“You sound happy.” I sighed. “I’m jealous.”
She laughed again. “Of my cousins?”
“No. Of the way they make you feel. I want to the be the one you come to when you want to relax with a drink and a smile.” I wanted her to need to hear my voice after a long day as much as I needed to hear hers.
“You make me happy in a different way,” she said quietly. “I come to you when I want to feel like … me.”
The smile that crept onto my face with her words was enough to get me home safely. Dakota and I talked the entire time, just like we often did. In a sense this past year had felt like we were in a long-distance relationship. We did more texting and talking on the phone than being in each other’s presence. The bright side of that was that it brought us closer. We had truly become good friends, sharing things we’d never shared with anyone else before, not even our siblings. That was only one reason I knew she was my person, my heart, my future.
And just another motivation to handle this bogus ass witch hunt the feds were on. It seemed like I’d waited forever to openly be with Dakota, I wasn’t about to let this bullshit stop that from coming to fruition.
CHAPTER 9
DAKOTA
I twisted the cap off the water bottle, took a deep drink, then set it down on the table with a sigh. Leaning back in the chair, I admired my work.
A dove gray tablecloth covered the table designed for ten. It was ridiculously big, especially since I lived alone in the four-bedroom, single-family home. I’d bought it with the family I was supposed to have in mind. The dining room was also spacious with a large bay window on one wall, black and gray wallpaper in a floral pattern I’d instantly fallen in love with on the other. I’d just finished setting the table with the butter yellow runner, white China plates, wine glasses, tall white candles and the cheerful bouquet of daisies I picked up from the florist this afternoon.
Glancing at the pretty set-up it occurred to me that it would have been simpler just to prop the TV trays up in the den, sit on the sectional and watch a few more episodes of his favorite show. While I was a rom-com and musical lover, Fabian was completely dedicated to blaxploitation films withShaft, Foxy Brown, and Super Flybeing some of his top picks. By way ofcompromise, I agreed to start watchingThe Wire. He’d seen the series which he proclaimed as the best and most realistic drama depicting the urban lifestyle set in one of his favorite cities, more than a dozen times and was excited to introduce it to me. I already declared that when the series was over,Girlfriendswas up next.
A smile ghosted my lips as I thought of how domestic that sounded. Hell, this romantic dinner I planned for us tonight was just as comfortable. My flight landed at the crack of dawn this morning and the first thing I’d done once the Escalade with my new driver/security guard, Tor, pulled up to the house, was enter and head straight to the kitchen. Before I even unpacked, I searched the refrigerator and made a list of things I needed to cook one of Fabian’s favorite meals—barbeque ribs, collard greens and macaroni and cheese. I missed him like crazy this week. The way he called and/or texted me several times a day since Sunday when I dropped him off at the dock, indicated he missed me, too.
The morning after we met in that warehouse, my office phone rang moments after I arrived. His voice was so deep and raspy, I trembled at the sound. I played it cool as I lowered myself onto the chair behind my desk, asking him if the call was about another job.
“This is about the beautiful woman I met last night,” had been his response, causing me to blush.
We talked for half an hour before he instructed me to take out my cell and dial the number that appeared on my desk phone’s caller ID. Once I acquiesced and hung up when the call went to voicemail, he texted me an address where later that day I met him for lunch. Since then, there hadn’t been a day that passed where we hadn’t at least texted each other.
Now, with my plans set, I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the name I had his number saved under: Air.
Fabian had breezed into my life like a breath of fresh air. The total opposite to the boring, rich, and successful men I’d been dating since graduating college, he oozed confidence and power the second he entered a room. A natural leader, he took charge of pursuing me in a way I’d never experienced, a way that didn’t only sweep me off my feet but picked me up and plunged me into a world of reverence and appreciation unlike anything I’d ever imagined. He not only catered to my every need, even those I hadn’t known were there, but he commanded my body until I swore it was made just for him. When he grabbed my neck while deep stroking me, it wasn’t just immense pleasure he gave me, it was air. Fabian gave me the air to breathe freely, to live wholly without anyone’s permission. I would forever love him for that.
Dinner. My place. 7pm
I sent him the text, then headed back to the front of the house to grab the suitcase Tor had brought in. My phone dinged with his response before I could make it there.
Welcome home, love. I’ll be there.
Of all the cutesy nicknames Fabian called me from time-to-time, love was my favorite. It was his, too, because he said I was the love of his life, the love he didn’t think he deserved. I never admitted he was the same for me.
That’s why I planned this dinner. He came all the way to that island to find me, to tell me that my time as his secret wife was up. I should’ve been pissed off by his arrogance and dominance. Who the hell did he think he was? Fabian Mathias didn’t think; he knew exactly who he was, and, in my case, he was my husband. A fact I’d hidden for long enough.
To be fair, I hadn’t anticipated keeping the secret for so long. There just never seemed to be the right time to tell my family. Fabian had taken care of that the second Mo barged into my room at the B&B. I couldn’t put that rabbit back in the box if I wanted to, and Mo wasn’t going to let me.
“You’ve been secretly married for fifteen months. That’s the shit you want me to believe?” Her question came the second we finished breakfast last Sunday as she dragged me out onto the back porch.
Standing less than two feet from me with her arms folded over her chest, she glared at me expectantly.
I pushed my hands into the pockets of the lounge pants I’d slipped on after Fabian and I showered. “Yes. I’ve been married to Fabian for fifteen months. We dated for three months before that.”
“So for eighteen months you didn’t bother to tell me you had a man. That you hadthatparticular man in your bed. Do you know who the fuck he is?” Her eyes went wide but she kept her voice low.
Although I closed the patio doors behind me when we came out, but if anyone was still in the dining room, and we yelled, they would certainly hear.
“I know exactly who he is,” was my calm reply.
She continued, ignoring my response, “He’s the fuckin’ head of one of the most notorious MC clubs on the East Coast. He’s like a modern-day mafia boss, Kodi. He kills people, runs drugs, sells weapons. He’s into loan sharking and I even heard that in the last year they’ve gotten into contract killing. So, look me in the eyes and tell me again that you know exactly who he is.”
