lips. “Have some water. It will make your throat feel better.”
With her mother’s help, Caprice managed to get the straw in her mouth and took a sip. The cool water did make her feel better. She took a few more sips before Mahogany moved the cup away.
“I hurt,” Caprice whispered again.
“Of course you do.”
Caprice took a deep breath and immediately cried out in pain. Mahogany shook her head.
“Don’t do that.”
Caprice nodded slowly. The pain in her chest was unreal. She began to do a quick mental inventory of her obvious injuries, starting with the pain in her head, chest, and the pink casts encasing her left arm and leg.
“I’m pretty banged up, huh?”
Mahogany looked up from her phone sharply. “This isn’t a joke, Caprice. You could have died! You almost did!”
“But I didn’t,” Caprice managed to shrug her shoulders with little pain. “How long have I been here?”
“A week.”
A week! Caprice began to panic. “I’ve got to get back to New York. I can’t miss graduation.”
“I’m glad you’re thinking about your real life instead of that mess you were caught up in with Domani and Nico,” Mahogany snapped. “But you can’t travel. I’m sorry, baby, but you are going to miss your ceremony.”
Caprice shook her head and caused a wave of pain and nausea to course through her body. She felt sick to her stomach. If her jaw wasn’t wired shut, she would have clenched her teeth so hard that they probably would have broken.
“No. Can’t miss it. Worked too hard to not walk across the stage.”
“Technically, you can’t walk anywhere.”
“Mom!” Tears began to fill Caprice’s eyes. For a moment, she reverted back to the kid she’d been before she moved to New York. Back to a time when her life was nothing but private school, friends, and no one telling her that she couldn’t do something. She’d worked too hard, even with the bullshit with Aries, to forfeit her chance to walk across the NYU stage.
“Caprice,” Mahogany spoke sternly. “You are not going back to New York. I’ve already talked to Dean Sloaner at Stanford. He owes me a favor. You’re going to start your MBA program in California in the fall. When you’re done, you’ll run the company you started that I’ve been running for the last four years.”
“You can’t control my life.”
“Someone has to take control, since you have failed to do so.” Mahogany shook her head with disgust and anger written all over her face. “Running around New York like a common street thug. What is wrong with you? I knew I shouldn’t have let you meet those people!”
“Those people are her family!” Domani’s deep voice boomed as he entered the room.
Mahogany turned her head and glared at her former lover. She hadn’t laid eyes on the man in over twenty years, but at one time, she had loved him with every inch of her heart. Despite the age difference and his marital status, she had loved him. Seeing him warmed her heart…but only for a second.
“Her family almost got my child killed!” she yelled.
Caprice and Domani flinched at the same time. Yelling was definitely out of character for the soft-spoken beauty queen.
“I trusted you to keep her safe! I should have known you’d let me down again!”
Domani chuckled. “Let it go, Mahogany. That was twenty years ago. Caprice almost got her own self killed. She made a mistake. She’s lucky to be alive. That’ll teach her not to ignore the shit that I’ve taught her.”
Mahogany stood up quickly. In her four-inch stilettos, she practically met Domani eye-to-eye. She moved towards him with the grace of a supermodel and the fierceness of a lioness on the prowl. Domani and Nico took a step backwards.
“You arrogant bastard,” Mahogany hissed. “Your only job was to keep her safe and to do the one thing that you failed to do for eighteen years; take care of her. Instead, you put my child to work so you could have someone on the inside
With her mother’s help, Caprice managed to get the straw in her mouth and took a sip. The cool water did make her feel better. She took a few more sips before Mahogany moved the cup away.
“I hurt,” Caprice whispered again.
“Of course you do.”
Caprice took a deep breath and immediately cried out in pain. Mahogany shook her head.
“Don’t do that.”
Caprice nodded slowly. The pain in her chest was unreal. She began to do a quick mental inventory of her obvious injuries, starting with the pain in her head, chest, and the pink casts encasing her left arm and leg.
“I’m pretty banged up, huh?”
Mahogany looked up from her phone sharply. “This isn’t a joke, Caprice. You could have died! You almost did!”
“But I didn’t,” Caprice managed to shrug her shoulders with little pain. “How long have I been here?”
“A week.”
A week! Caprice began to panic. “I’ve got to get back to New York. I can’t miss graduation.”
“I’m glad you’re thinking about your real life instead of that mess you were caught up in with Domani and Nico,” Mahogany snapped. “But you can’t travel. I’m sorry, baby, but you are going to miss your ceremony.”
Caprice shook her head and caused a wave of pain and nausea to course through her body. She felt sick to her stomach. If her jaw wasn’t wired shut, she would have clenched her teeth so hard that they probably would have broken.
“No. Can’t miss it. Worked too hard to not walk across the stage.”
“Technically, you can’t walk anywhere.”
“Mom!” Tears began to fill Caprice’s eyes. For a moment, she reverted back to the kid she’d been before she moved to New York. Back to a time when her life was nothing but private school, friends, and no one telling her that she couldn’t do something. She’d worked too hard, even with the bullshit with Aries, to forfeit her chance to walk across the NYU stage.
“Caprice,” Mahogany spoke sternly. “You are not going back to New York. I’ve already talked to Dean Sloaner at Stanford. He owes me a favor. You’re going to start your MBA program in California in the fall. When you’re done, you’ll run the company you started that I’ve been running for the last four years.”
“You can’t control my life.”
“Someone has to take control, since you have failed to do so.” Mahogany shook her head with disgust and anger written all over her face. “Running around New York like a common street thug. What is wrong with you? I knew I shouldn’t have let you meet those people!”
“Those people are her family!” Domani’s deep voice boomed as he entered the room.
Mahogany turned her head and glared at her former lover. She hadn’t laid eyes on the man in over twenty years, but at one time, she had loved him with every inch of her heart. Despite the age difference and his marital status, she had loved him. Seeing him warmed her heart…but only for a second.
“Her family almost got my child killed!” she yelled.
Caprice and Domani flinched at the same time. Yelling was definitely out of character for the soft-spoken beauty queen.
“I trusted you to keep her safe! I should have known you’d let me down again!”
Domani chuckled. “Let it go, Mahogany. That was twenty years ago. Caprice almost got her own self killed. She made a mistake. She’s lucky to be alive. That’ll teach her not to ignore the shit that I’ve taught her.”
Mahogany stood up quickly. In her four-inch stilettos, she practically met Domani eye-to-eye. She moved towards him with the grace of a supermodel and the fierceness of a lioness on the prowl. Domani and Nico took a step backwards.
“You arrogant bastard,” Mahogany hissed. “Your only job was to keep her safe and to do the one thing that you failed to do for eighteen years; take care of her. Instead, you put my child to work so you could have someone on the inside
Similar Books
