Richmond-Banks Brothers 1: A Hopeless Place (BWWM Interracial Romance)

by Coco Jordan

  “If you really believe we make our own destiny, tell me what your future holds,” she insisted. “I refuse to believe you’re still going to be living here when you’re twenty-nine.”

  I stopped kissing her and rolled to my back, drawing in a long breath as I stared at the ceiling. I’d never thought about the future at all, until I met her.

  “In five years,” I said, clearing my throat, “we’ll be married. I’ll be healthy, thanks to my beautiful nurse-wife. We’ll be living in an old Arts and Crafts bungalow that we so lovingly restored right after our wedding. We’ll have spent a solid year backpacking through Europe and traveling the world. When we get back, we’ll try to have a baby. It’ll probably be a girl, and she’ll look just like you, but with my eyes. I’ll gave gained plenty of weight, thanks to your amazing cooking, and you’ll trade your jeans in for yoga pants, but that’ll be okay because you look beautiful in anything. We’ll engage in debates as we listen to NPR after dinner, and we’ll retire each night with a cup of tea and a stack of good books. We’ll go on dates at least once a week, and every year we’ll take a vacation to somewhere new. Never the same place twice—”

  I stopped when I noticed her wiping away tears.

  “What? What’s wrong?” I asked, leaning over to comfort her.

  “That’s so beautiful,” she said, smiling through the tears. “I didn’t expect you to say that.”

  “Did that sound all right?” I asked.

  “I’d love to have that with you,” she sighed with a smile, her eyes drying.

  “Then it’s settled,” I said. “We’re doing it. We’re creating our own destiny. And screw anyone who tries to stand in the way of it.”

  I wanted to taste her on my tongue in a way I hadn’t yet experienced. I had to have her. All of her. My hands traveled down her side and slipped under the waistband of her pants before traveling south. Her breasts rose and fell quickly in anticipation. I moved down, pulling off her pants, and lowered my head. As my tongue waved over her soft, wet folds, I tasted paradise.

  I could feel her body relaxing and tensing in waves as heavy sighs escaped her sweet lips above.

  “Bennett,” she moaned as she reached her fingers down and gripped my hair. “Oh, God…”

  I continued, not wanting to stop. I loved her taste, like a sweet musk that could only belong to her. My hands traveled up, massaging her soft breasts and lightly pinching her pert nipples as I lapped her up below.

  My fingers traveled back down the length of her body, dragging along her soft skin and following all her curves and angles as if they wanted to memorize them.

  “Oh, ah…” she sighed as she approached the brink of ecstasy. “I’m… ah!”

  Her thighs squeezed around my head as her back arched into the soft mattress below her. Within seconds, she’d melted into relaxed state, pulling me up toward her.

  “That came out of nowhere,” she said with a dreamy, satisfied smile across her face.

  “You’re sleeping in my bed tonight,” I told her, pulling her closer. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  I rolled over on top of her and propped myself up on my elbows, creating a cozy little cocoon for us. Staring deep into her eyes, I said, “I’m going to give you the most amazing life, Amara Robinson.”

  She scrunched her face and laughed, as if I’d said the most insane thing she’d ever heard.

  “I don’t know if I should sleep in here tonight,” she said with a pout on her full lips. “Your parents are coming back tomorrow.”

  I grunted, rolling off her as reality began to sink in.

  “We have to do this right,” she said, clutching her hand to her heart. “We can’t make them suspicious of anything. When the time is right, we’ll tell them together.”

  “I just don’t want this to end,” I said. “This week we’ve been having…”

  “It doesn’t have to end,” she assured me. “My feelings for you won’t go away just because your parents are back. We just have to put the brakes on for a bit until we figure things out.”

  I grabbed her hand and interlaced our fingers. “Promise nothing will change?”

  “I promise.”

  “I just don’t want to wait that long.”

  “For what?” she asked.

  “To start our life together,” I said. I’d staked my claim. I’d resolved to make her my wife. It was going to happen. “Who knows how much time I have left?”

  “Why are you talking like that?” she said, her voice faltering as her momentary bliss completely dissipated.

  “I’m just being realistic,” I said with a shrug. “We might need to cram a lot of stuff into a little bit of time. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Death was a fact of life. Always had been. Talking about the inevitable was, to me, completely normal.

  “I just don’t want to wait, okay?” I said to her matter-of-factly. “Amara, if you really want to be with me, I can’t promise I’ll be around forever, but I can promise I’ll give you the most incredible life you’ve ever imagined. I’ll give you the life you deserve, even long after I’m gone.”

  Her lips pursed as she averted her eyes, thinking about what it really meant to commit to me.

  “I love you, Amara,” I assured her. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything in my entire life. Marry me. I’m completely serious. Marry me.”

  AMARA

  Those two words: marry me. A week ago, I would’ve said no. I would’ve said this wasn’t real. We were just two lost souls taking sanctuary in one another, providing safe harbors from the rough sea of life. But something changed that week.

  My mother always told me I’d know when I’d met the right guy because I wouldn’t be able to imagine life without him. That was how I knew my feelings for Bennett were real.

  The thought of walking out of that mansion and never seeing him again left me with a void so deep, so black it would have been impossible to ever fill again. And the way he looked at me, the way he touched me—I knew I’d never be able to find that with anyone else.

  “Yes!” I whispered, unable to contain my excitement as I nodded over and over.

  He leaned over and squeezed me tight, kissing my cheek. “I’m sorry I don’t have a ring. I guess I didn’t plan this out too well.”

  “I don’t need a ring,” I told him. “Honest.”

  “Nonsense,” he said. “You’re getting a ring. We’ll go pick one out next week. I want the whole world to know you’re mine.”

  My heart filled to the brim with warmth as I stared into the eyes of my soul mate, the man who was destined to love me, the man who had shown me I could love again.

  “It’s getting late,” I said, holding my head low. The clock on the nightstand read just a hair past midnight. “I better get to my room.”

  I slid out of bed, hesitating to let go of his hand.

  “I don’t want this night to end,” he said. His intense, hazel eyes honed into mine, pleading for me to stay.

  “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day,” I said, my mind still reeling and trying to wrap itself around the fact that I was engaged to be married to this man sitting in front of me. “We have a lot to figure out. Get a good nights’ rest, okay?”

  I leaned in for a sweet goodnight kiss and then sauntered out of his room. My bed was still made and untouched from a week of sleepovers in Bennett’s room, and it was going to be awfully cold that night, sleeping alone.

  ***

  My alarm went off at six a.m. Saturday morning, and I hesitated to get out of bed. I knew the moment my feet hit the hardwood floor it would mean our week of bliss and splendor was officially over.

  I dragged myself to the shower and then headed downstairs to make Bennett’s breakfast. I didn’t care what he said, I was still there to help him.

  “Amara,” Ingrid said, cornering me by the kitchen and scaring the daylights out of me. Her sinewy frame always seemed to slink and slither around the house, popping out at the most ino
pportune moments. “I think we’re all going to have breakfast together today. Can you get Bennett to come down? I’ve missed him so.”

  I forced a smile. They must have just returned early that morning. “Of course.”

  I hurried up the stairs, excited to see Bennett, and pounced on his bed.

  “Wake up, wake up,” I whispered into his ear, kissing his cheek.

  He groaned as he rolled to his back and tried to pull me deep into his bed with him.

  “No,” I reminded him. “We can’t do that, remember? You need to get ready. Your mom wants us all to have breakfast downstairs in the dining room.”

  He groaned again. “Do we have to?”

  “She said she missed you,” I said with a shrug. “Just do it. Get up. Let’s go.”

  He took his time as he placed his feet on the floor, stood up, stretched his long, lean body, and shuffled his feet to the bathroom. I waited, perched on the end of his bed, until he came out freshly showered and presentable, his dark hair side-parted and slicked over with brill cream. A cloud of fog surrounded him as he walked out into his cool bedroom, and his meaty shoulders filled out his blue plaid shirt which hung over a pair of well-fitting, dark denim jeans.

  I smiled and cocked my head to the side as I admired how ridiculously handsome he was.

  “What?” he asked, scrunching his nose.

  “You look good. That’s all.” I couldn’t have wipe the smile off my face if I’d tried, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him again.

  He walked to where I was sitting and placed a single, sweet kiss on my forehead. “Shall we?”

  Our hands entwined briefly, then separated as we left his room and headed downstairs to the dining room. I pulled his chair out for him in an effort to show Ingrid that nothing was going on and helped him get situated before taking the seat next to him.

  “Oh, Amara,” Ingrid said, clasping her ice cold hands together from her chair at the head of the table. “This is awkward. I meant family only. No staff.”

  My face burned hot, turning several shades of crimson as I realized I’d misunderstood her.

  “Can’t she eat with us?” Bennett asked. “I’d like her to.”

  “When was the last time we ate together as a family?” Ingrid said. “Is that too much to ask?”

  “Father?” Bennett pleaded to his dad.

  “If your mother wishes to have breakfast as a family, then we should respect that,” Sterling said dryly, his eyes fixed to the newspaper in his hands.

  “It’s okay, Bennett,” I said, forcing a smile and hating the fact that my eyes were welling up with embarrassment. Ingrid sure knew how to make a person feel small. I ran out of the dining room and into the hallway.

  She probably did it on purpose, I thought. That spiteful bitch.

  Their voices echoing through the vast mansion halls, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

  “Bennett, you look healthy,” Ingrid commented. “You’re almost … glowing.”

  “Thank you,” he replied, his voice low and annoyed.

  “You’ve probably put on, what, a good fifteen or twenty pounds in the last month or so?” she continued.

  “Yeah, something like that,” Bennett said.

  “I think the boy looks great,” Sterling said. “Whatever Amara’s doing is working. I’ve never seen him look so healthy before.”

  “So, what’s her secret?” Ingrid asked, feigning innocence in her question. “What was Amara doing that the last nurse didn’t do? Why are you all of a sudden so motivated to get strong and healthy?”

  Bennett laughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. She follows your little guidebook, Mother.”

  “Just seems a little unusual,” Ingrid said, her voice drawing slowly and with intention. “Do you have a thing for Amara?”

  Her question was point blank. Apparently, nothing got past her.

  “What?” Bennett scoffed.

  “I knew it was a mistake hiring someone so young and pretty,” she said. The clinking of silverware indicated she’d abandoned her breakfast in favor of having that conversation.

  “She’s a very nice young lady,” Sterling said, coming to my defense. “He’s a young man. These things do happen, Ingrid. You can’t keep him sheltered and hidden away his entire life.”

  “It’s not about that,” Ingrid snipped. “I’m not saying she’s not a nice girl.”

  “Then what’s the problem, Mother?” Bennett asked, seething. I could hear the contempt in his voice and knew that wasn’t a way he normally spoke to her. “Maybe… maybe I love her. Maybe we’re in love. Maybe for the first time in my life, I have a reason to live.”

  “Bennett,” Ingrid said, pausing. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “Well, this breakfast is just lovely,” Sterling said.

  “That girl is from a poor family,” Ingrid said, emphasizing the word poor. “Do you think she really loves you for who you are? Or can you comprehend for one moment that perhaps she has ulterior motives?”

  “She’s not that kind of person,” Bennett fired back. “You don’t know her like I do.”

  “You can’t tell me some little tramp from the other side of the tracks doesn’t see dollar signs when she looks at you,” Ingrid sneered, her voice filled with hatred and contempt. “Don’t be so naïve. You’re dying, Bennett.”

  “Ingrid,” Sterling said with a rare boom in his voice.

  “Shut it, Sterling,” Ingrid spat back. “Bennett, it’s time for Amara to go. She has crossed the line, and she’s not the type of employee I will have in my household.”

  “You’re making a huge mistake,” Bennett said through gritted teeth. “Huge.”

  “Let’s not forget where the money comes from in this family,” Ingrid said. “I pay the help. I make the decisions. That’s that.”

  I’d heard enough. I had to get out of there. I ran upstairs to pack my things, fighting off the tears that filled my eyes and made it nearly impossible for me to see what I was doing.

  “Amara,” Bennett’s breathy voice called from my doorway a short time later. I imagined him trying to get to me as soon as he could, before Ingrid intervened.

  “I heard everything,” I cried as I ran into his arms. He held me tight, burying his face into my hair.

  “I bet you didn’t hear the part where I told them I was leaving,” he said.

  “You said that?” I asked, pulling away and looking into his eyes. “Where will you go?”

  “Wherever you’re going,” he said. “Take me with you.”

  He leaned in and kissed my lips, hard.

  “You won’t be going anywhere, Bennett.” Ingrid jolted us back into reality as she stood in the hall behind him. Her arctic glare sent shivers down my spine.

  I turned to grab my bag off the bed as Bennett’s eyes pleaded with mine.

  “I’ve called a nursing agency and they’re sending someone here first thing tomorrow morning,” Ingrid said.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Bennett said. “I’m not living here anymore.”

  Ingrid smirked at his challenge. “Don’t tempt me, Bennett.” Her gaze turned my way. “One phone call, and her career is over. You wouldn’t want to do that to her, would you?”

  I ran past both of them, unable to get out of there quick enough. I burst through the front door as I fished around for my keys, appreciating my rusty, red set of wheels more than ever before. I started the car and took one final gaze at the Richmond-Banks mansion. Behind those impenetrable brick walls was the one and only thing that mattered to me, and it had been taken away in an instant.

  I shifted the car into drive and slammed on the gas pedal, propelling myself further and further out of that neighborhood and back to my side of town. As I drove, I composed text after text to Bennett’s phone. All went unanswered.

  AMARA

  “Sweetie, what’s the matter? Why are you home right now?” my mother asked as soon as I stepped in the front
door.

  “I got fired,” I blurted between sobs. “Bennett and I fell in love.”

  “What do you mean you fell in love?” she asked, half disbelieving what she’d just heard.

  “It’s complicated,” I said, wiping my cheeks. “It was unexpected. I don’t know what else to say, but he wants to marry me, and I said yes.”

  “I thought he was sick?” she replied, her hand resting on my back.

  “He’s doing better now,” I said, raising my eyes and adding, “A lot better, actually.”

  “Okay, but…” My mom studied my face.

  “The moment Ingrid found out something was going on between us, she fired me. She told Bennett I’m from a poor family and I’m just after their money.”

  My mother’s face twisted into a scowl. “That wicked, evil woman. I ought to just call her up right now and give her a piece of my mind. No one talks about my daughter or my family that way.”

  “No, Mom,” I said, placing my hand on her arm. “Let it go. She’s threatening to destroy my career. I don’t want to test her.”

  “What the heck is going on?” my father said as he walked in, scratching his bald head. “You get romantically involved with that boy?”

  “You fell in love with that rich kid?” Alexis said with a nosy smirk as she popped in from around the corner.

  I scowled at her. “Grow up.” I have go get out of here. I shouldn’t have come.”

  I didn’t need an interrogation. I needed to be held and understood. I needed Bennett. I flew out the front door and climbed back into my car, heading to the one person I knew would have my back.

  Minutes later I was running up Cherish’ stairs, my bag over my shoulder and my mind overflowing with thoughts.

  “Cherish!” I said as I knocked repeatedly. She was known for always having ear buds in her ears. That girl couldn’t go two minutes without listening to music. “Cherish! Open up.”

  “Whoa,” she said as she pulled the door open, an ear bud hanging from one ear while the other was still plugged in. “What are you doing here?”