Devesh put his fist out for a pound and Jay obliged by tapping his fist to Devesh’s.
“I’d like for you to come to my family’s house for dinner while you’re here,” Devesh suggested.
“I’m going to pass,” Jay said, stretching his long limbs. “I hear how some of them have been treating my Mama and the twins. Trust me, you don’t want me to be around when they come at her sideways. She has to hold her tongue to keep the peace.” Jay regarded Devesh intensely. “I don’t have to. They come for my Mama and I’m going to set them straight. Real straight. Y’all don’t want none of this.”
“Fair enough,” Devesh replied, studying Jay’s face. “So when are you going to finalize that move to California?”
“You don’t give up, do you,” Jay replied, chuckling. “I’ve thought about leaving Chicago ever since I lived in Nashville and South Carolina when I was in school, but I didn’t have the funds to relocate. But I do miss mom and the munchkins, though.” Then he grinned. “Oh, and you too.”
“Of course,” Devesh said, returning his smile. “If you think about it, there’s something to be gained by having you move here. Every time there’s a shooting in Chicago she sends you a text.”
Jay settled the empty shot glass on the patio table. “She doesn’t ask me about anything like that.”
“No, but she’s actually checking on you, making sure you’re still alive. I’m the one watching her freak out. I’d like to make sure you’re safe—here in California.”
Jay thought that over for a moment. “You want to know what’s interesting?”
Devesh quirked a curious brow.
“Before I went to Fisk, we were living in Princeton Park, and the gunshots were nonstop at night. We would sleep on the floor to avoid getting hit.” Jay sighed and took a sip, squinting up into the sunlight. “I found us a spot in South Shore, a more upscale area. And you know what happened?”
Devesh shook his head.
“I got robbed at gunpoint twice, in an area that supposedly had less crime than the place we’d left.” Jay put his focus to Devesh. “Safety isn’t promised anywhere. I learned that the hard way. At least both times I walked away with my life.”
Devesh let that bit of wisdom settle for a moment. “You have a point,” he said, crossing one jeans-clad leg over the other. “But I’m thinking of easing your mother’s mind. One condo hasn’t been leased yet. As I said, it’s yours if you want it. Rent-free for an entire year so you can get settled. She needs you, and I know the children miss you as well.”
“I wouldn’t be hearing or seeing you and mom getting your freak on, would I?” Jay asked, his expression sour.
Devesh laughed. Jay actually had no worries on that score, because Reign still hadn’t made a move to get physical, much to Devesh’s chagrin. But he wouldn’t share that with her son. Let him believe they were a complete couple. “That won’t be a problem. It’s on the first floor. There are children in the house.”
“Hey, children have ears.”
Devesh roared with laughter. “You know, I have a whole slew of people waiting to get to you. They’ve been impressed by the work you’ve done for me.”
“Word?”
Devesh slid down in his chair, proud of all the recent accomplishments that stemmed from Reign’s belief in both of them. “So I guess I can’t keep my secret weapon all to myself.”
“That’s what’s up,” Jay said with a brisk nod. “You do know that you were supposed to ask me first before asking her to marry you?”
“I did, five years ago,” Devesh protested.
“That permission expired after a year.”
“Seriously? That’s what you’re rolling with right now?”
Jay laughed and polished the last of his shot of the cinnamon whiskey, peering at a man who was more friend than anything. “Did you just say—”
“I guess you’re growing on me.”
Devesh grinned. “Ditto.”
“Does the age thing bother you?”
“Well, Elise is older than me,” Jay hedged with a grin.
“By a year,” Devesh shot back. “Seriously?”
And to answer your question. Yeah, a little,” Jay confessed. “Can’t very well call you dad if we’re going to be stroking thirty-two at the same time.” He shrugged, and Devesh grinned. “As long as she’s happy and you’re taking care of her.” Jay stood, stretched out the kinks in his neck before reclaiming his seat again. “But I’m going to warn you of two things. First, my mother has no filter.”
“Oh, really? Do tell,” Devesh teased, causing Jay to give a megawatt smile.
“Black women have to be strong because they have no choice. They catch it from all sides. Mom’s a little tired of that, so her filter’s off.”
“And the second thing?” Devesh asked.
“Her temper has hit a point that I’ve had to keep track of her menstrual cycles. Word to the wise?”
Devesh nodded and poured them both another shot.
“You’d better too,” he warned. “Things that she’ll let fly on other days will damn near get your head taken off during that time.” He waggled a finger at Devesh. “Trust me; you want to have peace, you’d better be aware of when those hormones are about to spike, or you’ll be taking stuff personally for a while.” Jay tilted his head at Devesh. “Ask me how I know.”
Devesh held up his glass and said, “Good looking out.”
Chapter 17
Devesh tipped into the spa room in the condo, one of the fully finished areas of the place. He put a finger to his lips to keep the spa team quiet as he slid onto the massage bench beside Reign’s. She was so into the hot stone massage the buxom red-haired woman was giving her that she wasn’t aware that he had come home early from a fashion photo shoot, simply to surprise her.
Minutes later, Reign moaned, then her head turned to the left. She opened her eyes and squarely focused on … Devesh.
She inhaled sharply, scrambled off the massage bench and almost slipped onto the marble tiles. She yanked the sheet from the bench and struggled to wrap it around her body.
“You! You can’t be in here.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m naked,” she cried, pulling the sheet up to her neck.
“So am I, under this towel,” he said, amused at her modesty. “And you’re my wife. I’ve seen it all before.”
Reign shook her head vehemently. “Not … not like this.”
Devesh stared at her for a moment and all humor left. He didn’t take his eyes off Reign as he sat up and said to the spa team, “Can we have the room for a moment?”
The three women soundlessly left the area sharing curious glances between them. He waited until the door closed before he said, “Honey, we need to talk about this.”
“It was dark that night,” she said. “You didn’t see me in the raw and—”
“I am your husband.”
“Yes, for the next eight years,” she stated simply.
Devesh tamped down on his anger.
“Do you realize how much it pains me when you remind me that this marriage is only temporary?” Devesh whispered, moving toward her. “You never consider that I might want to be with you far longer than that.”
Reign found a pointed interest in her bright pink pedicured toes. She inched back, keeping some distance between them.
He halted for a moment.
“Why would you?” she asked. “You only married me because of the children.”
“I married you because I love you,” he shot back.
“That’s not what you said,” she countered. “It was an ultimatum, a thinly veiled one, but one all the same.”
Devesh closed his eyes, inhaled and let it out slowly. “I never meant it that way. Never meant for you to feel forced to marry me. If I had known—”
“If you had known what?” she challenged, her green eyes flashing fire. “That I married you because I feared losing my children? What difference would that hav
e made?”
She only married him because she felt cornered? There wasn’t some small part of her that married him because she loved him, too?
Reign was so filled with emotion that her trembling hands let the sheet slip down. She quickly yanked it back in place, scowling at him.
“I’ll speak with an attorney tomorrow,” Devesh said, snatching up the clothes he’d draped over the chaise on the way in. “You will have your freedom as soon as the courts allow.”
Devesh wrapped the towel tighter around his naked body, tucked his clothes under his arm, and stormed from the room.
The absence of him was so profound it felt as though everything was about to collapse and take Reign along for the ride.
You will have your freedom as soon as the courts allow.
Those words had knocked the wind out of her.
Devesh said he loved her. He loved her. That’s why he married her. Why was it so hard to believe?
She pulled on the robe hanging on the back of the closet door and went to the living room, aiming to ask the team to come back another time.
“What’s wrong?” Shannan, the tallest of the team asked, her face a mask of concern.
“I think I messed up,” Reign confessed, dropping down on the nearest chair.
Royce, the more petite woman on the team, uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “You were that way with us at first,” she said, and the others nodded. “You didn’t want us to see you in the raw. Even though we’ve got the same thing you’ve got.”
“Maybe a little less of it,” Reign admitted, causing the others to laugh.
“But over time, you got used to it,” the loc-wearing nail technician said. “Go to him. There aren’t too many men who accept a woman for who she is—all of who she is. And it’s so obvious that he loves you. Let him.”
“How?” She looked toward the door expecting to see him walk in at any moment and say goodbye for good.
“First by showing him you trust him.”
“We are the second step,” Royce said, shooing Reign in the direction of threshold and toward the bedroom. “By letting him have this spa time with you will show a lot.”
“You go in there and handle that first one,” the manicurist said. “We’ll be waiting.”
Reign trudged past the twins’ room, all of the contractor’s tools stretched out against the wall, then toward the master bedroom. Devesh took his focus from the overnight bag he had on the bed. He paused, waiting for her to speak.
“I apologize for hurting you,” she said, perching on the edge of the bed. “I apologize for not trusting you. For not believing you.”
Devesh released the shirt he held and rounded the bed until he was in front of her. “Honey, I already know what your body looks like. You’re the only one who has issues with it—well, you and the idiot who said such ugly, untrue things. You let his issues become your issues. And that’s not fair to you or to me. He still has a hold on you, and I can’t fight that. Unless you let me.”
She looked at the carpeting, twisting her hands and barely speaking above a whisper when she said, “You’re a handsome man. He was too. I learned that pretty boys choose the plain girls because it makes them look better. And the girls are supposed to be so grateful that the cute, popular guy is with them that they’ll do anything for them.”
Devesh threw his hands up in surrender. “Seriously? How messed up is it in your world?”
“Don’t make like it’s just Americans who do that,” she countered. “Even with your culture’s arranged marriages, don’t think that the men aren’t hoping to roll the dice and at least get someone who isn’t damn unpleasant to look at.”
He placed his hands on her arms and guided her from the bed and into his arms. “Let me in, honey. Let me in. Let me love you in my way.” Devesh lowered his voice as he said, “You know what love is. I see it when you look at Jay. I see it when you look at Kamran and Leena. I see it when you look at me, but I also see the pain in your eyes, honey. As if a veil of fear covers it. That makes me sad.”
Devesh placed his forehead on hers, then pressed a kiss to her skin.
“That man stole something from you. He took your ability to trust someone with your heart. Because of what he did, true love that actually belongs to you is within your reach, and you’re turning it away at every chance.” Devesh held her close. “I miss my friend. I don’t know who this woman is who fights me on everything—as if I’m the enemy. I miss my friend, Reign. You were that before you were anything else. Please let my friend out of here”—he touched a finger to her temple—“So my wife can love me the way I know she wants to love.”
Devesh stepped away, extended his hand to her. “Will you try to take a step toward accepting my love instead of running from it?”
She lowered her eyes to his hand. “I’ll try.”
“That’s all I ask,” he said, tucking the edges of her robe securely so they’d stay in place. “I’m not trying to check up under the hood. I’m just trying to play with the toys on the dashboard.”
Reign trembled as he ran his hand along the smooth skin of her thighs.
“You know what?”
She shook her head.
“I can’t wait for the day you get to that ‘I don’t give a damn’ place in your life,” he confessed. “Then you’ll walk around the house butt naked in high heels, making a few unladylike noises.”
“I would not do that,” she said, eyes widening with shock as he grinned.
“What I’m saying is that I’m the one person you should be able to keep it real with.”
He moved so only a few inches were between them. “I missed your voice, how soothing and sexy it sounded. How husky and sensual it became when I said something a little wicked, and you responded.” Devesh threaded his hands in her hair. “I missed you, honey, and I don’t care how God brought you back into my life, I am grateful for every day I get to be with you.”
“Don’t make me cry. I’m not wearing the good mascara today.” She closed her eyes to hold back the tears, then felt him place soft kisses along the trail left by the one teardrop that escaped. She nodded toward the living room. “They’re still out there waiting for us to finish.”
“You’re afraid?” he asked.
She nodded and shrugged.
“Let’s take it a little at a time, alright? There was a time I didn’t make a move without talking with you first, weighing my options, getting your advice,” he said, stroking a soothing hand across her cheek. “I’m asking for that same trust. Talk to me about what you feel. We’re not enemies. We are a team. A power packed house.”
“You mean a powerhouse?
“You know what I’m trying to say,” he countered.
She smiled a little.
“We know how to get things done on a business level,” he continued. “We’re slipping on a personal level, but that doesn’t have to be the case. I love it that people are insecure about us, maybe a little jealous. Let that be their problem, not ours. Alright?”
The look she gave him was so filled with longing for him; the need to believe that what he was offering was real. He wanted to lay her on the bed and have his way with her; show her how much he wanted only her.
“Alright,” she whispered.
“I’ll have them teach me how to give you a massage, and then it won’t feel so strange for me to have my hands on your body—again.”
Reign looked up at him, trying to gauge his sincerity level.
“It’s going to be alright, honey. Trust me.”
She followed him from the bedroom, and the moment they stepped into the living room where the team awaited, the three women broke into wide smiles and applause.
Chapter 18
The evening of July 4th, Devesh sailed through the front door of the Maharaj place with a bottle of Stella Rosa, Reign’s favorite Moscato d’asti. Reign saw it for what it was—a peace offering. She had become miffed with him because of an earlier conversation at the condo.
She was seeking out a dojo—a karate school—for the children to continue their martial arts training.
“Sweet Jesus,” he had said, dragging a hand down his face. “Can they just be little children for a while longer?”
“It’s good for them. They love it. They should know how to protect themselves.”
“We will protect them, honey,” he had countered, leaning on the granite counter. “Let’s give them some time to acclimate to things here. Then we’ll revisit this karate thing.”
She fumed.
“I’m not taking you to task for your parenting skills,” he said. “I mean, Jay made it out alive.”
Her eyes widened to the size of platters, and he could swear she was ready to go upside his head.
“Alright,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender. “Bad joke. His words not mine, though.”
Now as he wound his way through the parlor, living room, family room, and into the den, a blur of reddish-blond hair sailed through the air and landed in his arms.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Amy said, pinning him with an embrace so tight it was almost hard to breathe.
Tiya rounded the corner and paused at the threshold, quickly beckoning for the family to come and witness what she thought would be a happy reunion—one that would hurt her brother’s wife.
Reign hung back, watching while Kamran placed his hands in hers, frowning at the scene before them.
Leena evaded Reign’s reach, brushed past everyone and ran straight to her father.
Devesh extracted himself from Amy’s spider-like grasp and took several steps back. “I’m going to need you to keep your hands to yourself,” he said firmly. “Do not insult my wife by doing this. You are Tiya’s guest here, not mine. You can’t do what you just did again. I will not stand for it.”
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