Risking It All Read online

  Risking It All

  by Ambrielle Kirk

  Copyright © Ambrielle Kirk, 2012

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, places, incidents, and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or person, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  Dedication

  TO MY HUSBAND

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  SNEAK PEEK: WOLF’S HAVEN (CAEDMON WOLVES, 1)

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Chapter One

  “Crap! I’m gonna be late.”

  Julissa Lorenzo pulled down the sun visor and lifted up the flap to look at her reflection in the mirror. The humidity in the car had begun to ruin her curls.

  She huffed in exasperation and pulled the bobby pins and ponytail holder out of her hair. Digging into her handbag, she grabbed her cell phone and checked the time. “We must have been waiting an hour to get through that road block.”

  “Yeah…listen…,” her boyfriend, Michael Gerard, held his hand up in an effort to shush her and turned the volume up on the car stereo to his brand new Mercedes-Benz.

  The guy on the radio confirmed what they were suspecting.

  “Looks like the cops are looking for a drug-trafficker that may be trying to flee the area,” Michael said.

  “Oh, yeah? Well they picked the wrong day.” Julissa rolled her eyes. “I was supposed to be at that hotel like yesterday.” She used her hands to smooth her unruly hair back and pulled the strands back up into a ponytail.

  “Well, it’s not like you didn’t call and warn her. Didn’t she say that two other people were late? Stuck in traffic?” Michael turned down the volume to the car stereo, and merged right off the interstate. He sped under a red traffic light.

  “Jeez! I didn’t say kill us!” Julissa glared at her boyfriend of three years.

  “Well, you’re the one over there having a panic attack. I doubt they will start the rehearsal without you. Aren’t you the matron of honor or something like that?”

  “Maid of honor,” Julissa corrected. “The matron of honor is always a married woman. That would be Myra, Christina’s sister.”

  Julissa’s best friend, Christina, was getting married in just two days. This evening was the night of her final rehearsal. She and Christina had met in college seven years ago and the two had been inseparable ever since. They became roommates their senior year and were with each other through thick and thin, from turning a legal twenty one years old, shady ex-boyfriends, developing their careers, and discovering who they were as women. Now all the talk about the weddings they would have in the future was now becoming reality…at least for one of them.

  Julissa was happy for her friend and she couldn’t have chosen to marry a better man for herself.

  Christina met her fiancé, Richard, at a sports marketing convention in Houston, Texas two years ago. They both worked in the advertising division of their respective employers at the time. He proposed a year into their relationship and it took them less than a year to plan the extravagant wedding that would take place this Saturday.

  “I’ve got to run a few errands right around town. Do you mind if I come pick you up when you’re done?” Michael asked, stopping so abruptly under a red traffic light that both of them jerked forward in their seats.

  “Of course. I figure we should be done in an hour or two. Don’t forget that she’s inviting the entire wedding party and their guest to dinner. So see if you can pick up a nice suit to wear, okay?”

  “Just call me on your cell when you guys are done. And I purchased two suits earlier this week. One for Saturday and one for tomorrow night’s dinner.”

  “Oh, great.”

  Michael was already on top of things. That leaved one less thing for her to do between today and the wedding day. Usually, he waited until the very last minute to do things, causing them to be very late or a no-show at many events they were invited to. Sometimes he even did it on purpose as a way to ditch going out to stay home and work in his office.

  As an investment portfolio manager at a finance company, Michael sometimes pulled sixty hour work weeks, but was clearly the sole bread winner in their relationship. Making a little over one hundred grand a year, he prided himself in sporting only the finer things in life.

  He hadn’t changed that much in the past three years. Julissa couldn’t imagine life without Michael now if she wanted to.

  She stole a sideways glance at him as he thumbed through his handheld Blackberry, with one hand on the steering wheel. He was probably working on some deal that would earn him big bucks. That’s all he seemed to care about. Money.

  Michael was always taking risks. That was basically him in a nutshell, a risk-taker. It probably explained why he had the career he did and why he was so successful at it. He always told her—no guts, no glory—and he lived by the saying every day. Besides, what woman could resist his good looks?

  When Christina first met him, her first impression of him was “pretty boy”. Christina always joked about Michael being as equally good-looking as Julissa was. He possessed a shade of skin so light that he could pass for a white man with a tan and curly, black hair that felt like silk. He kept himself well-groomed and insisted that Julissa have all his clothes and business suits dry-cleaned, except for his underwear, on a weekly basis. Rather than taking his underwear to the cleaners, he wanted a fresh pair of briefs for at least every day of each month. Before Julissa met Michael, she only thought women had enough panties for each day of the month.

  Julissa had never met a man who prided so much in himself, and demanded that the woman on his arm be equally polished and well-dressed.

  Michael pulled into the parking lot of the five-star, twelve story hotel where the rehearsal, wedding, and reception were to be held. He pulled up in front of the valet parking attendant and parked the car.

  “I’ll call you when we’re done…hopefully in less than two hours.” Julissa reached for her door knob.

  “Yeah sure. I could walk you in there…” He didn’t look up from his Blackberry.

  “That’s okay, I’m fine. Just keep your cell on this time, okay?” Julissa leaned over, kissed Michael on the right cheek, and before he could say anything else, she stepped out of the car, closed the door shut, and rushed towards the revolving glass doors of the hotel.

  She ignored the double take she received from the male valet attendant and the doorman.

  No one had to tell her where the location of the rehearsal would be held. She had been here with Christina numerous times helping her with the details for the wedding. Between Julissa, Christina, and the wedding planner, Devon, the three knew they had just planned the perfect event.

  Christina’s fiancé’ had insisted that he be involved in important matters regarding the wedding, but didn’t want to be bothered with tiny details.

  Like whether they should have use red roses, white roses, or a combination or red and white roses in the floral arrangements on the table or whether they should have name plates for people to seat themselv
es. Or whether they should have the attendants seat the guests…

  The poor guy got a headache early on in the wedding planning process, gave Christina a hefty budget, told her not to go over it, and let her have at it. Christina could not have been happier.

  When Julissa walked in the ballroom, she immediately spotted Christina and Devon, having a shouting match with each other.

  Most of the wedding party stood nearby, spread across the ballroom. Some were also snacking on the hors’ devours and refreshments set out on a table to the side.

  She also spotted Shanice, her other best friend, near the food table. Shanice was probably the most outgoing of the three and it showed. She was surrounded by a few women and most of Richard’s groomsmen. Half of the groomsmen were single eligible bachelors as confirmed by Richard himself, so Shanice was probably in heaven.

  As she observed them, most looked eager for the rehearsal to begin and, perhaps, be over with.

  Julissa smiled as she approached Christina.

  “Lissa! I thought you’d never get here.”

  “Hi, Christina. Hi, Devon. You two look like you want to bite each other’s heads off.”

  “Girl!” Devon placed both hands on his hips. “I’m trying to tell Christina she needs to get it together. This wedding is right around the corner and the girl she hired to do the favors is not answering my calls. I told Christina in the beginning when we interviewed the hussy, that she looked lazy as hell. We should have had those favors…like yesterday!”

  Devon was an excellent wedding planner and event coordinator. He had been in the business for four years. He was highly recommended when it came to weddings.

  “I talked to her last week, Devon! She miscalculated the amount of ribbon and that caused her to be off schedule. She said that she’d bring them to me tomorrow morning,” Christina snapped, shaking her cinnamon brown tight curly hair.

  “Well, she better or I’ll go find her myself. I’ll be at your house at ten tomorrow to pick them up,” Devon said.

  At that moment, Shanice sauntered over. “When are we starting? This sista has got things to do. I have a hot date in a couple of hours.”

  Shanice was the most exotic looking of the three. Her mother was Korean and African-American and her father was Jamaican. Though she was the shortest, she still turned heads when they had a girl’s night out. Heck, when the girls were together, sometimes brothas caught whiplash trying to get a good look at them. In the past, when they were single ladies, they enjoyed playing a game or two of cat and mouse with the males.

  Devon’s hands went to his hips again and he stared at Shanice with defiance. “We’re waiting on a couple more people to get here, Miss Thang. So, don’t act like we’re the hold up. Sit yo hot ass down somewhere and wait.”

  “I can’t stand you.” Shanice cut her eyes at Devon, and turned to Christina. “Is Jay doing our hair on Saturday? Because I won’t stand anybody else up in my hair.”

  Devon’s friend, Jay, was their hairdresser. Christina had introduced Jay to Julissa and Shanice a while back and ever since the three girls had been going to get their hair done at the salon he owned. Often, they went on the same day and booked Jay for a good portion of it.

  “Yes, he is. He’s bringing some help from the salon, though,” Christina answered.

  Two more members of the wedding party arrived and Devon clapped his hands loudly, blew a whistle, and called for everyone to gather around for instructions.

  Julissa greeted some of Christina’s other cousins and friends who were in the bridal party and gave Christina’s sister, Myra, a hug. Myra lived in New York, but visited Christina often. Only six years older than Christina, Myra adored her little sister and still insisted that they talk at least twice a week.

  Richard had two best men; one was his younger brother, Edward, and his best friend, Carlos. Christina had told her during the wedding planning that the other groomsman were either relatives or close buddies of Richard’s.

  Julissa was deep in conversation with Myra about the housing market, when Edward interrupted them. “Myra, what’s going on?”

  “Ed…long time no see. How are you?” Myra smiled.

  “I’ve been pretty good.” Ed turned and smiled at Julissa. “How’s life been treating you, Julissa?”

  Julissa didn’t miss the overly aggressive slow glance he gave her body. “I’ve been great.” She hadn’t worn the flashy gold blouse, form-fitting jeans, and stilettos for him, but he certainly didn’t miss getting his fair share of the view.

  Before the rehearsal, she and Michael had been to a jazz festival at a local park, so the jeans were worn exclusively for his eyes only. Julissa knew just how much it pleased Michael on to see her in his favorite pair of jeans. It was a major turn-on for him and Julissa would do anything in the hopes of revamping their almost non-existent sex life.

  “It looks like you and I are going to be with each other quite a lot over the next couple of days.” Ed had a smug look on his face.

  The guy was cute, nonetheless. He didn’t resemble his brother, Richard, at all. It made sense, since they had two different fathers. Julissa had to admit that Ed was slightly better looking though. Word from Christina was that he had just accepted a position as a lawyer at a local law firm. If Julissa wasn’t taken, she may have already given into Ed’s numerous advances. He was persistent anywhere he happened to bump into her. He was a good guy and a good friend, but there was no real attraction between them. Well, maybe Ed was attracted to her, but she had always seen him as a brother figure.

  “It does look that way, doesn’t it?”

  “Aren’t you still with Michael…that investor?” Ed crossed his arms over his wide chest, looking at her seriously.

  “As a matter of fact, I am.”

  “Where is he now, huh?”

  “None of your business,” Julissa replied. “Why are you so nosy?”

  Ed laughed. It had always been that way between Ed and Julissa. For the past year, in fact, ever since she and Ed got to talking at Christina and Richard’s engagement party, he had been coming on to her and then playing it off every chance he got. “None of my business? Okay, I’ll take that.”

  They all thought that the rehearsal was ready to start, but Christina and Devon announced that they needed to step aside to discuss something.

  “Oh, my gosh! This rehearsal will never start,” Myra shrugged her shoulders and went to follow her sister and Devon out the door.

  “Well at least we have refreshments while we wait.” Julissa turned on her heels, smiling, happy that she had an excuse to get away from Ed. It was bad enough that she would be on his arm most of tonight and most of Saturday.

  She helped herself to a couple quiches and veggie sticks at the snack table, hoping to be able to pass the time by munching on food. She was about to turn around, plate in hand, when someone walked up beside her. The subtle, but inviting smell of the cologne told her it was a man.

  “I guess your friend and her wedding planner is a little indecisive tonight,” the man said from behind her.

  Julissa looked up to match the smooth and sexy voice with the face and almost lost her grounding. The guy was handsome. His face was relatively flawless. His day old stubble gave him an edgy look and complimented the bone structure in his face even more. His eyes were deep set brown. His eyelashes and eyebrows were thick but well-groomed. His skin…a smooth, even, brown tone. The instant he smiled, he revealed pearly white teeth beneath a set of full lips.

  Julissa let out the breath she’d been holding. “Yes. I guess this will be one of the best days of the rest of her life and she wants it to be perfect.”

  As she spoke, she continued to check him out. She took everything in…from the way he wore the dark navy blue button-down shirt, to the black slacks, to the leather dress shoes. His entire appearance appealed to her.

  “Right.” He removed his hands from his front pockets and offered his right hand in greeting to her. “I’m Q. Quinton Brennan.
”

  She lifted her hands and slowly slipped it into his. “Ju—”

  “Julissa.” He squeezed her hands, softly, instead of returning her shake and didn’t let go.

  The intense eye contact he made with her was something she wasn’t used to, and she lowered her eyes. “How’d you know my name?”

  “Richard told me a few moments ago. I needed to know the name and meet the beautiful diva in the gold stilettos.”

  Julissa felt her hand warming up in his as she blushed. When she looked up to meet his stare, his eyes were fixed on her. As tall and as close as he was, she had to tilt her chin up high in order to see his face. “Lorenzo.”

  “Huh?” He blinked.

  “Lorenzo. Julissa Lorenzo.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Julissa Lorenzo.”

  “Nice to meet you, too, Quinton. Are you a friend of Richard’s?”

  “We’re cousins. We grew up together.”

  Julissa noticed that Quinton was still holding her hand and she pulled it away. “How nice. You must be proud of your cousin getting married, huh?”

  “Yes. He looks very happy.”

  “It’s funny. Richard talks about his family members a lot, but I never recall him mentioning a Quinton before.”

  Quinton laughed. “I must be the long lost cousin to him, then. I live in Florida and don’t visit Atlanta very often, so that may be the reason I’m forgotten about by my own family so much.”

  “Oh…well, maybe he did mention you and it just crossed my mind. Then you’re just in Atlanta for his wedding?”

  “That too. I’ve been up here since Monday actually. I’m here kind of on business, as well. I’ll be here another week.”

  Julissa and Quinton moved over to the side after some other people came up to grab a bite at the snack table.

  “What kind of business?” she asked. He intrigued her and she wanted to know more about him.

  “I’m looking at investing in some real estate.”