Read Online The Other Brother by Brandon Massey - Free Book Online Page A

finished his housework, he took a long nap on a couch in the finished basement, the coolest part of his house during the summer.
    While napping, he had a strange dream. He dreamed that he'd somehow been kicked outside of his house. His keys didn't work; the locks had been changed. When he went to a window, he saw someone who looked like him, yet was different in some indefinable way, lounging on his furniture, and when Gabriel pounded the window and demanded to be let inside, his twin pressed a button on the sofa arm and an electrical shock sizzled through Gabriel....
    Gabriel woke up shaking his head. What a weird dream.
    Around seven, Dana arrived. He greeted her at the door with a kiss. She put the plastic grocery bags she was carrying on the floor and hugged him.
    "How're you feeling?" she asked. She carefully touched his head bandage.
    "Almost normal again." He smiled. "I almost went to work today."
    "Better be glad you didn't," she said. "If I'd found out, you would've been in big trouble."
    "Is that right? You would've spanked me?"
    "I might've sent you out back to get a switch," she said.
    "Hey, I can do that. Just give me the word."
    She laughed. "I see you are back to normal, with your freaky self. Come out to the car and help me get the rest of these groceries."
    As Dana went to the kitchen to put away the bags she'd brought in, he went to her Honda. A few Publix bags waited in the trunk; a red gift bag was nestled among them, the con tents concealed by frizzy crepe paper. His birthday present? He started to stick his hand inside.
    "Stay outta there," Dana said, hurrying to him. "I knew you'd go in there first. You can't open it until after dinner."
    "After dinner? Come on, Dana, technically my birthday was yesterday."
    "True, but we're celebrating it today"
    "So I'll get all my gifts today?" He rested his hand on her hip, rubbed it.
    "All of 'em-and then some" She gave him a quick kiss. "But not until after dinner."
    "Then let's hurry up and eat"
    "Patience, tiger." Dana tucked the gift bag under her arm and walked to the house, swinging her hips. She looked over her shoulder, saw him watching, and gave him a sexy wink.
    God, he loved her. Sometimes he felt as if he didn't deserve the love of such a special woman. In his life full of blessings, Dana was, by far, the most treasured. She meant more to him than any amount of money or lofty career title ever could.
    He was, indeed, the luckiest man alive.
    Talk about adding insult to injury.
    Isaiah had spent hours spying on Gabriel. He'd been there throughout the afternoon, had left for a couple of hours to grab a bite to eat, and then returned around six in the evening. At seven, a woman pulled into Gabriel's driveway in a red Honda Accord coupe.
    When she strolled up to Gabriel's house carrying grocery bags, Isaiah sat up straighter in his seat and fumbled to get the binoculars on her.
    Watching her, his heart stuttered.
    She was fine.
    She was probably five-five, five-six at the most. Dark hair styled in a short, curly do. Smooth brown skin. Big, pretty eyes. She wore a yellow blouse and a denim skirt, the clothes showcasing a body that belonged front and center in a hiphop video-or wrapped around a pole at one of Atlanta's finer gentlemen's clubs.
    "Hell, naw, she can't be your girlfriend," Isaiah whispered. "You're a lucky bastard, but you ain't that lucky."
    He got confirmation a couple of minutes later. Gabriel shuffled outside to get something out of the woman's car, and then she rushed up to him. As they talked, Gabriel put his hand on her booty, possessively, and she kissed him on the lips-gestures that told Isaiah everything he needed to know.
    Gabriel was, truly, the luckiest motherfucker on the planet.
    The woman strutted back inside the house, shaking that lovely ass of hers. Isaiah lowered the binoculars. He wiped his lips, which suddenly were dry.
    He had seen enough for one day.
    He started the engine, mashed the gas pedal, and thundered down the