If I'd Only Known (Milan Women Series Book 1) (30 page)

Flipping
the page, Nia studied the next design. Each one was better than the last. She
carefully removed one of the designs, walked over to the bay window and held it
up to the light. A wicked smile spread across her lips. On the tip of one of
the shoes the sketched models were wearing, the initials: PTM lightly penciled
in. In fact, it was so small the naked eye would surely miss it. But thanks to
Nia's cunning and crafty side, she wasn't the one to be so easily fooled. Not
when she was a self-taught master of manipulation who was definitely at the top
of her game.

“Oh,
yes, thank you fate. Gotcha, Perri; thanks to good old Tina.” Nia laughed
wickedly with a sinister plan already formulated in her criminal mind.

“What’s
up, Kane?” Barrington laughed at his daughter's bottom lip poked out as she
pouted at him because he wouldn't give her another bite of chocolate ice cream.
He'd just finished telling her how mad her mommy would be if she knew he gave
her the few spoonfuls he had already.

“Hey
man, I'm about maybe fifteen minutes or so from landing,” Kane Devoe said in
his smooth baritone voice that was so much like Barrington's it was downright
scary. Even their singing voices resembled, though their styles were different.
Barrington and Kane, though second cousins, had been thick as thieves growing
up, and to this day, were still as close as any two men who weren't actually
blood brothers could be.

“Cool,”
Barrington responded, balancing Imani in one arm while spying his watch. “I'll
be there when you hop off the plane. You should have just let me send the jet
to fly you in then you wouldn’t have to be sneaking off to the bathroom to use
your cell phone that you’re not supposed to have turned on when a commercial
flight is in the air, man.”

“Man,
it’s all good. And it’s even better that you’ll be here when the plane lands because
I got one serious case of jet lag and sleep can't come soon enough.”

“I
hear you, man, but hey. Just know I appreciate you agreeing to fly in and take
my place for the remainder of the tour. I know Crush appreciates it as well.”

“Not
a problem, man. Though I'm still not sure how you managed to talk Toby into
that one.” Kane laughed, shaking his head in amazement.

Laughing
too, Barrington said, “Toby works for me, though he seems to forget that
sometimes, still, he wasn't as hard pressed about it as you'd think he'd be,
considering I still owe him two more shows.” He shrugged. “It helps out a lot
that the last show is right here in Charlotte, so really, he couldn't whine too
much. Besides, it's just one night; I do plan on being part of the last show
here. We both will be, so the crowd gets what they paid for plus one more.”

“I
hear you, man. Donovan and Dazzy were amazed I even agreed to do it; but then
again, they know how close we are, so really, they shouldn't be all that
surprised. Like you say, it's just two more shows and, it's back to the gospel
scene for me.”

“By
the way, how's that going? Are you any closer to finishing the debut CD?”

“Man,
it has been a minute since we last talked,” Kane remarked with a low whistle.
“The tracks are done, man; scheduled to drop in the next month, if not before,
depending on how many pre-interviews come up.”

“That's
great, Kane. I'm real proud of you, man.” Imani cooed like she was, too.

“Thanks,
B; means a lot coming from you.” Kane laughed. “That your daughter I hear?”

Grinning,
Barrington proudly said, “That's my Cupcake.” He kissed her cheek.

“Man,
I got the pictures you sent me of her; she's a real beauty; going to have to
beat the boys off with a stick, man, when she's older.”

“What
you mean
older
?” Barrington asked serious. “Don't matter her age Imani
will still be too young to date as far as I'm concerned.”

Kane
laughed. “You’re worse than Donovan with Sierra.” He shook his head. “When you
two gonna learn you got to give your kids room to spread their wings and fly? I
mean, Donovan, all his life, you know he was his own person, doing exactly what
he wanted no matter how it came across to anyone else. Sierra's just like him,
too; but Donovan don't wanna let her grow, like she gonna stay ten forever or
something. It's crazy, man. And you are, too, if you think you can keep Imani
holed up in her room 'till she turn twenty-two,” Kane said laughing out loud.

“Oh,
I'm not gonna keep her housed 'till she turn twenty-two; I was thinking more
like twenty-six.”

They
laughed.

“Boy,
you are crazy.” Kane looked at his watch. “So you'll be on time, correct?” He
hated waiting on a ride once he was where he needed to be.

Barrington
knew his cousin was normally a very patient man, save when it came to waiting
on a ride. During their teenage years, Kane had made it a point to do the
driving just so there was no chance in him being late, or having to wait for
more than fifteen minutes on a designated driver who had no problem taking
their sweet time to pick them up. Laughing, he said, “Don't sweat it, Kane.
I'll be there before you land.” Imani squeezed his nose. “Wait 'till you see
Cupcake in person, man; you gonna fall right in love with her,” Barrington
promised.

“I'm
sure I will.” Kane loved kids. In their family he was the middle child of three
sons and brother to Donovan and Dazzy of the group Soul Deep, a mixture of
soulful R&B and pop with a tendency to cross over into new jack swing hip
hop. When they first started performing in local talent shows for exposure, the
crowd was always shocked to see they were a young white group belting out their
own original soulful lyrics. Kane, on the other hand, was more grounded and
seriously rooted in the contemporary gospel flavor of the music industry. He
along with his father, Reverend Devoe often toured together, and honestly, that
was exactly where Kane’s heart was settled. One day when he had children of his
own, he planned to have them tour with him while they, as a family showcased
their talent for the glory of God. Kane was so excited about his CD dropping
within the next month he was literally floating on air. He was especially
excited that he had two cuts on the CD that featured his brothers and on
another cut his father sang with him. To Kane family was everything and he
loved as well as cherished his with a healthy passion, and there was nothing,
absolutely nothing he wouldn't do to keep his family safe from harm. And for
him, family included his close friends, too, though he was very careful whom he
referred to as friend; but if you fit into that category, you had a friend who
stuck closer than a brother for life.

“All
right, B, get to rolling. See in a few.”

“No
doubt, man, Cupcake and I will be at the Airport shortly.” Barrington flipped
his cell shut, hoisting Imani in his arms. “Let's get you into your shoes,
little one.” Now where had he placed her shoes? he wondered, looking around the
living room.

Nia
who had been waiting in the shadows as she listened in on his one-way
conversation with his cousin while observing how amazingly awesome her boss was
with his daughter, stepped into the living room. “Would you like for me to
watch her, sir?”

Barrington
turned to see his housekeeper smiling at his daughter. “Thank you, Nia, but I
wouldn't ask you to watch Imani; she's my responsibility, but I appreciate the
offer.” After placing his daughter on the couch and surrounding her with throw
pillows, he got down on all fours and looked under the couch, hoping he'd find
her shoes there. For the life of him he didn't know where they were, but he did
know that if he dared to take her outside without anything on her feet Perri
would have his head. It didn't matter to her that it was the middle of May and
hot as all getup.

This
morning she'd almost bit his head off when, after he'd bathed and dressed her,
Perri saw that he hadn't bothered to put Imani's sandals on. To Barrington it
was just too hot and since her feet wouldn't be touching the ground anyway,
what did it really matter? Perri, however, saw it in a completely different
light and ordered him to “get those sandals on my daughter's feet.” Not wanting
to argue first thing this morning, Barrington just did as she told him, knowing
that once they were in the car Imani would fidget until she got them off her
feet and he wasn't going to bother about trying to keep them on her. She didn't
need them on anyway.

“That's
where they are!” It suddenly dawned on Barrington that no sooner than they were
in the car his daughter had sure enough wiggled her feet free of her sandals so
they had to still be in the car.

Nia
was grinning at him when Barrington rose to his feet. “I take it you recall
where you placed her shoes, huh?”

Looking
down at Imani, he said, “Yeah, Cupcake kicked them off in the car.” He shook
his head with a slight grin. “She can't stand wearing shoes, but Perri refuses
to let her go outside the house without them on her feet.” He looked at Nia.
“She'd have my head in a slingshot if she knew I didn't bother to keep up with them,
or try to keep Imani's feet in them for that matter. Not like that was gonna
happen anyway, but Perri would rather keep putting them back on her feet even
though five minutes later she'll have kicked them off again.” He laughed out
loud.

Nia
smiled amused that being a father amused him. “You're really great with her,
you know.”

“I
don't know about all that but I do try.” He paused as his chest swelled with
pride. “She's my heart, Nia.”

Nia
laughed. “I can see that, sir.”

“Well,
after Perri she is,” he rephrased his last statement.

He
hadn't noticed that Nia's expression changed to a slight grimace. “Of course,
sir, I can see that, too.” And Nia didn't like that one bit. Perri just kept on
getting in between her and her man and that would never continue to do. Nia had
to do something about little Miss Perri, and soon.

After
retrieving her shoes from the car, securing her other sandal on the left foot,
Barrington scooped Imani up in his arms as she squealed her delight, hoping it
was play time again. He chuckled. “Not right now, Cupcake We gotta get your
godfather at the airport in less than ten minutes. Good thing we not too far
from there now because he hates to wait on a ride, and knowing him, he'd find
his own way over here.” He looked at Nia, “Kane, my cousin I told you about, is
in town. We're headed out to get him now,” he informed her with a slight grin.

Nia
brushed imaginary lint from her skirt. “That's nice, sir; I'm sure you two will
have a nice visit. How long's he here for?” she asked, though she couldn’t care
less.

“He'll
be here a minute; he's gonna take my spot on the remainder of the tour that way
it frees me up to spend time with my two favorite girls.”

A
tinge of jealousy coursed through the blood in Nia's veins. She was supposed to
be his favorite girl. She thought of the child that was now growing inside her
womb. Nia's gaze slid to the child Barrington held so loving and protective in
his arms. She was a beauty, Nia had to admit. That didn't bother her, because
she knew any child Barrington's sperm was responsible for producing couldn't be
anything but beautiful since the man himself was an absolute gorgeous god. That
brought a genuine smile to her face.

“Sir,
I can watch her for you, I really don't mind. Besides, it doesn't make sense to
take her out in the heat when it's not necessary. It'll be easier on you if
she's not underfoot while you help your cousin collect his luggage and
whatnot.”

“That's
true.” Barrington thought a minute. He loved being with his daughter, but Nia
was right. It would take less time if he went to the airport without her; that
way he could make sure to be back by the time Perri arrived to pick her up on
her way home from work. Normally he would have kept Imani all day, taking her
to visit with his parents' but today he really needed to hit the studio so he
and Kane could practice for the tour that, thankfully, his cousin had agreed to
finish in his place.

“Okay,
Nia.” He didn't see any harm in her watching Imani for thirty minutes. He'd be
back before Perri got there, so she didn't even have to know, since she didn't
much care for Nia in the first place. Barrington didn't know why, but for some
reason, Perri just did not trust his housekeeper, even though she was harmless
as a dove. She’d worked for him for the past five years and he figured it just
stood to reason he knew Nia better than his wife did. Besides, if Nia wanted to
hurt him in all this time she would have done it by now. Instead, Barrington
trusted Nia because she’d never proven herself to be anything less than honest
in his sight, which is why she had a key to clean his house and her own bedroom
whenever she house-sat for him when he was on the road. Nia might have been
lonely without her family living here in the States with her, but she was
harmless and Perri would learn that for herself eventually.

Nia
smiled as she stepped up to take the child from his arms.

Imani
giggled, threading her little fingers through Nia's long curly hair.

“Hey,
baby girl.” She kissed the child's plump cheek. “You are so sweet.” Yes, she
was definitely a beauty. “We'll be fine, won't we, Imani?”

Again,
Imani laughed, kicking her feet in total delight.

Barrington
was relieved, “She likes you, Nia.”

“Of
course she does, sir. What's not to like?” She playfully hinted, but in a way
she was dead serious. Looking at Imani, Nia thought,
this should be our
baby, Barrington. But not to worry; our love child will be born soon enough
.
“Tell daddy bye-bye.” Nia waved her little hand at him.

Barrington
leaned down and kissed his daughter on the forehead. “Daddy will be right back,
Cupcake. Be good for Nia, sweetie.” Grabbing his keys, he left.

Nia
sat on the couch with the baby in her lap and immediately shed Imani's feet of
the sandals, carelessly tossing them to the floor. Standing, she promised,
“We're gonna have so much fun, baby girl.” She kissed her on the cheek,
cuddling her to her chest, tickled pink that she was holding the child of the
man she loved with all her heart. It thrilled her even more knowing soon, she
too, would be giving birth to the child of the man she loved heart, soul, and
mind.