Was it Good for You Too? (20 page)

Yes, Delvin recognized it as love. He wouldn't pretend that love was not a main component. But there was another element as well. It ran along the vein of manipulation by way of twisted logic. Much as he hated it, even he had to admit that Amir had made all kinds of sense when he laid his arguments on Tailan.

So where did that leave Delvin Germaine? For the moment, out in the cold without his woman. He was the outsider battling for dominance, and he was coming up short. And worse, he was in a never-ending holding pattern over which he had no control.

Then there was the added issue of his children—all of them. His ailing mother and her battle to live to enjoy her grandbabies. The long-distance career that demanded his attention.

All this meant that changes were coming at him faster than he could put on a baseball mitt and catch them. He had to get his life back in order before it broke through the fences and ran buck-naked down the street and never came back. Delvin was not new to multi-tasking. In the last ten years, it had become his middle name. Taking that skill by the reins, he moved with brisk intent to accomplish his goals.

As his driver took him down Tailan's block one afternoon, Delvin noticed a FOR SALE sign on a house just down the street from Tailan. He picked up his phone. “Quentin Daniels, please.”

“This is Quentin,” the realtor answered.

“My name's Delvin Germaine. I'm calling about a property I saw in the Pullman area. Is it still available?”

“Yes, we have several.”

“Had a few questions about it if you don't mind.”

“Of course,” Quentin replied. “I can meet you at the property if that would be better.”

“That was going to be my first question. I'm already here.”

He gave the listing address and Quentin said, “Excellent, I'm on my way.”

Delvin asked the driver to circle back around and park. Once he was stationed in front of the house, he put in another call. The second his party picked up, he launched with, “Katie, no more movie roles that'll take me out of the country for a while.”

“What?!” she shrieked so loudly he had to pull the phone from his ear for a moment. “But that script I sent you is set to film on location in Spain, Belize, and Switzerland. That one might land you another Oscar.”

“I can't do it. Got waaaay too much going on right now in my personal life.”

“Sounds serious,” she whispered, and he could imagine her playing with tendrils of dark brown hair as she always did when shifting gears. “What's going on?”

Delvin turned to the scenery outside his limo's window. “My mother. Health issues.”

“Whoa!” Katie exclaimed. “I'm sorry to hear that. I'll keep her in my prayers.”

“Thanks, lady,” he said and ended the call with, “I'll be in touch.”

Delvin flipped through the speed dial settings on his phone and called home.

“Hello,” squeaked an adorable voice that always melted his heart.

“Hey, angel, it's me,” Delvin announced.

“Daddy!” the child cried. Then Delvin heard her shout, “Jason come quick, it's Daddy.”

There was a shuffling on the other end. Delvin could imagine they were each trying to get an ear close to the house phone receiver.

“Hey, Dad,” Jason said, the pitch of his voice even deeper than it was the last time Delvin had seen him. His teen was growing up faster than he was prepared to accept. “When you coming home?”

“Yeah, we miss you,” Ariel whined.

Suddenly, hearing their voices brought a stark realization to light. He missed his children—both of them—and he wanted them with him here in Chicago. Since he already had the court's approval to have the children in the first place, and the only reason Gabrielle was trying to back pedal was because Paulo was no longer in the picture, Delvin would proceed with doing the very thing that would bring everyone together—in one place.

“That's why I'm calling, guys. Grandma needs me to be closer to home for a while. And she misses you guys so much, so … instead of me coming home, I'm bringing you two to me.”

“Wow, Dad!” Jason exclaimed. “We're coming to see Grandma? We're going to Chicago?”

Delvin noticed a car pulling up to the side of the limo. The person inside said something to his driver. They both nodded, and the car parked in front of his.

“Need you two to do me a favor.” When they got silent, he added, “Jason, I want you to help your sister with her packing. It'll be faster that way. Ariel, I want you to go get Ms. Bridgette and put her on the line for me.”

“Okay,” they chorused. As they ran from the phone, their
yaaaay's
echoed through the line.

Delvin was still grinning a few moments later when Bridgette said, “Sir?” He could practically hear the smile in her voice. “Ariel's skipping out of the room. Jason just moon-walked right by me. What did you tell them?”

“Oh nothing much. Just that you all will be making tracks to Chicago within the next few hours.”

She gave a whelp of joy that almost mirrored the children's. “I'll get them prepared.” Then she paused and said, “I have one request though.”

“Sure.”

“Can we get some Italian Fiesta Pizza while I'm there? My family swears by it.”

Delvin couldn't help but laugh as he left the limo and said, “Consider it done, darling.”

* * *

An hour later, Delvin and Quentin were leaving the house viewing. The house was an exact replica of Tailan's quaint dwelling. There was only one problem.

“It's entirely too small,” Delvin admitted. When Quentin's face sagged, Delvin quickly redirected, “That doesn't mean I'm not interested.”

“Would you like to look elsewhere? I'm sure we can find something that suits your needs, Mr. Germaine.”

“No. This is where I want to be. I have no doubt you can make
this
place suit me, considering it'll be a cash deal.”

Delvin could practically see the man's hard-on from where he stood several feet away. In this real estate market, those three words were purple squirrels—they did not exist. Delvin's finances were always in perfect order, and for that he gave Tailan all the credit. Early in their relationship, she always cautioned him to spend soft and invest hard, to make his money work for him and multiply it with the effort of others. He never forgot that lesson, and it had paid off with multiple zeroes in his bank accounts.

“Before I called you,” Delvin continued. “I took the liberty of doing some research on the neighborhood and the city's plans for it. This entire area in every direction has been deemed a historical district.”

Quentin nodded, leaning his muscular frame on the wrought iron fence. “The Pullman area has a long-standing history in the city, and the country for that matter, due to the Pullman Train Car Company. That owner wanted all of his employees residing close to the main factory. Thus,” he stretched out his hand, “blocks and blocks of
row houses
.”

“Which brings me to my next observation.” Delvin started to walk down the block, and Quentin followed. “I can see the city's influence in the efforts to revitalize this area.” He pointed in the direction of the expressway. “The Walmart just up the street.” He pointed to two separate corners. “Those fruit and vegetable gardens being tended by gardeners. I noticed them right away because every garden sits on a vacant lot. They're beautifying the ugly patches of the neighborhood.” Delvin turned to Quentin. “Lastly, the people.”

Quentin blinked several times, then quickly admitted, “The developer of this area, along with the city, is striving to create a mixed community, shifting from the lower classes to a more upwardly mobile group of citizens.”

Delvin and Quentin walked back toward the house of interest. Once they were standing near it again Delvin said, “And this is where you're about to earn your commission.”

Quentin gave Delvin his complete attention.

“I had my people check into the developer,” Delvin said, narrowing his gaze on the man. “He purchased the majority of these homes for
less
than pennies on the dollar to get the contract from the city. I don't fault him in that regard. But I do have an issue with the substandard work that he's doing to rehab these homes. So this is what you're going to do for me to earn my money.”

Delvin faced the row house he wanted and pointed to the one on the left of it and the one on the right. “I want all three of these homes immediately, like today. And I want them combined into one house.”

“What?!” Quentin gasped. “This is a historical district. We can't change the structure of the dwellings from their original design.”

“Yes, you can.” Delvin opened up his portfolio, pulled out several documents and a list of names and numbers, including that of his financial planner. “Like I said, I did some research.” He handed Quentin all the paperwork. “The developer can't change the design, however the new owner can do whatever they want to beautify their property.”

Quentin looked up at him with his mouth open. “Mr.—Mr. Germaine,” Quentin stuttered. “This is a major undertaking. I'll need more time.”

“Not really.” Delvin walked over to his car, where his driver quickly opened the door. Before he stepped in he said, “Mr. Daniels, you have exactly forty-eight hours to put this in motion. Those documents you're holding are the contractors I've already commissioned to start work in six hours, and my financial planner is waiting for your call. I suggest you get started because in seventy-two hours, my family and I are moving in.”

Just before the car door closed behind Delvin, he heard Quentin screeching into his cell phone, “Glasetta, drop everything you're doing and get into the office
ASAP!
”

Chapter 24

Tailan's headaches were her constant sidekick. They became more frequent with each passing week. Work was stressful, and she was busier than ever. Tailan was shocked at the daunting amount of work that David had actually been doing behind the scenes. Now that she had replaced him, she was expected to add his responsibilities to her own. The pressure was intense, especially now that she was expected to repeat the success of the Soul Express tour.

Every single member of The Vets, all eleven members of M-LAS, most of them virtually unknown authors, Lutishia, and Malcolm, all hit the
New York Times
bestseller's list within seven weeks of each other. Now the publishers—the ones who swore up and down she would fail—were ringing her phone off the hook to accomplish the same feat for their debut and mid-list authors. The publishers couldn't fathom that the reason those authors single-handedly achieved more than The Divas was because they supported each other on the tour and after.

Tailan was humbled by the success, and she should've been squealing for joy, but at the moment she couldn't do anything but reach for some pain meds.

Work was not the only cause of her elevated stress. Home was bringing up the rear and dumping tension in her lap too. Neena and Devi were sensing the strain. The thick cloud of unease was hard to miss.

Delvin was the only ray of light in her girls' day. When he came to collect them every day to spend time with Jason and Ariel at their grandmother's house, Neena and Devi would sail out of the house so fast, they often forgot to say goodbye to their parents.

Work and the girls would've been bad enough, but those issues were only the edge of the moon crater. The deep pit of tension resided squarely within the intimacy Tailan shared with Amir—the sexual intimacy. She was in trouble, and she knew it. Not even Delvin knew her body like Amir did. And her body could never lie to him. Amir was certain their bed play was a well-orchestrated act on her part. He was every shade of miserable.

Something had to be done. Her family situation, her love life couldn't continue this way. Yes, without question she
loved
her husband. During the past four weeks what really made her nervous was the alarming idea that she could actually still be
in love
with Delvin—a fact Amir had pointed out. Now her decision to work on her marriage was making both her and her husband miserable.

Tailan needed to wash away all of the nagging thoughts. She stepped into the shower. At least there, she could find some relief from the tension knotting every muscle in her body. Twenty minutes later, Tailan reached for a towel, wrapped it around herself, and stepped out.

Amir stood right in the doorway. She almost screamed from his abrupt presence. “Since the girls are not here, I wish to speak about the incident with my family.”

Tailan felt her cheeks burst with heat. Amir's family had invited Neena to a family event and excluded Devi. When word got back to Delvin, he snapped. She had prayed this on-going issue with Amir's family would pass. This time, Amir saw things through a different lens and she hoped that the fact that he did see would force him to act.

“Delvin threatened to go over there and deal with it himself since you obviously haven't,” Tailan warned, moving past him and into their bedroom. “I've told you for years that they treated Devi differently. Now Delvin wants the nanny to accompany her every time they go to see your people.” She turned to him. “If things keep going like this, he'll probably go for full custody. I won't lose my daughter because of your family.”

“It took his outrage and the look of pain in Devi's eyes to see the truth for myself. I understand. It's been real subtle before, but now …” He stepped closer to her and kissed her damp shoulder. “For my part in our daughter's pain, I am sorry, and I vow that my family will honor and treat Devi the same as Neena. And if they cannot, then I will have no other choice but to break off from them.”

Her heart softened. Amir was again making a great sacrifice for her and the children they loved. Going against the traditions of his people was not an easy road for him to take. And ever since that televised kiss, his people had been strangely silent on issues related to the marriage they deemed “inappropriate.”