Exposed (20 page)

She’d flip the script on him.

She was packing when he came home that evening.

Pausing in the bedroom doorway, Brandon propped his shoulder against the door frame and watched her in silence for a few moments.“Going somewhere?”

She didn’t spare him a glance.“I’m going home.”

“Why?”

She folded a red blouse, her movements sharp and angry.“I know where I’m not wanted.”

He frowned, not moving from the doorway.“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” She tossed the blouse into her Louis Vuitton suitcase, then snatched another off the bed.“You’ve hardly spent any time with me over the past two weeks. So what’s the point of me staying here? I might as well go the fuck home.”

Brandon sighed heavily, guilt sweeping over him. “Don’t do that. Look, I know I haven’t been around much lately, but it can’t be helped. I’ve been swamped with this big case, and it’s pretty much kept me chained to the office—”

“Along with Cynthia,”Tamia jeered.

Brandon hesitated.“Yes,” he admitted reluctantly.“Cynthia and I are working on the case together.”

“I bet that’s not
all
you’re working on together.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tamia spun around, glaring accusingly at him. “Are you fucking her, Brandon?”

“What?”

“You heard me! Are you fucking that bitch?”

“No,” he snarled, advancing into the bedroom. “And you’ve got a lot of damn nerve asking me a question like that when you’ve been acting shady for weeks!”

Her eyes flared.“
I’ve
been acting shady? What about
you?
”

“What
about
me?” Brandon challenged, blood pressure escalating. “As I recall,
you’re
the one who blatantly lied about getting into some ghetto-ass fight over another man!”

She flung aside the blouse she’d been clutching. “Yeah, I lied. But only because I was too damn embarrassed to admit that some crazy, paranoid bitch had accosted me while I was peacefully minding my own business. What’s
your
excuse for lying?”

“What the hell have I lied about?” he demanded, advancing on her until mere inches separated their faces.“Please enlighten me.”

She sneered contemptuously. “I was there tonight, Brandon. I saw you and Cynthia together, and it was so obvious that there’s something going on between you two, even a blind man could see it!”

“Wait a minute.” Brandon stared incredulously at her.“You came to my office tonight?”

“You’re damn right I did!”

“What? So now you’re
spying
on me?”

“Not quite,” she hissed. “Since you’ve been working so hard and we haven’t had a chance to spend any time together, I thought I’d drop by and surprise you with dinner. But imagine
my
surprise when I pulled up to the building and saw you and Cynthia enjoying a tender little moment under the stars.”

Brandon scowled. “It wasn’t like that,” he grumbled, even
as guilt stabbed his conscience.“We were just taking a mental break. Kessler was there, too.”

“He was at first. But what happened after he went inside? Did you and Cynthia follow his lead? Nope! The two of you decided to get nice and cozy on the bench. Anyone watching you would have thought you were about to make out!
I
sure as hell did!” She glared angrily at him. “So again I ask.
Are you fucking her?
”

“No!” he roared.

“But you want to, don’t you? Admit it!”

“Go to hell.” Brandon wheeled away from her, savagely yanking off his tie as he stalked across the room toward the walk-in closet. His heart was pounding so violently he thought his ribs would crack open.

Tamia snorted derisively. “You can’t even look me in the eye and tell me the truth.”

Brandon rounded furiously on her.“You’re the
last
person to be lecturing anyone about the goddamn truth!”

She thrust her hands defiantly on her hips and stared at him, nostrils flaring.“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that there’s something going on with you, Tamia. I’ve sensed it for a while now, even before you made up that bullshit story about hitting your jaw on a table. Little things have been bugging the hell out of me for weeks, but I let them slide because I didn’t want to start an argument with you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? Little things like what?”

“For starters, the way you got suddenly and mysteriously ill the night we went out for dinner. The way you went AWOL for days afterward. The way you absolutely refused to meet me at your house the night I showed up there.” He stared at her, searching her face for the telltale signs of deceit he’d been trained to detect.

Nothing.

“Everything I’ve just described sounds like the behavior of someone who’s cheating,” he continued, keeping his voice level.“Now, I’ve given you every benefit of the doubt because I don’t want to believe you’re capable of betraying me like that. But if I find out that you are …” He trailed off deliberately, letting her infer the rest.

She held his stare for several tense moments, then exhaled a deep breath and shook her head in grim disbelief.“Wow. It’s even worse than I thought if you have to resort to turning the tables on me.”

Brandon clenched his jaw.“Tamia—”

“I asked you a simple question, and instead of giving me a straight answer, you go off on some tangent about
my
so-called suspicious behavior. Talk about a classic example of deflecting.”

“First of all,” he growled,“there’s nothing
simple
about the question you asked. And it wasn’t even a damn question. You outright accused me of wanting to sleep with another woman.”

She folded her arms across her chest.“And I’m still waiting for your answer.”

At that, his patience finally snapped.“You want the damn truth? Fine, here goes.
Yes,
I’ve become attracted to Cynthia. And do you know when it started? After nineteen fucking days of not getting any pussy from
you!
”

Tamia gaped at him.“So now it’s
my
fault that you’ve been thinking about fucking your coworker?” She laughed scorn-fully.“That’s so unoriginal, Brandon. Surely you can do better than that.”

He scowled. “I’ve been working with Cynthia for two years, and I’ve never found myself attracted to her until now, when things are falling apart between me and you. Something tells me that’s not just a coincidence.”

Suddenly Tamia was staring at him as if he’d completely lost his mind.“I don’t even think you realize,” she whispered.

He glared at her.“Realize what?”

“The way your eyes light up when you talk about her. The way you look at her, the way you speak to her, the way you joke and laugh with her.”Tamia’s eyes grew moist with unshed tears.“Are you in love with her?”

The question struck Brandon with the force of a tsunami.
“What?”

“I didn’t stutter.”

“Of course I’m not in love with her! What the hell kind of question is that?”

“An honest one,”Tamia said quietly.

“Well, here’s my honest answer:
NO!
”

In the ensuing silence, his words echoed loudly and hollowly in the space between them.

Tamia assessed him for several seconds, then abruptly turned away and resumed packing, now throwing clothes haphazardly into the suitcase.

Brandon sighed deeply. “I love
you,
Tamia, even though you’ve been doing everything in your power to push me the hell away.”

She kept packing.

“I don’t want you to go. Believe it or not, I’ve looked forward to coming home to you every night. I know it may not seem that way because I’ve been so tired, but I’ve genuinely appreciated having you here.”

He started toward her, seeking to make amends because he knew that the scene she’d witnessed tonight had not looked as innocent as it should have.“Tell you what. I have to go into the office on Saturday, but I’ll try my absolute best to get out of there by five. We can do something special together. Whatever you want.”

“I’m going out of town this weekend,”Tamia said curtly.

“You are?” Surprised, Brandon halted midstep and stared at her.“Where?”

“I’m going to Virginia to visit my sister at Hampton. She’s been stressed out over her classes, and I’ve been stressed out
with work and everything else that’s been going on. So we decided to hang out together and help each other decompress this weekend. We’ll probably end up at Virginia Beach.”

Brandon nodded slowly, digesting this information.“When are you leaving?”

“Friday morning. I’ll be back on Monday.” She snapped the suitcase shut, hefted it off the bed, and started from the room.

Brandon hurriedly stepped into her path, blocking her escape.

She sighed harshly.“Brandon—”

“Don’t go home tonight,” he implored her.

“I told you—”

“I know what you told me, and you’re wrong. I
do
want you here.” He gently rubbed her tense shoulders.“I’m going to miss you this weekend.”

“Don’t worry,” she mocked bitterly.“I’m sure Cynthia will be more than happy to keep you company.”

Brandon bristled but didn’t rise to the bait. “At least stay here until you leave for your trip. All right?”

She was silent, eyeing him sullenly.

He reached down, pried the suitcase handle out of her resistant fingers, and carried it into the closet.

When he emerged, she was gone.

He frowned, heading out of the room.“Baby?”

She stood in the doorway to the guest bedroom, her lips twisted into a sneer.“I think it would be best if I kept my distance from you tonight.”

And with that, she slammed the door in his face.

Brandon dropped Tamia off at the airport on Friday morning.

It was his idea, but she’d gladly welcomed the offer. She hoped that seeing her ticket itinerary and watching her depart for a flight bound for Virginia would silence any suspicions he may have had about her trip.

Once aboard the plane and comfortably ensconced in her first-class seat, she gazed out the small window. Her thoughts were instantly transported back to the argument she and Brandon had had on Wednesday night. She’d played the role of aggrieved girlfriend to perfection. By the time she’d finished hurling her accusations at him, Brandon had felt so guilty he’d all but begged her to move in with him.

But the satisfaction she’d felt that night was tempered by questions that had plagued her conscience ever since.

Was
Brandon in love with Cynthia?

Wa
s Tamia
responsible for driving him away and into the arms of another woman?

She frowned, deeply disturbed by both possibilities.

The only reason she’d agreed to Dominic’s indecent proposal was to keep Brandon from learning the truth about her
scandalous past. She’d done what she felt was necessary to secure her place as his future wife.

It would be the cruelest irony of all if she ended up losing him in the process of trying to keep him.

After attending a meeting at the district attorney’s office that afternoon, Brandon found himself driving around the corner to the JPMorgan Chase Tower. It was the tallest building in Houston, but more important, it was home to Archer Foods International—the company owned by Dominic Archer.

Brandon’s brief elevator conversation with the Crucian businessman had been nagging at his conscience for the past three weeks. He’d found himself mentally replaying the exchange and analyzing every word, every nuance, every vocal inflection. But what stood out the most in his mind was the image of Dominic’s smirking face as the elevator doors had closed. Brandon couldn’t shake the feeling that Dominic had been laughing at him—and he wanted to know why.

So there he was, riding the elevator up to the sixty-third floor of the Chase Tower based on some gut instinct. He hadn’t decided what he was going to say, but that wasn’t a problem. As a litigator he’d become adept at thinking on his feet and improvising whenever needed. So lying had become second nature to him.

Moments later he stepped through the double glass doors leading into the reception area of Archer Foods International. An attractive, thick-boned woman wearing a phone headset sat behind the glass desk. She eyed him appreciatively as he approached.

“Good afternoon, handsome.”She greeted him with a musical Crucian accent.“What can I do for you?”

“Well, now, I don’t know,” Brandon drawled, winking at her.“What
can
you do for me?”

Her eyes widened.“Lawd have mercy.” Grinning, she fanned her face with her hand and looked heavenward. “You
do
answer prayers!”

Brandon laughed softly. “Actually, sweetheart, I’m here to see Mr. Archer.”

“Are you now?” She propped her chin on her hand and gazed up at him.“Do you have an appointment?”

“Not exactly. See, Mr. Archer and I met at a recent function and got to talking about the latest trends in wholesale food distribution. Since I’m in the same line of—”

“You look so familiar,” the receptionist interrupted.“Have we met somewhere before?”

Brandon was used to the question. “Afraid not, sweetheart.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” He smiled lazily. “I never forget a beautiful face.”

She beamed with pleasure. “You are just
too
good to be true, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome.” She paused.“Now, what were you saying?”

Brandon grinned. “I don’t remember. You’ve got me all distracted.”

While she giggled and blushed, he asked smoothly,“Is Mr. Archer here, by any chance?”

“Umm hmm,” she confirmed.“He is—”

A wave of relief washed over Brandon.

“—but he’s in a meeting right now.” She eyed Brandon hopefully.“Do you want to wait for him? He shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“No, that’s all right. I can try him another time.” Brandon paused.“Actually, does he have any openings on Monday?”

“This coming Monday? He—”

Suddenly the phone trilled, cutting off the rest of her response. Giving Brandon an apologetic smile, she pressed the
blinking button and answered with a lilting “Archer Foods International, bringing a taste of the Caribbean to
your
dinner table. How may I help you?”