisticated, classy, and elegant. The walls were painted a rich tan and adorned with rare and expensive paintings. Crème colored draperies covered several tall windows. Part of the room was separated by a sitting area which was situated around a huge, stone fireplace. The mantel was made out of birch wood and carved with ornamental keystone designs. Every inch of the room reflected Angel’s impeccable and unique style.
“Hello, Darrell.”
Hearing Angel’s voice, Darrell turned his head and saw him sitting behind a huge custom made mahogany desk smoking a cigar. “Hey, Angel. What’s up?”
Angel blew out a steady stream of smoke then set the cigar in the ashtray beside him. Standing, he came around the desk, regarding Darrell through narrowed eyes before a ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Glad you made it.”
Darrell glanced at Lorenzo, who sat in one
of the deep burgundy colored chairs in front of Angel’s desk. A wry expression crossed Darrell’s face as he shook Angel’s hand then leaned in for a brief hug. “You make it sound as if I had a choice to refuse the ‘invitation’.”
“Of course you had a choice. Everyone has a choice in life, don’t they?” Amusement threaded its way through Angel’s laugh as he went to the bar and poured Darrell a drink. Handing it to him, he then picked up the crystal whiskey decanter and refreshed Lorenzo’s glass then his own.
Angel raised his glass to Darrell and Lorenzo. “Salute.”
The two men returned the gesture, but whereas Lorenzo and Angel only took a swallow of their drink, Darrell threw the liquor back and emptied the glass. Raising a brow, Angel wordlessly poured him another before resuming his seat. He nodded for Darrell to do the same in the chair beside Lorenzo, but Darrell abruptly shook his head.
“I’ll stand.”
“How’s Jerra?” Angel asked, bringing the glass up to his lips.
The way he asked the question made Darrell’s gaze sharpen, but Angel’s face remained closed, giving nothing away. “Jerra’s fine.”
“And Darrell Jr.?”
“He’s good, spending the night with a friend of his.”
A genuine smile relaxed Angel’s features somewhat. “We’ll have to get him and A.J. together soon now that things are on their way to getting back to normal around here.”
Of course Angel was talking about the incident that just occurred with Melania. Visible concern clouded Darrell’s face as he momentarily forgot about his own problems. “How’s Dom? I only talked to him for a brief minute after he got back. I’ll stop in and holla at him before I leave.”
“Actually, he and Keisha went home a couple of hours ago.”
Darrell paused in the act of bringing his glass to his lips. He and Marcus had been giving Dom some time to rest and heal from his ordeal before they came to see him. They’d taken it for granted that he and Keisha and the kids would stay at Angel’s compound for a while.
