Thin Ice 3 - Armageddon (32 page)

“
Baby, please, don’t ever hurt me like that again,” he pleaded as Jaleesa assured him she wouldn’t.

“
I swear on all that I know baby, I won’t ever fuck another woman and hurt you like that ever again,” LaRon added as Jaleesa softly told him okay.

Touching her slightly protruding belly, LaRon rubbed it gently and told her how happy he was about their child.

“
I know there’s still a lot of hurt baby,” Jaleesa told him, stroking his face now. “But if we take it slow and continue to be honest, I know we can work it out.”

LaRon kissed her lightly telling her he agreed. “Promise me you’re out of the game, forever,” he began again, looking into her eyes once more.

Jaleesa smiled fully, held up her hand in the boy scout pledge position, and told him she definitely promised.

“
The good old days are just that, the good old days,” Jaleesa went on as LaRon began kissing her neck again, lightly stroking her body.

She was immediately turned on, the intimacy lacking in their relationship these last three months.

“
I wanna make up now,” LaRon whispered, kissing her ear at the end of his sentence. “Mmm, me too,” Jaleesa murmured as he returned to her lips kissing her deeply.

Pulling away finally, LaRon took his wife’s hand and led her to their bedroom, ready to finally put the past behind them once and for all and welcome with open arms the exciting new future that awaited them and their new family.

*****

“What are you doing,” Kim asked giving Mook a look as he stood in their bedroom, dress in hand. “Why you got my dress,” she asked again as he continued to look at it.

“
Why you worried about it, you gonna wear it tonight,” he asked, referring to the party she was attending with a couple of her girlfriends.

It was the same dress he’d forbidden her to wear months ago when she met with Hope Cisneros.

“
No, I hadn’t planned on wearing it tonight,” Kim lied.

She knew Mook still hated the dress, more distinctly, the way her curves were displayed in the dress.

“
So don’t worry about why I have it,” he replied smartly, pissing her off.

“
Ugh, you get on my nerves,” Kim threw back as Mook smiled slightly, picking up the scissors.

“
Mook, stop playin’,” she threw out terrified he was about to cut her dress into handy cleaning rags.

“
You were gonna wear this shit weren’t you,” he asked, still holding both the dress and the scissors.

“
Mook, why are you trippin’, seriously,” Kim replied handily, not answering his question.

“I already picked out an outfit for you,” he told her as Kim balked, but headed into her dressing area and looked at it.

She wanted to laugh, but she didn’t, seeing the full length jeans, long sleeve, crew neck blouse he’d paired it with.

“
Mook, its 90 degrees here, I’ll die with this on,” Kim told him, hoping to reason with him.

“
Hmph,” Mook replied sipping the Jose he’d gone and grabbed while she looked. “Fine, then show me what you’re gonna wear, but it ain’t gonna be this shit,” he told her, shaking the dress at her.

Kim sighed deeply and went to her closet, pulling out a cute tangerine mini that he actually liked and told him she would wear that.

“
Too sexy,” he replied flatly as Kim sucked her teeth and tried again, pulling out the fire red, knee length, party dress Mook himself had bought for her. Mook looked at the dress, then at Kim silently for a few moments before finally speaking again.

“
OK, I guess that one will be cool,” he told her as Kim thanked him and left the subject alone.

“
Make sure you in this house by 4:00AM too Kim, and I’m not playin’ with you,” Mook told her, his tone and his look no nonsense.

“
You make me sick, you know that right,” she told him as Mook chuckled and walked over, looking down into her eyes.

“
I’ma make you scream in about ten minutes,” he told her huskily, leaning in and kissing her deeply.

Kim wanted to stay mad and push him away, but Mook knew exactly how to press her on switch. True to his word, he had her naked and screaming his name in ten minutes flat.

*****

Tariq checked on Kaitlyn once more before returning to their study and catching up on some paperwork. They’d been through hell and back in the last three months. That night when they finally killed Ian, Kaitlyn suffered a complete breakdown. For the next month she had no idea who he was, Jaleesa, Mook, Kim, or LaRon. She was Lauren Cisneros again; a terrified 16 year old runaway. Tariq spared no expense hiring the best specialists to deal with his wife’s trauma and help her overcome it. They worked tirelessly day and night for two months before things began to fall into place again for Kaitlyn. She was finally able to process and deal with the abuse of her father, the death of her mother and her time in the legal system. She once again remembered all of them and the life she had with each. Kaitlyn didn’t remember shooting Ian or that he had ever found her in the hotel suite. Tariq made sure none of her doctors brought up that night in her life; instead she was told that she went for the game and had a psychological breakdown. Given that sections of her memory were still foggy, Kaitlyn accepted their explanation without objection.

Tariq had gotten the opportunity to meet Hope Cisneros for himself, finding the woman to be true and genuine in her love for her niece. She gave Tariq the letter from Carlo Cisneros, as well as the documentation she’d received upon contacting his attorney. Tariq recalled the conversation as he frowned slightly thinking of the content.
“I know you hate him,” Hope told him softly, her voice almost gone as the cancer ravaged her. “But he’s right only about one thing,” she went on as Tariq listened. “Lauren deserves this, and he owes it to her,” Hope told him. “Please, love and take care of my niece,” she began again, growing weaker he could tell. “You’re all the family she has left now, and if anyone on this earth deserves happiness, its Lauren,” she whispered as a final note, lapsing into a coma.
Hope died later, peacefully as she remained in the coma. Tariq had received the letter from Leavenworth some five days later informing him of Carlo’s death as well. He and his sister had died days apart. He told Kaitlyn about her Aunt, her illness and her subsequent passing, but never about Carlo.

Pulling up the computer, Tariq checked all their accounts. Coming to the final one, he pulled it up and smiled slightly looking at the numbers. Carlo Cisneros was no fool. He was definitely all the legends built him up to be, business wise, and even after his fall and incarceration, remained a wealthy man. Upon his death, Tariq contacted the attorney from Hope’s information and set up the accounts. The money was to be transferred 60 days after his death. There had been a bit of legal wrangling, with the government trying to investigate and freeze assets, but because of Carlo’s cunning, they couldn’t touch it. The accounts were set up as trusts for Lauren, when she was 12 years old.
Guilty conscience,
Tariq thought as he moved monies around and put them in other accounts, purchased and sold stocks as he sat at the screen. At the end of all the legalities and paying the attorney for his part, Carlo Cisneros left his daughter a multi-millionaire. Kaitlyn had well over 900 million dollars in liquid cash and assets at her disposal. Tariq took charge of the money as her husband and custodian, since she was still incapacitated. He smiled thinking of their conversation earlier this evening.

“Do you want me to call you Lauren,” he asked, kissing her lips as he held her. Tonight they’d finally made love again after a month. The other two, she’d still been in the hospital. “No,” Kaitlyn replied looking him in the eye. “I know what happened to me, and I accept what my father did,” she told him as Tariq continued to hold her and stroke her gently. “But Lauren Cisneros died a long time ago,” she went on. “I like Kaitlyn D. Taylor,” she smiled as Tariq told her how much he liked her too. “I just want to go on with our lives, and let this past be the past,” Kaitlyn expressed as Tariq told her he agreed wholeheartedly. “Tariq,” she questioned softly. “Do you trust me,” Kaitlyn asked as he told her yes without hesitation. “Why would you ask me that,” Tariq replied, looking worriedly into her eyes, wondering what she was thinking. “I needed to know that,” she replied. “Even after I let Khari get killed, you still trust me,” Kaitlyn asked once more, the guilt she felt still heavy on her shoulders. “Yes, KiKi, and baby it was an accident that caused Khari’s death, not you,” he told her as she smiled slightly and told him okay. “You know how much I trust you, KiKi,” Tariq questioned as she gave him her attention once again. “I trust you enough to want you to have another child with me,” he whispered softly in her ear, arousing her and making love to her once more as she told him how much she wanted that with him.
His cell went off bringing him back to now. Seeing Jaron’s number on the caller ID, he answered.

“
Hey man,” Tariq answered. “You tired of Atlanta and ready to go back home so soon,” he teased.

Jaron was working for him here now, living with his girl, Gabrielle. Tariq knew the man loved her without question and she seemed to be a very sweet young woman.

“
Top, I need your help,” Jaron told him, his tone serious.

“
What’s up,” Tariq returned, all business now.

“
Gabrielle is missing,” he said simply, the words anything but, as the cold chill ran up Tariq’s spine and his mind spoke the words he dreaded hearing;
It’s started again.

Thank you for reading this novel.
We hope you’ve enjoyed and will continue to follow the ongoing saga of Ice, KiKi, Ryan, Tweety and the rest of the Thin Ice crew as they allow us to tag along inside their world.

A sneak preview of
Thin Ice 4 Resurrections
, follows this page, (debuts December 2011). Also, check out these other offerings from the Author KR Bankston available at all fine online retailers: Amazon.com, BN.com, Smashwords.com and more.

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The Gianni Legacy:

A Deadly Encounter (eBook/paperback)

Sins of the Father (eBook/paperback)

Smoke & Mirrors (eBook/paperback)

Other Books:

King of the Game (eBook)

Crossroads: An Anthology

Unraveled: A Short Story Collective (eBook)

About the Author:

KR has been writing for years creating several poems, short stories and inspirational plays, before finally venturing into a full-length novel. Some of her greatest literary influences came early in the form of V.C. Andrews, and Stephen King. Later she discovered E. Lynn Harris, Robin Cook, Alex Haley, and Victoria Holt to name a few more of the influential authors who have help shape her writing style. When she’s not writing, K.R. Bankston is an avid Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons football fan, and Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, basketball fan. She is currently in the process of writing a new novel.

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Thin Ice 4: Resurrections Sneak Preview

Attorney Robert Marks was clearing up open cases before his vacation. He would be out of the country for the next three months and didn’t want to return to a caseload of drama. His phone buzzed and he answered brusquely, still distracted.

“
Yes Abigail,” he threw out, knowing his assistant was on the other end.

“
Your 2:00PM is here,” she replied as he thanked her and told her to give him five minutes. Searching for and finally finding the file he was looking for, Robert sat down behind his desk just as the door opened and Abigail ushered the man inside.

“
Attorney Robert Marks,” she began looking at the man as she spoke.

“
This is Jalen Bailey,” she said simply as the attorney shook the man’s hand and she left the two alone.

Taking the seat offered, Jalen continued to regard the attorney as he read over something in the file he was holding.

Getting a call almost six months ago that there was a pending legal matter requiring his attention took him totally by surprise. Jalen’s life was simple and he wanted to keep it that way. He had a nice apartment in Philadelphia. He had a great job as a bartender and his life was good.