Pigalle Palace by Niyah Moore

go.”
    Â Â *  *  *  
    Soleil lay in my lap as we watched some sappy love movie she had been dying to see. I was more of an action kind of person, so the movie wasn’t holding my attention whatsoever.
    I bent down so I could give her an upside-down kiss while my hands traveled from her stomach to her breasts.
    â€œBaby, watch the movie,” she said, pushing my hands away.
    â€œI’d rather watch your sexy ass in the bedroom than this horrible movie right now.”
    I maneuvered around so I could be on top of her. She giggled as I covered her face with more wet kisses.
    â€œCut it out, Onyx. Let’s watch this movie for once.”
    The phone rang. I let her go saying, “Saved by the phone.”
    â€œYou want me to get it?”
    â€œSure.”
    She answered, “Hello…” She frowned while she listened to whoever it was on the other end.
    â€œWho is it?” I asked, reading her dazed expression.
    â€œYour mother.”
    I took the phone from her. “Mother?”
    â€œOnyx?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHave you seen Rain?”
    The panic in her voice startled me. “I haven’t seen him since I left the club. What’s wrong?”
    â€œI can’t find him. Legend thinks he may have gone to the university to look for Essence.”
    â€œWhat? I thought you told him to stay away from the campus right now.”
    â€œRain hasn’t been himself lately. This is the second time he’s been to her dorm since I gave him direct orders.”
    â€œI’ll go find him.”
    â€œGood. Let me know what happens when you return.”
    I hung up the phone and rushed to the door.
    â€œOnyx,” Soleil called after me.
    â€œI’ll be right back.”
    â€œWhere are you going?” A worried look covered her face.
    I kissed her forehead. “I have to go find Rain.”
    Â Â *  *  *  
    I waited in the shadows on the rooftop of the dorm where Essence and Colette stayed. It was close to 9 p.m. and I spotted Rain following Essence. Why was he stalking this woman?
    As soon as Essence disappeared inside of the building, I jumped down from the roof and crept up behind Rain. He felt my presence and turned around.
    â€œHow’d you know I was here?” he asked.
    â€œMother called me. What are you doing here, Rain?”
    â€œI’m here to make sure Essence is safe and I need to make sure that she’s not seeing anyone else...”
    â€œYou’ve got to be kidding me. What are you going to do if she is seeing another man? Then what?”
    â€œI will rip him to pieces.”
    â€œThat’s not in your character, Rain. You might as well let her go.”
    Rain stepped close to me and got in my face. “I won’t ever let her go. I love her too much.”
    â€œThere’s nothing you can do about this. Rain, you might as well let Mother kill her.”
    â€œI won’t let Mother kill her, Onyx. Are you not my brother? I need you to have my back on this. What if this were Soleil, we were standing here talking about? I don’t see you killing your child and I don’t see you killing her.”
    I understood once Rain put it that way. I would pay for it later to go against our parents, but I had to trust him and have his back. “Let me know if you need my help.”

CHAPTER 20

RAIN
    I knocked on Essence’s dorm room right after Onyx went back home. He needed to trust me to handle my situation. I didn’t need any one of them holding my hand through my own mess. I’d created it, so I was going to fix it. If Essence didn’t want to be with me, then I was going to have to deal with letting her go.
    Essence opened the door for me with a look of surprise. “Rain… What are you doing here?”
    â€œI can’t go another day without seeing you. Can I come in?”
    She opened the door wider, so I could walk in. “You see me, so what