Authors: Darrien Lee
The Last Chance (5 page)
Luke was the negotiator and peacemaker among the family. He should've made a career in the legal system, because he was just that good. Luke was serious about staying fit and worked out constantly, which gave him a set of six-pack abs that appeared to have been sculpted into his body. All of the Chance brothers were tall and stood only within an inch of each other, but Luke was the tallest at six feet five inches.
“Listen, we all agree that Keilah needs to be somewhere safe. Hell, we all do, because I'm not trying to catch a bullet in the head for nobody. We just need to calm down and think this thing through. We're all Keilah has left since Momma and Daddy died, and we need to understand how sending her to Aunt Rosa will affect her emotionally.”
Malachi sighed and leaned against the wall. “I guess you're right.”
Luke turned to his brothers and softly spoke. “Well, it's past time for us to start looking for a house somewhere else anyway. We've outgrown this place and need to move somewhere safer where Keilah can play like a normal kid. Roman, are you going down to the library tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I have some books to return.”
“On your way, stop by that real estate office on Second Street. They usually have new listings in the window. See if they have anything in the Barclay community. Check it out. Momma always dreamed of living over there. We should have enough money in our reserves to buy a house. Genesis, see what you can come up with. If all goes as planned, hopefully we can move out of here by the end of the month, if not sooner.”
Malachi asked, “But what about the casino? We're supposed to be saving our money for that.”
Luke replied, “That will have to hold for a minute until we get settled. It shouldn't take long.”
Genesis looked over at Keilah and then whispered, “I'll do whatever it takes to get out this neighborhood.”
“Then it's agreed,” Luke announced. “Keilah will stay with us. We just have to work longer and harder to make things happen.”
The four brothers mumbled, “Agreed.”
Genesis walked over to Keilah and ran his hand over her hair lovingly.
“Looks like you're staying put, kiddo.”
She smiled and said, “Thanks, Genesis.”
A few weeks later, the family moved from their childhood home and into a much nicer and safer neighborhood. The move was going to be bittersweet for all of them. Their house was still adorned with the décor their mother had chosen before she passed away of breast cancer. Changing it had never crossed any of their minds, and keeping it made them feel like a piece of her was still there. Now that they had decided to move, change was inevitable and wasn't going to be easy. Their father had been murdered not far from their home. They police never found out who killed him, and the case was now in their cold case files.
Chapter Four
Present Day
Those were some of the unpleasant memories Keilah had of her childhood as she sat at her desk. It wasn't until her telephone rang again that she snapped out of her trance. “Keilah Chance speaking. How may I help you?” she answered.
“Hey, Keilah Chance. What's going on?” the male voice asked.
“Hey, Keytone, I haven't heard from you in a while. Where have you been hiding?” Keilah asked.
“I've been staying busy as usual. How's life treating you?”
She rubbed her tired eyes and said, “Hectic, of course. Have you seen my brothers lately?”
Keytone laughed. “Oh yeah, I see them all the time. They still hate me, but it's cool. We go way back and they can't seem to let the past stay in the past.”
“What happened between you and my brothers, Keytone?” Keilah asked.
He laughed and said, “I really don't know. Why don't you ask your brothers?” “I have, but they won't tell me.”
Keilah remembered her brothers telling her that back in the day, after their father abandoned them, they made a lot of money working for Keytone. When their father returned, the money was too good for them to give up right away. The money they made allowed them the opportunity to help their mother, who was trying to make ends meet. Keytone was considered the neighborhood hoodlum, and all Keilah's brothers would ever tell her about him growing up was that he was bad news and to never associate with him. Unfortunately, she was grown now and she knew something about Keytone they didn't.
“Maybe one day you can hypnotize them and find out why they hate me so much, because honestly, I don't have a clue,” Keytone revealed.
Keilah giggled and leaned back in her chair. “Now that's funny. Hypnotize my brothers? That will be the day. I do know that would freak out if they knew I was talking to you and letting you come visit me.”
“You got that right,” Keytone responded. “Keilah, I'm so glad you're in my life. I've had so many bad things around me for so long, it's nice to have someone good in it.”
She blushed and tapped on her desk with her ink pen. She looked at her watch and sat up in her chair and said, “That's so sweet of you to say, Keytone. Oh! Look at the time. I have to go. I'll call you this weekend.”
“All right, Keilah, be safe and take care of yourself and I hope to get out there to see you soon.”
She stood up and said, “Sounds good. Good-bye, Keytone.”
Keilah hung up the telephone just as Ramsey stepped inside her office. “Good afternoon, Miss Chance. I stopped by to see if you would be free for lunch.”
Seeing Ramsey put an instant smile on her face, welcome after reminiscing about her eventful childhood.
“Well, let me check my appointment book and see,” she joked. “How's your day going so far?”
His baritone voice chuckled. “OK, but my eyes started getting crossed from going over all these reports.”
“Do you want me to do it for you?” she offered as she pulled her purse out of her desk.
He waved her off and said, “Nah, I just need a break to rest my eyes.”
Keilah walked over to him and straightened his tie. “I bet you do. And you'll be happy to know that I'm free for lunch, Mr. Stone.”
He smiled and replied, “Good. I hope you're hungry.”
“So, where are you taking me?” she asked seductively as he put his hand on the small of her back.
“You'll see,” he answered mysteriously.
Keilah turned to Ramsey as they walked down the hallway, and whispered, “Guess who I just got off the phone with?”
“Who?” he asked curiously.
“Keytone,” Keilah revealed. “I haven't heard from him in a few days. He said he'd been busy but hopes to fly out here to see me as soon as he can.”
Ramsey picked a piece of lint off her collar and laughed. “I bet he has been busy ... breaking kneecaps. Man, I would love to be there when you tell your brothers about Keytone.”
Keilah stepped inside the elevator ahead of Ramsey. She put her hand over her heart and said, “Ramsey, I know I'm going to have to eventually tell them about Keytone. I mean they deserve to know, but I'm afraid of how they're going to react. They have a history.”
Ramsey buttoned his jacket and gave Keilah's hand a squeeze. “Don't stress over it, Keilah. When the moment's right to tell them, you'll know it.”
The elevator doors opened. The couple stepped out into the lobby, and Keilah softly said, “I hope you're right, Stone.”
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Lunch with Ramsey was quiet except for the occasional small talk about things going on in the news and at work. They hadn't seen much of each other over the past week because of their work schedules. Their little arrangement was still working out between them, but Ramsey had run into a slight problem with Andria. She couldn't understand why he didn't have time for her anymore, but the truth was that he was trying to reduce the number of women he was dealing with anyway, including her. He actually looked forward to spending his evenings with Keilah and wasn't missing the other players in the game at all. One reason was that Keilah wasn't full of drama and didn't nag him for attention like the others did. They got together after work when they could. Both of them had to spend long hours at the office because of new clients and new hires. Since their business was going through this transition, more of their time was needed at work to smooth things out
“Keilah, did you hear what I said?” Ramsey asked with a frown
Snapping out of her daydream she answered, “I'm sorry. What did you say?”
“I said it's going to be nice managing the company more than being in the field once things settle down. I mean, I still want to do some of the jobs on occasion, but I like training the new guys,” he admitted.
“Well, you're good at everything, so whatever makes you happy makes me happy,” she said before taking a bite of her salad. “Listen, Ramsey, Genesis called and said they needed me to come out there to take care of some family business.”
“What's going on?” he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know the details, but I think it has something to do with the opening of the second casino. Is this going to be a problem? If it is, I can tell them this is not a good time and they'll just have to postpone everything until I can fly out there.”
He sighed. “It's going to be a big problem. I won't get to see you for a couple of days, but I guess I'll live.”
She smiled. “That's so sweet. Thanks, Ramsey. I don't like leaving when we're so busy, but I shouldn't be gone but a couple of days. I'm just glad it's after I go to that dinner with Arhmelia's mother. I would hate to send a replacement after confirming with her.”
“You're right. You've made quite an impression on the Randolph family, and we've gained five major new clients because of them. There's no way you can cancel that detail,” he pointed out.
Keilah pushed her salad to the side. “They're good people, and I've become very fond of Arhmelia. She's calmed down a lot since the shooting. I noticed she was trying to get a little rebellious with her parents at one time, but not anymore.”
He took a sip of tea. “It's sad it takes something like a near-death experience to wake up some of these teens. But back to you; I think I can handle things while you go out to Cali to see your brothers. Family first. Remember?”
“I remember,” she replied.
“With that settled, can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” she answered.
“What would you do if I kissed you right now?”
This stunned Keilah. Ramsey was the one who wanted to keep their secret relationship on the down-low. Now for him to want to kiss her in public was out of the ordinary.
“What did you ask me?”
He leaned forward and licked his lips. This sent shivers over Keilah's body, because she'd become quite familiar with his luscious lips.
“You heard me. What would you do if I kissed you?”
Keilah picked up her napkin and wiped her mouth. “Here?”
“Yes, here,” he softly replied. We've been working apart so much lately, I miss you.”
“I thought you wanted to keep our little arrangement just between us?”
“I do, but right now, it would make my day if I could get a kiss.”
Keilah smiled and folded her arms. “Have I spoiled you, Ramsey Stone?”
He winked at her and said, “Of course you have. We've been going at it for about three months now. I've gotten used to you, Keilah, and now that we haven't seen each other for over a week, I guess you can say I've gotten a little delirious.”
Keilah looked around the room. “What if someone sees us?”
“We're partners. Remember?” he reminded her. “I have a right to show you some affection.”
“So you're talking about a little peck on the lips. Right?” she asked.
He leaned forward and smiled. “No, I'm talking about a slow, wet, hot kiss.”
Keilah closed her eyes briefly before responding. “You're not serious. You have too many women circulating, and I don't think you'd risk having one of them make a scene if they saw us. Besides, you were the one so adamant about keeping everything secret.”
He put his hand up in defense. “I know what I said, Keilah. So are you going to kiss me or not?”
Keilah studied Ramsey and then asked, “Right here? Right now?”
He smiled. “Right here. Right now. And if you don't hurry up, I'm the one who's going to make a scene.”
She blushed and lowered her head without responding.
“Don't make me get up, Keilah Chance,” he teased as he scooted back in his chair.
Her flesh became hot at the thought of him pulling her out of her chair and kissing her in front of everyone.
“OK ... OK ... just wait a second.”
He laughed. “Wait a second for what? You have three seconds to kiss me, or I'm out of my chair.”
In that instant, Keilah leaned across the table and kissed him. His kisses made her stomach quiver with excitement, and for a moment she forgot where she was until she heard the people at the next table applauding them.
Ramsey pulled back slightly and whispered, “You taste so good.” Keilah blushed again before he kissed her once more. “I guess we'd better stop before they start hosing us down.”
Keilah giggled. “I guess you're right, but that was very nice.”
“I'm glad you enjoyed it.”
The waiter walked over to their table to see if either of them wanted to order dessert. Keilah waved him off while Ramsey ordered a slice of caramel pie. As soon as the waiter returned with the pie, Keilah slid her foot up Ramsey's thigh. His kiss had ignited something, and now she was the one simmering inside. It had reminded her just how much she'd missed feeling his skin against hers over the past week.
He froze and stared at her. “You'd better stop, Keilah, before you make me ravish you on top of this table. You're playing with fire,” he warned her.
Keilah giggled. “You're the one who started the launch sequence with that kiss. Besides, I know you don't want to risk wrinkling that thousand-dollar suit of yours, Stone.”
Ramsey sat his fork down, and then looked at his watch before looking at Keilah. “Don't underestimate me, Miss Chance.”
She leaned forward and whispered, “Are you challenging me, Stone?”
Ramsey cleared his throat and laughed. “What time do you have to be back to the office?”
She pulled the cherry out of her drink and placed it seductively on her tongue. “Whenever I feel like it.”
That was all Ramsey needed to hear. “Let's go.”
“Go where?” she asked curiously.
Without responding to her, Ramsey motioned for the waiter to bring the check so they could leave. He hurriedly paid it and told the waiter to cancel his dessert order. He grabbed Keilah's hand and nearly dragged her out of the restaurant and into the Remington Hotel across the street. It would be two hours before they would exit. The week apart had taken a toll on both of them, and neither could go another hour without quenching their desires for each other.
Exhausted, but satisfied, the pair made their way back to their office to hopefully get some work done. Unfortunately, work was the last thing Ramsey could concentrate on once he returned to his office. He could still feel Keilah's lips and hands on his body, and it gave his skin a tingling sensation.
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