Exposed

by Naomi Chase

  “I was going to tell you,”Tamia began desperately. “I was just waiting for the right time—”

  “And when was that?” he challenged, tossing aside the DVD.“Before or after Dre gave you an ultimatum?”

  She floundered, nervously licking her lips, incensed because Dre hadn’t even given her the full week he’d promised. “Well, if you’ve already spoken to your friend, then I assume he told you my reason for doing those movies in the first place. I wasn’t trying to become the next Vanessa del Rio, damn it. I only got into the industry because I needed money for college.” She paused, then couldn’t resist adding snidely, “Not everyone is guaranteed a scholarship to any Ivy League university they want before they’re even old enough to walk.”

  Instantly she knew it had been the wrong thing to say—the wrong approach to use.

  Eyes narrowing behind a veil of smoke, Brandon leaned forward slowly. “I hope you’re not suggesting that I’ve been handed a free ride all my life just because my parents are rich,” he said in a low, controlled voice. “I hope you’re not implying that I haven’t worked my fucking ass off for every scrap of success I’ve ever achieved.”

  “Of course not, baby,”Tamia whispered, shaking from the inside out. “I wasn’t suggesting that at all. I know how hard you work. I know you’ve earned everything you have.”

  He eyed her darkly as he puffed on the cigar.

  She swallowed hard.“I was just trying to explain why I did the videos, why I felt I had no other choice if I wanted to attend college.”

  “I’m not judging you, Tamia. I’ve never judged you.”

  “Well, your parents sure as hell have.”

  “I’m not my parents,” he snapped, mashing his cigar in the ashtray.“And we’re not talking about them. We’re talking about you. See, this is what you do whenever your back is against the wall. You try to flip the script, point the finger of blame at someone else to take the heat off yourself. But it won’t work this time, so you can just forget that shit!”

  Tamia was silent, sweat pooling in her armpits, dampening her blouse.

  Brandon shook his head slowly, staring at her as if he’d never seen her before.“Who are you?”

  The question caught her off-guard. “W-what do you mean?”

  “I don’t know who you are. I thought I did, but clearly I was wrong. You’re a stranger, Tamia. A stranger with one too many secrets.”

  Her heart twisted.“Don’t say that.”

  “Why not? It’s true.” His measured tone masked the seething tension that was radiating from his body. He was working to control his temper, but Tamia knew it was only a matter of time before it would erupt, like a volcano, incinerating everything in its path. Namely her.

  “Those videos were produced over a period of four years,” he continued. “So we’re not talking about a one-time thing here. For all intents and purposes, Tamia, you had a career in porn. But you didn’t think that was something I had a right to know.”

  “After the way your parents just treated me,” she spat,“can you really blame me for keeping Mystique a secret from you? Could you honestly see yourself introducing me as your girl-friend—the former porn star?”

  “We’re not talking about my goddamn parents!” Brandon roared, lunging to his feet so suddenly that she jumped back with a startled squeak. He advanced on her, looking so dark and ferocious she wanted to run for cover.

  “Let me tell you something. This shit right here”—he pointed back and forth between them—“is about us. Not my parents. Not Dre. Not Cynthia. No one else, Tamia. Just us. You and me. And I gotta tell you, sweetheart, right now, you and me ain’t looking too good.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. Her gaze turned pleading.“Bran-don—”

  His face hardened.“How long have you been fucking Dominic Archer?”

  She gasped, eyeing him incredulously.“What …?”

  “You heard me! Last month you sat right there”—he jabbed a finger at the sofa behind them—“and looked me dead in the eye and told me you weren’t sleeping with him.”

  “I’m not!”

  His lips curled into a contemptuous sneer.“You must think I’m a damn fool.”

  “No, I don’t,” she whimpered.

  “Then answer my fucking question! And I want the truth this time!”

  “Yes!” she cried hoarsely.“Yes, I slept with Dominic!”

  Brandon stared at her, his eyes filled with pain and disgust.

  And Tamia knew right then and there that he really hadn’t known. He hadn’t been tapping her cell phone or having her followed. All this time, despite his suspicions, he’d genuinely tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. And she hadn’t deserved it.

  Wracked with guilt and regret, she dropped her gaze to the floor and blinked back tears.

  “How long?” Brandon’s voice held an undercurrent of leashed violence.

  She trembled.“What difference does—”

  “How fucking long?” he thundered.

  “Since last month!” she burst out shrilly.

  He searched her face, eyes narrowed as he mentally calculated the sequence of events.“So the night we ran into him at dinner, when you were acting all jumpy and you got mysteriously sick afterward and had to rush home—”

  “I went to his place.” Tamia swallowed painfully. “That was the night it really started.”

  Brandon glared at her, nostrils flaring, chest heaving as he fought for self-control.

  Taking a cautious step backward, Tamia said urgently,“You have to understand something. This wasn’t an affair that just happened. Believe me, baby, I didn’t want to sleep with Dominic. He blackmailed me into doing it!”

  Brandon’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “He came to my office last month, told me he’d been a fan of mine for years. He threatened to tell you and my coworkers that I used to do porn! What was I supposed to do? I’m up for a promotion—I couldn’t let him ruin everything I’ve worked so hard for! And I was afraid of what you’d think of me if you found out about Mystique.” She gazed at him, begging him to understand.“I couldn’t take a chance on losing you.”

  “So you chose to keep me by fucking another man,” Brandon said sardonically.“Do I have that right?”

  Her face heated with shame at the way he’d phrased it. “Make no mistake about it. I was furious with Dominic. I despised him for intruding into my life and forcing me to make such an impossible choice!”

  “But you enjoyed it,” Brandon said flatly.

  She faltered, staring at him.“Enjoyed what?”

  He smirked.“The sex. You may have started out despising him, but once you fucked him, you enjoyed it. You wanted more, couldn’t get enough. Admit it.”

  She closed her eyes.“Baby—”

  “Admit it!”

  “Yes!” Her voice dropped from a shout to a guilty whisper. “Yes, I enjoyed it. But it didn’t mean anything, Brandon! And once the thrill wore off, the sex really wasn’t all that. Not like what we have.”

  “What we have,” Brandon mocked.

  “Yes! What we have.” She eyed him earnestly.“Believe me when I tell you that the only complaint I’ve ever had about our lovemaking is that we don’t do it more often. But you’ve always rocked my world, Brandon. If you take nothing else away from this conversation, know that!”

  He was silent, processing her words.

  Seeking to further reassure him, Tamia added, “And I’m not sleeping with Dominic anymore. It’s over!”

  “Yeah? Well, so are we.”

  Tamia recoiled, staring at him in stunned horror. “You don’t mean that. Please, baby—”

  “Stop calling me that,” Brandon snarled. “You lost the privilege to call me ‘baby’ when you decided to sneak around behind my back to fuck another man!”

  Tears splashed down her face.“I had no other choice!”

  “Bullshit! You always had a choice! Every day we put on our shoes a
nd walk out the damn door we all have choices! I have the choice to fuck any one of those white women at the office who’re constantly throwing themselves at me, cornering me at the copy machine, ‘innocently’ rubbing their titties against my arm as they brush past me in the hallway. Last year I had the choice to fuck one of the former senior partners who promised to fast-track my partnership if I slept with her. And I have the choice, sweetheart, to fuck my good friend Cynthia any time she’s ready and willing. Do you truly understand how often we’re left alone at the office together? Do you? I’m talking ghost town here. Absolutely no one else around. Not in our offices—hell, sometimes not even in the entire building! Just me and her. So we could fuck all night long, and no one would ever have to know.”

  Tamia eyed him with mounting alarm.

  Brandon laughed caustically, shaking his head at her. “Damn, baby. You look shocked. What—you think your pussy’s so sublime that I never get tempted to stray? Aren’t you the one who’s repeatedly accused me of sleeping with Cynthia? Huh? Yeah, you have. So don’t stand there looking so surprised when I tell you that I get tempted. You’re damn right I do. Especially when you’re so worn out from fucking another dude that you can’t even give me the time of day.”

  He smirked as her face reddened with shame.“Yeah, that’s right. That was definitely one of the clues that your scandalous ass was creepin’. You enjoy a good fuck as much as I do, so if you weren’t having sex with me, you had to be having it with someone else!”

  Tamia sucked in a quick breath and folded her arms across her midsection as a sharp pain shot through her insides, piercing her heart.

  Brandon continued relentlessly, “So, yeah, we all get tempted. But you know the difference between you and me? I don’t act on my feelings because I am—was—committed to this sham of a relationship. Which is more than I can say about you.”

  “How can you believe that?” Tamia demanded, taking a pleading step toward him.“I did what I did because I couldn’t risk losing you, Brandon! I love you!”

  “If you really loved me,” he snarled, eyes flashing with fury, “then you would have come to me and told me the truth about the Mystique videos. You would have trusted me to make the right decision and not hold your past against you. If you truly loved me, Tamia, there’s no way in hell you would have thought it was okay to have sex with another man!”

  “I’m sorry!” she cried tearfully.“I’m so sorry!”

  “Yeah. You should be.”

  She reached for his arm, but he viciously shook her off and stepped back.“Don’t fucking touch me.”

  She flinched, her chin quivering as she held back an anguished sob.

  They stared each other down for several excruciating seconds.

  “I don’t understand something,” Tamia whispered tremu-lously.“If you didn’t know about me and Dominic, why have you been messing up his business deals? I mean, you didn’t know for sure … right?”

  Brandon smiled narrowly.“I suspected.”

  She gaped at him. “So … you cost him a multimillion-dollar contract … based on a hunch?”

  “That’s right. I wanted to rattle his cage, see which one of you would crack first. You know, the old divide-and-conquer strategy.” He sneered.“What’s wrong, sweetheart? You worried that he won’t be able to pamper you, keep you in designer clothes, whisk you away on exotic trips? Don’t worry. I haven’t bankrupted the nigga—yet.”

  Tamia gulped hard at the realization that Dominic had been right. Brandon was vindictive, capable of a ruthlessness she never would have predicted.

  Intercepting her thoughts, he said coldly, “Just remember one thing. I didn’t start this war. Your lover did. And you tell that punk-ass motherfucker that the next time he decides to fuck with me, it won’t be money he’s bleeding. Believe that.”

  Tamia shivered at the ominous threat, even as she was reminded of the ball she’d already set in motion. She had to call Lou, tell him that she’d changed her mind. Before it was too late.

  Brandon glared at her.“As for you, I want you to pack up your shit and get the fuck out of my condo—”

  Tears flooded her eyes.“Brandon, please—”

  “—first thing tomorrow morning. My mother raised a gentleman, so as much as I want you out of my damn sight, I’m not callous enough to toss a woman out on her ass late at night. But I have to get up early. So I want you long gone by the time I leave.”

  Her heart ripped in half.“Please don’t do this, baby. Please!”

  “I didn’t do anything. You did.” His eyes hardened with contempt.“I’m sleeping in the guest room tonight so you can get your stuff out of my closet. Don’t leave anything behind, or it’s going straight into an incinerator”—he pointed from his chest to hers—“just like us.”

  And without another word, he turned his back on her and strode furiously from the room. Moments later a door slammed shut, sending her crumpling to the floor like the house of cards she’d foolishly built.

  Chapter 40

  “Damn, it’s good to be home.” Fiona grinned broadly and shoveled another forkful of syrup-drenched waffle into her mouth.“Umm-mmm! I missed the hell out of this place!”

  Tamia smiled wanly, wishing she could match her sister’s enthusiasm. It’s not that she wasn’t thrilled to have Fiona back home. She was. But ever since Brandon kicked her to the curb on Friday, she hadn’t been in a very celebratory mood.

  It was now Tuesday morning—the day after Fiona had been released from prison. Tamia had taken off from work to spend the day with her sister, which they’d kicked off at the Breakfast Klub. The hip soul food restaurant was best known for its signature dishes—catfish and grits, and wings and waf-fles. The surroundings were simple yet stylish, with the works of local artists showcased on the walls and both smooth jazz and gospel drifting from the stereo. Even at seven-thirty on a weekday morning, the place was packed, every table and booth occupied. It was worse on Saturdays, when the line snaked out the door and wrapped around the small building.

  “I can’t wait to hit the Galleria and do some shopping after this,” Fiona enthused around a mouthful of chicken.

  Tamia stared at her, wondering whether her sister’s incarceration had deprived her not only of freedom, but of basic table manners.

  But a moment later, she felt a pang of guilt when Fiona gave her a winsome smile and said almost shyly, “Thanks for footing the bill for the shopping trip. I really appreciate it.”

  Tamia smiled gently.“You’re welcome, Fee.”

  It was the least she could do, considering that she’d canceled Fiona’s surprise homecoming party at their favorite nightclub. Her life had been in such turmoil over the past eight weeks that she hadn’t had the time or desire to plan any sort of bash—big or small. Good thing she hadn’t invited anyone or hinted to her sister about it.

  Fiona watched as she poked disinterestedly at her food. “Guess I’m the only one who woke up with a big appetite this morning,” she observed.

  Tamia sighed heavily.“Afraid so. I’m just not very hungry.”

  Fiona gave her a knowing look.“Would this have anything to do with Brandon ignoring your calls?”

  Tamia glanced up in surprise. “How do you know about that?”

  Fiona looked sheepish.“I overheard you on the phone last night, leaving him a message to call you back. I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she hastened to add when Tamia’s eyes narrowed.“I was coming to your room to ask you for some tampons. But then I realized you were on the phone, so I left.”

  Tamia was silent, brooding over her coffee. She’d been too devastated and humiliated to tell Fiona what had happened between her and Brandon. But Fiona had been asking when she’d get to meet him, so Tamia would have to break her silence eventually.

  “Why isn’t he returning your phone calls?” Fiona asked cautiously.

  Tamia sighed, setting down her cup. “He broke up with me.”

  Fiona’s jaw dropped.“Whaaat? When?”

&n
bsp; “Friday.” Tears blurred her vision. “He found out everything.”

  “Oh no,” Fiona said sympathetically.

  And then suddenly Tamia was crying and blurting out the whole story, starting from the disastrous dinner party to the devastating showdown with Brandon. Fiona listened compassionately, passing napkins across the table so Tamia could blow her nose and dab her streaming eyes.

  When she’d finished her account, Fiona murmured,“Damn, Tamia. I’m really sorry everything went down like that.”

  “Me, too.”Tamia groaned miserably.“He hates me, Fee. You should have seen the way he looked at me. Like he couldn’t decide whether to strangle me or throw me out with the garbage.”

  “He doesn’t hate you,” Fiona consoled.“He’s just hurt and angry right now. Give him time.”

  Tamia shook her head. “You don’t understand. He’s not going to come around. It’s over. I fucked up my future with the most amazing guy I’ve ever been with, and I have no one but myself to blame.”

  Fiona didn’t argue, which only made Tamia feel worse.

  Disconsolately she stared down at her plate. Her waffles were a soggy, syrupy mess and her chicken wings had grown cold. The story of her life.

  Returning to her own meal, Fiona advised,“You shouldn’t give up so easily.”

  Tamia made a pained face. “I’ve been blowing up his phone every day, pleading with him to take me back. I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘giving up easily.’”

  “Damn, girl.” Fiona grinned ruefully. “Ain’t too proud to beg, huh?”

  “For Brandon? Definitely not.”

  They shared a quiet chuckle.

  After several moments, Tamia reached across the table and squeezed her sister’s hand, something she’d been unable to do for the past two years. When Fiona glanced up from her plate and met her gaze, she smiled warmly.

  “I’m glad you’re back, Fee. Welcome home.”

  “Thanks, Tamia.” Fiona grinned.“It’s good to be home.”

  “Hold the elevator!”

  Brandon stuck his hand between the sliding brass doors, prompting them to reopen as a petite, long-haired woman appeared on the other side.