Behind the Dragons (Book 4 of Billionaire Bad Boys Series)

9

Naomi spun and pranced across the floor, but her timing was off. She was tired from her late night. The instructor clapped her hands and called for an immediate stop. Naomi stopped where she stood with her hands on her hips. She knew why the instructor was frustrated she’d been messing up the steps all afternoon. “Let’s take five.” The instructor said and everyone headed for their water bottles.

Naomi was about to do the same when the instructor cut her off. Mrs. Colt was a middle-aged washed-up dancer who had gotten too old to land any roles with premier companies, so she was forced to teach instead. She was once a great ballerina, but now she was a bitter woman teaching young girls that were replacing her on stage. She was one of the hardest instructors in Juilliard.

“Naomi, what is your problem today?” Mrs. Colt asked with great annoyance. “You are usually one of my best students, but you’re dancing like a drunken cow in clogs.”

“I’m sorry; I’m just having troubles at home.” She tried to explain, but she saw no understanding in Mrs. Colt’s cold eyes.

“Everyone has a sob story. Auditions are in two weeks, get it together or get out of my class.” She hissed and turned to face the rest of the class. “Take it from the top.”

Naomi did her best to pull herself together, putting Kobee out of her mind and trying to focus on the steps. Mrs. Colt was right; if she didn’t focus she would never make it through the auditions. Every year the school put on a production and every year the production was scouted by major dance companies from all over the country. Only the best stood out; only the best got contracts, only the best-got roles. Only the best dancers got the best roles and the dancer who landed the lead was almost always guaranteed to get their pick of contracts.

Naomi had auditioned last year but had only gotten a minor supporting role in the production, which was common for first-year students, but she was in her second year of a three-year course, if she didn’t start getting noticed now she would likely be one of the seventy percent of ballet hopefuls that slip through the cracks and can only get jobs teaching dance to young children. Naomi didn’t want that. She wanted to be a professional ballerina. She would do anything she had to. She would dance until her feet bled and blistered if she had to but she was going to land a major role, she had to.

Right now, she was one of three in the running for the lead. It would either be her or Lidia Del Olmo or much more likely Aria Falco. Naomi and Lidia were friends. They had met in class the first year. Lidia was a talented dancer, but Naomi liked to think she was better. Then there was Aria; she had talent, she was easily Naomi’s biggest competition.

Aria was beautiful with her dark Latin looks and her perfect figure. She was very popular among the male dancers, and she danced divinely. She’d been dancing since she learnt to walk. She had a bad attitude too, and Naomi despised her.

“Wow, you sucked today,” Aria said as she slung her bag over her shoulder at the end of the class. “How did you manage to get into this school? You should stick to waitressing.” Aria said with a cruel smile. “Go home and help daddy barbeque a duck.” She giggled as she and her friends left the room.

“Ignore her,” Lidia said wiping her face with a hand towel she had taken from her bag. “She sees you as a threat. So how are things? How’s Kobee holding up?”

She didn’t want to get into it. It was too complicated. “He’s out of jail.” She admitted. “But the Black Dragons now want me dead.”

Lidia laughed and then paused. “Are you serious?” Naomi nodded. “Oh my god, no wonder you’re off your game today. What are you going to do?” She asked taking her dark hair down. There was such concern in her blue eyes.

“I’m hiding out at a friend’s place. He figures if I stay out of China Town I’d be safer.” She said wiping her face and returning her towel to her bag.

“He? Since when do you have male friends?” Lidia giggled.

“He’s Kobee’s lawyer.” She confessed.

“The guy you’ve been spending all that time with?”

“It’s business.”

“You’re living with him? Where does he live?”

“I can’t say. He stressed strenuously that no one should know.” She said picking up her bag and leaving the room together.

“I’m your best friend, and you can’t tell me?” Lidia asked as they walked down the hall to the entrance.

“I can’t tell anyone, if he finds out he may get mad and drop Kobee as a client and frankly he’s really good, I can’t risk it.” She said as they stepped out the front door and headed for the parking lot.

“Where are you going?” Lidia asked. “Aren’t you going to take the bus?”

“Brandon insisted I take a car.”

“He gave you his car?” She asked following Naomi through the parking lot.

“Not quite.” Naomi pointed to the waiting Town Car. “He’s paying for a car service.”

Lidia’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god, are you sleeping with him?” She asked as they walked to the car.

“No.”

“You should be.” Lidia teased.

Naomi just laughed it off. “How about we give you a ride home?”

“I’d rather go home with you.”

“Well how about I give you a ride today, and I’ll ask Brandon if I can have someone over one of these days. I’m not sure he’ll want strangers in his home.”

“Ok I’ll take the ride, but one day I want to meet Mr. Wonderful.” She said getting into the car with Naomi. Naomi instructed the driver to take Lidia home. It was a long detour since Brandon’s apartment was just blocks away and Lidia lived downtown.

Naomi leaned forward to address the driver as the car pulled away from the curb. “Gus is it?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” The driver smiled back at her through the rear-view mirror. He was a young man, in his late twenties she would guess from his baby-smooth face and golden locks peeking out from beneath his uniform cap.

“I’m hungry; Mr. Sanchez has absolutely no food in his house. Is there a good Asian market other than the one in China Town?” She asked. “I feel like some home cooking.”

“I believe there is one on the east side.”

“I’d like to go there please.” She said sitting back in her seat.

“Mr. Sanchez gave me strict instructions to take you directly to the school and directly home. He won’t be happy if we deviate from the plan.” He was worried about his job.

“I’ll take the heat for this one. I want to do a little shopping I won’t take long. You can park the car and come in with me if you are worried.” She said with a smile.

He looked back at her through the mirror and then shook his head. “Alright, but it’s got to be in and out.”

“Deal.”

***

Brandon kissed his mother’s cheek and took the seat across the table from her. He had taken off work early for some quality time with the woman that brought him into the world. His bosses didn’t mind; they were happy to give him anything he asked after winning a major case in court that morning.

“I was so glad to hear from you this afternoon.” His mother said with a smile as he took his seat. “I was surprised when you called and suggested a late lunch.”

Brandon was beaming with pride. “I won my first case this morning.” He bragged.

“So soon? You’ve only been on the job a few weeks.”

“Well, they’ve been working on it for a few months.” He explained looking over the menu. “They brought me on as the second chair, but the guy that was running the show wasn’t getting anywhere. With a little research and fresh eyes, I found a loophole that clinched the deal in our favour. So, they moved me to the first chair, which didn’t go over well with the guy I replaced but it only took me a few days to do what he couldn’t do in months. I just made the firm a boatload of money, so they gave me the rest of the day off and are paying for this lunch.”

“Well, in that case, I shall order the halibut.” She said putting down her menu. “I’m very proud of you. Your father will be very proud as well.”

“Where is Dad?”

“He flew out to LA last night, something to do with a new contract. He’ll be home tomorrow.” She said sliding her sunglasses up on top of her head. She looked stunning as always with her long dark hair and bright silver eyes. People were always telling him how much he looked like his mother. He was of course twice her size and built like his father, but he had his mother’s soft features, it gave him a trustable face, which was useful in his business. Getting people to trust him was important for getting and winning a case.

Eve Sanchez was always a beautiful woman, and even at fifty-one, her image was flawless. She dressed in the finest designer clothes, her hair was glossy and like spun silk, and she hadn’t one wrinkle. His mother was everything he wanted in a woman, gorgeous, sophisticated, and socially responsible. She was a giving gentle woman that never backed down. She had spent her life reining in hell raisers like Brandon and his brothers. Changing sinners into saints as she had with his father. She was small but strong and if he ever married he wanted to marry a woman with all the same qualities that he loved about his mother.

So maybe he was a momma’s boy, but there was nothing wrong with loving your mother. He adored her and respected her. He wanted to feel the same about the woman he married.

“So, I saw you in the paper this morning.” She said taking the cloth napkin and placing it in her lap as the waiter placed water on the table. They quickly ordered, and once the waiter walked away, she returned her attention to Brandon. “They said you put a murder back on the streets. That’s not good press.” She said with disapproval.

“You can’t always believe what you read. You of all people should know that.” He said. “He’s not a murderer; he’s a scared kid that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a very public case. The DA is under public pressure to put someone behind bars, and they just went with their first suspect. They don’t care that he didn’t do it. They have no conclusive evidence.”

“Are you sure he didn’t do it?” She asked watching his reaction closely.

“I wouldn’t be defending him if I didn’t believe him.” He assured her.

“Tell me about the case?” She asked. “I thought you were defending white collar crooks, what made you take this case?”

He decided to be honest; she would see right through him if he lied. “Well I wasn’t going to take it, but I had a change of heart.”

His mother chuckled. “There’s a girl.”

How could she know that? It was like she could read his mind. “He does have a sister, yes, she came to me with this case, and I decided to take it.”

“Your firm took this case on?”

“No. I took it on privately.” She lifted a dark eyebrow, and he knew what she was going to ask next. “For free.”

“It’s a charity case?”

He wanted to say no but he couldn’t. “Yes. You always said charity starts at home. Give of yourself not just your money. Well, I’m giving them my time.”

“So, you think you can win this case?”

“I do, with a little work.”

“Is this about the girl?” She asked knowingly.

“No.” She didn’t look like she believed him. “It’s not about the girl.” Well, it was mostly not about the girl.

“So, you don’t spend much time with her?”

He didn’t want to answer that. “She’s assisting me with the case. She’s a translator.”

“I see.” She was waiting like she knew there was more to the story.

Did he dare tell her he had opened up his home to Naomi? She wouldn’t approve. She would tell him he was crazy, that he was getting in too deep with this girl. He most certainly couldn’t tell her why Naomi was staying with him. His mother would flip out; she would worry that he was putting himself in jeopardy with the Black Dragons. So, deciding the less, she knew, the better Brandon changed the subject.

“You’d like Naomi,” he said taking a sip of his water, “she’s a dancer like you. She’s attending Juilliard.”

“Really?” She said with interest. “I’m scouting Juilliard this January. I believe they are performing Sleeping Beauty. What role is she in?”

“I don’t know.” He didn’t ask Naomi a lot of personal questions. He had been trying to keep things professional between them. But now that she asked he couldn’t help wondering what made Naomi tick. “I’ll be sure to ask her when I see her next.”

“I trust that will be soon?” She asked as the waiter arrived placing their meals before them. Sooner then she thought. “Tell me where she is from, Naomi is such a unique name. Is she Chinese?” His mother guessed. It was a good guess; she was at least in the ballpark.

“Japanese.” He corrected. “Her family owns a restaurant in China Town. It’s very good.”

“Maybe I’ve heard of it? What’s it called?” She asked cutting into her fish.

“The Dragon’s Moon.”

“I have heard of it. I’ve never eaten there, but I hear the takeout is very good.”

“It’s good food, fairly priced. The firm took me to lunch there, somehow, I ended up paying the bill, but still, it was very good. Maybe next week I’ll take you and Dad to dinner there.” He offered.

“I’d love to meet your new girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He protested and even if she were he wouldn’t subject Naomi to his mother’s ridiculous scrutiny this early in. His mother was terrible when it came to the women in her sons’ lives. She never approved of any woman, no matter who they were. She had liked his brother Lance’s wife when they met and then instantly changed her opinion when she found out their relationship went beyond professional.

“Are you sleeping with her?”

“No.” He said with a cocky smile, but that look on his mother’s face squashed his arrogance. “I swear.” It was that look that always made Brandon and his brothers confess when she believed they had done something wrong, but this time he hadn’t done what she thought he had. “She’s the sister of a client. Sleeping with her would not only be unethical it would be unconscionable.” Unlike his older brother’s he could keep professional and personal separate. “I’m not like Lance and Lucas I can control myself that’s why she’s got her room.” He said cutting into his stake.

“Her room? She’s staying with you?”

Oops, he hadn’t meant to say that. Quick did he backtrack or fess up? He decided confessing was the way to go. “She’s only staying with me for a little while.” He said trying to act like it was no big deal.

“Why?” Brandon didn’t know what to tell her. He didn’t want to worry her, but he was already in too deep. “Brandon, don’t you lie to me.” She warned with a scolding tone.

“Her brother is mixed up with a gang called the Black Dragons, and they threatened Naomi as a means of preventing her brother from testifying against them.”

She put down her utensils, took a deep breath, and stared him down. “You’re mixed up with gangs?”

“Not me.”

“What stops these guys from coming after her and killing you in the process?”

“I can take care of myself; I doubt very much it will come to that.”

“Let the cops protect her.”

“The cops don’t want to protect her; they want to prosecute her brother. All they have is me. I have a social responsibility to do what I can. If that means hiding someone, I’ll do it. How could you ever be proud of me if I turn her out and let her die?”

His mother’s expression softened, and she sighed. “Just be careful.” She said accepting the situation. “I don’t want to bury my son.” After that, they went on with their meal talking about his mother’s business and his brothers. When the meal was finished, Brandon paid the bill and kissed his mother good-bye then climbed into his car and headed home.