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  “Anything worth it is worth waiting for.”

  He finally released her hand. He got out, walked around to her side of the car, and opened the door for her, helping her out. Here, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, long and tenderly, taking her breath away and seriously testing her will.

  A playful smile curved his lips when she placed her fingertips against his chest and gently pushed. “Can’t blame a wolf for trying, baby.”

  She smiled. If she had to tag Beck with an animal likeness, yeah, wolf did fit him, in many ways. “You’re more like a dawg. Go on home, now,” she said. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”

  He wouldn’t leave until she’d unlocked the apartment door and safely stepped inside. When she peeked through the viewfinder, she waited until he’d finally backed out and driven away before turning to rest against the door.

  Whew!

  He was a hot, gorgeous man. And she knew once she let herself cross that line with him, there’d be no turning back for her or her heart. They’d probably end up in bed for an entire weekend before they came up for air.

  She wouldn’t deny that thought left her more than a little tingly in the good way.

  As she walked down the hallway toward her room, she heard the shower running in the bathroom Da’von and Malyah shared. She also heard Da’von’s phone beeping in his room through the cracked open door.

  Walking into his bedroom, she found it laying on the bed, the display just going dark. When she hit the button, the screen came up.

  Her hands shook when she read the contact name.

  Dad

  Fighting against the red-hot rage washing through her, with trembling fingers she unlocked his phone and read the full text of the message.

  we stil eatin lunch tomor sun?

  As she scanned through previous messages, which only went back as far as earlier that evening, she realized Da’von must have been deleting previous messages from the guy.

  And the man was as illiterate as she remembered him being.

  She forwarded the message to her own phone so she’d have the asshole’s contact info, then deleted both the original text and the forwarded one to her from her brother’s phone to hide the evidence of her snooping. When she heard the shower shut off in the bathroom, she dropped the phone onto the bed and slipped out of Da’von’s room, barely remembering to pull the door shut the way it had been.

  She was already in her room and had the door closed behind her when she heard Da’von open the bathroom door. “Nami?” he called out. “That you?”

  “Yeah,” she answered, her back pressed against her bedroom door, heart racing. She nearly let out a scream when her phone vibrated in her pocket until she remembered she’d texted herself from Da’von’s phone. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Okay. We left brownies in the microwave for you. Malyah had to run back out to the store to get somethin’ for herself. I think she’s on the rag.”

  “Thanks, baby boy.” Her throat nearly closed tight on those words.

  How long had her brother been communicating with their father behind her back? Da’von hadn’t asked about him in years. During his wild spell in high school, she and Lu’ana had finally set him down and had it out with him, showing him copies of the man’s arrest record and convictions. Lu’ana had found those online in a public records search.

  Then Nami had forbid Da’von to talk about the man, or think about even trying to contact him. He was a convicted felon, a gang member, and she wanted nothing to do with the man.

  Even more importantly, she wanted nothing to do with his gang, and wanted Da’von nowhere near any of those kinds of people.

  And she’d thought their talk with him had worked.

  Pulling out her own phone, she swiped through her apps until she found the one for her phone service. That was something she knew how to do, because she’d had the people at the store show her how to use it. She could pay her bill there, look at usage…

  Look up call histories on the phones and block numbers.

  Malyah paid for her own phone now, had her own account. But Nami still paid for Da’von’s. And from the last run-in he had with trouble a couple of years ago, she still remembered how to block numbers.

  And he didn’t have the master account password or user ID to go in behind her and change things back.

  She logged in and looked up his phone, the staggering truth nearly taking her knees out. As she made her way over to the bed and collapsed onto it, she scrolled through three months of messages and calls between Da’von and the man.

  Before she blocked the number her finger paused.

  If I block him, Da’von will only want to see him more. Maybe drive him away from us and into that thug’s arms.

  Forcing herself to breathe, she studied the call and text history. She couldn’t see the actual text messages themselves, just the date, time, and phone numbers.

  Over the past couple of weeks, the man had been texting and talking with Da’von more frequently, several times a day. A sudden jump from when they began a few months earlier, when they were only once or twice a week, if that often.

  Including a call about the time the other night when she walked down the hall and thought she heard voices from Da’von’s room.

  Call Beck.

  The urge pulsed through her. She knew what would happen if she did that. He’d race back there and want to fix everything for her. She didn’t know why she knew that, but the instinct was as deeply embedded as her feelings for him.

  If she called him, it would mean a confrontation. It would mean introducing him to Da’von in an aggressive way that wouldn’t possibly lead to any kind of a positive outcome, either for her blossoming relationship with Beck, or for her relationship with her brother.

  But Beck had those friends of his. Friends who had access to information and resources.

  Maybe she could talk to them, find out where that louse Jarome Drexler was hiding, and go put the fear of her into him to stay away from her brother.

  No, let Beck put the fear of him into the man.

  Another instinctive thought that felt so damn right it nearly made her cry right there.

  She didn’t need a shower but she took one anyway, both to stall and to give herself time to cry and pull herself together before she risked facing Da’von. She was out in the kitchen getting a brownie from the microwave when he joined her there.

  “So? How was your date?”

  “It wasn’t a date. It was just a movie with friends.” She hated lying to him, but considering the whopper he’d been hiding from her, she felt more than justified.

  “I thought Malyah said a guy picked you up?”

  “He did. We met with friends. Friends from work.”

  Well, technically Beck’s work, and that was Friday, even though she still wasn’t exactly sure what Beck and the others did for a living beyond the vague description they’d given her.

  “So when we get to meet him?”

  “Meet him why?”

  “Come on, sis. I’m not a child. You’re an eligible, single, attractive woman. You want to date, we’re happy for you.”

  This conversation was going far astray of where she’d meant it to go, but at least it wasn’t a completely horrible direction.

  The irony didn’t escape her that she both did and didn’t want to discuss this with him right now. Unfortunately, it was all she could do not to start screaming at him. Talking was the last thing she wanted to do at that moment.

  “We’re just friends.”

  “Sure. If you say so.” He headed to the fridge.

  The need to respond forced it from her. “Not saying something might not eventually come of it. But I’m not looking for anything right now.”

  “Okay.” He opened the fridge and scanned the shelves.

  “I mean it.”

  “I heard you.”

  When she opened her mouth again, she snapped it shut, realizing how ridiculous she was being.


  She was the one in the right here, not him.

  Even if she couldn’t confront him about it yet.

  “I’m heading to bed. Tomorrow’s Monday.”

  “I know what day it is.”

  She ignored his touch of attitude. “You ready for school?”

  “I’m not a kid, Nami. I got it.” He glanced her way. “You all right?”

  “Just tired. Good night.”

  She had to get to her room, fast, and get the door shut before she was tempted to yell at him.

  I have to talk to Beck.

  But she couldn’t do it with Da’von in the apartment. The walls were paper thin and the last thing she needed was a confrontation when she felt that upset.

  Tomorrow. I’ll call Beck tomorrow. He’ll know what to do.

  She hated to admit that to herself, but this was a situation she was too close to. If his friends had contacts, maybe they could figure out where Jarome Drexler was and she could go pay the guy a visit.

  Her phone buzzed in her hand, a text message from Beck.

  I’m home. Have a good night. :)

  Peace settled over her. It’s time for me to quit thinking I can fix the world on my own. She would talk to Beck about this tomorrow.

  She texted him back.

  Can you meet me for lunch tomorrow?

  He immediately replied.

  Sure. I won’t even ask about the change of heart. What time, and where?

  Eleven, Marion Transit Center.

  I’ll be there.

  Nami fought the urge to burst into relieved tears. As she settled in for the night, she closed her eyes and tried to think about Beck, and not about what she’d discovered about her brother.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next morning, Nami wanted to grab Da’von and shake him until his teeth rattled out of his skull. She’d gotten little sleep.

  On the heels of her worry about the situation with Da’von, the worry that when Beck found out about her father and what was going on that he might not want anything else to do with her.

  That would break her heart, but if she was ever going to trust him she needed to know it wasn’t a one-way street.

  Beck was standing there in the plaza outside the building, waiting, when she pulled in. She walked over to him and felt her nervous stomach settle just seeing him there. After giving him a quick kiss, she said, “Let me go check in. I’ll be right back out.”

  After checking in and using the bathroom, she returned to him. “Can we go sit in your car and talk?”

  He gently rested his hands on her shoulders, stroking her arms. Deep lines furrowed his brow. “What’s wrong, Nami? What’s happened?”

  She glanced around. “In private.”

  He took her by the hand and led her to his car, where he cranked it up, air conditioner running. Then he held her hands. “Now, tell me what happened.”

  “I have something I need to tell you,” she said.

  “This sounds bad.”

  “It is.” This was something she hadn’t had to deal with in a long time. “I haven’t told you everything about my father. I have no contact with him, and haven’t since Momma died. He was in jail. I say was, because apparently they paroled the worthless son of a gun a couple of months ago. The parole board told me they would send me notice when he got out, but they didn’t. I didn’t think he would get out for a while—”

  Beck kissed her, slowly, pressing her hand against his heart until she could barely even remember what it was they’d been talking about. When he finally lifted his mouth from hers, he said, “I don’t care what your father did. I care about you.”

  She felt the prickle of tears in her eyes and desperately wanted to hold them back, but part of her couldn’t. Not anymore. This was a man far stronger than her in many ways, and right or wrong, she felt safe letting go and leaning on him.

  And she’d be a liar if she denied it. “I found out last night he’s been in contact with Da’von. I’m scared he’s gonna try to pull him into his gang.” Now the dam burst. She started sobbing and didn’t resist when Beck pulled her into his arms, their secure warmth and strength around her. She let him hold her, let him support her…

  Let him.

  “I’m scared, Beck,” she whispered.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t be scared, baby. I can fix this for you. This is easy.”

  “How? I—”

  “Shh. We have contacts, and we have ways of making people leave other people alone.”

  She didn’t dare pull back, pull away, afraid to see what might be lurking in his eyes. “Please, please, swear to me you guys aren’t like some mob or something.”

  He chuckled, but it almost sounded like a dog’s snort. “No, baby. I swear. We’re not a crime syndicate. We’re just a very powerful group of people from…very, very old money.” He stroked her back and every cell in her body wanted to be absorbed by him, into him, him into her. “There are a lot of confidentiality clauses and stuff to protect our business that means I can’t tell you a lot right now. But no, no mob. I promise. We’re not criminals. You would be surprised what money can buy.”

  She was a big woman, a strong woman. And when necessary in the past, she’d been able to be one bad-assed woman, to protect her family.

  This man was bigger and stronger, and far, far, badder.

  “What needs to happen?” she asked. “I don’t know how I’ll pay you guys—”

  He silenced her with a kiss. When he lifted his head and stared into her eyes, she wanted to melt into him. “No money. We don’t do this for money. I take care of mine. We all do.”

  The word and the way he said it sent a pleasant shiver through her. “Then what now?”

  “Now, we need to talk to Dewi.”

  As if she’d had fur, her hackles raised along her back, visceral. “No offense, Beck, but maybe you should talk to her on your own.”

  “She’s no threat to you in any way.”

  “Yeah, but you…” She snapped her mouth shut on the sharp accusations wanting to climb free from her throat.

  He studied her for a moment before answering. “Yes, we were lovers. But she met Ken, she’s happy with him, engaged to him, and they’re going to be married.”

  “So she just up and left you for that guy? No offense, he seems nice, but really?”

  Beck smiled, and it bore a knowing weight of information that she suspected wasn’t accessible to her yet, but might be, one day. “You’ll see, eventually. You’ll understand. It’s…complicated.”

  “You and Dewi are pretty people. How do I know the two of you won’t ever get back—”

  He cut her off again with another kiss, harder, fiercer, deeper than the last. It took every last ounce of will she had not to collapse into his arms in a sobbing puddle.

  This time, he cupped her face in his huge hands and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “Because,” he said, “I keep my oaths. And as long as you want me, then you are the only person in my heart. No one else will ever take your place.”

  Maybe she just wanted to believe it, but it felt right. Like a universal truth along the lines of the sun rising every morning and the moon following along behind it like a faithful dog. Like dropped objects succumbed to gravity. Water always seeking its level.

  “Can you trust me?” Beck asked.

  She nodded. She knew she had a choice, but not really. Because her heart had already made the decision in a secret vote that locked her brain and common sense out of the meeting chamber.

  “You and your brother and I will go talk to Dewi. Have dinner at her place. I’ll set it up with her for later in the week, when she’s back from Georgia.”

  “What about Malyah? She should be in on this, too.”

  “Well, she can come, too, if you want. And Lu’ana and her husband. Call it a family dinner.” He smiled. “Dewi and the others, they pretty much are my family. The people important in my life.”

  “Then what?”

  “We’l
l all sit down and talk with your brother, for starters. Find out why he was doing this behind your back. We might be able to get him to stop just with that alone. But in case not, Dewi and I will then go talk to Jarome Drexler and inform him his presence in your family’s life isn’t welcomed. Then, I guarantee you, he will not be a problem any longer.”

  “That sounds too easy.”

  “I know it does, but sometimes the easiest solution is the most effective one.” He pulled her tightly against him and stroked her back. “So please stop worrying. We’ll take care of this.”

  Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out again. Her lungs were filled with his scent, unlike no one ever before. Not a cologne, just…him.

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  “No, baby. Thank you for trusting me and letting me in.”

  * * * *

  Beck made her eat her lunch, didn’t want her going back on shift without food in her stomach. Such a drastic difference from her appearance last night, her eyes looking haunted, exhausted, shoulders slumped and the spring gone from her step.

  He wanted to find Jarome Drexler and make him disappear. Anything that was a threat in Nami’s life was, automatically and by extension, a threat in his life.

  When he walked her to the building so she could get ready to go back on her shift, he said, “Call me when you’re off work. As soon as you are. I’ll have details for you then.”

  She looked like she wanted to burst into tears again. “Thank you. I’m sorry to lay this on you, but—”

  He grabbed her and kissed her, not caring who saw him. “This is what I’m here for. I’d be upset if you hadn’t told me.” He forced himself to let go of her. “Call me. Promise?”

  She nodded.

  Beck waited until she’d gotten on the bus and headed out before returning to his car. Then he went straight to Dewi’s. She wouldn’t be leaving for Georgia until late afternoon, so maybe they could brainstorm what to do.

  When he got there and told her, her face darkened. “Shit,” she muttered. She looked at Ken. “Better give it to him.”

  “What?” Beck asked.