by Edwina Fort
“You let me worry about your brother. You just sign on the dotted line and I will handle the rest.” My bottom lip fell prey to my teeth again.
His handling the rest was what I was worried about. Rome could be thick-headed. To protect his family, he would put his own life on the line. He would not see this as a sweet deal, me agreeing to be Joseph’s mistress in exchange for him staying out of prison. He would see this as an insult. He’s going to feel as if Joseph is coming at him.
My brother is a lion, who was used to being the alpha male of his pack. But what had I gone out and done? I attracted another lion that was quite obviously very used to being the alpha male of his pack, an older lion. This would not end well. Two alphas cannot co-exist. One always ended up destroying the other.
“See? I told you to let me do the worrying, but instead you’ve decided to try and destroy your pretty lip again.” As he spoke he brought his big hand up and palmed my neck. His gaze had fallen on my mouth with a look so hungry that I was momentarily paralyzed.
“Why are you being so rough with your sexy mouth?” he whispered as he gently pulled my head closer to his. When his tongue gently lapped at my lip teasing it, a shiver went through my body that felt like electricity. I gasped and he took advantage deepening the kiss.
The spasm that shot through my center was almost painful.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to taste your sweetness again. Your flavor stayed on my tongue taunting me.” As he spoke his hand tightened on my neck just a bit, turning my head in a way that exposed my throat completely to him. I squeezed my eyes shut when I felt him scandalously lick up my neck with his tongue.
“So sweet,” he whispered before his mouth became aggressive. I squeezed my eyes and my legs shut tighter.
Oh man! He was breaking me down, awakening a hunger in me that I wasn’t aware I could feel without a few shots of tequila in my system.
“Now, baby. I’m going to need you to be a good girl and sign this contract okay?” I nodded. Hell, what else could I do? The man had me thinking with the primal parts of my body. With hands that shook, I took the pen from him and signed next to the X.
The smile that came upon his face had to be the same one the devil wore when he got somebody to sign away their soul.
“Perfect!” He whispered before he was kissing me again. At some point he pulled me out of my chair and into his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck drawing him closer. One thing I can say about Joseph…He is a damned good kisser.
A loud crash came from in the living room, followed by several more crashes. It sounded like a brawl had broken out.
“Rome! No!” My mother yelled.
Joseph moved so fast it took me a minute to realize he had stood, set me on my feet, and was out the room. After checking to make sure the noise didn’t wake Ayana, I hurried behind him. What I saw nearly made my knees collapse from under me.
One of the agents who had been holding Rome was knocked out cold on the kitchen floor. Another one of the agents sat against the wall with blood running down his nose looking dazed. Rome, still in handcuffs had his legs wrapped around another one’s neck and was using them to strangle the man. The agent who had gone in my room earlier to get Ayana was on the floor grappling with Rob, who had somehow slipped out his handcuffs. The female agent stood pointing her gun between Rob and Rome yelling for them to stop before she was forced to shoot. My mother stood next to her weeping, begging her not to shoot her babies.
But what was absolutely terrifying was the look on Joseph’s face as he walked towards Rome while reaching into his shoulder holster to pull out his gun.
“Release my agent before I put a bullet in your head.” He growled as he brought the gun to rest against Rome’s temple. My brother, biting down on his teeth applied more pressure to the agent’s neck.
“I will break this mutha f****s neck!” He snarled back at him.
“And I will shoot you dead. Don’t try me!”
“Rome, please let him go.” I cried falling to my knees next to him. Seeing Joseph holding that gun to his head was tearing me apart on the inside. Rome looked up at me.
“Are you alright?” I nodded as tears began to run down my face.
“Please, let him go. Rome, please!” He looked up at Joseph and their rage filled gazes clashed before he released the agent, who instantly started gasping for breath. It was the same agent who had choked him earlier.
Joseph straightened, returning his pistol to its holster.
“Move back, Journey!” He growled before he reached down and snatched Rome up off the ground. I frowned as I stepped back, watching as he took my brother’s handcuffs off.
“You sure you want to do that, pretty boy?” Rome asked as a look of savage anticipation settled over his face. Joseph didn’t say a word. I could see he was pissed by the look of rage on his face. When he had the handcuffs off, he took a few steps back giving Rome some space as he took off his jacket and carefully hung it on the pantry doorknob.
Amazingly as if it was some hidden code that only the men understood, the agents and even Rob began to clear the furniture out of the dining room kitchen area. Each of them had the look of anticipation on their faces as they prepared to see a good fight.
This was unreal. If I wasn’t standing here witnessing it with my own eyes I would have never believed this was happening. This was disgusting. The look on my face was reflected on the face of my mother and the female agent who still looked a little shaken by how fast things had gotten out of hand.
Rome began to rotate his big shoulders, “I don’t think you want to do this, old man.” Jo chuckled.
“I figure we might as well get this over with. Whether you like it or not, young blood, I’m here to stay. And there can only be one chief in this tribe. So, let’s find out today who that’s going to be.” A look of pure satisfaction came over Rome’s face.
Oh wow! This was not good. Remember I told y’all earlier that it was impossible for two male lions to co-exist? Well, the showdown had come a lot sooner than I had imagined. I didn’t know much about Joseph’s fighting skills, but Rome was a seventh-degree black belt in Judi Shu and Taekwondo. He was also skilled in Capoeira.
“You two need to stop this right now!” My mother cried.
“Step back, Mrs. Reevers, try not to worry. After today, we will never have to do this again.” Joseph said as he took off his watch sliding it in his pocket. I gently pulled my mother back out of the kitchen. At this point even the female agent had stepped back.
This thing was getting ready to happen.
Rome moved first, it looked as if he was going to charge Joseph only to dip down in a sweep at the last minute. Joseph jumped in the air avoiding the sweep coming down with a kick that Rome barely avoided. He rolled out of the way coming to his feet and I could tell in his eyes that he just realized Joseph was no lightweight.
“What’s the matter, little brother? Just realized the game has gotten realer than your little black belt?” Joseph asked him before he swiftly charged Rome, doing some kind of maneuver with his body that sent my brother flying over his head to land hard on the ground. Rome jumped up steaming mad.
Jo smiled as he undid his tie, sliding it off. Then just as calmly, he unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt, revealing the pair of dog tags I remembered from the night we made love. And as if they were just playing a friendly game of basketball, he rolled up his sleeves. I tilted my head seeing Jo in a new light.
He had always come across as the distinguished gentlemen to me. But now, with his tie off and the buttons opened on his shirt showing his dog tags, a shoulder holster that hugged his massive shoulders and sleeves rolled up over well-muscled forearms… Wow! He came across as something of a brute.
He even had a tattoo on his left forearm that I didn’t remember seeing that night.
“Yo, I think that’s a Navy Seal tattoo.” Rob whispered elbowing me in the side.
“What does that mean?” I asked him as
Rome held up his fists.
Oh, did I fail to mention that my brother also held a heavyweight belt for underground boxing here in Chicago? I’ve heard him and Rob talking about it being his strong suit. However, the look on Rob’s face left me feeling uneasy.
“It means they put a suit on a goon…your brother is about to get his ass handed to him.” The female agent supplied without looking away from the fight that had just gotten real.
It looked like the men had settled on boxing. After about five minutes, it became clear that Jo was toying with Rome. At first, it looked like they were going blow for blow. But then Jo’s phone rang, and he did quick work at ending the fight. Rome swung at him with a hay maker. Jo ducked, delivering a crushing blow to Rome’s ribs.
We all flinched. There was going to be damage. He came right back with a jab that seemed to stun my brother before coming up with an uppercut that took Rome off his feet. The fight was over.
“Sorry, buddy.” Jo spoke, looking down at him as he rolled down his sleeves. “I’ve run out of play time. Listen, we’re going to have to wrap this up. I need to get back to D.C.” He took his coat off the doorknob and put it back on over his massive shoulders.
“Karen has three contracts for you guys. I need you all to carefully read them over and sign them.” He looked at my mother and his voice gentled. “Of course, Mrs. Reevers, your contract is different from your sons’. Yours is mostly a confidentiality agreement.”
“Man, we ain’t signing sh*t.” Rome said from where he still lay on the floor clutching his ribs that I was pretty sure were broken. Rob, my mother, and I helped him to sit up. For a moment, Jo’s eyes fell on me and it looked as if he was angry at me for helping my brother.
“Journey sweetheart, you need to go pack whatever you can carry of yours and Ayana’s belongings. We need to go. I’ll send someone to get the rest of your things later.” His voice was mild, but I could hear his anger in the undertone. Rome, Rob, and my mother stiffened as they turned to look at me. My face got heated as my emotions began to scramble like my thoughts. I was such an emotional wreck, the lump increased in my throat.
“What is he talking about?” Rome growled. I opened my mouth to answer him, but Jo cut me off.
“Journey, now!” I stood, the authority in his voice brooked no argument.
“I’ll explain everything to you guys later.” I told them with a shaky voice as I turned to head into my room.
“Do something, Romeo.” I heard my mother say before Rome called after me.
“Journey, stop!” I stopped because all my life my brother has been the boss. It was in my very DNA to obey him. But my DNA was changing. It appeared as if there was a new boss in town. I turned to face them, but the look on Jo’s face got my feet moving again.
Tears came to my eyes. “I’m so sorry y’all, please forgive me for this. I’ll explain everything to you later.” My heart was broken. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I was being torn away from my family.
“You think I’m going to let you get away with this?” I heard my brother hiss at Jo as I stood in the middle of my room with my hand over my mouth, holding in my cry. The knot in my throat was so big that I was having a hard time breathing around it.
“You will do exactly what this contract states.” Jo returned speaking to him in that calm tone that made him appear civil, when the truth was he was a goon in a suit just like the female agent said.
“To deviate either to the left or right will find you serving hard time. That little touch up you did on your boy Milo’s record alone will get you sent away for life. There ain’t nothing the United States Government hates more than some little punk hacker who thinks he’s smarter than he really is.”
What? With hands that shook I hurriedly packed Ayana’s main essentials in her diaper bag. What the world was Jo talking about? Rome was a drug dealer, he was no hacker.
“Now do your family a favor, read and sign the damn contract.”
“I won’t let you get away with this.” I heard Rome mumble. “You got a problem on your hands. That’s my word. You got a real problem on your hands.”
A few minutes later, my mother came into the room with tears in her eyes and quietly shut the door behind her. Without saying a word, she pulled out my suitcase and began to help me pack.
My limbs felt weak with grief. I silently wept as I stuffed as many diapers as I could in the bag.
“Baby.” My mama cried before she wrapped her arms around me. I collapsed against her and let go.
“Shh!” She said as she rubbed my head. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get through this. Shh!”
“I’m scared, mama.” Lowering my head, I couldn’t even look her in the eye. I hated being the reason my mother was crying. She shook her head drying her eyes.
“No, don’t be, you going to be alright. God gon’ make a way for us. But right now, you have to do what you have to do. We all do. I don’t know what Romeo is into. But it’s not what we thought it was. Baby, he into some serious stuff. Whatever it is he be doing on those computers upstairs is what brought this down on us. If not for that, that man would have no leverage on us.” She pushed my locs behind my ears.
“But don’t worry, you know your brother. He’s going to fix this. Sit tight baby, he’s going to fix this.” I nodded as I dried my tears. She was right, Rome will fix this.
Chapter Four
Welcome Home
Journey
Hugging my mother goodbye was the hardest thing I had to do in a long time. I tried to imagine it was like the time I left for school, but the truth was, it wasn’t. I hugged Rob and then threw myself into Rome’s arms. He flinched.
“Sorry,” I mumbled forgetting about his ribs. Tears came to my eyes.
“Naw, don’t worry about it, I’m alright. I promise, I’m going to take care of this. Okay?” I nodded. Poor Rome. He’s had the weight of the family on his shoulders since our dad died when I was five and he twelve.
“We have to go.” Jo’s deep voice came from where he stood at my door with Ayana in his arms. The other agents had already left with my bags. Rome’s gaze was full of hate when he looked up at Jo.
“Don’t do this, man. This my baby sista.” He tried to reason with him, but because he spoke the words through clinched teeth, it sounded more like the threat it really was.
“Yeah, she’s your baby sister. But she’s also the mother of my child, which now makes her my responsibility.” I nearly jumped when he reached down and took my hand pulling me away from my brother to stand next to him. With his fist balled, Rome walked right up to him and got in his face. I squeezed Jo’s hand, not wanting them to start fighting again.
He didn’t even bat an eye. It was like he was daring Rome to open that can again.
“Mine!” He growled, just in case the younger man didn’t understand him the first time.
“Come on Romeo, now ain’t the time.” My mother said putting her hand on my brother’s chest trying to push him back. At first, he didn’t move. In his gaze was a promise of retribution.
“Like I said earlier, Romeo.” Jo said his name with a slight smirk on his face, intentionally riling him up. The muscle in my brother’s cheek twitched. He hated that name, always have, which was why he told people to call him Rome.
“Get used to me. I’m not going anywhere.” Jo continued quietly before he turned to look at my mother bowing his head slightly. “Have a good evening, Ms. Reevers. I regret we had to meet this way.” He looked at Rob.
“Keep your hands clean, kid.” And then with my hand firmly in his, he turned and walked out the door.
I looked back at my family through a blur of tears. My mother put her hand that slightly shook to her lips and blew me a kiss.
Joseph
If I was a decent man, I would not rip her out of her family’s arms like this. It was clear they were a close unit, with young Romeo being at the very center, the glue that held them all together. Maybe if I knew what fa
mily love felt like, I would have some compassion, but then again, maybe not. Journey was mine and I had zero tolerance for anybody that saw it differently. She tried to take her hand from me once we reached the bottom of the stairs in her building, but I didn’t let her. In fact, I pulled her closer.
Baker and Michaels both waited for us downstairs at the truck. As soon as they saw me they held their heads down. They should be ashamed. They’d let a little punk kid civilian get the best of them.
“Boss, about what happened upstairs—” Baker began, but I raised my hand cutting him off.
“We’ll discuss it later. I assume you were able to assemble the car seat correctly. I mean it didn’t get the best of you, did it?”
“No sir, the car seat is assembled.” Michaels muttered.
“Good,” I let Journey’s hand go to secure my daughter in the seat. I was pleased that they put it in by the right-side passenger door, which meant Journey was going to have to ride next to me in the middle. When she got in she scooted over as close to Ayana as she could get. I slid in the seat next to her as Baker and Michaels climbed in the front.
As soon as we pulled off she leaned her head against the car seat where she silently wept. I looked down at her and for the life of me, I couldn’t strum up an ounce of guilt for what I’d just done. She was so beautiful. Her royal essence called out to me like nothing else ever did. It had since the first day I walked into my father’s office and saw her standing there next to the file cabinet dressed to kill in a pair of burgundy high-heel boots and an African print wrap skirt.
Her long, soft locs fell down her back to kiss the top of a nice, round behind that gave me an instant erection. To me in that moment, she embodied the exclusive beauty that only a black woman can carry. Everything about her said she was proud of who she was and how she had been born to look. And it was something about that pride, that confidence…about the way she wore her uniqueness that called out to me.
That was the first time since I was boy that a woman had ever caused my mouth to water. She became my obsession. The more she ran from me, the more I wanted her, until I found myself thinking about her all the time. She was a yellow dot in a sea of grey.