Fast Break (Brooklyn Monarchs 1)

“But what if you lose?”

The question scared him more than he wanted to admit. “It’s win or go home. If we lose, I’ll come home.”

“What about your relationship with Jackie?”

“I don’t know, Pop.” DeMarcus paced away from the window toward his mother’s chair. His bare feet sank into the Oriental rug.

“If you want her back, you’ll have to do something more than get into the play-offs.”

That was one of the worries that had driven DeMarcus from his bed. He ran his hand over his hair. “Like what?”

“You said she wants you to remember she’s your boss.”

“That’s right.”

“And she said she’s in love with you?”

DeMarcus swallowed. His voice was husky. “Yes, she did.”

Julian shrugged. “It seems simple enough to me.”

DeMarcus watched his father settle into his armchair. “Care to share your wisdom?”

Julian smiled. “Jackie is rich and beautiful. She can have any man she wants.”

DeMarcus took his mother’s armchair. “No news flash there, Pop.”

Julian held up a hand. “She’s also an independent woman. She doesn’t need any man, but she wants you.”

“I still don’t understand your point.”

Julian shifted in his seat to face DeMarcus. “You fell in love with an independent woman. You’re trying to change her and you don’t understand why she’s upset about that.”

DeMarcus scowled. “I’m not trying to change her.”

“She asked you to take her team to the play-offs. That’s all. You were upset when she wouldn’t let you buy the arena for her. Then you tried to handle Gerry’s blackmail attempts without talking to her.”

DeMarcus stood to prowl the room. “When I love someone, I want to take care of them. That’s who I am.”

“I understand, son. I’m the same way. And Jackie reminds me of your mother. We had to learn to make decisions together and not for one another.”

Tension drained from DeMarcus’s neck and shoulders. “I can work on that.”

“Yes, you can. Now you just have to convince Jackie.”

Some of his tension returned. “That will be harder.”

24

Jaclyn stood in the visiting owner’s box, watching the Knicks and Monarchs warm up before the game. Madison Square Garden’s sound system played Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’s “Empire State of Mind.” Jaclyn thought of the record as a love song to the city.

Her heart was racing. Her palms were sweating. Every muscle in her body was a knot on top of a knot. If she didn’t distract herself, by game time, she’d pass out.

“Thanks again for letting me join you in the box.” Marylin Evans’s tone was distant.

Jaclyn looked at Warrick’s wife. “I appreciate your coming.”

Marylin was similar in height to Jaclyn, although Jaclyn’s four-inch black stilettos gave her a boost. The other woman looked pretty and serious in one-inch black pumps and a brown pants suit. The cream shell peeked from beneath the three-button jacket and complimented her cocoa skin. Her straight, dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that fell to the nape of her neck.