“Will you still have me this evening?”
“Our date?”
“I hope you don't believe I was going to cancel due to that dispute?”
My eyebrows furrowed when she didn't respond. Her silence made my jaw clench and I barely let any air escape me. I wished she would say something. Anything more than this suffocation building around us.
“I honestly didn't know what to think, Armond,” she mumbled.
Where was my once outspoken Brandy? This murmuring woman wasn't the soul who captivated me on my balcony. She was timid, too soft-spoken. It was rather annoying.
“I couldn't hear that, Brandy. Speak up,” I said.
She cocked her head back in surprise as if I said something cruel.Was my tone harsh? Fuck, I really do care. Why do I fucking care?
“Armond... I...” she hesitated.Who ruined her?
“I wasn't sure what would happen after that. I was just glad to get out of the crossfire.”
Crossfire?When did anyone put her in harm’s way? I was very much in control of my weapon and precision was something I excelled in. She wasn't trying to insult me on the low, was she?
I smirked in hopes of her not seeing my true feelings on this matter. I wasn't about to show her too much of myself if she believed I was so unhinged that I would let her get hurt while I was steadily protecting her. She had me fucked up and I didn't tolerate that shit.
I refrained from speaking. I hoped she got the picture to say something else because at this point it was time for me to leave and say fuck this date and just find something else to slide in for the night. I wasn't about to let Brandy Davenport disrespect me or my honor.
“I'd love to still go out with you,” she finally said.
I took a step back as I exhaled slowly then adjusted my suit jacket. I stared at her intensely just to see what she would do. Fidgeting in her stance and plucking her fingernails didn't make me believe she truly wanted time with me. Like I was about to force the situation or some shit. I winked at her then headed out.
Before I opened the door I stopped and said, “Seven-thirty, in the lobby. Don't be late.”
I didn't wait for a response. I left and expected her ass to be there at seven-twenty-five.
Shortly after I left her room, I made my way to my room to smoke and check my email. Sweetness had me beside myself. I needed to relax and get back to my daily tasks. I had a couple of meetings across the island in the coming days and I needed to make sure things were still in order.
Sadly, after responding to the third one, my mind drifted right to Brandy and our interactions.
Just thinking of those few moments between us had me closing my eyes, exhaling slowly through my nostrils. She was so beautiful. That smile captivated my soul and no woman had been able to have a clutch on me in my entire existence. Yet, she was equally annoying. That on and off switch she was stuck to had me wanting to rewire her ass, so she’d stay on. I didn’t like how she cowered in uncertainty. I needed the woman who entertained me for half the day and kicked my feet apart so I could get my positioning right. Not this woman who was too afraid to speak her true thoughts.
And even with her bipolar mood swings, I was still fully captivated. I wanted to figure her out. I didn’t care about any woman in that regard apart from my sister. I usually didn’t care to give them the time of day, let alone figure them out.
Not even my own mother made me care like I did so suddenly about Brandy. My mother gave me a certain distaste for women, and I generally stayed away, but damn Brandy, she had me tripping out here. Had me hoping she wasn’t anything like I was used to, and so far, she wasn’t. She was every bit of what I longed for in a partner, even in her timid moments.
I learned how to treat women from my father, before my mother betrayed him. He loved and respected her, never cheated, always had her favorite flowers fresh on the table at dinner, and showered her with love and affection. My mother was just a prude who thought she deserved everything she got and complained when she couldn’t get her way.
She would hit my father and call him all types of names, but my father just ate it. He pushed her off him one time and she had the nerve to call the police, trying to potentially kill everything he ever worked hard for in life.
I never respected her after that day because we learned through their arguing that she was having an affair with his brother and was pregnant by the bastard. That knowledge changed my father and he became a heartless bastard who took his frustrations out on his kids.
And what did she do? She left and ran off to be with my uncle until my father killed him. That alone changed the dynamic of our family and Arlando, Amelia, and I were forced to suffer through it. Eventually Amelia begged to go to boarding school and our father allowed it. It felt like every woman in our lives just dipped out without thinking about how it would affect the rest of us. Though I honestly couldn’t blame her. If it were allowed, we would’ve left too, but he wasn’t having that.
Footsteps took me out of my reverie. They were approaching the bar and the lightness had me anticipating my bronzed beauty only to be disappointed by a woman who couldn’t even hold a candle to Brandy. She wouldn’t be out right now anyway after what just happened.What is wrong with me?
I grabbed my cell and called my brother. He was the only one who could help me make sense of things. He picked up on the first ring and I was grateful.
“Handled?” he asked as soon as the line opened.
“Of course,” I responded. There was no need to ask such a silly question but I entertained it anyway.
