Allegra's Shadow

by Dana Sanders Hill

  Cupping her chin, he searched her upturned face, his eyes blazing amber fire. “I was raised not to get caught up on looks, and I’ve never been one for cliques. So yes, I would’ve talked to you, even asked you out.”

  His vehemence was genuine, and Mariah regretted her jibe. She hadn’t known him long, but he wasn’t superficial. Her lips twitched. “I’m sorry.”

  Hearing the sincerity in her voice, Anthony’s irritation fled. His gaze, now glowing with a different kind of heat, dropped to her mouth, then climbed upward to her eyes. “From day one…your lips drove me crazy,” he revealed.

  Mariah’s eyes widened in astonishment as Anthony took her mouth with the hunger of a starving man.

  Chapter 8

  By the time the sun’s rays spilled through his tenth floor window, Thomas had already worked out, showered and dressed. Sitting at the table, he held a second cup of coffee in one hand and a paper in the other. Thomas never required more than six hours of sleep, but last night he found it hard to close his eyes. His mood was buoyant, much better than it had been since –

  The paper became a blur before his eyes and his hand tightened around the cup as another bitter memory pierced him…

  A few stars twinkled in the pitch-dark sky, and the air had a bit of a snap to it the night he appeared on Allegra’s doorstep without warning. Irritation flowed from her as she stood in the doorway and rubbed her upper arms. She wore a cranberry silk robe that reached the middle of her thighs and her hair was pinned up on top of her head. She looked like she was getting ready to take a shower, even though she had yet to remove the light makeup from her face. “What are you doing here, Thomas?”

  His tone was civil in spite of his anger. “We need to talk.”

  “Next time, call,” she replied with heavy reproach, but she stepped back to allow him entrance anyway. Her eyes took in the expensive dark suit that highlighted his strong physique.

  Thomas stepped over the threshold. “You’re making a mistake,” he declared as Allegra shut the door.

  Her brows rose in amused offense. “Excuse me?”

  “Not marrying me is a mistake. We’re both strong people. We know what we want out of life, and we don’t let anyone get in our way when we set our sights on something. We’re the ones others wish they could be like, and for either of us to be with someone who’s not like us is a waste of time.”

  Allegra folded her arms across her chest. “You’re right about all of it. There’s no denying that we’re good together.” She shook her head. “But I don’t want to be married to any man, not even the great Thomas Payton.”

  A muscle in his jaw belied his unruffled pretense. “You’d rather throw away the chance to become part of a power couple just so you can bed hop?”

  Swift anger ignited Allegra’s eyes, but she dampened it with a condescending smile.

  Unfolding her arms, Allegra let them hang loose at her sides and she sauntered forward until she stood toe-to-toe with Thomas, who looked down his nose at her. Her palm lifted to caress his cheek, drifted down his throat and continued its descent until it reached the breast pocket of his suit. “I don’t do anything different than you.”

  Allegra pulled away, stepped around him and pulled the front door open.

  The cold breeze glided over the threshold, teasing the hem of her robe.

  “What’s good for the gander is just as good for this goose…”

  Thomas’s eyes refocused and his fingers loosened on the cup. He set it down on the table as the memory receded, only to be replaced by a more recent one. Mariah was surprised when he shed light on Anthony’s duplicity, and she didn’t seem like the type to sleep with a man who tried to get her sister into bed. He envisioned Mariah giving Anthony the boot after last night.

  A cruel smile contorted the corner of his mouth. He’d pay real money to see that.

  #

  Eyes half-closed, Mariah stumbled to the master bathroom later that morning. Anthony kept his word. By her fifth orgasm, she was so tired she couldn’t even see straight, and she was sore in places she never knew existed.

  Mariah closed the door behind her with a soft click. The granite floor was cool beneath her bare feet. Bracing her palms against the granite sink, she stood nude in front of the mirror and studied herself with a frown. Mariah knew she wasn’t cute in the morning, but the sight of her hair – matted on one side and standing up straight on the other – made her pause. She lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug as if to say, “Oh, well” and turned on the faucet, splashing her face with warm water and rinsing out her mouth with some Listerine before finger-combing her hair.

  It was the best she could do under the circumstances.

  A gentle knock on the door gave her a start. “You okay?”

  At the sound of his voice, Mariah’s lower body tightened, and her mind turned to last night. “Yes. I was just about to take a shower.”

  “Got it covered. Can I come in?”

  Mariah blinked. “Uh…okay.”

  He cracked the door, and a muscular arm poked through. In his hand was a spare toothbrush. “Towels are in the linen closet. When you finish, breakfast will be waiting, and you can use my T-shirt. It’s on the bed.”

  Her stomach growled as she took the toothbrush from him. “Thanks. I’ll be out in a few.”

  “No problem.” The door closed.

  Mariah stepped into the shower and turned on the faucet. She was relieved to see two shower heads, one attached to the wall and one she could remove. At least she could take a shower without getting her hair too wet.

  If anyone had told her that she’d have mind-blowing sex within weeks of her sister’s death, she would’ve told them to commit themselves to the nearest mental health facility.

  #

  Anthony figured that Mariah was still a bit modest, even after all that transpired between them, and that’s why he wasn’t in the shower with her right now. As he set the plates on the table, he recalled how responsive she was to his every touch, despite her initial apprehension. Mariah St. Cloud may be a quiet person, but she wasn’t in bed.

  Ming, his head on his paws, watched Anthony move around the kitchen from the area where the wood floor met the kitchen tile. He raised his head and turned in Mariah’s direction as she approached. When she bent down to pet him, his eyes closed in pleasure. Anthony watched the affectionate exchange between woman and dog. He knew the feeling.

  And he couldn’t wait to repeat the experience again.

  She pushed to her feet as his eyes captured hers. His T-shirt engulfed her, with the sleeves rolled up to the middle of her arms and the edges dragging on the floor. Her hair was still a little out of place, but she still looked sexy. “Eggbeaters are ready.”

  Mariah walked forward and stopped by the table. She tried not to notice how good he looked wearing nothing but boxers, but she couldn’t stop staring at his powerful back, and how the line of his spine bisected the slabs on muscle on either side. “I didn’t know you liked Eggbeaters,” she finally said.

  “I don’t.” He grabbed a ready-made plate and a fork and put it on the table in front of her.

  Realizing that he must’ve bought the Eggbeaters for her, Mariah asked with feigned lightheartedness, “You bought those for me? How thoughtful.” But her heart skipped a beat. It’s just food, for God’s sake. Don’t read more into it than there is.

  #

  For the second time that day, Thomasina dialed Mariah and bit her lip when she received no answer, just the voicemail. After her brother bragged about what he told Mariah last night, her heart dipped with sympathy for her and Anthony.

  Thomas was cocky, subtle as a battleship, and had little sympathy for others, thanks to Mother, who preferred him. Father didn’t approve, but he was a phantom in the house, a barely-visible presence that worked long hours and went along to get along to stay on Mother’s good side. He made the money while she ran the house and family.

  Thomasina winced as she recalled the ways T
homas bulldozed people over the years, whether it was changing the channel on the TV while she was enjoying a program, manipulating a woman he was sleeping with, or bullying the school nerds. She was a nerd, too, but the only reason she wasn’t picked on was because she was Thomas Payton’s sister − the girls were nice to her so they could get close to him, the boys wanted to be his friend – and not too many people wanted to anger him.

  But Anthony was different. Thomas resented Anthony because he was the firstborn grandson; she overheard him talking to himself one day, complaining that Anthony “took his spot”, but Thomas loathed Anthony for other reasons. Thomas adopted their mother’s dislike for anyone who wasn’t middle-class or rich. Anthony’s parents were neither, and in Thomas’s eyes, that made him trash. Also, Anthony was just as handsome as Thomas, and he didn’t fear him – something he proved the first night he moved in. Thomasina could still see their fight in her head. Thomas said something nasty about Anthony’s mother. The next thing everyone knew, Anthony had drawn back and hit Thomas so hard, her brother stumbled. The two boys got their licks in, but Thomas got revenge through Mother, who made Anthony’s life miserable.

  Thomasina sighed. She’d learned to live with Thomas’s domineering, egotistical ways, and Anthony could hold his own, but she worried about Mariah.

  #

  Anthony brought Mariah back to Allegra’s that night, but only so she could call Ms. D and get some clothes and toiletries.

  He was grateful that Mariah believed him when he told her the truth about Allegra. If she had believed Thomas, she wouldn’t be with him now.

  His thoughts turned to Thomas and his lies, and anger simmered in his gut. Thomas knew how he felt about Allegra, but he hated Anthony so much he had to cause trouble with Mariah anyway.

  The first time Anthony met Allegra, it was at Della’s house. Della made it clear that Allegra was dating Thomas. He guessed it was her way of warning him.

  Allegra flirted with her eyes, but didn’t do anything offensive. Still, Anthony had an internal radar for bull, and she set it off from day one.

  A few days later, Thomasina asked for his opinion on Allegra. Anthony told her that Allegra gave him a bad vibe. Because she was loyal to Thomas, Anthony knew that Thomasina would relay his comment back to her brother. He wanted her to; it was his way of letting Thomas know that he didn’t like or desire Allegra. It worked. Thomasina came back to him a short while later to let him know that his comment angered Thomas.

  And Thomas tried to get back at him by upsetting Mariah.

  But Thomas didn’t win, his mind reminded him. Last night was proof of that.

  Anthony’s hands tensed around the wheel. He looked through the passenger window, his eyes resting on the second floor, willing Mariah to hurry. He wanted her back in his house, in his bed, as soon as possible.

  #

  As Mariah zipped up her duffel bag, a surge of apprehension took over her. What was she doing? She should unpack and send Anthony home, but after last night… she couldn’t. Not only did he touch her body, but her heart as well.

  Mariah slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and was about to leave when she saw the message light blink on the cordless phone. It was from a detective named Willis Mason, asking her to come by the station. He needed to talk to her regarding her case.

  Hopeful that he had caught the prowler, Mariah rushed downstairs and hopped into Anthony’s car. “We can’t go to your place first. We have to go to the police station. I got a message on the phone from a detective named Stanton. I think he caught the prowler.”

  They arrived at the station a short time later. While they waited in the lobby, Willis Mason, a pudgy, middle-aged man, approached them and said the words Mariah was waiting to hear.

  “Ms. St. Cloud, we’ve caught your prowler. It was a man named Jake Barton.”

  Mariah could only blink. “Jake Barton. I can’t believe it.”

  “You know him?” Mason asked.

  “Who’s he?” Anthony wanted to know.

  She looked at Anthony. “Allegra’s former intern. I met him after the funeral. He said she gave him a good reference for his first job. He left flowers on her grave.” She turned to the detective. “How did you find him? Did he have a criminal record?”

  “He didn’t. But we interviewed anyone who had contact with her, and once we determined that he was your sister’s former intern and started questioning him, he got scared and confessed. He said he used the Internet to find Allegra’s address. He also claimed that he and Allegra were lovers.”

  A short time later, Mariah and Anthony were driving back to his home. Though Mariah was relieved that the police found the intruder, she was still shocked to learn it was Jake. She could still see his puppy dog eyes. “He seemed so…harmless.”

  “Many murderers appear that way,” Anthony stated. “That’s the trap. But my gut tells me he wasn’t out to hurt you.”

  “It doesn’t help that she seduced that boy. I’m sad to say that I’m not surprised to hear it. She liked enticing younger boys, even if she had no plans to sleep with them. I watched her do that to a boy I liked when I was in eighth grade.”

  Anthony slowed down at a yellow light and looked at Mariah. “The more I learn about your sister, the less I like her.”

  #

  Across town, Delroy “Diablo” Cruz sat at his usual table near the stage in the semi-dark club, watching with violent arousal. In the center of a stage was a thin woman with fake boobs, dressed in some kind of schoolgirl outfit, dancing around a gold-painted pole while music with a heavy bass line boomed in the air. Her movements were slow, snake-like; the kind men were receptive to.

  The product of a union between a Honduran mother and a West Indian father who only stuck around long enough to name him, Diablo was a large, ivory-skinned man with a barrel-chest, biceps the size of a grown woman’s thighs, handsome features and a straight, dark pulled into a ponytail. One of his lids drooped over a mean hazel-brown eye.

  Life had hardened him by the age of ten, and his mother nicknamed him Devil because of it. But it was her fault. If she’d put him first instead of all the dudes she’d let between her legs, then he wouldn’t have been pissed off all the time. By the time he was thirteen, Diablo learned that the only way to keep a chick in check was to screw her, or punch her heart out.

  Diablo had just finished parole in another state, and left before the dust could settle. His cousin, who was more like his brother, clued him in on this place a few weeks after his release. It helped that his cousin had his own construction business, giving Diablo a legit job when he got out. He helped Diablo get a used car, too, and let him crash at his place for a few weeks until he got his Southeast Raleigh apartment. It wasn’t the best, but he’d lived in worse.

  Diablo looked around the club, tipped the bottle up to his lips, and took a big swallow. He watched the now-topless woman gyrate, felt himself harden. She was pretty in a college-girl kind of way. Since his first visit, Diablo came here every weekend. He always made sure he had enough to buy a lap dance or two. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he continued to stare at the woman as she finished her provocative performance.

  #

  By the time Anthony and Mariah got back to his house, Allegra and Jake no longer mattered. Anthony barked a command at Ming, who dashed upstairs, and he pounced on Mariah before her bag hit the floor. He didn’t want to stop touching her long enough to make it to his bed.

  They stumbled onto the couch, fumbling with each other’s clothes, and Mariah felt passion rising in her like the hottest fire, clouding her brain. Their heated breaths mingled in deep, dark kisses. Clothes and undergarments fell to the floor. Anthony twisted, bringing Mariah under him, her Dove chocolate thighs surrounding him, his tongue dueling with hers, his arousal against her welcoming entrance. He raised his head and pulled back.

  Brilliant eyes held her still as his hand came down on her wrist, flattening it against the ladder of his ribs, drawing it down
over a steel band of muscle…until he curled it around himself. A shudder rippled through him. Lids shielded that burning stare for a moment, only to lift once more, branding her.

  Mariah swallowed, marveling at his heat and velvety hardness, at the power she seemed to have over him.

  With a rumble in his chest, Anthony removed her hand and bent down to his pants, reaching into his back pocket for a condom. Then he crushed her to him, taking her mouth and body.

  #

  The next morning at breakfast Anthony laid his fork aside, clasped his hands in front of him and waited for Mariah to notice him watching her. She looked cute in her blue T-shirt that reached her knees.

  A minute later Mariah looked up from her plate. “What?”

  “Ms. D and Kevin never mentioned that you had heterochromia iridium.”

  Mariah stopped and gawked. “When did you research my eyes?”

  “I Googled your condition the first night we met. Why didn’t Ms. D or Kevin say anything?”

  “For my protection, I guess. They were sensitive about it, for my sake, and Gran D doesn’t keep pictures,” she explained. “I have several of her, but she doesn’t know it. She believes they hold a person’s soul, and that scares her.”

  Anthony quirked a brow. “That explains it. Were they caused by an accident or birth?”

  Mariah’s heart pounded and her pulse throbbed. She floundered before the brilliance of his look as she recalled the image of her legs wrapped around his waist and the feel of his mouth, and then regained her mental footing. She cleared her throat. “Birth. When people first meet me, they usually regard me with surprise, revulsion, curiosity, and sometimes all three. Because of my eyes, Allegra’s ‘pet name’ for me was ‘Two-Tone’, like those pants from the Eighties, and other kids followed suit,” she replied, her lips bent into a cynical smile. “It’s ironic. The very thing that brought me grief got me interested in biology.”

  Anthony’s gaze filled with sympathy. He reached across the table and closed his hand over hers. She squeezed it in return. “I’ve always felt like a changeling. I don’t resemble my mother much and my father not at all. He thought I was an abomination because of my eyes. Mom met and married him when she was eighteen. He was handsome and captivating, and she fell hard for him. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t see his selfishness and disregard for women until it was too late. I’ll always believe that Gran D’s favoritism toward Aunt Celia made Mom run into his arms.”