Deception (Tamia Luke) by Naomi Chase Read Free Book Online Page B

fork to be found.
    With mounting hysteria, she turned and raced down the hallway to Tamia’s bedroom.
    It was empty!
    Fiona turned slowly in a circle, her stunned gaze sweeping around the room. Her sister hadn’t been bluffing. She really had moved out, leaving Fiona completely alone.
    Alone. The word ricocheted through her mind.
    For the first time in her life, she was truly on her own.
    As reality sank in, she opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs before crumpling to the floor, her body wracked with sobs of anguish and fury.
    If Tamia thinks she’s heard the last of me , she silently raged, she’d better think again!

Chapter 6
    Tamia
    Tamia stared out the window at the white shotgun house that squatted on a small patch of lawn. The house—with its sagging porch, rickety swing, and peeling paint—was the only home she’d ever known. She’d always dreamed of the day she would move out and never look back. But now that that day had finally come, she found it harder to leave than she’d expected.
    As she gazed at the old house, childhood memories replayed in her mind’s eye. She saw herself chasing Fiona around the small yard, their faces glistening with sweat, barrettes bouncing at the end of their braided pigtails as their grandmother looked on from the porch. When Tamia caught Fiona and playfully wrestled her to the grass, their mother would step from the house and call out warningly, “Be careful now! Don’t hurt your baby sister.”
    And Mama Esther would cluck her tongue at her daughter. “Oh, hush. Tamia won’t hurt that chile. She loves Fiona more than anyone else in the world.”
    “Tamia?”
    Snapped out of her bittersweet reverie, Tamia turned from the window to meet Lou’s concerned gaze.
    “Are you okay?” he asked gently.
    She nodded, relieved that her sunglasses concealed the moisture in her eyes. “I’m fine.”
    She and Lou sat in the luxurious backseat of his Escalade while they waited for the movers to finish loading up the truck. While Fiona was at work yesterday, Tamia and Shanell had come to the house to pack up the kitchen and Tamia’s bedroom. They’d transported everything they could to Shanell’s place, where Tamia had spent the night. Early that morning, Lou and his movers had picked her up and driven her back home to retrieve the furniture and the rest of her belongings.
    Just when she’d begun to think that Fiona might sleep through all the commotion, her sister had showed her face. From there it was on and popping. Tamia’s hand still stung from how hard she’d slapped Fiona, trying to snap her damn head off her neck.
    “Did you get everything you came for?” Lou asked her.
    “Yeah,” Tamia answered, her gaze returning to the window. She watched as the two Puerto Rican guys closed the back door of the moving truck, then climbed inside.
    Lou’s driver glanced in the rearview mirror. “Are we ready?”
    Lou eyed Tamia expectantly, waiting.
    She took one last, lingering look at her childhood home, then swallowed tightly and turned away.
    Staring straight ahead, she said with quiet finality, “Let’s go.”
    Twenty minutes later, Lou ushered Tamia through the front door of her new apartment. Since he’d insisted on blindfolding her before they reached their destination, she had no idea where they were or what the place looked like.
    “Come on, papi,” she said, laughing. “The suspense is killing me.”
    Lou tsk-tsked. “So impatient.”
    “ Impatient ? You’ve had me blindfolded for—”
    He removed the strip of cloth and announced, “Welcome to your new home.”
    Opening her eyes, Tamia looked around and gasped.
    The apartment boasted rich hardwood floors, beautifully painted walls, and a collection of modern furniture and tasteful artwork. The ceilings were high, and a row of picture windows overlooked the downtown skyline.
    It was absolutely stunning.
    “Whose apartment is this?” Tamia whispered, staring incredulously at Lou.
    He