Duke (7 page)

D
uke stepped through the doorway
, which was more a wooden frame that shaped the space for a door. Debris was everywhere, and men hammered, sawed, and nailed all over the place. He scanned the interior of the room and spotted his cousin.

“Stefan,” Duke called.

Stefan looked around and flushed. Duke read the guilt all over his face. His cousin took his time standing and waited until Duke reached him before speaking. “How did you know about this place?”

Duke snorted. “Are you kidding? You haven’t been as secretive as you think.”

“Does Creed know?”

“Not yet.”

Stefan spread his hands. “Come on, Duke. You understand what I’m doing, right?”

“For your wife.”

“Not just for Talicia.” He sighed. “I love to perform. Marquette’s is fantastic, but the kind of music I performed at the club, that was my heart and soul. I want to start again with Talicia. Creed doesn’t get it.”

“I guess he doesn’t.” Duke ran a hand over the back of his head as he took in the surroundings again. “At least it’s not over where you were before. This neighborhood’s pretty decent. Are you sure you’ll get the clientele you want?”

“We’ll draw them in. My better half is an incredible businesswoman.”

Duke pretended to gag and fanned the air. “All the love coming off you dudes is making it hard to breathe.”

Stefan smiled that genuine grin that always spread straight to his eyes, and he slapped Duke on the shoulder. “You’ll fall in love before you know it, and you’ll see what it’s like to want to lay down your life for her.”

Duke looked at the stain of white powder Stefan left on his shoulder. As far as he knew, Stefan didn’t have any renovation skills, but he had heard the brothers put in a lot of elbow grease at Marquette’s before it opened. Duke shook off the hand, but ignored the powder.

“Don’t lose sleep over me finding love, bud. I’m happy going from woman to woman. Marquette’s is like a smorgasbord, and I can’t get enough.” For some reason, his words reminded him of Takiyah and how much he had enjoyed her body the other day. He had to get a place of his own because he was far from done with her. She might think she would resist him, but he saw how she responded to his touch. He would get her under him again no matter what it took. “Listen, Stefan. How busy are you here?”

Stefan’s eyebrows rose. “I was planning to help out for another hour or two. Why?”

“I wanted to see if I can interest you in a nineteen forty Indian Chief.”

“Your motorcycle? The vintage one?”

“Is there any other?”

“Dude, you can’t be serious. It’s in mint condition. You’ve practically had a love affair with it for years.”

“Yeah, well I kind of need the cash.” Duke rubbed his neck, hoping Stefan wouldn’t push. He had no problem lying though, but he’d like to keep things simple. “If I sell it to you, when I get things in order, maybe you’ll let me buy it back.”

Stefan shook his head in amusement. “If you need money, I’d be happy to—”

“No. I earn my keep. Just a sale.”

“I thought Creed was taking care of you all these years.”

“You thought wrong.” Duke kept his voice even. For the first time, he cared about the wrong impression, and he didn’t like it. “He bailed me out a ton, but that’s all.”

“Why did you keep getting arrested?”

“Bad luck.”

Stefan chuckled. “You’re not going to tell me, huh? I assume my big brother knows?”

“He wouldn’t bail me out if he didn’t get the details. You know what a hard ass he is.”

Stefan made a sound of agreement. “Okay, you can pawn it to me. We have a warehouse down on Tchoupitoulas Street. I’ll house it there. Before you say anything, don’t worry. I have a private section under lock and key, and Creed doesn’t bug me about what’s in there.”

“I have a feeling you’ve got stuff for your club stored in it.”

“Talicia is on a buying spree. I might have to rein her in.”

Duke snorted. “As if you could. So are you leaving Marquette’s?”

Stefan went silent. They stood there for a few minutes, neither saying anything. Duke knew what it meant. Marquette’s had come back after the fire, hard and strong, but the golden boy was leaving them. He was surprised to find he didn’t like it, but he understood. Duke had always lived exactly the way he wanted no matter what anyone thought. Stefan was the one most like him—impulsive and in constant need of excitement.

Duke held out his hand. “Good luck, bud. I mean it.”

Stefan shook his hand. “I’m not leaving the family or New Orleans.”

“Yeah, well something tells me Creed’s going to give birth to a cow either way. Stick to your guns and enjoy it. I know I will.”

Stefan laughed. “You would.”

Duke started to walk out of the building when Stefan called to him back. He waited while his cousin caught up to him, and they strode to the parking lot together.

“Listen,” Stefan said, “I have a different idea I want to run by you.”

Duke raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What’s that?”

“What if you keep the motorcycle and come work for me?”

“Now you’re sabotaging Marquette’s?” Duke was only half joking. “I’m not the best waiter, but I figure I give a little presence to the place, being a genuine Marquette.”

Stefan shook his head. “No, I don’t mean instead of at Marquette’s. I would never do anything to interfere with the success of the restaurant. I’m still one of the owners after all. Our club hours run later than the restaurant’s. You can do both and make the money you need. With your background, you can work as my head of security.”

“Whoa.” Duke had to admit the idea had a certain ring to it. Obviously, he would be over other guys. He hadn’t played a leadership role since the army. “What about your bodyguard, Jerome? Surely, he’s got the skills for the job.”

“He does, but his job is to protect me personally. Dividing his attention between the patrons in the club and me won’t work.”

“True, well you know me, cuz. I’m an easygoing guy.” Duke ran a hand over his jaw. Stubble grazed his fingertips. He’d shaved that morning, but the hair was growing out again. What did Takiyah feel about a beard, he wondered.

Stefan interrupted his thoughts. “If you take the job, I can give you an incentive for doing me such a huge favor. After what happened at the other club, I need to step up the security in our new club. I don’t want to take any chances on Talicia getting hurt. Not that I’ll allow her to work without me being there.”

“I get you.”

“So is it a deal?”

“I’m not the type to take on too much of a heavy burden.”

Stefan smirked. “Think about it.”

“Will do, partner.” Duke joked around with his cousin a little longer and then bid him good-bye. He pretended he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the job offer. The signing bonus plus the fact that he could keep his bike sounded fantastic. Then to handle security at the club, it was a win-win. He knew Stefan’s skills when it came to promotions and marketing. The place would probably be buzzing with activity the first night.

Duke was almost at the restaurant before he gave in to the spark of excitement in his gut. He stopped at a traffic light and pulled out his cell phone to text Stefan. Within moments, even without a signed contract of employment, his cousin had dropped a load of cash into his bank account. Duke shook his head in disbelief and dialed again. Takiyah answered the phone on the fourth ring.

“Hello, sexy lady,” Duke said in a deep, rumbling tone.

He thought he heard a sharp intake of breath and grinned, imagining her squeezing those thick soft thighs together. “What do you want, Duke?”

“Come with me to buy a house.”

“Huh?” She gasped out loud this time. “Are you serious?”

“Very serious. You needed me to have my own place, didn’t you? So help me choose.”

“I don’t have any house-buying skills. My place is rented, and I don’t know you like that.”

The light changed, and he peeled off down the road. “You wanted to feel like we weren’t fucking for the hell of it. I can’t say house shopping is romantic, but you can get to know me a little better. Afterward, I’ll even buy you lunch.”

“So generous. Are you getting something near your cousins?”

He chuckled. “Is that your way of asking if I’m in the market for a mansion, or something equally pretentious?”

“It was a question.”

He wasn’t fooled. “I’m sorry to disappoint you. Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of money. I figure I can get something in my price range that’s also safe enough to take you.”

She said nothing, and he almost believed she would turn him down. He’d thought he heard a bit of excitement in her voice, the same as he was feeling at the prospect. Jeez, hadn’t he just told Creed he wasn’t interested in settling down?
No, this isn’t settling down. A place to take my lovers is a good idea.

“Kiyah?” he called over the line.

“All right, fine. When do you want to go?”

He made the arrangements with her and ended the call.

T
he short walkway
outside the house led to a wide wooden gate, which Duke couldn’t see past unless he opened it. The wood showed a lot of wear, and so did the upper level balcony to the left, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix. The charm of the house shined through the need for a paint job.

Inside the house, he paused on the second floor landing. He’d told the agent to wait downstairs while he and Takiyah looked around the second floor. While she moved ahead of him, he watched her ass and grinned. Which house he bought didn’t matter all that much, but he found it amusing to take in Takiyah’s facial expressions and her reactions to everything she saw.

She turned those big brown eyes to him as she ran a hand over the railing. “I love the way this looks over to the first floor. The house is narrow and small, but the way it’s designed is like a mini-mansion. It’s the best one we’ve seen today.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t remember any of the other houses, do you?”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t, and it doesn’t seem like you care about buying a house.” She faced him and slapped her hands on her hips. “Are you even serious or just trying to impress me?”

“Do you like this one?” He gazed around the upper landing. She rolled her eyes at him and marched along the hall to the master bedroom. Duke followed at more sedate pace. When he entered the room where she had disappeared, he imagined a king size bed against the wall to his right and Takiyah under him, writhing with delight. His cock hardened at the thought. He’d definitely not gotten her out of his system yet.

Takiyah stood across the room, facing away from him. Beyond her was a walk-in closet. On the opposite side was the bathroom. He spotted a shower, a sink, and a toilet—good enough for him.

“This closet puts mine to shame. It makes me jealous.”

“So that’s a yes?”

She frowned over her shoulder at him. “I’m not the one who has to live here, Duke. Do you like it?”

He shrugged.

“Ugh, you’re infuriating. Yes, I love it. We can look around some more, but if I was in the market, I’d grab this one. Did you see that little Italian place on the corner? I can’t believe a cute little restaurant like that is just steps away. I’m in love with this place. The neighborhood is so nice. It gives the impression of being upper middle class, but the price is decent.”

“Sounds like the one.”

“Can you cough up a little more enthusiasm? Never mind. What am I thinking? You’re not serious.”

He spun on his heel and moved to the railing in the hall. “Sally.” His voice echoed in the empty space. The real estate agent came into view, her heels clacking over the hardwood floors. “Duke, honey, what do you think? If you want to see something else, you just let me know.”

“I’ve decided. Draw up the paperwork. I’ll take it.”

She beamed. “Well, there are a few other offers on the table, but…”

He leaned on the railing and gave her what the movies called a smoldering look. In his mind, it was comical, but it had never failed to make women swoon. Sally, even at fifty-something, was no exception. She raised a hand to her chest and grew breathless. He suppressed his amusement and waited.

“I’ll do what I can, Duke. Don’t you worry, honey. This house is yours no matter what. Now, let’s go to my office and sign some papers.”

All the way back to the realtor’s office, Duke was aware Takiyah still doubted him. He wasn’t worried about it. In the past, he’d pulled off crazier stunts to get a woman in his bed. Buying a house wasn’t so bad. Okay, maybe it was a bit extreme when a word or two of seduction could get Takiyah to spread her legs for him. This idea was a far heavier hit. He sensed it when Sally handed him the papers for committing to purchase, and he handed over a check.

After he scratched his signature on the page, Sally excused herself to make a phone call. Duke turned to Takiyah, but she wasn’t looking at him. He reached out to skim a thumb over her shoulder, and she shivered. Her expression remained closed, but he wasn’t fooled.

“Say you’re sorry,” he teased.