to retrieve his
cell phone to call his brothers. He hadn’t gotten
the chance to speak with either Tristan or
Sinjin before he’d left the party, and since he
Through the Fire
51
was planning on keeping his wife in bed the
rest of the weekend, a call to his brothers was
necessary.
Picking up his cell phone, he walked
naked over to the wet bar to pour himself a
drink before placing his call. The hands on his
Rolex read 11 p.m. Brandon knew Sinjin was
still up. Tristan, on the other hand, was a
different story. Tristan and his new bride were
always in bed.
Thinking back on how Tristan had staked
his claim on Alisha the first time she’d walked
into Brandon’s office almost a year ago,
brought a smile to his face. He also thought
about how Tristan hadn’t let anyone or
anything get in the way of his feelings for
Alisha. In the end, his brother had married the
woman that he loved, and they were extremely
happy. Brandon was happy for them.
Downing his finger of scotch, he placed
his call to Sinjin.
After about the third ring, his brother
answered.
“Sin, it’s Brandon.”
“No shit. What’s up?”
52
SERENITY KING
“I just wanted to let you know that I won’t
be around for the rest of the weekend. If you
need me, call my cell.”
“Oh. Why’s that?”
“I have some personal things I need to
take care of,” Brandon said carefully.
“Really? What kind of ‘personal things’ do
you have to take care of in the good old state of
Texas? Last I heard, you lived in New York.
And why are you calling me so late?”
“Sinjin, if I wanted an interrogation, I
would’ve called Tristan first.”
“No you wouldn’t have. We all know that
our brother can’t keep his hands off of his wife,
so the likelihood of you reaching Tristan at this
hour is about zero to nil.”
“Tell me about it,” Brandon scoffed. His
gaze was drawn to his own woman sleeping
soundly in the bed across the room. “Uh…just
so you know, I’ve changed rooms.”
“Now this is getting mighty interesting.”
“Well I didn’t exactly change my room. I
still have the one I originally booked. I thought
it best to get another one though.”
His brother’s voice lost its teasing note.
“What’s going on Brandon? Why all the cloak
Through the Fire
53
and dagger? Are you in some kind of trouble?
You’ve been preoccupied for a while.”
“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s
complicated,” Brandon sighed.
“Un-complicate it. I saw one of the
models approach you at the reception. Did you
hook up with her or one of her friends? I can’t
imagine you going through all this trouble for a
quick lay, so this must be serious. Talk to me.”
“Damn, Sin, I thought Tristan was bad.
No I didn’t hook up with that model. Not
interested. Anyway, as I said before it’s
complicated but I’ll explain everything soon
enough. I just need this weekend to put some
things in order without interruptions. I can
guarantee you that I am not in any kind of
trouble.”
“I’ll take your word for it for now. Did you
remember that we are all expected to be at
Domino’s estate for the after-festivities
tomorrow? Or had you forgotten? You probably
wouldn’t be missed, but I know the bride’s
sister would be.”
Brandon started. “Christ, I did forget. I’ll
be there. Wait! How’d you know about
Dominique?”
54
SERENITY KING
Sinjin laughed. “I didn’t. You just told
me. I saw you looking at her during the
reception. I speculated but wasn’t sure. You
just confirmed my suspicions.”
“Shit! Do you think anyone else noticed?”
“You mean other than Dad? I doubt it. I
saw you gazing at her a few times and
wondered. After you didn’t make a move, I
figured you’d just been checking her out. But
seriously, watch yourself, Brandon. You have a
reputation with the ladies and I don’t think
Chad or Xavier would appreciate you messing
around with their