Falling For Rome Read online

  However, I now understood why I had been assigned this mission. I am an AIT specialist trained at Fort George to be able to handle missions were IT initial was needed. Along the entire length of the north wall was a state-of-the-art computer system. Secured to the lovely rust colored brick wall had to be at least twenty flat screened monitors. Although they were turned off, one couldn’t help but wonder what appeared on them when they were turned on. In front of the elaborate system was a single plush leather chair on wheels.

  It was a chair for a king.

  A king whose throne was in front of several very impressive computer screens.

  One thing was for certain, this beauty was something you wouldn’t ever expect to find in the heart of the ghetto. My fingers twitched in anticipation of finding out what was stored on that massive hard drive. He spared no expense for it. There were million-dollar corporations that could not afford one such as it.

  My guess was the owner of that beautiful system was lying in the bed that wasn’t too far from it. Rob walked to a wall and hit a button, opening the curtains that were closer to the bed just a little. However, it was enough to shine a burst of sunlight into the loft. I came to a stop in front of the bed looking down at the occupants.

  The man that I would assume was Rome lay sleeping on his stomach, my eyes traveled over his muscled back to the equally muscled arm that hung out the bed. He had on a pair of black jeans and expensive gym shoes. Asleep next to him completely naked was a very voluptuous young lady. Only the lower half of her body was covered with the sheet.

  Rob wore a goofy smile on his face as he too stood looking down at the two. I could tell right off this kid was a rascal. His aim was to shock me with this. I looked at him and lifted an eyebrow, poor baby, it would take more than this to shock me.

  “Yo Rome, you got a guest,” he said hitting the man’s shoe.

  “Beat it, chump,” the sleeping giant grumbled turning over in the bed without opening his eyes. Rob chuckled hitting his shoe again.

  “Get up, nigga.”

  “What I tell you about using that word?” Rome mumbled without opening his eyes. He had a very deep voice. The younger man didn’t respond, instead he looked up at me with that devious grin still on his face. He nodded in a way to tell me to watch this.

  Rome opened his eyes and turned to look at him, sitting up slightly. “You deaf, punk?! What I tell—” his words stalled as his light brown gaze came to rest on me.

  Although I didn’t show it, for the fourth time since coming to this place, I was completely taken off guard.

  Rome was gorgeous.

  He looked at me through a pair of amber eyes that missed nothing. He’d just woke up from a deep sleep and judging by the empty Hennessy bottles and cups, it had been a drunken sleep, yet his eyes were sharp. They took me in making me feel as if he was reading me like an open book. I shifted on my feet feeling uncomfortable with that. No one has ever looked at me that closely.

  He ran his hand over his head. It looked as if he was fresh from the barber, his fade, beard and mustache was lined perfectly around a pair of lips that looked like they would work havoc on a woman’s body.

  Nossa, Nak! Where did your mind just go?

  “What the f***, Rob?!” he growled. The grin on Rob’s face grew wider as he blinked his eyes innocently.

  “Bruh, you got a guest,” he said gesturing towards me. Now that he mentioned it, I could see the resemblances between the two. Only difference being was that Rome was clearly older with more facial hair and his eyes were a lighter shade of brown than Rob’s. He pointed at his little brother in a way that told him he will deal with him later.

  “Hey,” he said tapping the shoulder of the sleeping girl. She came awake with a smile on her face.

  “Hey, daddy,” she purred. I rolled my eyes, Rob chuckled.

  “Get up, you gotta bounce,” he told her. And for the first time she looked and saw us. With a squeak she snatched the sheet up to cover her breasts.

  “Can you give us a minute?” Rome asked me, gesturing toward the other end of the loft where a living room area was. I lifted an eyebrow at his rude tone.

  “Sure.” I told him before turning to walk towards the sitting area.

  As I did, I casually lifted my hand and slipped the bug from my watch, positioning it just right between my fingers. I used the same hand to ease down in the brown leather chair, securing the bug at the same time.

  To the left of the chair I sat in was a huge brown leather couch, or what looked like a couch, but was really a modern rendition of a couch. It screamed contemporary bachelor pad. As if to confirm that, a ridiculously large flat screen TV was mounted to the brick wall to my right. In front of it on the floor were several gaming systems. There were quite a few game controllers sprawled on the floor around them.

  When I looked back towards the sleeping area, it was to see Rome’s amber gaze still on me. He was now sitting at the foot of the bed with his elbows resting against his knees. If I was the blushing type, I would be doing it right now seeing that he had watched me walk this whole distance. Finally, he turned to look up at his brother.

  “Why you didn’t take her downstairs to ma’s place? Why the hell you bring her up here?” Rob, who had watched the whole exchange with that goofy grin on his face now wore a look of fake shock.

  “Ma not home.”

  “Stop lying?!” Rome growled up at him, his face transformed in his anger.

  Rob chuckled, not fazed a bit in only a way that a little brother could. “My bad, man. I just didn’t think about it.”

  “You play too much,” his brother responded standing up grabbing his t-shirt at the same time. When he brought it over his head, his muscled arms and chest flexed impressively. He was very tall as well.

  “That’s your damn problem,” he continued admonishing his kid brother before he turned and noticed that the girl had not moved from the bed, she was in fact playing like she had just drifted back to sleep.

  “Ay… Ay, shawty, you got to bounce. Get your sh*t,” he called down to her. Amazingly she woke up and stretched, letting the cover fall from her ample breasts once again. Rob grinned shaking his head.

  “Rome, you gon’ call me?” she asked as she unashamedly slid out the bed reaching down to retrieve her dress from the floor.

  I shook my head, women like her gave our whole species a bad name. If a man had talked to me the way he’d just talked to her, the only call I would be worried about is the anonymous one to the city morgue, telling them where to find his body.

  “Rob, make sure Kiesha get to her car safe—”

  “Toya!” she interrupted him, finally insulted. Rome chuckled as he scratched his head walking towards the bathroom.

  “Who the f*** cares?” was his only response as he went into his bathroom shutting the door behind him.

  “Okay, you can call me Kiesha, just call me…Please!”

  “Come on, shawty. I’ll walk you downstairs,” Rob told her as she angrily slid her feet in her heels.

  “It was nice meeting you, Brenda,” he called to me as they headed toward the door.

  “Nice meeting you too, Rob.” It really was. I don’t know why he chose to make my job easier, but he had. Had he not brought me up here, there was no way I would have gotten through that group at the door.

  And had I by some miracle gotten through them, I would have never made it past the locked door on the steps.

  Well… Not this easily anyway.

  Rome took his time in the bathroom, I heard the shower start. I was not delusional to think it wasn’t a test when it really was. Jo was right. This man was smart. He was trying to feel me out before talking to me. I was careful where I let my gaze roam. Although I couldn’t see them, I was quite certain this whole building was wired with cameras.

  Slowly, I got up and walked to the nearest window. The drapes were opened slightly, allowing a perfect view of the ghetto below.
My eyes narrowed at the roof of the building across the street, there was a man standing on it leaning against the door smoking a cigarette. When he caught me looking at him, he winked.

  My gaze went to the corner store at the end of the block, several men stood outside talking, but when one of them noticed me looking, he winked.

  What the hell?

  I looked towards the opposite corner, there was a man sitting on the porch of a building there, it looked as if he was smoking a blunt. When he noticed that I saw him, he winked.

  “What are you looking for?” Rome’s deep voice came from behind me causing me to nearly jump out of my heels as I whipped around, stopping myself from reaching for the piece strapped to the inside of my thigh. I looked up at him half startled and half surprised. How in the world did he walk up on me without me hearing him? He chuckled as he flopped down on his couch facing me.

  He smelled good. Now dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, he even looked good. I was surprised to see that I was capable of being attracted to the thug type. Who knew?

  “Did I surprise you?” he asked. For a minute my mouth just hung open. Damn, can he hear my thoughts?

  “Yes,” I told him truthfully. He was continuing to do that.

  “Sorry about that. How can I help you, Ms…”

  “Bonita, Brenda Bonita.” I said walking toward him to shake his hand. He didn’t reach for my hand, instead he studied me with that unnerving gaze of his. I had to force myself not to look away.

  Get a grip, Nak. You are not getting ready to let this young thug unravel you. Get it together!

  I took a deep breath withdrawing my hand as I eased back down in my chair.

  “It’s common decency to shake your guest’s hand in greeting,” I admonished as I lifted my briefcase laying it gently on the granite table in front of me.

  “It’s common decency not to lie when your host asks you your name.” My eyes rose to his.

  “I told you my name. Why would I lie?”

  He grinned then still studying me with that sharp gaze of his. “I don’t know, but I’m sure I’ll find out.”

  I removed several papers from my briefcase. One of them being a copy of the contract he signed with Jo.

  “I’ve been sent here from Senator Warren’s office. As you know, your sister a…” I looked at the name on the paper, although I knew it by heart. “Journey Reevers is romantically involved with Joseph Warren, Senator Warren’s son. I’ve been hired to make sure the senator and his son’s reputation remain on the up and up.” I smiled warmly. He did not return my smile. In fact, the more I talked, the angrier he became. The little muscle in his jaw was working overtime.

  “Of course you have nothing to worry about, I am a professional. Half the time you won’t even know I’m here. I’m sure you are a responsible young man and would not be willing to do anything to jeopardize the senator’s and future senator’s office, what with all the work they do for communities like this.” He sat up on the couch.

  “Wait, let me get this straight. You come into my house to tell me, a grown ass man, that you’re my what? Babysitter?” I smiled.

  “Well, I wouldn’t put it in those terms…but, yes.” He narrowed his hypnotic eyes at me.

  “Funny, you don’t come across as a babysitter. Why do I feel as if it’s a killer staring at me through your eyes?”

  It took every bit of my training not to break my cover in that moment. Nobody has ever seen the real me.

  Never!

  I looked away, shuffling through the papers to cover my momentary lapse.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, young man.”

  “You can kill all that young man, bullsh*t. It’s not doing what you’re hoping it would.”

  “And what is that?” I asked lifting my gaze back to his, daring him to say it. He didn’t speak right away. He just let his eyes travel over my body in a way that made me feel warm all over.

  “Discouraging me from imagining what those beautiful deceptive eyes of yours will look like rounded in pleasure as you come apart for me over and over again.” I loudly cleared my throat. He smiled when he saw he had ruffled my feathers.

  “Mr. Reevers—”

  “Rome,” he corrected.

  “Romeo, let’s go ahead and get a few things straight. I will not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind. If you sexually harass me again, I will call Joseph Warren and inform him that you’ve breached your contract. If you give me a hard time in anyway from this point on, I will call Mr. Warren and tell him you’ve breached your contract, in which point, the actions that Mr. Warren discussed with you will be taken.” I looked at him giving him my no-nonsense look.

  “Is that understood?”

  Chapter 2

  Three Fatal Mistakes

  Rome

  My brother had just sacrificed this fed’s life. He knew better than anyone that no stranger was allowed past the third floor. Sometimes, I just didn’t understand how his mind worked. He and I use completely different halves of our brains. Rob saw the world through the eyes of an artist. He clung to beauty, which was why he went against my rule. Not only had he brought a stranger up here, he brought a damn fed. Now I had to murk this chick.

  At least… that was my first thought.

  But then I watched her walk away in that tight skirt that clung to her nicely rounded a** that jiggled slightly as those red bottom heels sashayed across my floor as if she was walking a damn runway. And I had a change of heart.

  This woman was good. When I stood, I had to adjust my pants because my body had reacted instantly to her.

  That f***en’ bastard sent in my Achilles’ heel to spy on me. I balled up my fists. I was going to destroy him and his punk a** daddy. They messed with the wrong one. I had already discovered some things that could be the end of both their careers. I just had to gather all the information and see exactly what it was I was looking at.

  It appears as if Daddy Warren has been telling a lie about Jo being his boy. Not only was he not his son, he bought him and paid a pretty penny for him. The information was very fragmented, somebody had tried to erase their trail. However, there was no such thing in cyber space.

  Now that I caught the scent, the truth will not escape me for long. And once I had all my pieces in place, I will strike. My gaze went back to the woman Jo had sent. For now, I’ll call her Ms. No Name ‘cause it sure the hell wasn’t Brenda Bonita.

  Ms. No Name here made three fatal mistakes. One, she didn’t do her research, she had no idea who she was f***ing with. Two, she let that chump Jo’s name come from between her pretty lips, throwing it in my face like it’s a protective cage that’s going to keep her safe from the beast. It’s not. Her fate is sealed. Now that she has seen my space, I can either kill her or make her mine.

  And three…

  She came up in this mutha***** looking like every boy’s wet dream, dressed in a navy-blue suit that fit her sublime form as if the designer made it with just her in mind. The tight skirt stopped just above her knees. But damn, she had legs for days, long shapely legs. She coupled them beauties with a pair of black six-inch heels with the red bottoms.

  She had her curly long hair pulled up in a messy bun, only letting a few strands escape. Then, she completed her look with a pair of glasses that I would bet my fortune she didn’t need. I couldn’t tell right off what her ethnicity was, but my guess would be something south of the border, Guatemalan, Brazilian. Yeah, definitely Afro-Brazilian, she had that look about her.

  But all that I’d just described weren’t her secret weapon. Although her body was banging and her beauty unparalleled, none of that was what she used to lure unsuspecting men into her trap.

  It was her eyes.

  If ever one needed a sloe-eyed model, she would be perfect for the gig. Her gaze was alluring and captivating, it made you think of heated nights of kissing and touching, teasing and tasting. Damn, I was getting anot
her erection just thinking about it.

  She kept referring to me as young man. Not for my sake, but hers. It’s as if she had to remind herself of the fact that she was older than me in hopes that it would kill her attraction to me. And she was attracted. The way her eyes racked over my body as she stood looking down at me in my bed said it all.

  Yeah, my brother sealed her fate by bringing her up here. And I guess I was looking at her through his eyes, because she was art in motion, and I was no savage…well, not all the time. I too can appreciate an exquisite piece of art.

  No, I will not kill her. So, that only left one thing for me to do.

  Make her mine.

  “Aight, I hear what you saying. You want to play this thing by the rules,” I told her and a look of genuine relief crossed her face.

  She exhaled. “Yes.”

  “You want to keep things on the up and up, meaning you be straight with me and I’ll be straight with you, no bullsh*t?” She was nodding before I finished speaking.

  “Yes.”

  I smiled. “You have a deal, however—” I held up my finger. “Now pay attention, because me and you are getting ready to enter into a verbal contract. A contract that I will uphold by any means necessary. Do you understand?”

  She didn’t even bat her eye, she wasn’t afraid of me. The grin that lurked right under the surface of her beautiful lips said she would agree to anything as long as it would get the job done.

  I was counting on that.

  “Sure,” she purred.

  Damn, when I got a hold of this woman, I was going to cause that devious look in her eyes to disappear and one of longing and raw uncut need to replace it. I was going to take great pleasure in ruining her for other men.

  “As long as you continue to keep things on the up and up…meaning, what you say is what you do. Then I too will keep things on the up and up. I’ll be on my best behavior. But…” I held up my finger again.

  “If it comes to light that you’re lying to me and you have an ulterior motive, then…” I paused for a moment, my eyes falling to her sexy legs she had crossed, working the hell out of those Red Bottoms. Very slowly my gaze raked up her body, taking in what was at stake before they connected with that droopy bedroom gaze of hers.