Slow Release (Ebony and Ivory Book 1) (9 page)

Damon

I lied in bed and stroked over her perfect skin with the pad of my thumb, sublimely relaxed and deep in thought.

She was naïve, innocent, and ignorant of the monster that lurked within me. The ruthless kid who grew up in the streets was never far beneath the surface. It only took the slightest provocation for that monster to rear its ugly head. I haven’t told her about the letters I’ve been getting—letters that hinted at hurting her to get to me.

Even Jerome saw the change in me. I knew it was getting bad when he hinted at it by bringing up the boy I almost beat to death my senior year of high school. Those years of boxing in my youth unleashed a vicious fighter in me that I never knew existed before that day. Luckily, Jerome pulled me off him after I beat him unconscious, but it was close. The boy had stabbed me, and the only thing that kept me from killing him with my bare hands was Jerome intervening. I still carry the scar from where he drove a knife between two of my ribs and punctured a lung. The adrenaline surge had been so strong that I fought him even while I struggled to breathe. I ended up in the hospital thanks to that little shit, but he never bothered me again. Come to think of it, nobody else did either.

I wouldn’t stop this time, not when it came to her. It wasn’t all teasing when I told her I was a man hexed; there was definitely some truth to that statement. I was obsessed with a woman for the first time in my life. From the moment I first saw those captivating blue eyes of hers, looking back at me from a glossy 8x10, it was over. There was no other woman in the world for me. I would have moved heaven and earth to get her here. If anybody thought they were going to take her from me now that she was mine, they were walking a very thin line between life and death.

I wasn’t the type to sit around and wait for some happily ever after to fall on my lap. I was the type to take what I wanted and keep it safe at all costs. If blood needed to be spilled to keep my woman, then so be it.

“Are you okay, baby,” she asked, looking up at me with sleepy baby blues.

“I am now. Go back to sleep, baby girl. I’ve got everything under control.”

She nestled into the crook of my arm. She was right where she needed to be—safe in my arms.

Skye

I woke up alone at 9:30 am. I never slept that late. I could only attribute it to the late night conversations with Damon. Keeping up with my new boyfriend was, apparently, exhausting me. A tap at the door pulled me from my thoughts.

“Yes?”

“It’s Ms. Stratton, dear.”

“Hold on a second,” I called out and then jumped from the bed to throw on some jeans and a muscle shirt.

I opened the door, instinctively grabbing for the tray she held.

“I’ll meet you at the table,” she answered me as she gave me a sweet smile.

I walked over to the table in the small dining area of my bedroom. This room was more like a five star suite than a master bedroom, and after living in a hut that seven people shared, I was still getting accustomed to it.

Ms. Stratton set down a china cup on a small plate and then started pouring coffee. It was like it was second nature for her to wait on people and see to their every need. I wondered if she had kids and if she was forced to work a job in order to support them like my mother. I felt my heartstrings pull at the thought. Considering Damon’s giving nature, I highly doubted she had to work two jobs like my mother. She sat across from me and eyed me with tenderness as she spoke.

“I’ve never seen him like this before, not over any woman.” She patted my hand for emphasis. “I’m not in the habit of getting into my boss’ business when it comes to his lady friends, but after Damon’s parents died, I took him under my wing. You’re a good girl from what I can tell, and I know Damon can be intense. More than once, he’s offended employees, colleagues, and women with his gruff nature, but this is different; you’re different. He cares about you, and he cares deeply. Please don’t write him off if he seems brusque. I worry about him being alone if I’m not around.”

“Ms. Stratton, I can’t promise you anything because I don’t know what
this
is yet. I can tell you that I would never purposely hurt Damon. It just isn’t in my nature to toy with people or to be cruel.”

“You two will do wonderfully together, dear; I just know it. Oh, and one other thing… don’t let these hussies from his past deter you from finding true love.”

“Quite the player, wasn’t he?” I muttered under my breath.

“It doesn’t matter what he was or did before you came into his life. What matters is what kind of man he is now that you’re with him.”

Damon

“Shut the door,” I directed my bodyguard and best friend as he made his way into my office.

He sat his large frame across the desk from me and eyed me warily, “What’s up?”

“This,” I hissed through clenched teeth and tossed the ominous letter in his direction.

I see you have a new flavor of the month. How long will this one last? I’m certain you’ve promised to make all her dreams come true while you bed her.

The only thing about dreams is… they die!

“Sounds like a jealous lover or a pissed off agent to me,” Jerome speculated.

“Sounds like they’re fucking with the wrong guy to me. I’m taking this shit very seriously. Threatening me is one thing, but threatening my woman is crossing the line. I don’t want her out of your sight when she isn’t with me.”

“As of yet, she hasn’t been out of your sight,” he teased.

“You know what I’m saying.” Not in the mood, I cut my eyes at him.

“Damon, one phone call and this scum bag is wiped from the face of the earth.”

“I have to find out who it is first.”

“That’s where I come in. Your woman is safe in my hands, brother. I’ll do some research and call in some help from the geek squad, aka Marcus, if I need to. We’ll get to the bottom of it, and then we’ll deal with it just like we do everything else—swiftly and efficiently.”

“You’ve been a good friend, Jerome. You’re like a brother to me.”

“Yeah, I know. You got the whole bromance thing goin’ on for me.” He shrugged, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re my brother from another mother too, and it will be over my dead body that anyone hurts you or your woman.”

“Well, don’t be surprised if I take you up on making that call when I find out who this is. I’ll be damned if I let anyone get near my Skye.”

“I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“And you never will again because this girl is the one and only.”

Skye

I was able to take my time getting ready because Damon waited until later before he called to let me know he wanted me at the studio.

“You’ll be there, right?”

“You’ll only be without me during the drive over with Jerome.”

“I’m not a needy person, Damon,” I said in my defense. “It’s just awkward here because everything is new. For some reason, I feel safe with you.”

“You make my day when you say things like that. I don’t perceive you as being weak. Culture shock is to be expected. You don’t know your way around the city, and you have no family here. Besides, if you’re going to be
needy,
as you word it, then I’m cool with that as long as it’s me you lean on for support. I will forewarn you, though, I won’t be so understanding if you choose someone else. You belong to me, Skye.”

“You’re so funny,” I replied, chuckling.

“Let’s see how funny you think it is if somebody gets near you and ends up with their jaw wired shut. Now, go get ready for me, beautiful.”

The phone clicked, signifying he’d hung up, and I was left wondering, once again, why this man was so obsessed with me. I hurried through my shower and threw on a pair of designer jeans and a floral top with blue highlights that made my eyes pop. The fact that this man had been able to buy a complete wardrobe to my liking amazed me. I knew my measurements were in my modeling portfolio, so he would have been able to buy the correct size with no problem. However, everything in the closet suited my tastes perfectly, and that was impressive to say the least.

He was a dream come true, and I couldn’t ask for a better man. His intensity was daunting at times, but overall, it was flattering. I knew there were women who would do anything to get in Damon D’Angelo’s bed, but I also knew it was for all the wrong reasons. I felt sorry for him that he always had to be on guard or end up the victim of people’s ulterior motives. No matter how strong or self-sufficient a person was, nobody wanted to feel used.

I threw on a pair of stiletto sandals, grabbed my designer hobo bag, and went out to meet Jerome at the car. He stood, looking somber, with his arms crossed over his massive chest. He was looking much more like a bodyguard than a business partner today. When he opened the back door for me, I climbed in and smiled at him.

“Good morning, Miss Skye.”

I turned to look at him, lowering the large sunglasses I wore so he could look me in the eye. “Jerome, if you and I are going to be friends, let’s drop the formalities.”

“As you wish,” he answered with a nod.

“Good, I don’t do well with formalities, especially with people I’m going to be spending a vast amount of time with.”

“As you wish,” he smiled and looked at me through the reflection in the rearview mirror. He settled in behind the wheel and started the luxury car.

“So,” I said as I settled my hands in my lap. “Damon said the two of you met in school. He mentioned you saved his ass on more than one occasion.”

He chuckled as he answered, “Poor guy kept getting beat up just for being scrawny, so I took him under my wing and taught him how to box. We ended up clicking, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Is he any good?”

He looked in the mirror and locked eyes with me for a second. “Saw him just about beat a boy to death, and that was after the kid stabbed him and punctured his lung. I think he would have been successful if I hadn’t pulled him away. Needless to say, nobody bothered Damon after that. Yep, he had mad respect from the fellow students after that day.

“So, that’s the story behind that scar.”

“Yep, he still carries it to this day. He says it reminds him where he came from and helps him keep it real.”

“He really doesn’t act like a Caucasian man, does he?”

“Ha, ha, ha,” his hearty laughter rang through the air. “He acts like a powerful white man with swagger. I tell him all the time he’s an African American man trapped in a white man’s body. He just laughs and says it is what it is.”

“Do you know what my schedule is for the day, Jerome?”

“I think he just wants to make a show of the two of you together. You know, give the models and photographers a chance to get used to you being around. This is a cutthroat business you’ve chosen.”

“I think it chose me, Jerome.” I settled back in my seat for the rest of the ride and pondered the truth of that statement. I had known from the time I’d taken my very first step that, one day, my feet would grace the runway. Having my name in lights wasn’t about the money; it was about the art. I had a deep desire to change society’s perception of how a model should look. I didn’t just want to open doors for African American women who didn’t have the stereotypical stick thin frames. I wanted to do it for women of all races who were voluptuous. I wanted to be the voice of every woman who ever had body issues. I wanted to shout out to the women of the world to be proud of their curves.

I was jarred from my thoughts when we pulled up to the studio and I viewed Damon waiting at the door for us. Jerome escorted me from the vehicle and I noted another car pulling up behind us with a gentleman and a young lady seated inside.

“Oh shit,” Jerome muttered under his breath.

The woman rushed from the car, and it was evident she wanted to reach us before we entered the building.

“So, you are the new
it
girl.”

I eyed the woman standing in front of me, and she was stunning. I was baffled as to why she was addressing me with so much contempt.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Damon had rushed out the door to confront the woman just as her boyfriend walked up to join the mayhem.

“I had to come see my competition,” the woman sneered. Though she was speaking to Damon, she never took her eyes off me until the man, I assumed was her boyfriend, spoke.

“Yes, she is lovely.”

My skin crawled as he undressed me with his eyes and licked his lips while doing so.

“You son of a bitch!” Damon’s fist crashed down on the man’s face, sending him to the concrete and forcing him to scramble backwards to escape another assault. He looked so odd sprawled out on the pavement, wearing his high dollar suit and Rolex watch.

“This isn’t over, Damon. I’m coming for you when you least expect it, and anyone who is with you is fair game,” the boyfriend yelled. He then directed his attention towards me. “If I were you, I’d get away from him before you get caught in the line of fire. He has a lot of enemies, and you’re putting your career and your life in danger by being with him.”

I watched in horror as Damon lunged for him again. The only thing stopping another assault was Jerome’s large hand grabbing Damon’s arm and quickly pulling him into the studio. I heard him speak just as the door closed. “He isn’t worth it, Damon.”

I quickly did my part and helped usher him back to the private dressing room. I seated him in a chair and poured him a glass of water from the crystal carafe while we waited for him to calm down.

“Jealous ex-girlfriend?”

“No, she used to work for me, and the agent who was with her stole her. I have no problem if a model wants to leave my agency, but doing it while she’s under contract, and suing me to try and get out of said contract, isn’t cool. I don’t do business like that.”

“Well, it’s obvious they’re both a little crazy by the way they just conducted themselves.”

“Just stay away from them, both of them,” he answered. After the way they acted, I had no intention of ever seeing either one of them again.