Exposed (30 page)

Moments later, a masked, voluptuous woman dressed in skimpy black leather sauntered provocatively onto the screen.

Brandon stared, muscles and nerves instinctively tightening.

Because the way she moved was unmistakably familiar.

And then the camera panned closer, zooming in on her face.

And Brandon shot to his feet, staggering backward as the blood drained from his head.

The masked dominatrix on his computer screen wasn’t some anonymous porn star.

She was his fucking girlfriend!

It was after one a.m. by the time Tamia returned to the condo.

She didn’t expect Brandon to be up. Since he’d started pulling sixteen-hour days at the office, he usually crashed not too long after he got home. So she was surprised to find him in the living room, lounging in his leather armchair and playing NBA Live on his Xbox 360. Clouds of thick smoke from his Cuban cigar curled through the air and floated up to the ceiling.

Tamia smiled, taking a moment to savor the image before moving forward to greet him.“Hey, baby.”

His eyes didn’t stray from the video game.“Hey.”

She leaned down and kissed his cheek, enjoying the scent of soap that clung to his warm skin. “You’re up kind of late. Were you waiting up for me?”

He puffed on his cigar.“You could say that.”

“Good,” she murmured, smiling coyly as she stepped away to toe off her sling-backs,“because I was planning to have my way with you tonight—asleep or not.”

“Hmm.”

She winked at him. “Let me take a shower first and slip into something more … comfortable.”

As she turned and sashayed from the living room, Brandon called out,“How was the movie?”

“Lousy,” she retorted over her shoulder. “The story line sucked, and the acting was atrocious.
I
could have done a better job than that.”

“I bet you could … Mystique.”

Tamia froze in her tracks.

No,
her mind rebelled.
He did
not
just call me that. He couldn’t have!

Heart pounding with dread, she turned slowly to stare at him.

Brandon was watching her with a quietly mocking expres-sion.“What’s wrong?” he taunted.“You don’t go by that name anymore?”

Tamia felt dangerously lightheaded. “How … how did you …” She couldn’t even finish.

He paused the video game and set aside the controller, then calmly picked up a DVD from the table.“I have copies of the entire Mystique series. Been holding them for Dre for over a month now.”

Tamia gulped hard.“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Brandon blew out a thick, perfect ring of smoke as he mouthed,
“Oh.”

She started toward him on leaden legs. “Baby, let me explain—”

“I heard you were quite the performer,” he interrupted, remarkably calm as he pondered the DVD in his hand.“A
baaad
mothafucka, to quote Dre. But I guess I’ll have to take his word for it. See, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the rest of the video once I realized
you
had the starring role.” He met her gaze, a shadow of cynicism curving his mouth. “Imagine my surprise when I learned that my very own girlfriend was once the reigning princess of the underground porn industry—and I had no clue whatsoever.”

“I was going to tell you,”Tamia began desperately. “I was just waiting for the right time—”

“And when was that?” he challenged, tossing aside the DVD.“Before or
after
Dre gave you an ultimatum?”

She floundered, nervously licking her lips, incensed because Dre hadn’t even given her the full week he’d promised. “Well, if you’ve already spoken to your
friend,
then I assume he told you my reason for doing those movies in the first place. I wasn’t trying to become the next Vanessa del Rio, damn it. I only got into the industry because I needed money for college.” She paused, then couldn’t resist adding snidely, “Not everyone is guaranteed a scholarship to any Ivy League university they want before they’re even old enough to walk.”

Instantly she knew it had been the wrong thing to say—the wrong approach to use.

Eyes narrowing behind a veil of smoke, Brandon leaned forward slowly. “I hope you’re not suggesting that I’ve been handed a free ride all my life just because my parents are rich,” he said in a low, controlled voice. “I hope you’re not
implying
that I haven’t worked my fucking
ass
off for every scrap of success I’ve
ever
achieved.”

“Of course not, baby,”Tamia whispered, shaking from the inside out. “I wasn’t suggesting that at all. I know how hard you work. I know you’ve earned everything you have.”

He eyed her darkly as he puffed on the cigar.

She swallowed hard.“I was just trying to explain why I did the videos, why I felt I had no other choice if I wanted to attend college.”

“I’m not judging you, Tamia. I’ve never judged you.”

“Well, your parents sure as hell have.”

“I’m not my parents,” he snapped, mashing his cigar in the ashtray.“And we’re not talking about them. We’re talking about
you.
See, this is what you do whenever your back is against the wall. You try to flip the script, point the finger of blame at
someone else to take the heat off yourself. But it won’t work this time, so you can just forget that shit!”

Tamia was silent, sweat pooling in her armpits, dampening her blouse.

Brandon shook his head slowly, staring at her as if he’d never seen her before.“Who are you?”

The question caught her off-guard. “W-what do you mean?”

“I don’t know who you are. I
thought
I did, but clearly I was wrong. You’re a stranger, Tamia. A stranger with one too many secrets.”

Her heart twisted.“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true.” His measured tone masked the seething tension that was radiating from his body. He was working to control his temper, but Tamia knew it was only a matter of time before it would erupt, like a volcano, incinerating everything in its path. Namely
her.

“Those videos were produced over a period of four years,” he continued. “So we’re not talking about a one-time thing here. For all intents and purposes, Tamia, you had a career in porn. But you didn’t think that was something I had a right to know.”

“After the way your parents just treated me,” she spat,“can you really blame me for keeping Mystique a secret from you? Could you honestly see yourself introducing me as your girl-friend—the former porn star?”

“We’re not talking about my goddamn parents!”
Brandon roared, lunging to his feet so suddenly that she jumped back with a startled squeak. He advanced on her, looking so dark and ferocious she wanted to run for cover.

“Let me tell you something. This shit right here”—he pointed back and forth between them—“is about
us.
Not my parents. Not Dre. Not Cynthia. No one else, Tamia. Just
us
. You and me. And I gotta tell you, sweetheart, right now, you and me ain’t looking too good.”

Tears welled in her eyes. Her gaze turned pleading.“Bran-don—”

His face hardened.“How long have you been fucking Dominic Archer?”

She gasped, eyeing him incredulously.“What …?”

“You heard me! Last month you sat
right
there”—he jabbed a finger at the sofa behind them—“and looked me dead in the eye and told me you weren’t sleeping with him.”

“I’m not!”

His lips curled into a contemptuous sneer.“You must think I’m a damn fool.”

“No, I don’t,” she whimpered.

“
Then answer my fucking question!
And I want the truth this time!”

“Yes!” she cried hoarsely.“Yes, I slept with Dominic!”

Brandon stared at her, his eyes filled with pain and disgust.

And Tamia knew right then and there that he really
hadn’t
known. He
hadn’t
been tapping her cell phone or having her followed. All this time, despite his suspicions, he’d genuinely tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. And she hadn’t deserved it.

Wracked with guilt and regret, she dropped her gaze to the floor and blinked back tears.

“How long?” Brandon’s voice held an undercurrent of leashed violence.

She trembled.“What difference does—”

“How fucking long?”
he thundered.

“Since last month!” she burst out shrilly.

He searched her face, eyes narrowed as he mentally calculated the sequence of events.“So the night we ran into him at dinner, when you were acting all jumpy and you got mysteriously sick afterward and had to rush home—”

“I went to his place.” Tamia swallowed painfully. “That was the night it really started.”

Brandon glared at her, nostrils flaring, chest heaving as he fought for self-control.

Taking a cautious step backward, Tamia said urgently,“You have to understand something. This wasn’t an affair that just happened. Believe me, baby, I didn’t
want
to sleep with Dominic. He blackmailed me into doing it!”

Brandon’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“He came to my office last month, told me he’d been a fan of mine for years. He threatened to tell you
and
my coworkers that I used to do porn! What was I supposed to do? I’m up for a promotion—I couldn’t let him ruin everything I’ve worked so hard for! And I was afraid of what you’d think of me if you found out about Mystique.” She gazed at him, begging him to understand.“I couldn’t take a chance on losing you.”

“So you chose to
keep
me by fucking another man,” Brandon said sardonically.“Do I have that right?”

Her face heated with shame at the way he’d phrased it. “Make no mistake about it. I was furious with Dominic. I
despised
him for intruding into my life and forcing me to make such an impossible choice!”

“But you enjoyed it,” Brandon said flatly.

She faltered, staring at him.“Enjoyed what?”

He smirked.“The sex. You may have started out despising him, but once you fucked him, you enjoyed it. You wanted more, couldn’t get enough. Admit it.”

She closed her eyes.“Baby—”

“Admit it!”

“Yes!” Her voice dropped from a shout to a guilty whisper. “Yes, I enjoyed it. But it didn’t mean anything, Brandon! And once the thrill wore off, the sex really wasn’t all that. Not like what
we
have.”

“What
we
have,” Brandon mocked.

“Yes! What we have.” She eyed him earnestly.“Believe me when I tell you that the
only
complaint I’ve ever had about our
lovemaking is that we don’t do it more often. But you’ve
always
rocked my world, Brandon. If you take nothing else away from this conversation, know that!”

He was silent, processing her words.

Seeking to further reassure him, Tamia added, “And I’m not sleeping with Dominic anymore. It’s over!”

“Yeah? Well, so are we.”

Tamia recoiled, staring at him in stunned horror. “You don’t mean that. Please, baby—”

“Stop calling me that,” Brandon snarled. “You lost the privilege to call me ‘baby’ when you decided to sneak around behind my back to fuck another man!”

Tears splashed down her face.“I had no other choice!”

“Bullshit! You
always
had a choice! Every day we put on our shoes and walk out the damn door we
all
have choices! I have the choice to fuck any one of those white women at the office who’re constantly throwing themselves at me, cornering me at the copy machine, ‘innocently’ rubbing their titties against my arm as they brush past me in the hallway. Last year I had the choice to fuck one of the former senior partners who promised to fast-track my partnership if I slept with her. And I have the
choice,
sweetheart, to fuck my good friend Cynthia any time she’s ready and willing. Do you truly understand how often we’re left alone at the office together?
Do you?
I’m talking ghost town here. Absolutely
no one
else around. Not in our offices—hell, sometimes not even in the entire building! Just me and her. So we could fuck all night long, and no one would ever have to know.”

Tamia eyed him with mounting alarm.

Brandon laughed caustically, shaking his head at her. “Damn, baby. You look shocked. What—you think your pussy’s so sublime that I never get tempted to stray? Aren’t you the one who’s repeatedly accused me of sleeping with Cynthia? Huh? Yeah, you have. So don’t stand there looking so surprised when I tell you that I get tempted. You’re damn right I do. Especially
when
you’re
so worn out from fucking another dude that you can’t even give
me
the time of day.”

He smirked as her face reddened with shame.“Yeah, that’s right. That was definitely one of the clues that your scandalous ass was creepin’. You enjoy a good fuck as much as I do, so if you weren’t having sex with me, you
had
to be having it with someone else!”

Tamia sucked in a quick breath and folded her arms across her midsection as a sharp pain shot through her insides, piercing her heart.

Brandon continued relentlessly, “So, yeah, we all get tempted. But you know the difference between you and me? I don’t act on my feelings because I am—
was
—committed to this sham of a relationship. Which is more than I can say about you.”

“How can you believe that?” Tamia demanded, taking a pleading step toward him.“I did what I did because I couldn’t risk losing you, Brandon! I
love
you!”

“If you really loved me,” he snarled, eyes flashing with fury, “then you would have come to me and told me the truth about the Mystique videos. You would have trusted me to make the right decision and not hold your past against you. If you truly loved me, Tamia, there’s no way in
hell
you would have thought it was okay to have sex with another man!”

“I’m sorry!” she cried tearfully.“I’m
so
sorry!”

“Yeah. You should be.”

She reached for his arm, but he viciously shook her off and stepped back.“Don’t fucking touch me.”

She flinched, her chin quivering as she held back an anguished sob.