The image faded, and Kade swallowed a lump in his throat. He literally shook away the sadness as a tear raced down his cheek. He released a heavy breath and wiped his face.
He leaned back against the SUV and looked up. Everything was calm and serene. He used to love this time of the day. Every morning, before he left their home, Reema would rise with him, just like his mother did for his father. She would fix breakfast, and they would sit on the patio outside the kitchen and watch the sun rise.
It had been so long since he’d let himself enjoy something so simple yet so beautiful. He missed this. He missed a lot of things. His wife. His home. His bed. His privacy. His life.
Kahron Strong sped up Highway 17, heading back from Charleston. He had just made a run to Lowe’s for supplies and was anxious to get back to his ranch. Cattle that he purchased at the livestock auction last week were being delivered today, and he was anxious not to miss it. His masculine hands drummed the steering wheel as he listened to “Don’t Matter” by Akon, playing on his satellite radio. He was singing along off-key as he looked out at the stretches of emerald green trees and grass lining the highway.
He smiled as he thought of his wife, Bianca. She was a tall, fair-skinned beauty with luscious lips he could suckle forever. She was everything he never knew he wanted. Everything .
The wide screen of his BlackBerry lit up where it sat on the passenger seat of his truck. He quickly turned down the volume of the radio and reached for it. His heart skipped a beat.
“Hey, you,” he said, his voice filled with warmth, pleasure, and love.
“Hey, you,” Bianca said in return, her voice husky with sleep and emotion. “I wanted to see you before you left the house this morning.”
“I didn’t want to wake you, since you got in so late last night,” he said, placing his signature rimless aviator shades atop his silver faded head as he steered the vehicle easily with one hand.
“And because I came in so late, I had something I wanted to give you this morning.”
Kahron’s smile broadened at the obvious sexy intent in his wife’s voice. He loved and adored the woman. His woman.
When he first saw Bianca King driving her flashy convertible as her riot of curls blew in the wind, he never imagined the mysterious woman would later become the love of his life. She was the one person that knew him better than anyone else.
His eyes shifted to the digital clock on the dash. “I’ll be home in ten minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Kahron felt anticipation fill him as he ended the call and propelled the vehicle forward. Bianca was not only an equine veterinarian servicing the local farms in the area, but also co-owner and operator of King Equine Services, and her time had been stretched thin lately. They had to make time for each other. Since they were used to making love once daily—if not more—they had some making up to do for the last few weeks of their marriage.
Kahron’s head swung toward Kade’s house as he passed it. He did a double take before quickly pulling his SUV off the paved road and slamming on his brakes. Dirt and pebbles flew up around him. Quickly, he checked for traffic in his mirror before he did an illegal U-turn. He squinted his eyes as he turned left onto the unpaved road leading to Kade’s home.
His heart literally ached to see his older brother obviously struggling to enter the house. It was well known that Kade had not been at the house since the night before his wife passed. Kahron wanted to go to him, help him through such an obvious big step in his life, but another part of him knew Kade wanted to do it alone.
Kahron released a heavy and expectant breath as his brother’s tall frame finally disappeared through the front door. He snatched up his BlackBerry and quickly dialed the number even as he climbed out of the SUV. “Hey, I need everyone to get over to Kade’s ASAP.”
Kade was lost in memories he had pushed away and protected from his grief. As he drifted slowly through the house, each room shook some buried emotion from him. Each brought some seemingly insignificant moment in time to the forefront.
He paused in each room as his life played out before him like a movie. Late nights in the den, cuddled with Reema on the couch, watching movies. Coming home late from work and sitting in the nursery to just hold Kadina as she slept. Waking up every morning to that poster-sized photo of them smiling on their wedding day.
His emotions ran the gamut and left him shaky.
In his bedroom, Kade sunk down at the foot of the bed and looked up at the photo as he locked his fingers between his knees. He felt spent. He felt weak. Drained. Depleted. Lost. Incomplete. But for the first time in years, he also felt hope, peace, and confidence that he was ready for the future. As one lone tear raced down his cheek, he stood and walked out of the house, knowing it was time to move on with life.
Kade paused as he stepped out onto the porch. Surprise filled his handsome face, and he quickly wiped the moisture from high cheekbones. His deep-set eyes took in each compassion-filled face of his family as they stood at the base of the steps. His parents, Kael and Lisha Strong. Kaleb, Kaeden, Kaitlyn, and Kahron and Bianca. Somehow he wasn’t at all surprised to see them there. Not at all.
“You okay, son?” Kael called out in that deep baritone voice of his as he hugged his wife close to his side.
Kade nodded as he descended the few steps into their midst. “I’m good. In fact, I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.”
Kaitlyn stepped forward and wrapped her arm around his waist. “What’s going on?” she asked, bumping her hip against his side.
He lifted his hand to muss her short crop of dyed jet-black hair. “I’ve decided that Kadina and I are going to move back into the house,” he told them, playfully looking down at his palm for dye before he wiped his hand on his pants leg. The brothers all loved teasing their baby sister about dyeing the grey out of her hair.
Kaitlyn just gave him a saucy eye roll.
Even as his brothers all stepped forward to either hug him close or clap him soundly on the back, and his sister and sister-in-law kissed his cheek, he saw the immediate concern on his mother’s face. Kade moved through the small group and pulled her into a tight embrace.
He smiled at the way her head barely reached his chest. “We’ll be fine, Ma,” he assured her as she squeezed him tightly.
“Did we say or do something?” she asked, tilting her head back to look up at him. “You know how much I love having Kadina and you around the house.”
“It’s just time. That’s all,” replied Kade. “That’s the only reason.”
Her eyes searched his for a few moments before she hugged him one last time and nodded her head in understanding. Then she stepped back from him.
Kaeden stepped forward to playfully punch Kade’s arm. “My big brother just wants to get back to normal, right?”
Kade nodded. “Right,” he agreed. “Now I want to say…especially while you’re all here,” Kade continued, giving each of his brothers a long and meaningful stare. “I’m not ready for this to become a bachelor pad, with women coming in and out of here quicker than cars at a drive-thru window.”
Each of the brothers nodded in understanding, and Kade hoped they truly did understand. His eyes took in that comfortable and loving way Bianca massaged his brother’s back, and he glanced away. He hated to admit to the jealousy he felt about their intimacy.
“Well, who’s gonna help you with Kadina?” Lisha asked. “Getting her ready for school when you’re already up and at the ranch. Her hair. Her meals.”
Bianca pulled a rubber band from the back pocket of her jeans and gathered her hair into a ponytail. “I agree, Kade. You’re going to need help. So much of your time is wrapped up in the ranch.”
Kade held up his hand before his mother could even let the offer flow from her lips. “Thanks, Ma, but no thanks. Dad has just about retired, and it’s time you do the same. You two should buy that camper and travel, the way you always said you would.”
“He can hire a nanny,” Kaeden offered.
“Oh God, and wind up on the six o’clock news, with all the weirdos in the world today?” Lisha retorted.
“Yes, make me have to catch a case, Kade,” Kaitlyn added.
“I’m not saying go find any jackrabbit on the street,” Kaeden countered. “There are many reputable agencies that thoroughly screen their employees.”
“Oh, like the Catholic Church?” Kaitlyn flung back.
Kade released a heavy breath as nearly his entire family began a full-blown debate on the pros and cons of hiring a nanny. He loved his family. He cherished them, but…they could be overwhelming at times.
He slid his hands into the pockets of his Dickies and shook his head a bit as he looked heavenward and licked his lips.
“I have just the solution for you, brother-in-law,” said Bianca.
Kade lowered his eyes and then looked into Bianca’s smiling face. “Give it to me, sister-in-law.”
“Garcelle,” she said simply, with a subtle lift of her rounded shoulders.
“Garcelle?” asked Kade.
“Garcelle,” she said again, with finality.
Kade squinted his eyes as he thought of Garcelle.
Having worked the last couple of years as Kahron and Bianca’s part-time cook and housekeeper, Garcelle Santos had already proven herself to be trustworthy and loyal. She was the daughter of Kahron’s foreman—someone else who had proven to be a valuable asset to his brother’s business. And although Kade had treated the woman with suspicion and some disdain during their first meeting, he had come to see just how very wrong he was.
Kadina already loved Garcelle. Everyone did. She was more of a family friend than an employee. She was perfect for Kadina.
Kade nodded. “Garcelle,” he stated, with equal finality.
“Good,” Bianca agreed, with a wink, before turning and walking back to the rest of the family.
Garcelle. Yes, she is just what I need, thought Kade.
The seemingly innocent thought startled him. He shook his head as if to clear it. I mean she’s just what Kadina needs, he corrected himself before stepping forward to rejoin his family.
Live And Learn
Prologue
Ladies
“Check this bitch out.”
Three more pairs of eyes in varying shades of brown immediately darted like bullets to the feet of their unknowing victim. The woman sashayed by their table in the crowded nightclub with her head held high, unaware of their catty criticism and disdainful looks.
“Pay- less ,” the four friends sang in mocking unison, distaste obvious on their faces as they thought of the national shoe store specializing in low-end footwear. It was one chain of stores they wouldn’t dare frequent.
When it came to fashion, they searched for only the best labels: Gucci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Armani, and Dolce & Gabbana—just to name drop a few. Fresh hairdos and nails were weekly necessities. And when it came to the men who flittered in and out of their lives with the longevity of a lit match, only those who could afford their taste got a second look: celebrities, athletes, and wealthy warriors of the streets who had blown up like a keg of TNT. Unless he had that “turn your straight roots nappy” kind of sex that the women enjoyed. But those sex-you-down brothas didn’t get any of their real time—just late night calls to supply them with a nut, if their more financially set man at the moment couldn’t do the job.
Alizé, Moët, “Dom” Perignon and Cristal—a.k.a. Monica Winters, Latoya James, Keesha Lands, and Danielle Johnson, respectively—were four childhood friends. They were sisters without the blood lineage with plenty of lessons to learn.
Chapter One
“Whassup y’all? I’m Alizé.”
I’m anything but a morning person, especially this particular morning. Rah’s king-sized water bed felt too damn good, and my body felt hella bad. A late night of drinking, partying, and then having sex until three in the morning will do that to you.
Last night my girls and I all met up at Lex’s apartment—that’s Dom’s boyfriend—to celebrate his twenty-fifth birthday. Whoo! We got so tore up off Henny—ahem, Hennessey—that I didn’t want to see any more liquor for a minute. I could feel the effects of it all up and through my body. Trust.
There was no way I was ready to face the world yet, but I had a ten o’clock class.
Trying like hell not to wake my man up, I eased up the arm he had over my waist. I couldn’t do nothing but roll my eyes when he stirred in his sleep and tried to hold me tighter. Rah and I were cool. We were basically happy with each other, but when I wasn’t in the mood to fuck, I just wasn’t—in—the—mood—to—fuck. Too bad I couldn’t get his ass to understand that.
“Rah, I gotta get up. Move.”
He shifted closer to me and pressed what I hoped was a piss hard against my bare ass. “Where you goin’?” he asked, his voice full of sleep and his morning breath reaching me like a slap in the face. His hand rose to tease my nipple as he started kissing my shoulder.
Now I was wishing like hell that I’d gone home to my mom’s and not spent the night at his apartment. My own mother wasn’t this aggravating, and she was Mrs. Persistence with an extra large, extra tall, big and bold-ass capital P . My daddy swears it’s one of the main reasons they got divorced. I couldn’t front on my father; my mother could be hell to reckon with.
But let me repeat, when I wasn’t in the mood to fuck, there wasn’t shit anybody could do to get me in the mood.
I shifted his hand from my breast, but he just moved it down to lift my leg up to play in my moistness. “Rah, I gotta go to class. Let me up.”
I was a senior at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, majoring in business finance. I loved money and all of the nice things it bought, so my major was an easy choice for me. Oh, trust, I’m a sistah with a plan when it comes to my career. I will graduate this May and then take full benefit of my two-month summer internship at one of the top investment firms in the country. Then in the fall it will be back to the grind at ole SHU to work on the all-important MBA—Master of Business Administration to some and More Banking of Assets to me.
I’m headed to the top of the corporate ladder with my MBA in one hand and my Gucci briefcase in the other as I take no prisoners and accept no shorts. I’m going to be part of the next wave of African-American women bursting through the glass ceiling. My name will be on Fortune magazine’s Fifty Most Powerful Black Executives. Black Enterprise magazine will do a spotlight on me and my rise to the top. I ain’t playing.
One thing I know about myself: if I set a goal I will reach it. Anyone not with my program can either ride with me or get run the fuck over. Period.
“Skip class.”
See, that
ain’t part of my program.
“Roll over, baby,” he moaned against my neck as his hand rose again to claim my breast. Neither my body, mind, nor spirit was in the mood.
See, money is power, and right now Rah was thinking—whether he said it or not—that he was the money man in the relationship, so he could get this pussy whenever he wanted.
He thought wrong.
I turned on my back and looked up into his fine face with “the look”—a mix of faked sadness and regret that gets ’em every time. Trust. “Baby, I wish I had time, but I’m running late and I have a big test today that I can’t miss,” I lied with ease. “You know I get sleepy after sex.”
Rah pulled me atop him and slapped my ass with a quick kiss to my cheek. “Get goin’ ’fore I change my mind.”
I felt like a prisoner who got a “get out of jail free” card. I didn’t hesitate to roll out of bed and dash into the bathroom.
I literally jumped back at my reflection in the mirror. I looked like a cross between Don King and a raccoon with my thick shoulder-length hair all tangled and sticking up over my head. There were telling circles under my redrimmed eyes that didn’t look good at all against my bronzed cinnamon complexion. Drool was dried on my face.
Too much partying. Too much drinking. Too much damn fun. And it showed big-time.
After a long hot shower, a facial, a few eye drops, and getting rid of the tangles in my hair with a ventilated brush, I felt a little better. I could only shake my head at the condition of my hair. Even though I’d just been for my weekly appointment to the hairdresser yesterday, I would be on my cell at nine sharp making an appointment for later today. There’s no way I’m sporting a dang-on ponytail all weekend.
Looking and dressing my best was important to me. See, my girls and I always made sure we stepped out of the house with our shit together from our hairdos to our Jimmy Choo shoes. This was a must.
Make You Mine Page 27