Was it Good for You Too?

by Naleighna Kai

  The moment they heard the door close above them, Amir whirled to face Tailan. “What is really going on here? Why is he back here?”

  Amir glared across the room at Delvin, and Tailan could swear their stone faces would crack any second.

  Delvin shifted his gaze to Tailan and announced, “I’m here to establish that I’ll be spending time with my daughter every day that I’m here in Chicago.” He flickered a gaze between her and Amir. “And to establish some type of visitation for the times I’m in L.A.”

  “He can do this?” Amir’s voice raised an octave. “Just demand time like this?”

  Tailan would not insult Amir’s intelligence with a lie. “It’s only fair. She’s his daughter too. But it doesn’t change anything.”

  “It changes everything!” Amir growled.

  Tailan went to him and tried to place a calming hand on his chest, which he did not allow. “You’ve been her father—the only father our girls have ever known.”

  “But that’s because I didn’t know!” Delvin interjected.

  Tailan tuned Delvin completely out and focused on Amir with a softer tone. “That won’t change because you’re still a part of my life and hers.”

  He gave her a small, bitter smile. “For how long?”

  She blinked, confused. “What do you mean?”

  “How long do you think you’ll hold out before leaving me for him?” Amir clarified.

  Tailan winced at that suggestion because leaving him for another man was not on her agenda. She had married him and was in it for the long haul. And she definitely did not want to separate her daughters. The only thing that had given her pause was his blindness when it came to his family.

  “I love you, Amir. I just need you to wake up and see that your family is tearing us apart. Leaving you has only entered my mind because of how you’ve allowed your family to treat me and Devi. I wouldn’t leave you because of another man—”

  “You think I did not know the times you missed him, longed for him?” He snarled at her. “Every time you saw him on television or in a magazine you …” he shook his head as though unable to voice the rest.

  “I’m sor—”

  “No, no. Do not apologize,” he said, holding up his hand. “I never lied to myself about who truly had your heart. I had hoped you would get over him. Seven years I have waited.” He inspected Delvin with keen interest, then said, “Just as I could not get you out of my system, you cannot get him out of yours.”

  The words, brutal in their simplicity, held a ring of truth that Tailan never wanted to hear out loud.

  “Amir, please listen to me,” she whispered, moving so that they were almost nose-to-nose. “Delvin and I did not have sex.”

  “But he touched you in some way,” Amir countered, and the pain in his voice was almost too much to bear.

  “I want to take him as my lover, yes. Nothing more. That’s all he can ever be to me.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Delvin stiffen at those words. But at the moment, saving her marriage outweighed Delvin’s bruised feelings. If Delvin was going to be in the picture, she needed her daughters’ home life to be stable. She needed to weigh their well-being against her personal desires. The children always came first. Always.

  The challenge behind Delvin’s dark brown eyes was not a good sign. He was competitive to a fault when it came to getting what he wanted. She would be no exception.

  “I know the boundaries we set,” she continued. “I promise you that we didn’t do anything.” She shifted toward Delvin and said, “Tell him.”

  Delvin’s stance screamed his defiance. There was no way in hell he would admit the truth. When Tailan turned again to Amir, her stomach dropped. He didn’t believe her words but he did believe Delvin’s body language.

  “Amir—” Tai warned, moving to stand between both of the men.

  “My presence is not needed in your life,” Amir said in a resigned tone as he shifted his gaze between her and Delvin. “It is obvious what will happen. No need to prolong things. We will leave in the morning.”

  Tailan stared at Delvin’s easy smile and fumed. There would be an avalanche in hell before she would just let him waltz in and dismantle her entire life!

  “Don’t go, Amir,” she whispered, and he stopped on the bottom stair. “I love you.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But is it enough?”

  “It has been for all this time,” Tailan reminded.

  Amir glanced over his shoulder with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. “No love, it has been—how do you say—the consolation prize. I have been the runner up.”

  Tailan shifted to pure fighter mode. “I’m not letting you go. Not like this.”

  “You must, sweetness.”

  “I don’t have to do a damn thing,” she shot back, her voice holding that edge that signaled she had slipped from swaying to declaring. “I’m yours—have been since the first time we made love. I don’t ever think of him when you touch me, hold me, love me.”

  Delvin cleared his throat and said, “Seriously? You could’ve fooled me.”

  She tossed him a frosty glare and a warning, “Delvin, stay out of this!”

  “A part of me believes this,” Amir reasoned. “But another part knows this as well: I cannot hold ground in your mind twenty-four hours a day. And you think of him at least some of that time. Yes?”

  Tailan’s entire face flushed crimson.

  He gave her a half smile and started toward the stairs again. “I will gather my things, then Neena’s.”

  “No!” she cried, pulling him back with a grip on his arm, holding him in place.

  Amir’s gaze at Delvin was intense, and Tailan trembled with what she witnessed in those black eyes. He turned that gaze on her, and it softened after a moment. “There are some things that need to be worked out here. I do not want to interfere.”

  “Don’t leave us,” Tailan pleaded.

  “Don’t remember you making that kind of statement when it counted for us,” Delvin interjected, trying to reach out for her.

  She shrugged him off and said to her husband, “Don’t leave me, Amir.”

  He placed a gentle hand over hers. “I am giving you the space you need to settle your heart.”

  “This family needs you,” she whispered. “You want me to make a choice, and I have. I choose you. I love you.”

  “I have no reason to doubt that,” he said, stroking a hand through her curls before turning to make his way to the second floor landing.

  “If you walk out tonight,” she warned, “I will come for you every day until you come home. Don’t make me do that. Don’t make me into that woman.”

  Amir looked down at her but said nothing. Tailan took it as a sign that his resolve was cracking. She inched closer to him, stroking his sturdy arms and his too beautiful for words face, whispering, “You’ve given up so much for me …”

  Tailan could feel the resentment Delvin was feeling from hearing those words. Whether her ex believed it or not, she did love her husband. The love wasn’t nearly as strong as she felt for Delvin, but it was love all the same.

  She continued brazenly, “I don’t take that kind of love for granted. Don’t. Leave. Me.”

  Tailan followed Amir’s gaze over to Delvin, who was two shades darker with smoldering rage. She looked up and saw Amir favor the man with a smile that was somewhere between acceptance and victory.

  “I will be in our bedroom,” Amir finally relented.

  “You won’t leave?” she gasped.

  “And have you show up at my parents’ restaurant wearing some seductive garment that will start a riot again?”

  He had once made the mistake of leaving the house after an argument, thinking he’d won and intending to give her the brush-off. She put on a sheer, form-fitting dress and showed up at India House, knowing that’s where he would be. The men in his family learned exactly why he was so taken with her. The couple barely made it into Amir’s office before
he ravished her.

  Amir shook his head vigorously. “No my love, I do not think so.”

  She gave him that mischievous smile that he could always pull out of her.

  “I learned my lesson the first time,” he added.

  Tailan edged closer to him, her voice husky with promise as she said, “So did I. I married you for better or for worse. I only hope you’ve done the same. Your family has been your worse. My feelings for Delvin are my worse. We can get through this somehow.”

  Delvin cleared his throat and barked, “I’ll be back in the morning to see my daughter.”

  She curled into her husband’s arms and watched Delvin storm out of their home.

  Chapter 23

  The weeks that followed Delvin’s first encounter with Tailan’s other life were confusing, frustrating, and annoying as hell. Tailan loved her husband. That right there was enough to make him roar. The way Tailan fought for Amir was eye-opening to say the least. Amir had the most diabolical hold on Tailan. But why?

  Yes, Delvin recognized it as love. He wouldn’t pretend that love was not a main component. But there was another element as well. It ran along the vein of manipulation by way of twisted logic. Much as he hated it, even he had to admit that Amir had made all kinds of sense when he laid his arguments on Tailan.

  So where did that leave Delvin Germaine? For the moment, out in the cold without his woman. He was the outsider battling for dominance, and he was coming up short. And worse, he was in a never-ending holding pattern over which he had no control.

  Then there was the added issue of his children—all of them. His ailing mother and her battle to live to enjoy her grandbabies. The long-distance career that demanded his attention.

  All this meant that changes were coming at him faster than he could put on a baseball mitt and catch them. He had to get his life back in order before it broke through the fences and ran buck-naked down the street and never came back. Delvin was not new to multi-tasking. In the last ten years, it had become his middle name. Taking that skill by the reins, he moved with brisk intent to accomplish his goals.

  As his driver took him down Tailan’s block one afternoon, Delvin noticed a FOR SALE sign on a house just down the street from Tailan. He picked up his phone. “Quentin Daniels, please.”

  “This is Quentin,” the realtor answered.

  “My name’s Delvin Germaine. I’m calling about a property I saw in the Pullman area. Is it still available?”

  “Yes, we have several.”

  “Had a few questions about it if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course,” Quentin replied. “I can meet you at the property if that would be better.”

  “That was going to be my first question. I’m already here.”

  He gave the listing address and Quentin said, “Excellent, I’m on my way.”

  Delvin asked the driver to circle back around and park. Once he was stationed in front of the house, he put in another call. The second his party picked up, he launched with, “Katie, no more movie roles that’ll take me out of the country for a while.”

  “What?!” she shrieked so loudly he had to pull the phone from his ear for a moment. “But that script I sent you is set to film on location in Spain, Belize, and Switzerland. That one might land you another Oscar.”

  “I can’t do it. Got waaaay too much going on right now in my personal life.”

  “Sounds serious,” she whispered, and he could imagine her playing with tendrils of dark brown hair as she always did when shifting gears. “What’s going on?”

  Delvin turned to the scenery outside his limo’s window. “My mother. Health issues.”

  “Whoa!” Katie exclaimed. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll keep her in my prayers.”

  “Thanks, lady,” he said and ended the call with, “I’ll be in touch.”

  Delvin flipped through the speed dial settings on his phone and called home.

  “Hello,” squeaked an adorable voice that always melted his heart.

  “Hey, angel, it’s me,” Delvin announced.

  “Daddy!” the child cried. Then Delvin heard her shout, “Jason come quick, it’s Daddy.”

  There was a shuffling on the other end. Delvin could imagine they were each trying to get an ear close to the house phone receiver.

  “Hey, Dad,” Jason said, the pitch of his voice even deeper than it was the last time Delvin had seen him. His teen was growing up faster than he was prepared to accept. “When you coming home?”

  “Yeah, we miss you,” Ariel whined.

  Suddenly, hearing their voices brought a stark realization to light. He missed his children—both of them—and he wanted them with him here in Chicago. Since he already had the court’s approval to have the children in the first place, and the only reason Gabrielle was trying to back pedal was because Paulo was no longer in the picture, Delvin would proceed with doing the very thing that would bring everyone together—in one place.

  “That’s why I’m calling, guys. Grandma needs me to be closer to home for a while. And she misses you guys so much, so … instead of me coming home, I’m bringing you two to me.”

  “Wow, Dad!” Jason exclaimed. “We’re coming to see Grandma? We’re going to Chicago?”

  Delvin noticed a car pulling up to the side of the limo. The person inside said something to his driver. They both nodded, and the car parked in front of his.

  “Need you two to do me a favor.” When they got silent, he added, “Jason, I want you to help your sister with her packing. It’ll be faster that way. Ariel, I want you to go get Ms. Bridgette and put her on the line for me.”

  “Okay,” they chorused. As they ran from the phone, their yaaaay’s echoed through the line.

  Delvin was still grinning a few moments later when Bridgette said, “Sir?” He could practically hear the smile in her voice. “Ariel’s skipping out of the room. Jason just moon-walked right by me. What did you tell them?”

  “Oh nothing much. Just that you all will be making tracks to Chicago within the next few hours.”

  She gave a whelp of joy that almost mirrored the children’s. “I’ll get them prepared.” Then she paused and said, “I have one request though.”

  “Sure.”

  “Can we get some Italian Fiesta Pizza while I’m there? My family swears by it.”

  Delvin couldn’t help but laugh as he left the limo and said, “Consider it done, darling.”

  * * *

  An hour later, Delvin and Quentin were leaving the house viewing. The house was an exact replica of Tailan’s quaint dwelling. There was only one problem.

  “It’s entirely too small,” Delvin admitted. When Quentin’s face sagged, Delvin quickly redirected, “That doesn’t mean I’m not interested.”

  “Would you like to look elsewhere? I’m sure we can find something that suits your needs, Mr. Germaine.”

  “No. This is where I want to be. I have no doubt you can make this place suit me, considering it’ll be a cash deal.”

  Delvin could practically see the man’s hard-on from where he stood several feet away. In this real estate market, those three words were purple squirrels—they did not exist. Delvin’s finances were always in perfect order, and for that he gave Tailan all the credit. Early in their relationship, she always cautioned him to spend soft and invest hard, to make his money work for him and multiply it with the effort of others. He never forgot that lesson, and it had paid off with multiple zeroes in his bank accounts.

  “Before I called you,” Delvin continued. “I took the liberty of doing some research on the neighborhood and the city’s plans for it. This entire area in every direction has been deemed a historical district.”

  Quentin nodded, leaning his muscular frame on the wrought iron fence. “The Pullman area has a long-standing history in the city, and the country for that matter, due to the Pullman Train Car Company. That owner wanted all of his employees residing close to the main factory. Thus,” he stretched out his hand, “blocks a
nd blocks of row houses.”

  “Which brings me to my next observation.” Delvin started to walk down the block, and Quentin followed. “I can see the city’s influence in the efforts to revitalize this area.” He pointed in the direction of the expressway. “The Walmart just up the street.” He pointed to two separate corners. “Those fruit and vegetable gardens being tended by gardeners. I noticed them right away because every garden sits on a vacant lot. They’re beautifying the ugly patches of the neighborhood.” Delvin turned to Quentin. “Lastly, the people.”

  Quentin blinked several times, then quickly admitted, “The developer of this area, along with the city, is striving to create a mixed community, shifting from the lower classes to a more upwardly mobile group of citizens.”

  Delvin and Quentin walked back toward the house of interest. Once they were standing near it again Delvin said, “And this is where you’re about to earn your commission.”

  Quentin gave Delvin his complete attention.

  “I had my people check into the developer,” Delvin said, narrowing his gaze on the man. “He purchased the majority of these homes for less than pennies on the dollar to get the contract from the city. I don’t fault him in that regard. But I do have an issue with the substandard work that he’s doing to rehab these homes. So this is what you’re going to do for me to earn my money.”

  Delvin faced the row house he wanted and pointed to the one on the left of it and the one on the right. “I want all three of these homes immediately, like today. And I want them combined into one house.”

  “What?!” Quentin gasped. “This is a historical district. We can’t change the structure of the dwellings from their original design.”

  “Yes, you can.” Delvin opened up his portfolio, pulled out several documents and a list of names and numbers, including that of his financial planner. “Like I said, I did some research.” He handed Quentin all the paperwork. “The developer can’t change the design, however the new owner can do whatever they want to beautify their property.”