Annie And The Cowboy (Western Night Series 3) (30 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

The Date

I wasn’t sure what I had been thinking sleeping with Deja.  I knew that it was fun, and I enjoyed every single second of it, but I also knew if my brother found out he would kill the both of us.  At the moment, I didn’t care what Jarome thought.  He obviously could please Deja the way I did last night.  She felt satisfied and the way I made her body quiver, I knew she hadn’t felt that way in a long time. 

I had never slept with any of my brother’s other girlfriends or wives, but Deja was different.  She was amazing and could keep my sexual interest.  I wanted to seduce her over and over.

I looked at the ceiling in my penthouse as I was fantasizing she was here in my arms asleep.  We both lived different lives, and I was wishing that this affair would be kept secret and last a long time since I was enjoying it.

“Good morning!  I thought I would drop by since Jarome went to work early.”

I smiled as I looked over at Deja, who walked through my penthouse to my bedroom wearing a skimpy dress.

“I am sure Jarome didn’t realize that you wore that to see me.”

Deja laughed.  “No, he didn’t.  I am sure he would kill me if he did.  I don’t care.” she said as she looked at me with a smile. 

“Are you sure you are okay with this affair?” I asked.

“I really don’t have a choice.  You would run to Jarome and tell everyone my secret.  Besides I think it is fun.”

“Are you going to be dancing again tonight?”

Deja shook her head.  “I don’t dance every night, only on the days that Jarome is out of town.  I didn’t think that you would do what you did, but I loved every second of it.  I'm sure your load is lighter because of it.”

“I am not complaining,” I said as I started laughing.

I wanted the attention from Deja that my body was already craving.  She had spoiled me with her deepest pleasures at the strip club and I wanted more. 

“How come you want to get back into the gang life?  You are a successful business, man!” Deja said as she began undoing her dress.

“I could ask you the same thing.  How come you are a stripper who is turning tricks for her brother-in-law.  To be honest sitting at a desk doing the same thing over and over doesn’t excite me.  I had been in the gang life since I was thirteen years old.” I said pointing to the tattoo on my arm. “It is just something that can’t be taken out of me.  Jarome was too young to remember the gang.  My mother moved us east and thought that she could save us.  I took the job out here the first chance I got because I missed it.  Now it is your turn, why a stripper?”

Deja sighed as she got under the covers.  “We don’t have enough money to go around.  Your brother loves to drink, and I am tired of going without because he can’t support his own family.  I always told him before we got married that I refused to marry a drunk, and that is exactly who he had turned into through the years.  When he isn’t doing that, he is darting off to Las Vegas and gambling our money away.  It isn’t pleasurable for any of us to go without food or electricity.”  Deja said as she straddled my body.

“I always thought you were the good girl type.  I never imagined you to be a stripper.  I was shocked as hell that first night when I saw you dancing around on stage.  At first I didn’t realize who you were until you came over.”

“That is what makes me desirable.  I look timid and shy, but instead I am really wild as hell and kinky.”

She leaned over me and held on to the headboard as she dropped herself slowly down on my erection.

“What about you?  Aren’t you afraid your Momma is going to find out that you are in the gang life again?” Deja asked.

I realized as I spent more and more time with Deja that I was starting to develop feelings for her, and I was pretty sure she was doing the same for me. 

“If you got the chance to take over Ramon’s place, would you?” she asked.

I looked at Deja unsure how to answer the questions he had just asked. “Everyday I think of Ramon and the fact he was in a crossfire.  I think of how lucky that I work at an investment firm, but I miss every single bit of that life.  When Reese came and asked me to collect money from D’Mario for Ramon, it was as if I came back home.  This is who I am.  I live, breathe and bleed for the hood.  I know it is a shame to say even such a thing since I was given an opportunity to escape from this life.  I can’t handle not being a part of it.”

“I know what you mean; It kind of brands you.  I just was overhearing D’Mario say that Ramon isn’t going to pull through.  The search is already in effect for a new Hood Boss, and you are the first choice.”

“They want me as a new boss?  This is the first time I heard of this.  Are you sure that is what you heard?” I asked.

Deja nodded in agreement with what I had said.

D’Mario had never told me that Ramon wasn’t pulling through, neither did Reese.  We all just did our part because we knew that the Hood had to keep going no matter what happened.  If we didn’t, we knew that a rival gang would be in there taking us over.”

After I had been done with Deja, I was going to go to Reese’s and find out the truth for myself.  I guess if I were given this opportunity then I probably wouldn’t waste it.  I took every breath for the hood although I had a lot of clients who thought I was a saint.

CHAPTER Five

My Hood

The firm was quiet when I walked in.  Everyone was doing their job.  I had already passed on the word to have Reese come in and the fact we needed to talk.

It had been hours as I did my work and pretended that I was a businessman.  Ramon had taken me under his wing when I was thirteen years old and taught me everything I knew.  He was the one that taught me how to hot wire cars and how to rough people up to get money out of them.  Life without Ramon seemed almost foreign to me.

I stared out the window and looked down at Los Angeles down below.  The way Reese was late, I was dreading the worst.

“I am sorry, I am late Tyrone!  I just got the news that Ramon didn’t make it through the night.  I am pretty sure that’s why you called me here.  I was going to ask you if you wanted to take his spot.”

My high-backed executive chair spun around, and I suddenly faced Reese.  His short black buzz cut seemed to make him look almost as if he wasn’t in the gang.  The only difference between the two of us was the fact he had tattoos right on his hands.  I could at least hide my tattoos.

My mouth opened, but no words came out.  I was unsure what to say, and I finally closed it sine I was still stunned and all I could do was shake my head. 

I felt angry that a bullet from one of the rival gangs that had been on our turf killed Ramon with a single shot.  This whole time we had been waiting for him to recover and awaken from his coma, but now we were waiting for funeral arrangements. 

“I know it is a blow for all of us to think even that we are without him.  He kept everything running smoothly and the rival gangs out of our turf, for the most part.  I am still shocked as much as you do that this time he didn’t pull through.”

I wanted to go over there to the rival gang and take them all out for what they did to Ramon. 

I looked shocked at Reese.  He had known how close I was to Ramon.  I was still horrified that he was actually gone.

“We need someone to replace Ramon’s position and after careful thought, we were hoping you would come back.”

I wasn’t even sure how this was going to work since I was trying so hard to keep a squeaky clean business reputation

“I know you won’t let us down.  Everyone is afraid at the moment of what you will do to the person who shot Ramon.  The rumors are spreading like wildfire.”

I nodded at this.  I knew what was expected of me, just like I knew what Reese wanted me to do about Ramon’s death.  Someone had done us wrong by moving on our turf and having the intentions to kill Ramon.

“I am sure it is a bit strange for me to show up in your life and ask you to come back home, but we need you.  It isn’t like I could ask anything else of you.  We need you in the hood.  You are the next in line that Ramon had created.  Besides everyone knows how much you miss it.  We also know this is the worst nightmare that has come true.  Ramon was loved by so many.  It is unfair he was even taken out of this world by a single shot.”

I nodded at this.  “I will take over Ramon’s position in the hood.”

“I guess it is time to figure out who did this and taught him respect and to make an example of him.”

Reese nodded although I knew he looked worried.  I knew he was withholding information.

“Reese what do you know that I am going to find out anyways?” I asked.

“It’s your brother.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Stop acting like it is a shock, but you are going to find out somewhere.  Your brother also belongs to the gang that took Ramon down.  I don’t know if he was the one on our turf, but I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“When did this happen?”

Reese shrugged.  “I don’t know exactly.  I saw him strolling around with the gang that shot Ramon before his death.  It wasn’t the same day or anything, but I was shocked to see Jarome rolling with them. 

“Does Deja know?” I suddenly asked.

“If he is the shooter, you know Deja and the kids are going to be stuck in the middle of this messy blood war.”

I knew that Reese was right.  The gangs didn’t care who you were or how you were related.  The only wanted to get even the best way they knew how; it didn’t always make sense, but it worked.  People suddenly cooperated when someone ended up dead.

“There has to be a way to shield them from all of this.  They are my family too.”

“I don’t know how you are going to shield her from the truth when she is a stripper down at the club.”

I let out a deep sigh.  I knew he was right.  Everyone talked to everyone down at the strip club, and it also meant business was discussed there. 

“Let me at least tell her myself.”

Deja was wearing tight jeans when she met me at the penthouse.

“You told me it was urgent.  Are you okay?”

“I want you and the kids to leave town for awhile.  There is going to be a gang war, and I don’t want you to get involved.”

“I have been here before while there are gang wars that broke out.”

“Yes, but no one knew Jarome was part of a gang before.  Now we know he was part of the gang that killed Ramon.”

Deja’s eyes suddenly widened with horror.  We both knew what was coming if the kids and she stayed.  It wasn’t a good feeling knowing that my brother was part of the gang that killed the man who had raised me and taught me everything on the streets.

“Are you sure it's Jarome?”

I nodded.  “People have seen him rolling with the other gang.  I don’t know how he could have kept it from any of us without slipping up.  I don’t want to see my brother dead, but I know if he is a part of why Ramon ended up in the hospital no matter what I will do or say the gang will kill him.

CHAPTER SIX

One last Date

Three days had passed since I told Deja about Jarome.  I knew that this was going to be a long time before I saw her again so what we did have to be something special.  I wasn’t sure how to handle the situations, but I was sure within the time we would be together again. 

The last time I had felt like this was when my mother moved us to the East Coast.  I was younger then, and I was sure the hell is not battling my own brother.  My heart wasn’t tied down to anyone except Candy, who I lost contact with when I left.

“Are you ready for our adventure?” I asked looking deep into Deja’s eyes. 

“Where are we going for our adventure?”

I started laughing,  “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”

Deja started to squeal with excitement.  We hadn’t been on an intimate date before this, but I wanted to make it special.  I wanted her to now how much she meant to me in such a short time.

I knew that tomorrow our future hadn’t been secured yet, and I wasn’t sure how things would unfold.  If it weren't for the fact Deja was married to my brother, I would have married her myself.  I knew it wasn’t right to jump into a relationship with Deja and fall in love, but I did love her, and I wasn’t going to have her hurt.  Our dreams seemed to be shattering as I wanted to marry her, have kids of our own and travel with her. 

It really wasn’t a lie when I said that I was falling in love with Deja.  I felt ass if she was starting to me more than a secret affair that started as blackmail.  I knew she was feeling the same way because she was speaking less and less of Jarome. To tell you the truth, I didn’t mind.

My life had been drastically different before Deja, and I started seeing each other. I took her out of the city and decided to take her on a road trip to California.  Lake Mead glistened as we made a day of our last day together.  The sun was hitting the lake that made the water sparkle.  I already planned to watch the sunset with her here, but I didn’t tell her.

“There is such beauty here that makes me forget what is going on in Los Angeles.” Deja said.

“I wish we could forget the fact there is a gang war about to break out.  This place is a lot different and quite.  I don’t have to think that Jarome was the reason the war is about to breakout.”

“I am sure that if you were here day in and day out, you wouldn’t feel the same about Lake Mead.  I am sure you are right, though; I don’t want to deal with the gang war that is about to break out either.  I can’t believe that my little brother is in a rival gang.  It was one of the reasons that we moved east was for us to both be kept away from the gang life.  Our mother tried hard to shelter us.  I thought since he was so young that he never knew what it was like to be in a gang.”

Deja stared down at the lake below.  “I always wondered if I didn’t get involved with Jarome if we would have been dating instead.  These past several days have been wonderful, and I never wanted them to end.”

I nodded at this.  “I am sure we would have if we met first.  I was scared at first Jarome would have found out, and I wasn’t sure how I would handle the fact I was sleeping with his wife.  Now I don’t even know who my brother has turned into or when it happened.  I guess I was so busy being a businessman and sneaking down secretly to the undesirable places in the city.” I said as I looked at Deja.

“I wouldn’t know how Jarome would handle it either, but it seems as if the kids and I don’t exist to him any longer.  I used to love him, don’t get me wrong.  Now as I am stripping just to support our family the best I can.”

I was already wrapped around Deja’s little finger.  There was nothing I could do to escape this.  I already knew that my life was quite different as I saw Deja.  We both had damaging secrets that we tried to keep from everyone, so we could keep a squeaky clean reputation.

“It is sad that I really thought I loved Jarome, and I don’t even know who he has turned into.  I opened my heart up and ended up falling in love with you while my husband continues to neglect me.

I held her from behind as I kissed her neck. 

“Let’s not think of him right now.  You are my girlfriend, and I love you, even if what we have is just an affair.  I love you, and I always will love you no matter how things turn out.  I know I allowed you to get under my skin, and you don’t mind that at all.”

“I love you too!”

It was hard to believe that this world had once hardened my heart, especially after Candy.  Lisa wasn’t like Deja, and I knew that was what had been missing from our relationship.  Lisa was quite a dull person, and I wanted a fun, excitement and a dark secret like I had been keeping.

If the world knew our secrets of our darkened past, we would be shamed for everything we had done and what we were doing now.  It may not have been right for us to make the choices we were making, but in our minds they were the only choices.

“Have you ever taken a kayak around Lake Mead?” I asked.

“No, I have never been to Lake Mead before.”

“Seriously, you haven’t been to Lake Mead before?  It looks like I am the one that gets to show you this gem in the world.”

“We are going to kayak it?” Deja asked as she looked into the crystal clear water.