TOTAL ECLIPSE: The Evolution (Sin City Heat Series Book 7) (6 page)

CHAPTER 4

Darrell stood behind Jerra as they waved to Angela, who blew the horn at them as she pulled away from the house. As always, D.J. had been a bundle of energy, barely taking the time to hug Darrell and Jerra goodbye before he ran to join his friend.

Closing the door, Jerra turned to stare at Darrell in a way that usually meant she thought he was being unreasonable about something.

“What?” Darrell sighed, but of course he already knew what she was going to say.

“This situation is already difficult for everyone involved. Snapping at everything Lorenzo and Tina say is only making things harder.”

“Right. And we wouldn’t want to make things hard for Lorenzo, now would we?” he asked, arms folded and feet planted slightly apart.

His eyes slowly roamed over her, noting that she’d changed clothes when she took D.J. upstairs earlier. In place of the shorts and t-shirt, she wore a pair of soft, fitted jeans and a sleeveless white blouse. When she’d walked back into the room, a feeling of possessiveness had assaulted him as he absently noticed how the jeans emphasized her small waist and flared hips. Lately, Jerra had been complaining about the seven or eight pounds she’d gained over the last few months, but in actuality, she had a figure that most women envied, and red-blooded men couldn’t look away from…including, he noticed, Lorenzo Pattel.

Even more disturbing was how at ease his wife seemed to be around the guy. It was Jerra’s nature to be polite but somewhat aloof towards people she didn’t know very well. Apparently, this wasn’t the case with Lorenzo.

“What’s the deal between you and him, Jerra?”

“I told you, we met in law school.”

Because he knew no other way to be, Darrell asked her with characteristic bluntness, “Did you sleep him?”

Jerra glared at Darrell in silence. Her nerves were on edge, frayed and raw. She suddenly felt drained and wanted nothing more than to be alone to think. She refused to stand there and be interrogated by Darrell after what he’d done.

“You’re so good at that,” she observed in an absent tone.

Darrell’s eyes grew cloudy with confusion. “What are you talking about? Good at what?”

“Twisting things around and displacing attention from yourself to me. That’s what you’re doing now.”

Darrell hissed impatiently. “Here we go.”

Exasperated, Jerra’s anger increased when he attempted to downplay her observation. “The issue you need to be concerned with has
nothin
g to do with anyone or anything else.”

“You don’t think I have a right to ask what kind of history you and this ‘brother’ of mine shared?”

“Oh. Suddenly, you want to be open about relationships from our pasts now that it’s something you want to know?”

Darrell struggled to keep the impatience out of his voice. “That ain’t the same thing, Jerra, and you know it.”

“Why, because what you and your precious Roni shared was something so unique and incomparable?”

“That’s not what I–”

“You’re such an ass,” Jerra muttered. The hand that came up to rub her brow trembled. With everything that had happened between them earlier, she was holding it together by a string; a slight tug was all that was needed to make her come unraveled. Jerra didn’t want to argue with him, not right now, but from the determined look on his face, she knew he had no intention of dropping the subject.

Turning her back to Darrell, she massaged her temples. Things had been good between them these last couple of years; better than good. After all of the drama they’d been through because of this very same subject, they’d managed to repair the cracks in the foundation of their marriage to make it solid and stronger than ever. Or at least Jerra had thought so. Now, she saw how wrong she’d been about that.

Hearing Darrell call her name in a tone that was soft and cajoling, she knew he had switched tactics. Jerra turned to face him, steeling herself against the pull he’d always had over her. It was magnetic. At times irresistible. Her husband was so good at sweet words and heartfelt apologies, but they wouldn’t fix what was broken between them. Not this time.

He moved towards her cautiously, as if afraid that any sudden movement would send her bolting away like a skittish colt. “Jerra, we need to talk about what happened.” Stopping a couple of feet away, he dipped his head to try and capture her eyes, but Jerra froze him out as effectively as a wall of ice. “Baby, about the phone calls to Roni–”

Jerra held a hand up to stop him, the fiery diamonds in her wedding band catching the light and winking at him tauntingly. “I’d prefer not to do this right now. With Lorenzo and your mother waiting on us, it’s not the time.”

“Let ‘em wait.” Darrell’s voice told her how unconcerned he was. “This is important. I know things looks bad, but I swear I’m not involved with her. Not like that.”

Despite her resolve not to discuss the subject, Jerra’s face tightened in anger. “‘Not like that?’” she repeated. “So you are involved in some way. Is that what you’re saying?”

Frustrated that he couldn’t get his thoughts to coincide with his words Darrell growled in frustration. “No. That’s not what I meant. Involved was the wrong. I haven’t spoken to Roni since I saw her in Aruba. Truthfully, I never expected to talk to her again, but then all of this came up. When I called her, I wanted to find out what she could tell me about the Pattels. That’s it. Swear to God.”

“Then why keep it a secret if it was as innocent as you claim?” Jerra fired back. “We’ve been doing so good, Darrell, been in such a good place. Why would you mess it up like this?”

“I didn’t tell you because I thought you wouldn’t understand. I didn’t want it to cause problems between us.” He clenched his teeth at Jerra’s laughing snort and continued on. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

Jerra tried to turn away again, not wanting to hear any more. When Darrell stepped in front of her and placed his hands on her waist, she shoved them off her as if her flesh burned at his touch.

“Don’t!” she snapped, wrapping her arms around her body to try and stop the trembling. She was so angry with him, so…disappointed. “Just…don’t.”

Hurt flared in Darrell’s eyes at her rebuff, but he held his hands up and stepped back, making sure to keep his tone deliberately even. “You’re upset. You have every right to be, but please, just hear me out. I never meant to hurt you, Jerra. I was trying not to cause confusion between us but that’s exactly what ended up happening. Baby, listen–”

“Would you please just stop?” Jerra hissed. “This is so like you. I asked you to drop it for now, but Darrell always does what Darrell pleases. Damn what anyone else has to say about it. I’m beginning to see just how little respect you have for me.”

Darrell shook his head. “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” Just thinking about it caused her to burn with a white-hot anger, but along with that anger came a sense of sadness. Jerra felt as if they’d lost something very precious. The question that kept resurfacing was whether or not they could get it back. There was no way they should even be dealing with this situation. Not again. And all because of Darrell’s inability to cut ties with…

Jerra swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She refused to even think “her” name. Jealousy ate away at her like a debilitating disease. The very idea of Darrell having room in his heart and his thoughts for another woman literally made her ill. She and only she was supposed to occupy such an intimate part of his life. He could say she was overacting all he liked, but the fact that he’d made room for someone else to share that position was unacceptable to her.

She glanced at him now, more confident than ever that she was doing the right thing. He was the one who had brought discord into their home. Now he would have to deal with the consequences.

“I hope it was worth it,” she told him quietly. Jerra straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “Nothing’s changed. I want you out. Tonight.”  

CHAPTER 5

Fear spread through Darrell until it threatened to suffocate him, but his rising anger came to his rescue and threw him a lifeline. Even as it seeped through his pores and tried to make its way to the surface he did his best to suppress it, keep it at bay. One of them needed to keep a clear head and remain calm if there was any chance of getting this worked out.

Yes, he’d made an error of judgment. He admitted that. He should’ve handled things differently. He admitted that too. But damn, neither of those mistakes warranted the type of punishment she was determined to dish out all in the name of proving a got damn point.

Taking several deep breaths, he strived to keep his tone carefully controlled.  “It was three phone calls over the course of a few days that lasted
maybe
a total of ten minutes each, Jerra. That’s it. Three.” 

Livid at his attempt to minimize what he’d done, Jerra lashed out swiftly. “It was three too many!”

Darrell continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “If I’d been able to get the information I needed from Bryan, I would have, but when I called him, all he would tell me was that Roni had recently spoken to one of the Pattels. Anything other than that, he felt it should come from her. That’s why I called her. It’s the
only
reason I called. And you want to kick me out over
that
?” Incredulity crept into his tone. “Don’t you see how crazy that is?”

“You’re trying to manipulate the facts to suit your argument but it won’t work. Besides, the issue goes so much deeper than you calling Roni.”

Darrell’s face twisted up in confusion. Now what? “How so?”

“After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t trust me. No, let me finish,” she said in a rush when he started to interrupt. “I’ve known something was on your mind for a while now. I kept waiting and waiting for you to come to me, to talk to me about it so that we could work through it together, but you never did.” Jerra’s voice cracked with emotion, but she cleared her throat, determined to get her point across. “Even after all these years, you continue to keep a part of yourself locked away from me. The very fact that you felt you could turn to your ex-girlfriend for help with a problem instead of me says a lot about our marriage.
That’s
what’s crazy.”

“Baby, it wasn’t my intention to shut you out, I just...” Darrell shook his head in bewilderment, his voice low and subdued. “I don’t know what else to say other than I’m sorry and to please forgive me.”

“And what happens next time? Because at this point, I don’t doubt there
will
be a next time.”

Darrell swallowed the denial forming on his lips. They could go back and forth all night with accusations, explanations, and recriminations but that wouldn’t get them any closer to repairing the damage in their marriage. Neither would being apart from each other.

“Jerra, those are all things we need to talk about. Me leavin’ our home ain’t gon’ fix the problem.”

“Have you ever considered that you leaving is something that I need right now?” Exasperated, Jerra threw her hands up. “Lorenzo was right, you don’t try to see any other points of view other than your own. You always have to dictate how things will go.”

Darrell’s head snapped back as if she’d physically struck him. She’d lost him the moment she inserted Lorenzo’s name in the conversation. “Tell me you didn’t just stand there and throw some mu’fucka’s words in my face who met me barely thirty minutes ago.”

Shaking her head, Jerra turned to go back to the family room, but Darrell hooked an arm around her waist to stop her. “We ain’t finished talkin’, Jerra.”

Infuriated, Jerra struggled to slip free and push away, but she may as well have not even bothered. His body was all hard, unyielding muscle beneath her palms. “Take…your hands…
off
me!”

Darrell’s grip tightened on her waist. “Baby, I don’t wanna fight with you.”

“The let me go! Now!”

“Dammit, Jerra, just hear what I have to–”

“Everything okay out here?”

The sound of Lorenzo’s voice made Darrell and Jerra turn in his direction. They’d been so caught up in their argument that they hadn’t noticed him and Tina standing a few feet away from them in the foyer. 

Lorenzo’s words were spoken in a quiet tone but had a definite bite. Although the question was supposedly directed at both of them it was obvious where his concerns lay. His eyes did a quick check of Jerra, scanning over her slowly, as if to make sure there were no obvious signs of injury.

Once his attention switched to Darrell, however, his entire demeanor changed. His posture stiffened, the vein visible in his corded neck throbbing like a rapidly beating heartbeat.

“You alright, Jerra?” he asked, his gaze still on Darrell.

The muscles in Darrell’s face coiled tight. The coolness in his own eyes dipped several degrees to match Lorenzo’s. He stepped in front of Jerra, his large body effectively blocking her from Lorenzo’s view. 

“Why wouldn’t she be alright?” he drawled in a deceptively calm tone.

Jerra glared at Darrell’s broad back. She knew what he was doing, but she wasn’t a toy he could stuff in his toy box so that no one else could look at it. Blowing impatiently, she inched around him to answer.

“Lorenzo, no, I’m fine. Darrell and I…we…well, we were just…”

But the rest of her explanation became lodged in her throat when Darrell deliberately swiveled his head around and leveled an intense, fevered stare down at her. Although his features remained smooth and his face expressionless, the silent message he sent Jerra left no room for doubt that he didn’t want or need her to explain a thing to anyone.

Folding her arms, she glared back at him in defiance while struggling to bite her tongue. If she responded the way she wanted to, it would only fan the flames of anger she saw building in his eyes and provoke him to
really
act a fool in a way only Darrell Jamar Monroe could. Jerra’s throat worked convulsively as she swallowed. However much it aggravated her to do so, it was best to remain silent to stop the situation from escalating.

Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, Darrell turned back to Lorenzo. “I asked you a question. What would make you think my wife wasn’t okay with me?”

“I heard the two of you arguing, heard her telling you to let her go more than once.” Lorenzo squinted, brandishing his frigid glare like a loaded weapon that was cocked, aimed, and ready to fire. “As I said, I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

Tilting his head, Darrell stood so still he looked as if he’d been sculpted out of clay. “In other words, you thought I was hurting her. Is that what you sayin’?”

He waited on Lorenzo’s reply, but of course he already knew the answer. Darrell’s entire body grew tense. He still wasn’t sure of the exact nature of Jerra’s past relationship with Lorenzo, but his imagination was fuckin’ with him hard. Images of Lorenzo touching his wife intimately and bringing her to heights of ecstasy were only some of the pictures that flashed through his mind. Just the possibility of the man he’d discovered was his brother having slept with his wife–even if it
was
before he knew her–drove him positively insane. 

Darrell wasn’t gon’ lie, he really wanted to fuck Lorenzo up…and this gave him the perfect excuse. His muscles hardened into a bundle of tight knots, but he was already in enough trouble with Jerra, so he did his best to keep ahold of his temper.

Still, he couldn’t help deliberately letting his chilly gaze inch over Lorenzo and size him up. Snorting at what he saw, Darrell’s eyes locked with his brother, making sure he had his full attention. He didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding about what he was getting ready to say.

“Let’s get something straight. Don’t worry about Jerra, she’s good. I take care of what’s mine. Jerra Monroe is at the top of that list. Anything, and I do mean anything, having to do with her needs, best believe that ain’t your concern.” His eyes grew colder, reflecting the horrific storm brewing inside him that was ready to unleash havoc on anything in its path–mainly Lorenzo. “You don’t wanna play this game with me because I promise you, you won’t win.”

Lorenzo wasted no time picking up the gauntlet Darrell threw at his feet. “You got me fucked up if you think I’m scared of you, bruh. Say the word, we can make this happen right now.”

Heart thumping in her chest, Jerra rushed around to stand in front of Darrell and look up at him. A sense of dread squeezed her lungs like a tight fist when she saw his face. She clutched his bulging bicep with both hands and tugged, trying to get his attention off Lorenzo and focused on her.

“Darrell, please don’t. I’m asking you to stop this. I’m asking
both
of you to stop.” She paused and sent a furious glare over her shoulder at Lorenzo. “You’re acting like boys on a playground instead of two grown, intelligent men. I won’t have you fighting in my house and upsetting your mother even more than what you’ve already done.”

Darrell’s hands went to her waist to move her out of the way, but she bunched the material of his t-shirt in her hands and held on.

“Look at me. Please,” she added in a voice tinged in desperation.

His jaw ticking furiously, Darrell reluctantly dragged his attention away from Lorenzo and did as she asked.

Jerra released a sigh of relief. “You’re right, there has been enough fighting for one day. Can you just calm down and get back to the matter at hand, which is resuming the conversation with Lorenzo and your mother? Please?”

Darrell stared at her for a long moment before answering. “And afterwards, we’ll talk?”

Jerra’s lips parted to answer, but nothing came out. Her heart sank when Darrell’s eyes narrowed at her lack of response to her question. A sudden series of short, muted buzzes indicating he’d just received a text interrupted his next words.

Jerra latched on to the interruption with both hands. “I don’t have my cell with me, can you make sure that’s not about D.J.?”

Darrell’s lips pressed together. The look on his face told her he knew she was using that as an excuse, but he pulled his phone out and glanced down at the message on the screen.

“What tha’ fuck?” he murmured to himself.

Lorenzo’s cell buzzed seconds later. Darrell glanced up from his phone and found Lorenzo watching him. “You might want to read that,” he told him in a gruff voice.

For a moment, Lorenzo didn’t move. Confused, his eyes went to the phone in Darrell’s hand. Retrieving his own out of his pocket, he put in the passcode and scanned the text. His expression mirrored Darrell’s when he glanced up.

“Looks like we’ve been summoned.”

Darrell’s face twisted up in resignation. “Yeah. I should’ve known.”

Now Jerra was the one confused. She stared up at Darrell. “What is it?”

Darrell answered her with one name. “Angel.”

“Angel?” Jerra’s puzzled glance went from Lorenzo to Darrell. “I…I don’t understand. He sent a text to both of you?”

Darrell stared at the message again before giving the phone to Jerra to read it:

                         
On my way home. I expect to see you both shortly.

Giving the phone back to Darrell, Jerra looked at Lorenzo. “You got the same message?”

When he answered that he had, Darrell snorted in disbelief. “Of course. You know Angel.”

Lorenzo nodded. “He’s been an…acquaintance of my family’s for years.”

Still squinting, Darrell turned his head as if working something out that was just starting to make sense. “Lucas and Hawk Pattel. They helped Angel and Dom with Melania Cruz.”

Lorenzo hesitated. Always cautious when it came to his family and their business, he remained vague. “Lucas and Hawk are my cousins. How do you know Dominick?”

“He’s one of my best friends.”

Both men grew quiet, each waiting on the other to offer more detail. Finally Darrell conceded. “I take it you’re aware of everything that went down with Dominick’s kidnapping?”

“Yeah,” Lorenzo answered slowly. “Not many people escape the clutches of Melania Cruz. I’m glad he’s okay. The outcome could’ve easily been just the opposite. I would say your friend is a very lucky man, but quite honestly, luck had very little to do with it. There was no way Angel was going to let anything happen to his brother.”

Darrell shook his head, slightly disgusted. “So Angel knew all this time. He knew who my father was and never told me. Dammit!”  Darrell’s gaze flitted around the room as if looking for something to take his anger out on. “What is it with him that always makes him want to play God with the lives of the people around him?”

“You can’t be sure Angel knew that you and Renzo were brothers,” Jerra offered.

“He knew,” Lorenzo muttered quietly.

A delicate scowl formed a frown on Jerra’s forehead. “How do you know that?”

Both men unknowingly wore identical expressions of disbelief when they looked to Jerra.

“Other than the fact that Angelo LaCroix makes it his business to know everything about the people closest to him, my father admitted it as well,” Lorenzo said in a grim tone. “Apparently the two of them had words a couple of nights ago. Somehow, Angel found out Darrell had been calling around asking about the Pattels. He probably guessed you’d discovered who your father was.”