Free Renegade by Rochelle Alers

incredibly chic. Her stylishly cut short curly hair framed a doll-like face with large gold-brown eyes, a pert nose, and full mouth. A black wool crepe suit, ivory silk blouse, black leather pumps, a strand of perfectly matched pearls around her neck and studs in her pierced lobes completed her corporate look. The summer sun had darkened her olive skin. She could have easily become a model for a tanning lotion.
    Easing her down to a love seat, he held one of her hands. “Do you want something to eat or drink?”
    Alexandra shook her head, smiling. “No, thank you. I ate dinner at the hotel before I left.” She glanced around the room. “I really like what Aunt Parris has done here. Your house looks like a home. All you need is a wife and a few kids to make it look completely lived-in.” She had purchased a two-bedroom condominium in Arlington, Virginia.
    Gabriel ignored his sister’s reference to a wife and children. He peered closely at her. “Tell me your good news.”
    A mysterious smile curved her full lips. “I’m getting married.”
    Gabriel was momentarily speechless with shock. Whenever he spoke to Alexandra she hadn’t mentioned she was dating anyone. A muscle in his jaw tensed.
    “Who is he?” The three words were squeezed out between clenched teeth.
    Alexandra stood up and walked over to the French doors overlooking the rear of the house. Strategically placed floodlights illuminated the backyard. “Please, Gabe.”
    Rising to his feet, he closed the distance between them. “Please what?”
    Her hands closed into tight fists, her nails biting into the tender flesh of her palms. “Don’t say it like that.”
    “How else can I say it, Alex?” His voice was low, soothing. “You come to me in the middle of the night with the news you’re engaged to be married. I’m shocked, stunned and surprised.”
    Turning around, Alexandra stared up at her brother. “I thought you would be happy for me.”
    “I am, Alex. But … but it’s so unexpected. You never said you were seeing anyone.” Her mysterious smile was back. “Do I know him?”
    Alexandra nodded. “Yes.”
    Gabriel’s gaze narrowed. He was unaware of his heart pounding wildly in his chest. “A name, Alexandra.”
    He prayed she wouldn’t tell him that she planned to marry the singer she had met at a party in South Beach. Alexandra had gone out with him several times before he saw footage of them together on
Access Hollywood
. It was the first and only time in his life he contemplated murder. He couldn’t believe his conservative sister had decided to date a man who had become notorious for hosting parties that were rumored to be drug orgies lasting for days.
    Unknown to Alexandra, Gabriel had flown to Miami to have a man-to-man and heart-to-heart talk with the former Duane Jackson. Their meeting lasted less than three minutes, and when Gabriel left the palatial beachfront property he knew his sister would never see her hip-hop boyfriend again.
    “Merrick Grayslake.”
    He froze. “Michael’s friend?”
    “Do you know another Merrick Grayslake?” she spat out angrily.
    Gabriel swallowed an expletive at the same time he threw up his hands. “How the hell did you hook up with him?” he shouted in Spanish.
    “Don’t yell at me!” Alexandra shot back in the same language.
    They had grown up in a house speaking English and Spanish. Their father had learned the language from his Cuban-born mother, and Serena, who had grown up in Costa Rica, was also bilingual.
    Running a hand over his face, Gabriel tried to compose himself. Merrick was their first cousin Michael Kirkland’s best friend. He had met him for the first time at Michael’s wedding, and had found the man mysterious and somewhat sinister-looking.
    Why was it, he thought, was his sister drawn to men who were the opposite of her? If they weren’t living on the wild side, then they were on the edge. He didn’t know much about Merrick except that he lived somewhere in West