The Obsidian Collection Page 27

  One weekend, Shanice had bummed a ride to USF with some girls who used fake IDs to get into frat parties. When she and her friends arrived at his frat house, the party had been in full swing. He’d been playing a game of beer pong with a few of his brothers, and they were scouring the floor for some girls to dance with.

  “Hey, Trevor. Look at the hotties that just walked in the door,” Bryce said. “Four of them. Four of us. Problem solved.”

  Bryce went over and pulled the exotic beauty Trevor had his eye on, to the dance floor. Her coloring was similar to Shanice’s, but she had a bod that couldn’t possibly be attached to Shanice.

  The last time he’d seen her it had been over Christmas break when he was a sophomore, and she’d still been as thin as a reed, with arms and legs too long to belong to such a tiny person. She’d been pissed at him, as usual, because he kept telling her it wasn’t safe for her to come to his uncle’s house, but she’d kept seeking him out, even though he’d told her they weren’t brother and sister any more.

  Then she giggled over something Bryce said, and he knew it was her. She was all grown up now. He walked out to the dance floor, where Bryce was grinding on her like a dog in heat, and grabbed her arm.

  “Shanice?”

  A crooked, sexy grin lit up her face, and she abandoned her dance partner. “Trevor!”

  He scooped her up and she held onto him so tightly, Trevor hated himself for having disappointed her over and over again. When he finally eased her out of the embrace, he leaned over to talk into her ear.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you,” she said. Then her beautiful face got serious. “You didn’t come home for Christmas. What was that all about? I mean, I get you don’t want to be my surrogate brother any more, but Isaiah, Brenda, and the twins, they still love you, too.”

  “Let’s not do this here,” he said. “Come on.”

  He led her through the throng of partiers and took the back stairs off the kitchen up to his room. Couples in various stages of making out occupied every spare corner in the house, a sight which usually didn’t embarrass him, but it made him very uncomfortable with Shanice there. Of course, she was a different Shanice from the one he’d last seen, who could now put any of the college girls to shame.

  He tried, unsuccessfully, not to look at her perfectly shaped ass as she walked ahead of him, or the tiny waistline just above it, or . . . Finally, they got to his room and he let her in ahead of him.

  The noise from the party was dulled but not totally gone. He grabbed a couple of water bottles out of his mini fridge, opened one, and handed it to her. Then he downed a huge swallow of his own. It was time to clear his head a bit for this conversation.

  He gestured toward a chair, but she chose the bed, so he went to the chair.

  “Do Isaiah and Brenda know you’re here?”

  “What do you think?” she said. “You leave me no choice but to sneak off to see you when I can, because you never come see us anymore. Why is that?”

  It broke his heart to say the words, but he gave her the same bullshit answer he’d given her the year after Dave and Elena died. “I’ve grown up. We’ve grown apart. There’s no blood connecting us, Shanice. You need to live your life and forget about me.”

  Her eyes filled and tears spilled down her face.

  “What happened to us being the two musketeers? One for each other and each other for one?” They’d put their own spin on the musketeer phrase when they’d first moved to Orlando and lived on the same street. With their adoptive families so wound together and going to the same church, they’d believed they would be together forever.

  “That changed when Philip Kyle got custody of me. Now you need to go back home, before you get into trouble here.”

  “I won’t get into any trouble with you looking out for me. Besides, we just got here, and my friends aren’t ready to go.” She wiped her eyes with the back of one hand. “It’s okay if you don’t want to see me. I’ll just go downstairs and dance with some of your hot college friends until my friends are ready to go. We can act like perfect strangers if that’s what you want, but I’m not leaving right now.”

  With that, she stood and stalked over to his door. He rushed over and barred her from leaving.

  “Just stay in here and hang with me,” he said. The only alternative he had was to unleash her among his horny frat brothers.

  She smiled knowingly. He wasn’t fooling her. “Sure,” she said, like that had been her plan all along.

  They played video games together like old times and talked until they were practically hoarse before she got a text from one of her friends asking where she was. They were going to take a cab to the hotel. She texted back and told them she’d meet up with them the next morning.

  Trevor didn’t think anything of it when he gave her a new pair of his pajamas to sleep in, and they tucked in for the night in his bed.

  Morning was another thing. When he awoke with a stiffy crammed against her derrière, he was mortified and was certain she’d be traumatized by his body’s involuntary reaction. But she was unfazed.

  “I’m going to nursing school when I graduate, Trevor. I’ve already taken college-level anatomy. I know all about natural bodily functions,” she said.

  Trevor had long suspected Shanice had a crush on him, but he remembered that point in time when their relationship of surrogate brother and sister became something else altogether. After she’d read Little Women and decided she was the Amy to his Laurie.

  Trevor kissed his bride again, thrilled he could affect Shanice in a way he’d dreamed about for so long, without guilt or shame. He stripped his shirt over his head and flung it aside then he grabbed Shanice and kissed her again. She pulled away, took a few steps back, and frantically removed her own top before she beckoned him with her sexiest “come hither” look.

  He reached around and unclasped the lacy pink bra she wore and pulled it forward. He bent his head and took a nipple into his mouth before freeing the bra from her arms.

  Trevor still couldn’t believe he was a free man, a married man, who could make love to his wife whenever he wanted. He was excited and nervous, even though she’d already given him the gift of her virginity. Wild-oat-sowing-in-college notwithstanding, he still worried he might not be any good.

  He buried his fingers in her long, silky hair. The drapes were closed, but ambient light seeped under them, and he could see Shanice’s perfect curves. He slid her shorts and panties down over her thighs and dropped them to the floor. She stepped out of them and stood naked before him. Her silhouette was amazing.

  He stripped off his jeans and boxers and stood naked before her. The sight kept them both in thrall for a moment. Then he walked her backwards toward the bed, their legs moving in tandem as if they were dancing, until they fell back onto it. They bounced gently then settled there, lips still locked.

  Shanice reached her fingers between their bodies and brushed her nails lightly against him. He twitched with anticipation as his thigh muscles flexed. The taste of her lips and warmth of her body was reassuring, and his nervousness fled. It was the excitement of feeling her naked, perfection against his body. They rolled on the bed until they were farther onto it with Shanice on top.

  She scooted down and left a trail of kisses on his chest. Then she cupped him in her hand. Trevor shuddered and moaned when she slowly slid her hand back and forth. Then he switched their positions and crawled on top of her. He kissed her tenderly and slowly at first, before his desire worked him into a frenzy. He left a trail of kisses on her neck and traveled down her bare chest.

  He moved up to face her again and kissed her lips as he positioned himself. She gasped when he entered her. As he began to move inside her, she dug her nails into his back.

  The same bliss that had overtaken him the first time they made love, came back again. It was as if he might burst into tears for the second time, because it felt so good, and he loved her so much. He forced himself
to relax, to connect with her so completely that all he could express was joy. Soon, she fell into rhythm with him and rolled her hips along with his. They were both moving together as one, as they should be.

  Perspiration dotted their skin, and he hoped they wouldn’t slide out of their lover’s embrace. Trevor could feel himself nearing a spectacular release, but he wanted Shanice to get there first, especially after last time. He leaned down and took one of her nipples into her mouth. That’s all it took.

  She gripped his hair, and he went deeper. Shanice threw her head back and rose to meet him. She said his name as she came, which caused him to lose control and thrust faster. Then his muscles tensed, and his entire body grew rigid before he let go.

  “Oh, God, Shanice!”

  He came in a brilliant wave of pleasure that surged around him and awakened each and every nerve ending. When the waves subsided, he pulled out and rolled over onto his back. He took her into his arms.

  “I love you, Mrs. Kyle.”

  “And I love you, Mr. Kyle.”

  Trevor grinned and held her tighter, and she reciprocated. They lay quiet for several minutes until their breathing evened out. He dipped his head and kissed her. It was a deep, lingering kiss he hoped conveyed the words he couldn’t speak.

  He lay there holding Shanice, until their syncopated heartbeats slowed to resting. Trevor had no idea what tomorrow would bring for them, other than getting Philip Kyle out of their lives for good. He didn’t dare think beyond that to the confrontation with her parents, but he was now sure their getting married had been the right thing to do. Their lovemaking was proof of that, and he would never doubt again.

  At last he snuggled her comfortably in the crook of his arm and closed his eyes. The last thing he thought before he drifted off was whether he could refrain from punching Phil’s lights out when he saw him for the first time in seven years.

  It didn’t take Trevor long to remember another reason he hated doing anything programming-related for his uncle. The bastard stood looking over his shoulder half the time, as if he could understand what the fuck was going on. His stinky breath smelled of whatever the hell he’d eaten that morning, with whatever the hell he drank the night before oozing out of his pores.

  “How long is this gonna take?” Phil asked anxiously as he looked at the Rolex stretched taut on his fat wrist. Time had not been good to Phil. No longer was he tall and muscular like David had been. He was just big and round. Drinking and eating junk food didn’t contribute to a healthy body.

  Hemphill looked up briefly from the computer he was manning, as if he was also interested in Trevor’s answer. It was already half past noon, and he’d told Shanice they’d be done a half an hour ago.

  “Once we get the code strung together, the actual transfer won’t take long at all,” Trevor said.

  Phil put a thick hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “Good, because we have a flight out at 3:30.”

  Trevor stretched as if he was trying to loosen up his muscles from being in one place for so long, but he was really shaking his uncle’s hand off his shoulder.

  “Why don’t you have your lackeys call for some room service?” Trevor said. “It’s going to be a minute.” The knock from room service would be the cue for Hemphill’s agents to storm the room.

  His uncle looked at Frick, the nickname Trevor had given the shorter of the two hoods, and nodded. The little guy reminded Trevor of a Chihuahua. Frick picked up the phone.

  “So, Trevor,” Hemphill said. “How’d you come up with this idea? You never told me when we were in the joint.”

  “I wish I could say it was my idea,” Trevor said. “But that distinction belongs to a better man.”

  Being the narcissist he was, Trevor was sure Phil wouldn’t let an opportunity go by to toot his own horn. He was right.

  “My nephew has an extraordinary skill, but he’s a drone, a worker bee. I am the mastermind behind this project. You see, I once worked as a CPA for one of the banks that held unclaimed funds for the state of Florida. I kept looking at the balance growing daily, until one day I thought, ‘I need to get me a piece of that.’ I didn’t know how to do all the fancy, schmancy programming to make it happen, but I knew a kid who could. Next thing you know, my brother dies in a goddamn car accident, and I volunteer to get custody of his computer genius kid. All it took was a few video games, some top-of-the-line computer equipment, and I had the little fucker eating out of my hand.”

  Phil droned on and on, digging his own grave deeper and deeper, not knowing the room was bugged. Trevor and Hemphill continued to write a dummy program they would keep going until the knock came. Then Trevor would run the real program while Frick or Frack went to answer the door. They were in Hemphill’s room, which Trevor pretended was his, while Shanice was safe at Lisa’s.

  This solved the problem of Hemphill carrying a gun on him. He just hid it in the room, along with anything else that could blow his cover. He also had a sniper in the building adjacent to them, ready to help if it came to a gun fight.

  Room service knocked at the door twenty minutes later.

  “Wow, they’re fast,” Hemphill said, which was the password to get his team ready.

  Three things happened at once. Trevor started the program. Frack went to answer the door, and Hemphill retrieved his hidden weapon.

  “Paydirt,” Trevor said, and the digital counter began. He pointed to the screen to keep his uncle and Frick occupied.

  “There’s nothing more beautiful than watching the numbers populate as you become rich!” Phil said. A red dot from a sniper site appeared on Frick’s head. Then within seconds, all hell broke loose.

  When Frack opened the door, Hemphill drew his weapon. “FBI! On your knees, Philip Kyle! Hands behind your head.”

  Instead of agents rushing in, there was a surprised Pastor Isaiah Bailey, Brenda, and Shanice.

  Frack saw his opportunity and rushed them, gun drawn, and pulled Shanice in front of him as a shield. Cold fury filled Trevor, but he shoved it aside. He rushed toward Frack and Shanice, screaming, “Let her go, goddamn it!” But Donald pulled him back. “Get down, Trevor!” Frack froze but didn’t release Shanice, who was scared speechless, her eyes wide with fear. When Donald pulled Trevor down, a red dot appeared on Frack’s forehead, and a second later, he dropped and took Shanice with him.

  Trevor rushed over just in time to help Shanice push Frack off her. He felt over her body to make sure she didn’t have any wounds, because blood and brain matter was all over her. There was so much blood, he was terrified for a second she’d been hit.

  “Are you okay?” Trevor said, still examining her. “Are you okay?”

  She was shaking so hard, there was no wonder she couldn’t answer, but he needed to hear it from her. “Are you okay, baby, please?”

  “Yes, yes.” Then tears spilled from her eyes, and Trevor felt as if a hot knife had sliced into his gut. He wrapped his arms around her trembling body to hold her close while she sobbed into his neck.

  When Trevor looked back, Donald had cuffed Phil and was reading him his rights, as the other members of the team descended on the suite.

  The women were sleeping off the trauma. Pastor Isaiah Bailey was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a coward. He recovered quickly and wanted answers. Trevor gave him a brief synopsis about Phil’s reign of terror in his life.

  “Trevor, son? Why didn’t you tell us? Had we known what Philip was doing, we would have gone to the authorities and let them figure out how to get you out of that situation.”

  “Uncle Philip had David and Elena killed, hoping to get custody of me so he could pay off his mob gambling debt. He also threatened Shanice and your family multiple times. He’s the one who had you and Brenda run off the road that time. I knew he wasn’t bluffing, when he said I would never see Shanice again, if I didn’t do what he said. ”

  “So that’s why you broke her heart, multiple times?”

  “Yes. I’d rather she have a broken heart than be
in danger.”

  “I know as a pastor, I’m not supposed to hate, but you were so cruel to my little girl, that it took everything in my power not to. I should have known the bond you two had for all those years was too indelible to be broken. She always had faith in you, even when we didn’t.”

  “I know, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to match her faith with my own.”

  “You’d better, or I might have to step down, so I can kick your ass.”

  “Pastor, Isaiah!”

  “Ass is in the Bible, son. Samson smote the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.”

  Trevor laughed. “I’ve always liked your loose interpretations of Scripture.”

  “So, does this mean you’ll be coming to my church?”

  “If Shanice is there, I’ll be with her. And we’ll want to participate in some of your marriage counseling sessions before we repeat our vows at your church.”

  “That’s a good idea, but didn’t you two put the cart before the horse with this Vegas speed wedding?”

  Trevor remembered what Lisa said and took responsibility. “With all due respect, sir, Shanice and I had been apart for seven years. We didn’t want to spend another minute without each other, and I didn’t know what would go down with my Uncle Phil. If I died in that altercation, I wanted it to be with her as my wife. I remember what I promised you and Brenda the weekend I brought her back home from USF. If I ever were to become your son-in-law, I would do it decent and in order.”

  Isaiah Bailey took a long look at Trevor. “I remember a time when Brenda and I wanted you to be our son, but David wanted you so badly, and I had a new church and a new daughter. Responsibilities that were going to keep me hopping already. We knew the Kyles would love you as much as we did.”

  “And they did. They were a tragic loss, but I guess on some level I didn’t feel like I deserved what I had with the Kyles.”