“Just like that?” Michael asked. “I’m supposed to believe you and just jump back in?”
“This didn’t happen overnight,” Billie said. “It’s been two years coming, my break from him. I’m grateful to you and Tara. You both turning away from me was the best thing that happened to me. I never felt so alone, and I realized how empty and unfulfilling this anger I held toward Porter was. It hurt the people I cared about and gave me nothing in return.”
She reached out and softly placed her hand on his upper arm. She was glad he didn’t resist.
“I’ve let him go,” she continued. “I let my love for him go a long time ago, but I let my anger toward him go this week. It was a painful experience that I was avoiding, because I was dreading the thought of realizing that it was all a failure—my life with him. But letting him go—really go, this time—was more liberating than I could have imagined. You were right, Michael. I’m not fit for revenge. It was eating me inside and poisoning everything.”
“I don’t think you’re weak, like you accused me of thinking,” Michael said.
“I was the one who thought I was too weak,” she said. “I just couldn’t admit how much I doubted my own intentions, so I blamed you. Honestly, Michael, I wouldn’t have even respected you if you didn’t dump me. But I’m asking you to give me another chance.”
Michael looked around as if debating the best words to say, shaking his head as if he’d doubt anything that came out, either way.
“Billie, I . . . The reason I broke it off with you was because you hurt me.”
“I know I did, and I’m—”
“Stop,” he said. “Just listen to me. I was more hurt than I thought I’d be. I knew I was falling for you, but I didn’t know how hard, until I had to walk out on you. Just seeing you now, walking over to me, it was like . . . Being with you is dangerous.”
She smiled. “No one has ever said that before. I wish it were a compliment.”
He loosened up a bit with a smile. “If I’m willing to put a woman first in my life, I have a right to expect the same.”
“And I’m ready to do that.” She took one step closer to him; and with her free hand, she raised it to his cheek, looking into his eyes. “It’s really all I want in this world. I miss you and I want you back.”
She could feel his body soften from its initially tense state. He looked down, and his eyes were drawn to her in a helpless way.
“Someone once told me . . . and then showed me that there are much better ways than getting into a boxing ring to work out all that angry energy you have,” she whispered.
He smiled, shaking his head. “This is why I stayed away from you. I can’t resist you, Billie. You’re—”
“Yours,” she said. “I’m yours.”
She leaned up and brought her lips to his in a tender, yet possessive kiss that claimed him. He offered no resistance. Within seconds, his lips were even more persistent than her own.
“Every lady is entitled to go a little nuts once in a relationship,” she finally whispered. Their mouths were separated by just half an inch. “We got it out of the way in the beginning.”
“I don’t have any guarantees that you won’t go nuts again?” he asked.
“No,” she said, “but I’ll have a good, strong man to keep me in line.”
He frowned, shaking his head. “I’m gonna keep you in line?”
She tilted her head to the side with a flirtatious wink and answered, “Well, you can try.”
When Sherise came home from work that night, she knew something was up the second she stepped into the house. It was quiet. Usually, when she came home or when Justin came home, Cady was having a fit or putting on a show loud enough to reverberate around the house and come through on the monitors, which were in various rooms. All she could hear was the low tone of soothing R & B coming from the stereo in the living room. The only light in the house came from the dining room and she headed straight for it.
When she arrived, the scene before her was beautiful. There were only two chairs at the table, which was covered in a white tablecloth. There were pink rose petals in an infinity figure at the center of the table, surrounded by five small candles in glass holders. The black trellis-designed china was set out; on top of each was a sterling plate topping.
“And what is all this?” she asked, getting excited.
“All this is for you.” Justin, who had been standing at the head of the table, walked over to her, looking handsome in a suit.
“Cady is with the sitter.” He reached out to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. “Overnight.”
“Overnight?” she asked. “You must mean business!”
He nodded and kissed her again.
“You’re the only one who’s going to be babied tonight,” he said with a seductive grin. “And it starts with your favorite dinner. Pan-seared red snapper, with shitake mushrooms and leeks in lobster cream.”
“When did you have time to make all this?” She walked over to the table, his arms still wrapped around her as he followed behind. She lifted up the sterling plate top and saw her favorite dish. It was perfect. “Weren’t you at work today?”
She felt his arms slip away from her and she turned around. There was a hesitant look on his face. What could be wrong?
“What is it?” she asked. “Please, Justin, don’t sugarcoat.”
“It’s actually good news,” he answered, “but I was going to tell you while we ate, so sit down.”
“Tell me first,” she said. “The food can wait.”
“I left work early today,” he said. “I had a lot of thinking to do.”
“Have you decided when you’re gonna expose Elena?”
It irked Sherise to no end that Justin instructed her to wait on exposing all of that bitch’s lies to the firm, but she obliged. It was his choice when to drop that bomb. She only hoped he’d make it soon and would let her be there when he threw in their faces the information that the firm should have sought out before putting him on leave.
“Elena rescinded her sexual harassment claim this morning,” he said with a smile.
Sherise smirked. “I knew the bitch would. I was hoping we could expose her before she got the chance to run away.”
“The office is bending over backward, apologizing to me,” Justin said. “You should have seen them today. They want to offer me the world. They just hope I don’t cause them any legal trouble.”
“They’re going to be bending over even more when they find out what we know.” Sherise was salivating at this thought. “They’ll realize what fools they were, and Dennis—”
“Wait, baby.” He gently placed a finger on her lips to silence her. “Elena admitted her accusation was false. She also implicated Dennis. She basically plotted it as his idea to get back at me and the company for overlooking him.”
Sherise wasn’t happy with this. “I’m not gonna shed a tear for Dennis. Fuck him, but she can’t get away with that. This was her idea from the beginning. We need to make sure she suffers.”
“I don’t know if I want to do that.” Justin grabbed a dining-room chair and sat down.
Sherise looked down at him and placed her hand gently on his head, caressing it. She could see his turmoil. He really let Elena’s awful words get to him.
“Do I need to remind you that you didn’t do anything wrong?” she asked.
He nodded, reaching his hand out to touch her thigh. It was just a soft touch, just a call for contact.
Sherise bent down and got on her knees. She placed her hands on his lap and looked up at him. “What is it, baby?”
“I know that Elena had no right to do what she did,” he said, “but I don’t want to destroy her life.”
“She wanted to destroy yours,” Sherise insisted. “Ours.”
“I know,” he said, “but she suffered immense pain from something I created.”
“You were doing your job, Justin.”
“If you could lobby for a bill that couldn’t be abused, you would,” Sherise assured him. “You can’t control how Congress words a bill.”
“I could have used my influence to make sure there weren’t as many loopholes as there were.”
“If you had gotten rid of the loophole Okun used, they would have found another one.” She cupped his chin with her hand. “Justin, you know what you’re doing is right. Others abuse lobbying power. You take the cases you believe in.”
“I never really believed in this one,” Justin said. “That’s just it. I took this account because Dennis fucked it up. I didn’t want it, and I think that’s why I didn’t give a second thought to how it could be used or abused.”
“So,” Sherise said, “from now on, you make sure that you only accept causes that you believe in. No more leftovers from assholes like Dennis.”
“I don’t think you’re hearing me,” Justin said.
“Then make it clear to me,” she said softly. “I’m listening.”
He looked at her with uncertain eyes for a moment before saying, “I don’t know if I want to stay with the firm. They’ve made it clear they want me back, but this experience has changed me. Not just what Elena put me through, but their lack of faith in me. I don’t have the passion, especially not for that firm.”
“Then you join another one,” Sherise said. “Or better yet, you open your own firm. You have so many clients and you have tons of clout on Capitol Hill.”
“You’d support that?” he asked.
“It’s what you want, isn’t it?” she asked.
“I think . . . I think it is, but I thought it would be impossible right now. Especially with the baby coming.”
“I’d support you, no matter what. We’ll do great, as long as we’re happy and doing what we want. Just because you support a family doesn’t mean you don’t get to be happy. We’ll make it work. I’m here for you, baby.”
He took her cheeks in his hands and smiled proudly. “This girl. This is the girl I married—the one who made me feel invincible. I can’t believe I almost lost her.”
“Never.” Sherise felt her eyes welling up with tears. She loved him so much. God, had she almost lost him? She shuddered at the thought. Never again.
Alex swung the front door to his mother’s house open just as Erica reached the top step. Immediately she looked at his expression and saw a mixture of complete despair and anger.
“Get in,” he ordered as he stepped aside.
She stepped into the house, looking around. It didn’t look like anyone else was there.
“What the hell is going on?” Erica asked. “You send me these frantic texts, with ten exclamation points, telling me I have to come over right now. What is so wrong?”
“You’re not going to believe this shit.” His voice held a dark anger, with sadness coming through in flints.
“Is it Terrell?” she asked. “He got on a bus to Houston last night. I don’t think Jonah is going to go—”
“No!” Alex yelled.
Erica jumped. “What’s wrong with you?”
He pointed to the sofa against the wall with one hand as he ran the other through his hair.
Sitting down, Erica took him in and realized that he was still wearing the same clothes he’d worn when she’d left him from this very place yesterday. His eyes were bloodshot red. Had he not gotten any sleep? Had he been drinking?
“Were you crying?” she asked.
“I was.” He fell onto the sofa beside her.
Erica was deeply affected as she watched him lean over and place his face in his hands.
“Fuck,” he said. “Fuck. Fuck.”
She reached out and placed her hand on his back. “Alex, please tell me what’s going on.”
He finally looked up. “Jonah didn’t want us together. He told me a couple of times to stay clear of you. He told you as well, right?”
She nodded. “What Jonah wants doesn’t matter. I quit, Alex. I’m not working for him anymore. I’m not going to have a relationship with him. I don’t care if he is my—”
“After you and Terrell left,” he said, “my mother and I really got into it. I mean, she lost it. Terrell really told her too much, but it didn’t matter.”
“She obviously doesn’t like Jonah,” Erica said.
Alex let out a dark laugh. “No shit. This has been brewing between my mother and me ever since I went to work for him.”
Erica was searching hard for something comforting to say, even though she had no idea what was really going on.
“She used to work for his family,” she said. “Maybe he wasn’t nice to her. He’s kind of a snob. Or maybe you working for him just reminds her of her life as a maid. She might want to forget that. She’s moved on, and—”
“She wrote the comment,” Alex said.
Erica was speechless.
“I can’t believe I didn’t even suspect it,” he added. “She’s always talking about those local gossip sites.”
“Why would she . . . Oh, my . . . and she lives close to Terrell. So when they traced it, they just assumed it was from him.”
“He knows by now, I’m sure,” Alex said. “I haven’t gone into work. He’s been calling me nonstop. I’m sure he’ll send someone over soon.”
Erica looked around the room.
“She’s not here,” Alex said. “She’s meeting with her lawyer.”
“Her lawyer?” Erica asked, doubtful that Jonah would try to sue his family’s former maid. It didn’t look good. “Why would she write that? How does she know about—”
“It’s not about you,” Alex said. “She was talking about herself.”
“Oh, my God,” Erica said as she realized what Alex was saying. “Jonah had an affair with your mother?”
“Just after he was married,” he answered. “My . . . Her husband had just died and she was staying with his sister because being home just made her think of losing him.”
“Jonah took advantage of her.” Erica’s anger was bubbling over. “How could he?”
“She said they slept together three times, tops,” Alex said. “But when she told him she was pregnant, he threatened her.”
“When she . . .”
Erica suddenly felt as if an elephant had stomped on her chest. The realization was so hard that she actually fell back against the sofa, letting out a huge gasp. Then she suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
“No,” she said. “No.”
“My mother was scared to death,” he said. “She knew how much money and power Jonah had, especially now that he was married to Juliet.”
“No,” she said again. “Alex, it can’t be true.”
“He paid her one hundred thousand dollars,” Alex continued. “That’s why my mother was able to stop being a maid and get an education. He paid her and he threatened her.”
“Alex!” Erica grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Focus! Are you telling me that you’re . . . you’re Jonah’s son?”
He looked at her. His eyes were full of pain and regret. He nodded several times quickly.
Erica let him go and jumped up from the sofa. The first thing she saw was the garbage can at the edge of the kitchen island. She ran to it and bent over, just in time, and threw up.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
After a minute or so, she finally stood up and looked at him. He was right at her side and he handed her a paper towel to wipe her mouth.
“My God, Alex.”
“I know,” he said. “But it’s okay. It’s not like . . . Well, we only kissed.”
“Don’t!” she yelled. “Don’t even mention it. I’m gonna throw up again.”
Erica felt disoriented, in shock and utter disbelief. She was barely able to stand up straight. She reached out fo
r the counter to steady herself. She was feeling dizzy.
“It’s not easy for me either,” Alex said. “I was falling for you, Erica. I wanted to . . . Oh, my God, I can’t even think about it.”
“This is why he didn’t want us together!” Erica exclaimed. “That son of a bitch. Instead of telling the truth, he was willing to risk us—” She leaned over the garbage again, thinking she might throw up once more.
“I think he believed we would obey him,” Alex said. “Jonah thinks he’s God, so he’d expect us to follow his rules.”
“This is disgusting,” she said. “He’s disgusting.”
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Alex said.
She stood up straight, looking at him and seeing how tortured he was over this. “I know, Alex. It just seems like it.”
“I thought maybe . . . that maybe you suspected this?” Alex said as more of a question than a statement.
“How could I possibly?” she asked. “I mean, now, looking back, so many things make sense, but I never thought this.”
“You pushed away from me after we kissed,” Alex said. “I thought you sensed it was wrong.”
Erica reflected on her conflicted feelings to whatever extent she could without making herself sick again.
“It’s possible,” she agreed. “But really, there’s no way for me to sense that you’re my . . . I can’t even say it.”
“Half brother,” Alex offered. “There, I said it.”
She slowly, unsteadily walked back to the sofa. She needed to sit down. Alex stayed where he was, leaning against the counter.
“But maybe I was suspicious of the weirdness,” she said, “and my subconscious was telling me to slow my roll before I could figure it out.” She looked up at him. “Alex, this is awful. It’s just—”
“How do you think I feel?” he asked. “I’m completely freaked out by lusting after my own half sister. Not to mention the fact that I found out that the man I thought was my father, who died while my mother was pregnant with me, isn’t.”
Erica realized she’d been so focused on her own shock that she hadn’t thought of how much worse this was for him. This was about more than just the two of them for Alex.
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