Night of Seduction (28 page)

Eric looked
over his shoulder to see his attorney, and a man he considered to
be a brother, standing in the doorway dressed, as always, in a
stylish suit, tie and loafers. He gave Ty a half smile.
“
Man, it
’
s Saturday afternoon,
don
’
t you ever dress down. Do you own a pair of
jeans?
”

“I work
twenty-four seven, I don
’
t have time to relax.
And no, I don
’
t.
”
Ty walked
into the room.
“
Where
’
s
Jason?
”

“My, hopelessly
in love, brother and his fianc
é
e are out meeting
with a decorator. Can you believe that, Jason is meeting with a
decorator?
”

“That is
funny,
”
Ty smiled.
“
Remember the first
house Jason paid someone to decorate, giving no directions and he
ended up with a space station theme with gray and black
stripes.
”
The two men laughed.
“
Afterwards, he
had to pay to have it redone
—
twice. Maybe he
learned his lesson. But, I
’
m not here to see
them. I need to talk to you.
”

The hesitation
in Ty
’
s voice caught his attention.
“
Come on
back.
”
He said turning to walk into an adjoining room
that was his office. He sat at the desk, still somewhat engrossed
in the papers he was reading.
“
What
’
s
up?
”
he asked once Ty took a seat.

“Whew
…
.where do I
start?
”

“The beginning
is usually a good place. But if this is going to be a long story,
we may have to put it off for a while.
”

“Where are you
off to?
”

Putting the
papers down, Eric replied,
“
I decided to fly to
Paris in the morning.
”

The decision
surprised him. He
’
d met Siri Austin for
the first time the night before, when she arrived from Richmond to
see about her sister. TeKaya had had a little run in with
Jason
’
s ex-girlfriend and his daughter
’
s mother
that had landed her behind bars for a minute. From what
he
’
d seen, there was a definite connection between Eric
and Siri.
“
Really
—
so you are not going
to fight for Siri?
”
The glare from Eric would have
chilled most men, but Ty was used to the temperamental, kindhearted
boy that he and Jason had spent most of their lives teasing about
his sensitivity. Ty ignored the look.
“
I need to know
if this woman means something to you before I threaten to take a
man
’
s life. Now, if what you stated yesterday, about not
having any intentions of letting her go is not true, but was just
your pride at being turned down talking, then I can let this
situation drop.
”

Frustrated,
Eric continued to glare at Ty.
“
What in the hell are
you talking about?
”

Ty bent
forward, placed his elbow on his legs, and clasped his hands
together.
“
Does this woman mean
anything to you?
”

Eric imitated
his actions as his locs fell forward.
“
Do you realize
you are getting on my nerves right now?
”
He stood and
walked out of the room.

Ty sighed and
followed Eric into his bedroom, but stopped at the doorway.
“
Eric.
”

“What?
”
He replied agitated.

“I
’
m the other big
brother
—
not blood, but brother nonetheless. The women you
and Jason choose to love become my sisters as well as your wives.
Just like with you two, if their lives and or happiness are
threatened in anyway, it becomes my job to eliminate the threat.
You understand where I
’
m coming
from?
”

“I hear you and
I love you, too.
”

Ty
frowned.
“
Man don
’
t be saying that. You
know I don
’
t deal with
sensitive.
”

Eric smiled at
the man, whose mother abandoned him when he was ten. One night he
came to spend the night with Jason and never left.
“
Alright man. I don
’
t love
you
—
how
’
s
that?
”

“Better.
”

“Good.
I
’
m glad we could clear that up,
”
Eric laughed.
The only drama in their lives was and always had something to do
with Jason
’
s ex-girlfriend,
Latoya Wright. He always kept his life simple and carefree. If he
didn
’
t, the media would eat him alive. They were always
looking for a hot story when it came to him. But Eric always kept
them at bay. Therefore, he was sure whatever Ty was talking about
had nothing to do with him.
“
What is Latoya up to
now? I would think she had learned her lesson after the punch she
received from TeKaya.
”
He said as he walked into his
closet.

“Man, drop what
you are doing and have a seat. I need you right
here.
”
He pointed two fingers towards
Eric
’
s eyes and then his own. Eric looked at the serious
expression on Ty
’
s face, walked back
into the office, and retook his seat.
“
Before you jump,
know I have a solution to this issue.
”

“Why would I
jump? Latoya means nothing to me. She
’
s the mother of my
brother
’
s child
—
nothing more. You
made sure of that.
”

Ty unbuttoned
the button on his suit jacket, his tie swinging at the sudden
freedom from confinement. He nervously ran a hand down his face and
dropped his head. Eric was a serious type of man. Running from
woman to woman, like he and Jason had been known to do, was not his
MO. Between that and Eric
’
s decision to leave
for Paris, he understood Siri was not just another woman. Revealing
what Latoya was up to was not going to be easy.
“
I
’
m afraid your friend Siri may be an innocent
victim in Latoya
’
s
games.
”

Eric frowned
and leaned forward in his seat. He shrugged his shoulder.
“
Latoya doesn
’
t know Siri. They
have never met.
”

Nodding his
head, Ty agreed.
“
That
’
s true; however, she
stumbled across Siri while trying to get information on her sister,
TeKaya.
” “
So.
”

This was harder
than he thought it would be.
“
It seems Latoya hired
a private investigator to get information on a Siri Austin from
Richmond, Virginia. At the time, she thought Siri was the person
Jason was seeing. On Friday, the investigator was in Richmond
trailing Siri.
”
Ty stopped, giving Eric a moment to
analyze the information.

Eric sat back
remembering the night before when he had reached and opened
heaven
’
s gates lying with Siri in his arms.
“
Okay
…”
he slowly replied.

Realizing Eric was not catching on; Ty stood
and pulled a small compact disc from his pocket. He reached across
Eric and placed it in the laptop sitting on the desk. He hit play
then turned his back.

There was not a
word or a movement in the room
—
only the sounds from
the video that was playing. Seconds went by seeming like minutes
before Eric could speak.
“
Who took
this?
”
He asked calmly
—
too
calmly.

“The
aforementioned investigator.
”

Eric reached up
and turned the video off. It was a video of him and Siri at her
house making love on the kitchen table. From the angle of the
picture, the person must have been in the window, or at the
backdoor. Was the door open? He thought. Damn if he knew. He closed
his eyes.
“
If this hit the
media, it would kill her. Do you have the
investigator
’
s name and
address?
”

“Yes.
”

“Give it to
me.
”

“No.
”
Eric looked up with anger etched on
his face. Ty almost took a step back, but then he remembered. Hell,
I
’
m six-two, two hundred and twenty pounds. Eric is all
of six feet, one ninety at best. It
’
s not like he could
beat the information out of me. But more importantly, he would not
allow him to do anything that would damage his image.

“Give me the
damn address.
”
Eric commanded.

“Eric
listen
—
this is something we can
control.
”

This was
something that could hurt Siri. He had waited all of his life for
this woman. The one with the coal black eyes that looked straight
through to his heart
—
the woman whose smile made him melt
whenever he thought about it, the woman who put a song in his mind
every time they made love. This is the woman he stood a chance of
losing because the media would dig into the life of anyone they
consider a celebrity, just to sell papers. Listening was the last
thing he wanted to do. Eric stood and took the few steps that put
him in Ty
’
s face.
“
Did you have him
killed?
”

“Um,
No,
”
Ty replied looking down at Eric who was a few inches
shorter than he.

“Why the hell
not?
”
Eric yelled.

Ty released a
nervous laugh.
“
Because
it
’
s against the law.
”

Eric gave him
the most incredulous look imaginable.
“
What was that
tape about? He trespassed on private property, and then violated
our right to privacy. What about that law?
”

Frowning at
Eric
’
s ridiculous comparison, Ty grabbed him by the
shoulders.
“
Eric, invasion of
privacy is not the same as murder.
”

Eric violently
pushed into Ty
’
s chest.
“
Get the hell out of my face. I
’
ll find
him.
”
He said as he walked out of the room.
“
Latoya knows who he is
—
I
’
ll find
him, if I have to kill her to do it.
”

Ty ran out the
door and into the hallway after him.
“
Eric
—
wait.
”
Eric continued to walk down the
stairs, through the kitchen, and out the door, toward the car that
was waiting. Ty ran and grabbed him from behind. Eric came around
with a fist high and hit him dead in the mouth. Ty fell backwards
just as Eric
’
s mother, Miriam,
came out of the kitchen to see what was going on.

“Eric,
what
’
s wrong?
”
she asked seeing Ty on the
ground.

Eric did not
reply.
“
Take me to Jason
’
s
place!
”
He yelled at the driver, who stood a good
distance away.

Ty jumped up, tackled Eric to the ground and
a battle of the wills pursued.