My Destiny (5 page)

Lakenya grabbed his attention, or rather his butt, and then flirted with more than mere body language.

“My cousin told me to watch out for you,” she said, leaning up to his ear.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. But I don’t know. As good as you look I may just have to take my chances.”

“Is that right?” He laughed, but felt like crying. It was definitely going to be a long night.

Chapter 8

“Y
ou’re giving back my ring?” Bewildered, Jefferson stared down at the diamond in his hand.

Destiny nodded and wiped at a stray tear. “I’m sorry. I know this must come as a surprise and I’m sorry that I don’t have this long, wonderful speech on what went wrong.” She was rambling again, she realized. It was a habit she’d picked up from her mother. However, she needed to get this over with while she still had the courage.

Jefferson nodded as if he understood, but his confusion remained evident in his expression.

Her heart squeezed. Jefferson had been nothing but kind and patient. For more than a year he’d waited for her to pin down a wedding date when all along she’d been thinking of ways to do just this—break up with him. In the past few months, they’d even gone as far as to go house hunting.

“Was it something I did?” he asked. When she hesitated to answer, he went on. “Because I thought we were perfect together. I mean, we want the same things.”

Destiny lowered her gaze and asked him an important question. “Jefferson, are you in love with me?”

The lengthy silence forced her to look at him again. His Adam’s apple bobbed incessantly as he struggled for the right response.

“We’d agreed that our pairing was based on mutual respect. I mean, we complement one another—our ambitions, our lifestyles,” he finally said.

She nodded and even managed to smile. “I know that’s what we said, but that’s not enough for me anymore. I need—I deserve more than that.”

He swallowed and looked as if he still had a hard time processing everything. “When did all of this change—
yesterday or last year?”

It was a loaded question and she knew it. “I don’t know.”

“I see.” He closed his hand around the ring and slipped it into his pocket. “Well, I guess I should leave, then.”

She should say something else, but she feared it would only make matters worse.

He turned and she followed him demurely to the door. It was possibly the last time she’d see him and a sudden sense of loss engulfed her.

They exchanged awkward smiles. When she closed the door behind him, Destiny slumped against it and ignored the sting of fresh tears. Was this some kind of midlife crisis she was going through? She shook her head. That didn’t make any sense, she wasn’t in the middle of her life; she was still young and vibrant. “Oh, who am I kidding?”

She pushed away from the door and shuffled back toward the bedroom. Maybe this was early menopause; maybe tomorrow she’d wake up and realize she’d made a terrible mistake.

Her heart skipped a beat and she stopped in her tracks as a ball of anxiety rolled heavily in the pit of her stomach. Jefferson was right. Their relationship had never been based on love; it had been based on a commonality. They were both career driven and motivated.

“Dear God. What have I done?” Destiny pivoted, rushed back to the door and then jerked it open. “Jefferson!” she shouted down the hall.

He was gone.

She raced to the elevator bay and frantically stabbed the down button. If she hurried she could catch him in the lobby or at least before he left the parking deck.

An elevator arrived and she jumped in.

* * *

Seconds later, Lu Jin returned to the fourteenth floor in a different elevator. “I must have left my keys on the bed,” she mumbled under her breath. When she reached Destiny’s door, she made a quick knock, and then entered. “Hello, it’s just me.” Silence greeted her. With no sight of either Destiny or Jefferson, Lu Jin hesitated to move toward the bedroom.

She smiled. Apparently, they had patched up their differences. “Hey, Destiny, it’s me,” she called out. “I think I left my keys in your bedroom.” She waited and frowned when she didn’t receive a response.

She eased toward the bedroom. “Hey, you two lovebirds. I hate to interrupt, but I need my keys.” She knocked on the door, anticipating an awkward moment when Destiny opened it.

When no one came, she pressed her ear against the door, and then frowned when she heard no sound. She pushed it open. “Destiny?”

Nothing.

“I can’t believe she actually left and didn’t lock up.” Lu Jin moved into the room, found her keys on the edge of the bed and waltzed out. “Sometimes I swear that girl isn’t playing with a full deck,” she mumbled as she dashed out the front door, locking it behind her. “She can thank me later.”

* * *

Destiny hadn’t reached the lobby before she came to her senses, not to mention realizing that she was still in her pajamas and sporting a Scary Spice hairdo. Jefferson was gone, out of her life, and it was for the best. What she needed to do right now was get back in bed and curl up with what was left of her ice cream. After all, tomorrow was another day—right?

She nodded in a silent affirmation, and then pressed the button to return to the fourteenth floor. She drew in a deep breath and instantly felt better about her decision.

She waited for the elevator to complete its descent to the lobby, but what she hadn’t anticipated was for the small compartment to jerk to a stop and for everything to go black.

“What on earth?” Destiny’s heart skipped a beat. Eyes wide, she tried in vain to make out her surroundings. Only the sound of her own strained breathing filled her ears. Shouldn’t a back-up generator at least restore the lights?

On cue, the overhead lights flickered on and a ripple of relief coursed through Destiny. She punched a button on the panel with the picture of the fireman’s helmet. When she heard nothing, she pressed it several more times.

“Maybe it’s a silent signal,” she reasoned.
But what if it’s not?
She studied the paneling again and pushed the button with a picture of a telephone.

“Hello. Hello.”

“Front desk, Wendell speaking.”

Destiny exhaled at the sound of a familiar voice. “Wendell, this is Destiny Brockman from fourteen-twenty-six. I seem to be stuck in the elevator.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve called the fire department, but we’re in the middle of a blackout.”

“You mean the entire building?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m also looking out of the windows and it appears to be the whole city block.”

Destiny slumped to the floor. “Then it’s possible that our building isn’t the only one with jammed elevators?”

Wendell exhaled. “That’s a high probability.”

“And I could be in here for a while?”

There was another exhalation over the line. “Yes, ma’am.”

She refrained from cursing at the young clerk and instead said, “Just do what you can.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll call them again right now.”

Ending the call, Destiny’s earlier depression returned. “I knew I should have never gotten out of bed.”

* * *

Lu Jin moved slowly down the stairwell with her hands splayed out before her. At least the power had gone out before she had actually gotten back on the elevator. That would have been a disaster.

To be safe, she removed her high heels, and then resumed descending the stairs. In the end, fourteen flights felt more like forty, but at least she’d made it safely out of the stairwell. When she made her way to the lobby, she was surprised to find it deserted. “If I didn’t know any better I’d swear I was lost somewhere in the twilight zone.” Quickly, she put her shoes back on and rushed out of the building only to discover the entire city block was dark. “Eerie,” she whispered, and then headed off to the parking deck and toward her car.

* * *

Miles, Lakenya, Wes and Donna had moved their little party to Bella Rosa, a small, upscale Italian restaurant on the northern side of town. Problem was, Wes wanted to get a private table for just him and Donna and wanted Miles to do the same with Lakenya.

Through it all, Miles smiled, dreaming of the moment when he would get Wes alone and kill him in cold blood. He knew the opportunity would come sooner or later. Women always went to the bathroom together, and when they did, Wes was all his.

The restaurant was packed, which was to be expected on a Friday night. Their names were placed on a waiting list, and a young waitress promised to seat them within the next hour. To pass the time, they moved over to the bar for drinks.

Miles feared if Lakenya had another drink, she would be downright uncontrollable. It wasn’t that she was slurring words or couldn’t walk, or anything like that. But at the beginning of the date she’d behaved like a virginal bride and now she acted more like Li’l Kim.

To his surprise, she ordered a white zinfandel instead of the harder Kahúa drinks she’d had for most of the night.

“Are you okay?” She leaned in his direction to ask.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry if I seem a bit distracted,” he said with a kind smile. There was no reason why he couldn’t make sure that she enjoyed their date.

She smiled back. “You know, I really had a nice time. It did me good to get away from the kids for a night.”

Miles frowned. “Kids?”

She nodded as she accepted her drink. “Yeah, I have three little angels. Meiko, Marco and Milo.”

His brows rose with amusement.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. All my friends have gotten onto me about that. But what can I say? I have a thing for names that start with the letter
M.
” She winked at him.

Miles laughed. “You’re something else, Lakenya.”

“That’s what they keep telling me.”

* * *

Sitting on the elevator floor, Destiny rocked her head back against the steel paneling certain that she would never see the light of day again. She thought to call Wendell again, but she’d done that eight times already. The last time she’d talked to him, she learned that she’d been in there for a little more than three hours. She guessed now it was close to four.

She leaned forward, wrapped her arms around her legs and laid her head down against her kneecaps. What was the big rush in getting out of there anyway? It wasn’t as if she had anything to do—just sulk and mope around and she could do that right there. Actually, she was doing a pretty good job of it.

“If you hate your life so much then get up and do something to change it,” Destiny quoted her friend, then quickly grew exhausted thinking of ways to do just that. The problem was she’d spent so much time trying to be like her brother that she had long since stopped trying to be herself.

Hell, she didn’t even know what made her happy anymore. “I definitely need to see a therapist.”

She stared at her distorted reflection in the elevator’s stainless steel. She was quite a sight. She may even give poor Wendell quite a fright when he finally got the doors open. She laughed, and was startled when the elevator jerked and then proceeded to descend to the lobby.

“Oh, thank goodness.” She pulled herself up from the floor and, as an afterthought, tried to press down her unruly hair.

The elevator stopped and the doors slowly slid open, but instead of seeing Wendell, she was startled when Miles Stafford filled the threshold.

Chapter 9

M
iles’s onyx gaze slowly traveled up the length of Destiny’s body and lingered at her hair. “The psycho-chic look suits you.”

He, on the other hand, was handsome as always. Annoyed, she stepped out of the elevator and into the dark lobby. “I wish I could say the same for that perfume you’re wearing.”

Miles sniffed at his clothes and then shook his head. “Lakenya.”

“La-what?” She frowned at him. “Having problems finding women with normal names?”

“What, like Destiny? The last time I checked that was a noun, not a proper noun.”

“I could say the same about your name.” She wrinkled her nose at him, and then turned her attention back to the lobby. “The lights are still out.”

“Yeah, they flickered on for a second and then went back out when the elevator opened. Coincidence? I think not.”

“I’m not in the mood to deal with you today,” she said, shaking her head and moving toward the stairwell. “Have you seen Wendell?”

“Not him or anybody else for that matter. How long have the lights been out on this side of town?”

“About four hours.” She moved faster when she realized he was following close behind her.

“You weren’t in the elevator all that time, were you?”

“Afraid so.”

When he didn’t respond, her hackles rose. She stopped abruptly and turned to face him. Just as she suspected, he was laughing.

“You’re such a child.” She pivoted and stormed through the door of the stairwell. It was even darker in there. “I wonder what happened to cause the lights to be out this long?”

“You’re not going to tell me you’re scared of the dark are you?”

“Whatever. You just make sure you stay the hell away from my neck.”

Miles laughed. “So now you think I’m a vampire?”

“It would explain why women are only seen once at your place, never to be heard from again.”

“You never miss a beat, do you?”

She turned and started tackling the next set of stairs. “I just don’t trust you, that’s all.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still sore for losing the Corbin Scott case six months ago?”

She rolled her eyes and felt her anger over the case return. “The guy was a scumbag, but I suspect you know that already. Birds of a feather flock together.”

“You’re on a roll this evening.”

“What can I say? You bring out the worst in me.”

“You mean there’s a good side?” He snickered behind her. “Come on, admit it. You’re a sore loser.”

“Not until you admit that you’re an ass,” she retaliated.

He laughed. “I don’t see what you’re so sore at. The way I see it, the score is even between us.”

She turned to face him, but found it difficult to make out more than an outline in the darkness. “You’re actually keeping score?”

“You’re not?”

Of course she was. “No. I think that’s a bit childish.”

“Sure you do.”

She started up the stairs, mumbling under her breath. “Besides,” she said suddenly. “I have two cases and a settlement against you.”

“You’re actually counting the Boylan case?”

“Damn right.” She picked up her pace, but he easily managed to match her stride.

Laughing, he said, “Now look who’s being childish.”

“Like I said—you bring out the worst in me.”

“It’s nice to know I have
some
effect on you.”

Destiny made a sudden stop when she reached another landing and caused Miles to run into her. She jumped from the heat of his touch and instead of questioning it, her temper exploded. “Watch it,” she snapped.

“Well, warn someone when you’re going to stop like that. Why did you stop anyway?”

“I lost count of what floor we’re on.”

“Sixth.”

“How do you know? You’ve been running your mouth since we got in here.”

“It’s called multitasking. I can also pat my head and chew gum at the same time. You want to see?” He maneuvered around her and proceeded to climb the stairs ahead of her.

“You’re such an ass.”

“So you keep telling me. Has anyone ever told you that you’re not the most cheerful person to be around?”

She exhaled and realized she was taking a lot of frustration out on him. “Sorry. It hasn’t exactly been a great evening for me.”

This time Miles stopped abruptly and Destiny crashed into him. “What? Did you run into something?” she asked.

He turned. “No, but I think there’s something wrong with my hearing. Did you just apologize?”

“Oh, go to hell.” She stormed around him and took the lead again.

Miles’s rich laughter filled the stairwell while a small smile hugged her lips.

A few minutes later, they arrived on the fourteenth floor.

Reacquainted with her leg muscles, Destiny tried her best not to fall out into the hallway in front of Mr. Fitness; however, she did make a mental note to start exercising more.

And as if God was playing some cruel, practical joke, the lights flickered on.

“I guess if we’d waited, we could’ve taken the elevator,” Miles said.

In response, Destiny rolled her eyes and continued her way toward her condo. At this point, she was willing to do just about anything to get back in bed. She heard a jingle of keys from behind her.

“Well, it’s been real, it’s been fun—”

“But it hasn’t been real fun,” Destiny beat him to the punch line. She twisted the doorknob and was surprised to find it locked. “What the hell?”

Miles pushed opened his door and stopped. “What is it?”

The lights went out again.

“I don’t believe this.”

“Is there a problem?”

With the hallway dark, she turned toward the sound of his voice. “My door is locked.”

“Where’s your key?”

Puzzled, Destiny shook her head. “It has to be inside, but I didn’t lock the door when I left.”

“Okay.”

She caught the note of disbelief in his voice. “I know that sounds strange, but I didn’t lock it. I rushed out here trying to catch up with Jefferson.”

“Why? Did you scare him away with your new ’do?”

She slammed her hands into her hips. “Very funny. You’re just as good a comedian as you are a lawyer.”

“Ooh, Scary Spice has claws.”

Despite everything, she smiled. “May I use your phone to call Wendell downstairs? I need for him to let me in.” When Miles didn’t immediately reply, Destiny had a sneaking suspicion that he was laughing at her.

“Say, please,” he said.

“No.”

“Well, it was worth a try. Come on in.”

Destiny smiled in the darkness as she crossed over to his apartment, but stopped at the door. Thin stripes of moonlight filtered through the small slits of the Venetian blinds and made it easier for Destiny to see around the apartment.

Miles stopped and looked back at her. “Aren’t you going to come in?”

“I’m thinking.”

Crossing his arms, he stared at her from across the room. “You’re the one that wanted to use the phone. It’s not like I’m twisting your arm.”

“You have a cordless?”

“Are you for real? Besides a cordless won’t work in a blackout.”

She exhaled. Maybe she was taking this to the extreme. “Fine. I’ll come in.”

“Well, don’t do me any favors.” He turned, shaking his head.

Destiny entered and instantly caught the fresh scent of flowers. She drew in a deep breath and smiled. “It smells good in here,” she said, deciding that it was okay to pay him a compliment.

“You sound surprised.”

“I don’t know too many bachelors whose pad smells like a section of the Botanical gardens.”

He laughed and he headed back toward her. “It’s hard for you to be nice to me, isn’t it?”

“You have no idea.”

“La telephone, mademoiselle.”

“Ah, you speak French?”

“Oui, et toi?”

“No. In fact, you just exhausted my vocabulary in the matter.” She accepted the phone. “Thank you.”

“Je t’en prie,”
he said, and then turned away.

Destiny quickly punched in the number for downstairs and waited. After the tenth ring, she disconnected the call and frowned. “I wonder where that boy is.”

“Knowing Wendell, he’s probably taken this chance to sneak some time away with Angela.”

“Who’s Angela?”

“Seventeen-year-old in eleven-eighteen.”

“You’re kidding me?”

“I can’t think of a more romantic setting than a city blackout.”

“Now how come that doesn’t surprise me?”

Miles laughed.

There was a click and then a small flame of light posed over a candle and then another. Soon the entire living room glowed with the soft light.

“You’re a candle aficionado, too?”

“No, just a silly romantic.”

That won a laugh out of her.

“Don’t worry,” Miles continued. “For some reason, the mood has deserted me tonight.”

She wrinkled her nose at him and swallowed her retort. “How about we just call it a truce for the night?”

He shrugged and Destiny caught herself admiring his body’s outline. It wasn’t the first time she’d done so. Usually, she’d sneak a peek at him in the morning and admire his discipline. Rain, snow or just plain hot as hell, Miles ran religiously every morning and on Fridays, he would take an additional run in the evenings before getting ready to paint the town red.

“So,” he said, looking awkwardly around. “Can I get you something while you wait? Something to drink, perhaps?”

Battling her own uneasiness, she shrugged. “Sure, um, some water would be nice.”

“Water it is.” He headed toward the kitchen. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”

Instantly, Destiny’s gaze fell to a large, black leather sofa and thought of the countless women he’d seduced there. Now while she thought about it, the entire room felt like a lion’s lair.

With a smug smile, she chose the adjoining wing chair. If he thought he’d snagged another victim, he had another thing coming.

“Ah, here you go,” Miles said, suddenly from behind her.

Destiny jumped slightly.

He laughed. “There’s no need to be bouncing around like some scared mouse. I’m not going to attack you.”

“Said the spider to the fly.” Destiny accepted the offered bottle of water. “Thank you. And I’m not scared of you.” She lifted the bottle to her lips.

“It’s not that I hadn’t considered it,” he added, and then laughed when she started to choke.

“Very funny.” She wiped in vain at the front of her pajama top.

Still laughing, he shrugged. “Hey, I’m just being honest with you.”

“I guess there’s a first time for everything,” she said smugly.

His laughter faded. “I thought we were calling a truce?”

She mimicked his earlier nonchalance. “You started it.”

He disappeared into the kitchen and returned to hand her a paper towel.

“Thank you.”

“Ooh, manners. Who would have thought?”

“You’re doing it again,” she warned.

He rolled his eyes and went to the sofa. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

Destiny forgot she was sitting next to the phone and jumped at its unexpected ring.

Miles laughed again. “I’m glad to see that you’re not scared.”

She fought her urge to throw the damn thing at him.

“Hello,” he answered, standing up and maneuvering around the long cord.

Destiny leaned back in her chair and once again took in her surroundings while he headed toward the kitchen for some privacy.

“Hey, Wes. Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry I bailed out on you, but you know you were dead wrong for that stunt you pulled on me tonight.”

Destiny frowned with curiosity, but continued to pretend that she wasn’t listening.

“Does it sound like I’m laughing?” Miles said into the phone. “You know I’ll get you back.” He listened, and then said, “No, no. I was the perfect gentleman. I drove her back home, said hello to her three Bebe kids, and came home.”

Taking another sip of water, Destiny’s curiosity waned into disinterest. She continued to look around and was more than impressed with the décor. An extraordinary assembly of bold paintings graced one side of the living room while on the other were more gentle, spiritual paintings. The furniture was bold and masculine while everything else was soft and feminine.

She shook her head and decided that he must have hired a professional decorator because if he had done this; it would imply there was a side to him that she preferred to believe didn’t exist.

“Sorry about that,” Miles said, rejoining her in the living room. He reclaimed his seat on the sofa, and then asked, “Now where were we?”

“Nowhere.” She extended her hand for the phone. “May I try Wendell again?”

“Sure.” He handed it to her.

She quickly dialed the number only to be disappointed when there was still no answer. “I think I’m going to cry,” she said, hanging up.

“Oh, come on. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping you company.” He leaned back with a confident smile.

Destiny couldn’t figure out what it was about him that put her on edge, but she did have enough common sense to realize that her behavior toward him was bordering on rude, so she made another attempt to adjust her attitude. “I guess I can’t complain.”

“Then I guess you were right, there’s a first time for everything.”

They laughed.

Miles swept a hand toward her. “Since Halloween is a little ways off, what on earth possessed you to roam the halls looking like that?”

Self-consciously, she reached up to touch her hair. She gave him an embarrassed look. “It’s a long story.”

“I don’t have anything planned.” He took another gulp from his bottle and added, “And it doesn’t appear that you’re going anywhere any time soon, either.”

“Good point.” She drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “I was trying to catch someone before they left the building.”

“Altman?”

She frowned. “How did you know that?”

“You said so earlier, plus I saw him before I left.” He shrugged. “So, what did you do—scare the devil out of him looking like that?”

“You’re being an ass again.”

“I’m just being me.”

He flashed her with another smile and damn if she couldn’t help but return the gesture. “To answer your question—no. I didn’t scare him.” She paused. “At least not too badly.”