by Reana Malori
Confidence filled Dredd’s tone, “Yes. I’m positive.”
With a nod in her friend’s direction, Terra continued, “Who has him handled? Because I need to make sure he doesn’t bother us again. Who gave you this information?”
Glancing away for a second, Dredd took a deep breath and faced her friend. “You know who gave it to me, Terra.”
“Then I need him to take care of it. We’ve been through too much shit in the last two years for this to be forgiven. He almost ruined us. Our dream. Our livelihood. This cannot be brushed under the rug. If Bao cannot take care of the trash in his family, I’ll have someone do it.”
“He’s got it, Terra,” Dredd snapped.
Staring at her friend, Terra softened her gaze. “See that he does.” This wasn’t Dredd’s fault. None of this was their fault. They’d bought a casino and wanted to create something good. That someone tried to tear them down wasn’t a surprise, but it still pissed her off.
Glancing over at Damian, who stood there not saying a word, she smiled shyly. Although she’d been yelling at him earlier, he knew she wasn’t really mad at him. It was the situation. One that now seemed to be under control. Which, in turn, made her heart hurt. Was he already thinking of his upcoming departure? Could she convince him to stay? Was she strong enough to even ask the question?
Standing from her desk, she walked over to Damian as he stood by the large window. When he looked down at her, she could feel the intensity of his gaze. There was no doubt he was going to make her pay for her nasty behavior tonight when they were alone. A shiver coursed through her body at the vision of exactly what that punishment would be. The two of them stood side-by-side for a few minutes as her three friends argued over who exactly Damian had bought a gift for.
“You didn’t deserve my anger earlier.”
There was no indication he’d heard her until he spoke. “No, I didn’t.”
“I just want this behind us. Now that we’ve figured out who the people on the inside were who were trying to make us fail, we can turn things around.” Except for the one thing that mattered.
“You would have figured it out on your own soon enough, but I’m glad you know.”
“Yo!” Dylan called out to them, her head tilted back on the chair. “You two finished making googly eyes at each other?”
“Fuck you, Dylan,” Terra said in a huff. There was no real heat behind her words, though.
“Maybe tomorrow, snookums. Now that the little lovefest is over, Dredd has something else to tell us.”
Terra went to the chairs and sat down next to Dredd. Dylan and Emmaline were each in a chair of their own. Damian stayed near the window, observing the group in silence, as he often did.
“So, we may have a lead on Milley,” she announced. “My friend, um, he was able to track down some activity on her. The trail went cold about six months ago.”
“Well, fuck. What good is that going to do us now?” Emmaline interjected. Usually the quiet one, when she did get angry, there was often a trail of bodies left in her wake. “I want this bitch caught and I want her taken down.” Her eyes were hard with anger and the need for revenge. And that was the Emmaline she knew and loved.
But honestly, they all felt it. It was like a two-ton elephant in the room. The need for this to be over clawed at each of them, for different reasons, she was sure. After everything they’d been through, having Milley out there free and doing her thing while they worked their asses off to keep this place afloat didn’t sit well with any of them.
“Damian, what can you do to pick up where Dredd’s person left off?” Terra knew she was treading into dangerous waters. They all knew who—and what—Damian was, but none of them dared say it out loud.
Especially when the man put his life on hold to come down to the Mississippi Delta to help with their shit.
“Is that what you really want? I thought you’d made it clear that you wanted to handle that situation differently. Without my…special brand of assistance. Have you changed your mind?”
“I have,” yelled Dredd. “If she won’t take you up on your offer, I sure as fuck will.”
Dylan laughed as she stood up from the chair, “No, you just want to keep your own secrets and not go to your man for help. But I know you, Dredd. No matter how much you try to run and hide, Bao LaCroix will come for you. Might as well stop running, girl.”
Emmaline glanced at both Damian and Terra, giving them a head nod as she made her way to the door. “Yeah, you know it’s true Dredd. The two of you think you’re hiding it so well, but you’re not. Anyway, I have my own shit to deal with, so I’m not messing with you about yours. And you better watch your own back, Dylan, because your ass has secrets, too. Looks like Terra is the only one whose shit is out in the open…well, sort of.”
Even Terra was questioning Dredd’s behavior. That she was willing to give up this lead was odd enough. Considering she was also asking that Bao not handle it all the way to the end, and bring Milley back, was even stranger. Everyone knew Bao was deep in the underworld and could take care of things—and people—that others couldn’t even get close to. Terra knew there was something up.
Emmaline looked down at her phone, a slight smile tilting her lips up as she began furiously typing something on the small screen. Dylan stood up as well and cut her eyes at Emma before making her way across the floor to the door as well.
Dredd was still sputtering about Dylan calling her out the way she had. “Yeah? Well, whatever, Dylan. We all know Bao just wants me naked and lying on his bed twenty-four hours a day. What kind of shit is that?” Not waiting for an answer, she continued. “The man refuses to get the hint that I’m not going out like that.”
All three women looked at each other after Dredd’s little outburst and laughed. Their loud guffaws filled the room and tears fell down their faces. “Okay, keep telling yourself that he’s the one not understanding how it is between the two of you,” Terra said after a few moments. “That man has made his intentions known from day one and you know you feel the same. Dylan’s right, it’s time you stop running.”
Dylan and Emma both exited the office with a wave, closing the door behind them. The sound of their laughter could be heard in the office long after they left. Dredd stomped over to stand in front of Damian, her hands resting on her hips.
“So, how about I have the information about Milley sent over to your people? If you can take it from here that would be, well…perfect.” Nodding her head, she turned to Terra and blew her a kiss. “Talk later, sweets.”
“I’ll have to speak with the people who pulled this together if I have questions,” Damian’s clipped voice called out to Dredd. His eyes formed in slits as he stared at Dredd’s quickly retreating form.
Before Terra could question her more about her willingness to hand this over to Damian, Dredd threw up deuces and bounded out the door. “I’ll have it delivered to your hotel room.”
Turning to Damian with a scowl on her face, she glared at him as he stood there with no expression on his face. “Okay, spill it. What do you know?”
“I don’t know anything and don’t want to know. Whatever Dredd is involved in, she can handle it. If she needs my help, she’ll let me know.”
“But what if she doesn’t ask? Dredd has done some shit in her past that she’s not proud of. Gotten mixed up with some people who were no good for her. Done some things that I’d rather not speak into the air since those crimes are still unsolved.” At his raised eyebrow, she waved her hand at him as if to brush away the words. “I just want to make sure she’s protected. Bao LaCroix will do anything to protect her, even if she doesn’t see what she means to him. She’ll fight him tooth and nail just to prove a point.”
Gravitating toward her man, she walked into his open arms and laid her head on his chest. Inhaling his unique scent, she could feel her body responding to his smell. The memory of waking up next to him that morning flooded through her mind. “Do you want to sneak away and play hoo
ky?”
Her feelings for Damian were becoming deeper than she had ever expected. Especially after being apart from one another all these years. For so long, she had been on her own, depending on only herself. But now that Damian was around, she found herself leaning toward his quiet intensity. He’d showed up in her life just when she needed him. And what he brought with him was the power to help her get through some of the darkest days.
Although she had known him as a young girl, she never actually thought they’d get to this moment. So many obstacles had been thrown in their way when they were growing up. To have him here with her now—sent to her by her father, no less—was extremely unexpected.
Damian looked down at her, a small smile on his face. “What are you thinking about?”
“I'm thinking about the two of us. How we got here. To this moment.”
The smile hovering on his lips went away. “This is a good thing, right?”
God, yes. “It is. Did you ever expect us to be here, right here, right now?”
“Baby, I always knew we’d be here. I never doubted that eventually, you’d be in my arms.”
“But you never said anything.” Maybe if she’d heard from him more when they were growing up, the distance between them wouldn’t have grown so wide. And when he showed up, she wasn’t in the mood to hear anything he had to say. She was still too angry and hurt by what happened when they were younger. Her feelings for him were irrational, to say the least. She blamed him for things outside of his control and felt betrayed when he didn’t respond to her anger the way she expected.
“I didn't think I needed to. You should have known. Everything I’ve done since that first day has shown you how much I want you. That I need you back in my life. Did you really need the words, Terra?”
She knew exactly what he was referring to. The chemistry between them. He'd been drawn to her, just as she’d been pulled to him. It had been that way since day one and had rekindled immediately when she’d seen him again, even before she knew who he was.
All those years ago, no matter how many times her father warned her to stay away from that Blake boy, she couldn't help herself. Every time the families did business together, she found her way into the room or the vicinity where Damian would be hanging out. Nothing could have kept her away from him back then, but that was years ago. Now there was a lifetime of bad decisions and hundreds of miles between them.
“I just don't know if this will work. We don't live in the same city. Hell, we don’t even live in the same state.” Sadness was creeping its way into their moment and her heart began to hurt.
Lifting her chin with his finger, he gave her a light kiss on the lips. “I've never let anything like state lines stop me from doing what I wanted to do.”
His deep laughter rang out in the room. “Sweetheart, that’s just a blip. Me going to DC is like going to work every day. Don’t let that be the reason you turn me away. Not this time. This time, there are no parents to force me. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. And I choose you. I always have. Life has given me…us…a second chance. I’m not walking away from this. I don’t care what that means.” All mirth had left his face and she could see in his eyes that he meant every word.
“I love you, Damian.”
His intake of breath caused those pesky butterflies in her stomach to take flight. Had her confession truly shocked him? Was that happiness? Fear?
“Sweetheart, I’ve never stopped loving you. I thought I had to give up on you. Your father said I was a lost cause. Said if I stepped to you wrong, it’d be my last mistake.”
She heard him chuckle as he held her, his chest moving up and down. She was equal parts horrified that her dad threatened him and happy that he was here in spite of it. “He’s a big ol’ teddy bear. Don’t worry about him.”
“Sweetheart, do you know your father?”
At that thought, she laughed. She knew him better than anyone would ever know.
Shrugging her shoulders, she looked at him. “Babe, the question should be, do you know me? Plus, I’ve never feared anything in my life.” Which was a damn lie, because the one thing that scared the hell out of her more than anything, was Damian walking out of her life one day and not coming back.
She wasn’t ready to deal with that. Not now. Not ever.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Wrapping his arms tight around her waist, Damian pulled her closer to him. “Don't worry about how we'll make this work. We will.” Having her in his arms felt too damn good. He would never give her up again.
“Damian it's only been a few weeks. I don't know if what we feel now is just temporary.”
He knew she was dealing with a lot, but the shit she was saying was pissing him off. Did she really still doubt how he felt about her?
“You know better than that, Terra. I’m not sure why that thought even entered your head. It's taken us more than twenty years to get to this moment. Do you really think this is only temporary?”
Shaking her head back and forth, she continued to hold onto him as they stood talking about their relationship.
He knew this was a moment for them. Either they’d get to the next phase of their relationship, or he’d have to start this journey all over again. He was okay with starting from one and convincing his woman all over again how much he loved her. But, honestly, he wanted to get past the Doubting-Thomas phase and move right to the getting-married-and-making-babies phase. If his crew could see him now, they’d laugh in his face and call him a pussy. He didn’t give a shit.
The only things that mattered right now were fixing Terra’s issue and putting a big-ass diamond ring on her finger. Even her father had given him his blessing—in his own fucked up way.
“You hurt my girl, cheat on her, make her cry, or in any way make her regret finally choosing your crazy ass, I will kill you.”
“And if any of things were to happen, I would deserve it. I love your daughter. Always have. That hasn’t changed in all this time. I don’t think it’ll change if some bitch with a big ass and fake tits walks up to me.”
Winston Dupree took a sip of his cognac as he stared at Damian. An involuntary shudder went through his body as he watched the older man take a drink. How the man could still drink that shit was beyond him. But, from what he could remember, he’d drank it ever since he’d known him. Hell, his own father had taken to keeping a bottle in the house. Whenever he talked to his old friend on the phone or reminisced about home, he’d pour himself a glass.
“Does she know who you are?” Mrs. Angela Dupree was the one who asked that question. Still a very beautiful woman at her age, Damian wasn’t fooled by her elegant façade one bit. This was one woman who’d ordered the deaths of many a person who’d crossed her, her husband, or her children. That he’d been the bringer of justice on a few of those occasions only served to solidify his respect for the slight woman sitting on the edge of her husband’s leather chair.
“No, but she will. I won’t hide it from her. Does she know who you are?” Brazen, yes, but he needed to understand just how far things had gone.
The couple looked at each other and smiled. As they held each other’s gaze, Damian recognized the look of two people who shared secrets no one else would be privy to. Ever. His parents shared that same look plenty of times, so he knew it well.
Winston spoke this time around. “Son, our daughter is the absolute best of her mother and me. Her entire life, that girl has never ceased to amaze us. For a long while, we were worried about her because we didn’t what was going on in her head. And then we figured it out. Not only did she get her mother’s beauty and intelligence…” he smiled at his wife sitting next to him, “…but she got my street sense. Only thing was, in Terra, it seemed amplified. She took what we were and stepped it up a few notches.”
Mrs. Dupree stepped in. “Terra is stubborn as the day is long and will only give an inch when she’s ready. You will not force her to bend to you. She’ll fight you tooth and nail until she thinks
you’re worthy, and even then, she’ll probably tell you that you ain’t shit and flip you the middle finger.”
They all laughed to their own memory of Terra’s special brand of temper. “However, there’s one thing you should know, our Princess has two weaknesses. Those three friends of hers are like her sisters. Her father and I, and her brother…well, her love for us is different. She didn’t have a choice in picking us. But those three, well, they all chose each other. They found kindred spirits in each other and she will do anything for them, even miss the signs that told her not to buy a rundown casino in the middle of the Mississippi Delta.”
“And what’s the other one?” Now he was curious. Terra had a weakness?
“You,” her mother said with a smile.
Damian sat frozen in his chair. Him? How? The confusion he felt on the inside must have been reflected on his face, based on the next words from Mrs. Dupree.
“The only time we saw Terra absolutely lose her shit was when you left. She became this other person. Our child had turned into…hell, I don’t know how to describe it. But let me tell you this—when you left, she changed. If I’d met her back in the day, I would have steered clear. She never went back to the person she was when you were here. She was colder, more ruthless. Not with us, of course—”
“Yeah, ’cause that shit wasn’t flying in my house,” her father interjected with a scowl.
“As I was saying, her family was one thing, but others outside of our family felt her wrath on many occasions. Until she went to college and met Dredd, Emmaline, and Dylan. And when this situation happened with Milley St. James, we saw the old Terra. The ruthless girl who’s more willing to cut your throat than to shake your hand.”
“Damn proud of my baby.” He heard her father whisper.
“You would be. Crazy-ass man,” the older woman said, cutting her eyes at the man smiling next to her. Turning her attention back to Damian, she continued. “So, you go on down there to Gulfport and you help our daughter find out what’s going on with her hotel. Then you help her get vengeance against the woman who harmed her sisters. You’re the only one she’ll let close enough to help her.” Standing up, she rubbed her husband’s shoulder and walked over to him. Her smile was soft, but he could still see the killer behind her eyes.