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She looked up at me, and her hand caressed the nape of my neck, causing my body to stir. “Thank you. I’m sure you know how gorgeous you’ve always been.”
I shrugged. “Still doesn’t hurt to hear what my first love thinks of me after all these years?”
“Doesn’t really matter now.” Diamond dropped her arms from around my neck and averted her gaze past my shoulder. The shift in our interaction became an impersonal one.
“Why are you here?” I asked sternly, my mask firmly back in place. Mamma’s taunting words about my weak flesh floated in my mind. My excitement of seeing her again had already leaped into my heart that I’d assumed frozen, and I wasn’t sure I could stop it from thawing.
“I came to celebrate the grand opening. Congratulations.” She grabbed another flute from the bar and gave it to me. I kept one hand on her waist as I took a sip, observing her.
“Thank you.” I gulped down my glass and placed it on the bar. “If you were only here to celebrate, why bring the cavalry?”
“Are you here to throw me out? I thought this was a party open to the public.”
I insisted, “Why are you here, Paris?”
“It’s Diamond now.”
“Or is it Wisdom?” I quirked a brow.
She didn’t blink a long eyelash. “Diamond.”
“Your new name fits you. Precious jewel.”
Her nostril flared, and she shook her head. “Don’t try to charm me.”
“Speaking truth is all.” The music changed to a slower tune. “Dance with me.”
Her lips tightened. “I don’t dance with mob bosses.”
Unperturbed by her jab, I clasped her hand in mine. “No, it is never an option with me.”
Diamond tried to resist fruitlessly, and she seethed, “I’m not one of your fucking submissive bitches.”
I pulled her arm behind my back, forcing her plush body into me. “People are watching. Don’t make a scene. Regardless of our history, I don’t take kindly to being embarrassed.”
Although she draped her arm around my neck, she gritted through her teeth, “Only because I don’t want to start a shootout on this ‘magical night,’ we’ll dance. My men are watching and ready to kill.”
“Oh, so you and I are enemies now?” I asked, unperturbed by her threat as we swayed together.
She met my intense gaze with a fiery one of her own. “You became my enemy the day you left my brother to die.”
Lafayette. “A fallen soldier is no longer of use.” I beat down the swell of emotions that threatened to break through my heart, already softened by her reappearance in my life.
Her body tensed. “What about leaving no soldier behind? Family doesn’t leave family.”
“That’s not the code we live by. Laffy followed the same code.”
Diamond snapped, “Lafayette. You don’t get to call him that again. Only people who loved him could ever call him Laffy. Ever.”
Holding her tight and gazing deep into her angry eyes, I professed, “I loved him. He was my brother, and I didn’t want to leave him.” Then I did something I’d never done before. I’d explained myself. “I wanted to drag him with me, save him, but he refused. Told me he wouldn’t make it and wanted to take the fall.” I raised my jacket and shirt sleeve to show her the crude tat. “I scarred myself that day, so I wouldn’t ever forget him and what he did for me.”
She quickly blinked back tears as she murmured what she oft-heard me and her brother say to each other, “BFL. Brothers for Life.”
I pulled my sleeve back down. “You can hate me, don’t want anything to ever do with me again, but never doubt that I loved Lafayette. You and he are my only regrets.”
Diamond’s almond eyes widened and then softened. “My family lost everything after that day.”
“You don’t think I know that?” My voice sounded anguished even to myself. Always have control over your emotions. Never let others see how you feel, Mamma’s voice taunted. We were in a crowd, yet people watched us as if a spotlight shone on us. “I can’t do this here.” I abruptly stopped dancing and guided her by her elbow past curious onlookers. Guests wondering about the stunning black woman who caught my attention? “Tell your men to stand down.”
