I walked past him and he shut the door.
“I’ve been trying to call you,” I snapped.
“After we got through texting, I laid down and went to sleep.”
“But my calls were sent directly to voicemail.”
“My phone’s on the charger. I turned it off before laying down.”
“I don’t believe you.” I stood with my arms folded.
Tyler grabbed my arm and dragged me to his bedroom. The sheets on his bed were tousled. He picked up the phone and showed it to me. It was hooked up to his charger.
Embarrassed for my unnecessary outburst, I said, “I thought you were ignoring me again.”
Tyler sat me down on the bed. “Hope, if we’re going to be together, we have to have some level of trust.”
“But—”
“But nothing. As I explained to you on the text message, Baby is my sister. That’s her nickname and I make no apologies.”
“She’s the one who was acting like she was your woman.”
“Baby is crazy like that. You had no business answering my phone. How would you like it if I answered your phone?”
“It wouldn’t bother me. I have nothing to hide.”
“You sure about that?” Tyler stared directly into my eyes.
I didn’t blink. “Positive. Since we’ve been together, I have not been seeing other men.”
Tyler wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “And I haven’t been seeing other women. I’m just as committed to you as you are to me.”
“That’s good to know. For a minute, I thought you were playing games with me.”
“You young girls have a lot to learn.”
I ran my hand up and down my chest. “I’m all woman.”
He looked me up and down. “That you are.”
“This has been such a stressful day,” I admitted.
Tyler planted kisses on the nape of my neck. “I can think of plenty of ways to relax you.”
The only thing on my mind was pleasing Tyler. We undressed each other. He’d become my everything in such a short period of time. I wanted him. Correction, I needed him. I didn’t want to go back to a life without him.
“Hope, I love you.” He eased himself inside of me and we made love on top of his sheets.
I lay on his chest and drifted off to sleep. We slept that way until the next morning. I hated to leave him, but he had work to do and I had to figure out how to deal with Uncle Jason’s betrayal.
CHAPTER 25
Lovie
Sleep didn’t find me last night. I tossed and turned throughout the night. I slid on my shades. I exited my car and used my key to enter my parents’ home.
“Lovie, is that you?” my mom yelled out.
“Yes. It’s me,” I responded.
“I’m in the kitchen.”
The aroma of the food filled my nostrils as I entered the kitchen.
“Your dad’s already left for work, so it’s just the two of us,” she said. “Take those shades off. This is not the club.”
I did as instructed. Removing the shades exposed my puffy eyes.
“Did you pull an all-nighter? I told you to stay out of the clubs.”
“No, Mom. This situation has me stressed.” I took a seat at the kitchen table.
She placed a plate full of food in front of me. She sat at the opposite end of the table.
“I wanted to talk to you, but not at the funeral home. I didn’t want to take a chance of our conversation being overheard.” She poured two glasses of orange juice and handed me one.
I took a bite of my food first before talking. “Sorry about storming out yesterday, but the whole situation with Uncle Jason had me pissed.”
“Your dad was still upset with you about giving Jason his walking papers. I tried to talk to Royce about it last night, but he didn’t want to talk. He was in a better mood this morning, so hopefully he’ll listen to reason now.”
I drank some juice. “Uncle Jason’s no longer authorized to make any more transactions on our behalf. I had his privileges revoked on all of our accounts.”
“Royce is not going to like it when he finds out.”
“I would rather deal with his rants than to see Jason steal any more money from us.”
“I agree,” she said. “I see business has increased, but it does no good to increase revenue if the money is being taken out as quick as we make it.”
“Exactly. That’s why I’m going to stop Jason. He’s going to regret the day he decided to steal from us.” The veins in my forehead were popping.
My mom placed her hands on top of mine. “Calm down. I plan to stop by Jason’s office today. Let me talk to him. Let me see what’s going on before you do anything.”
I squinted my eyes. “For some reason, it seems like you’re trying to take up for him, too. I thought you were with me? I thought you wanted him to pay too?”
“I do, but baby, Jason is someone that’s been close to this family. We have to handle this situation delicately.”
“My friends know exactly what to do to handle a thief.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. Do not, and I repeat do not, get any of your friends involved in our situation. You and I will handle this together,” she assured me.
“I told Hope and Charity about Jason.” I got up and put more meat and bread on my plate.
“See, this is what I was afraid of. You’re going about this all wrong.”
“They deserve to know that the man we call Uncle is a traitor.”
“Maybe so, but I wish you would have waited.”
“So, what do you suggest we do now?” I sat back down and went back to eating.
“We need to get Jason to confess.”
“Men like Jason don’t confess unless they feel like their life is threatened,” I said.
“I got this. You just go smooth things out with Royce. Convince him that you two are the only two people who should be authorized to sign checks.”
Less than an hour later, I was sitting in my father’s office. I checked my Facebook page while waiting for him to end his phone call.
“Lovie, I don’t have much time. I have a funeral to facilitate at eleven,” he said, as soon as he hung up.
“I know you don’t agree with me about Uncle Jason. But I think it’s best that we be the only two authorized to sign checks.”
“Son, I don’t have time to handle that part. Business is picking up and I might have to hire some more workers.”
“Fine, then let me take care of it. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be a CPA. Just look at it as your investment paying off. Well this time, anyway.”
“Fine. I’ll temporarily take him off the accounts. Don’t make me regret this decision.”
“You got a funeral to attend to. I’ll take care of everything.” I kept the fact that I’d already removed Jason from the accounts to myself.
We went our separate ways. I pulled out my cell phone. I got my mom’s voicemail. “I got Dad to agree to take Jason off the accounts.” I paused, but before hanging up I added, “Mom, whatever you plan on doing, please be careful.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I ended the call.
CHAPTER 26
Lexi
“Ma’am, you can’t go in there.” Jason’s receptionist stood up. She tried to block me from entering his office.
“He’s been avoiding my calls all morning, and I will not be ignored.” I pushed her out of the way and entered Jason’s office.
“Lexi, what are you doing here?” Jason asked, looking up from his desk.
The young lady ran in behind me. “Mr. Milton, I tried to stop her, but she pushed me.”
Jason looked at her and then at me. “That’s okay. I’ll see Mrs. Jones. Close the door on your way out.”
“Should I call Security?” she asked.
Jason laughed. “Everything is fine here. Hold all of my calls.”
I turned and faced her. “Yes. Hold all of his calls beca
use we have some serious business to discuss.”
I didn’t wait on Jason to offer me a seat. I sat down in the chair directly across from his desk. I glanced around the room and admired the items that our money bought. Of course, when a person was spending someone else’s money, they would buy top-of-the-line items. His walls were covered with expensive-looking paintings.
“Lexi, what brings you to my office?”
I crossed my leg, exposing some of my thigh. “Jason, you know exactly why I’m here.”
“Just like Royce to send a woman to do a man’s job. He’s always been a little soft.”
I clenched the arms of the chair. “Royce is more man than you will ever be.”
“And you would know.” I wanted to slap the sly grin off his face.
“I will regret that night for the rest of my life.”
Jason licked his lips. “I still remember how good you tasted. Sweeter than honey.”
I hit his desk with my fist. “Look. I didn’t come over to reminisce about my biggest mistake. I came here to find out from you how long you thought you would be able to get away with stealing our money.”
“Clearly, you’ve been drinking. Nobody’s stole anything from anyone.” Jason leaned back in his chair.
I eased to the edge of my seat. “I don’t know how or how long it will take, but Jason, you will pay for what you did. I want our money back and with interest.”
Jason leaned forward on his desk. “Dear, I’m not Royce.”
“Clearly, you’re not. Royce is a man of integrity.”
“I know some things, but I’ll keep them to myself.”
“What do you mean?”
Jason rubbed his hands together. “You need to tell our son to back off.”
“Excuse me?” I knew I must be hearing things.
“You heard me. Tell our son, to back off or your little secret will be exposed.”
All of a sudden the room seemed smaller. The oxygen seemed to evaporate out of the air. I felt a panic attack coming on. It took everything within me to control my breathing. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jason removed his wallet and pulled out two pictures. He placed them in front of me. “This is me when I was a baby.” He pointed at the other picture. “This is Lovie. Now tell me Lovie isn’t my son.”
I opened up my mouth to speak, but nothing would come out at first. “Lovie is Royce’s son.”
“Are you sure about that? You know there’s this thing called DNA.”
“Jason, I’m warning you. You’ve already stole money from us, but you will not rob me of anything else. You got that?”
“And Lexi, I’m warning you. Either Lovie stays out of my business, or everyone will know that he’s our love child.”
“There’s no love between us. I only put up with you because Royce loves you like a brother.”
“His mistake, not mine.”
“You’ve always been jealous of him, and he’s been too blind to see it. I knew you were no good when you made a pass at me.”
“I knew you were no good when you gave in to my advances.”
I lost control and slapped Jason.
He grabbed my wrist. “That’ll be the last time you put your hands on me.”
I attempted to twist my arm away but was unsuccessful. “Let me go,” I said, between clenched teeth.
“I know you’re a little upset because your secret is not really a secret, but you better get a handle on your anger.” He released my arm.
I rubbed my wrist with my other hand. “I came here to speak with you to see if we could come to some type of agreement. I see now that coming here was a huge mistake.”
“Lexi, you have no room to negotiate with me. Sure, expose me. But, lose the man you claim to love in the process.”
I stood up. “I can’t wait for Royce to find out the type of man you really are. You’re a snake, and it’s about time someone chopped your head off.”
“Many have tried, but I’m not going anywhere. Deal with it.”
His receptionist burst through the door. “Is everything okay? I could hear you two arguing outside.”
I looked at Jason and then at her. “Things are fine. I think our conversation here is over.”
“Remember what I said. Let’s keep this between us.”
I threw my hands up in the air and hightailed it out of his office. I was fuming mad when I reached my car. Something needed to be done about Jason and fast.
CHAPTER 27
Royce
Today had been another busy day. Once I worked the last funeral, I decided to head to my favorite bar instead of going home. I sent Lexi a text message to let her know. Her response let me know she wasn’t too happy about it, but oh well. She would be fine.
I needed to unwind and forget all of life’s drama.
I scanned the room from my bar stool. The normal crowd filled the place. Men and women were talking and drinking. I turned my attention back to the drink sitting in front of me. It was my usual, a glass of bourbon with no ice, no soda, straight.
“Do you mind buying a thirsty lady a drink?” a woman in a short, tight red dress asked.
I shook my head. “I’m sure someone will be happy to, but I’m not the one.”
“Aww, you come in here in your fancy suit. Think you all that.”
Jason walked up to me. “There you go.”
“Man, you rescued me just in time.” I got up and walked with Jason to a table.
The woman was still talking as we walked away.
As soon as we sat down, Jason asked, “Have you talked to your wife today?”
“No. Haven’t really had time. I had back-to-back funerals. After the last one, I headed straight here.”
“She showed up at my office today causing a ruckus with my secretary. You need to handle her or else I will.”
I’d been drinking, but I wasn’t drunk enough to have any man disrespect my wife. “I’m sure she had a reason for coming to your office.”
“She was quick to tell me that my services were no longer needed. What I want to know is why am I hearing it from her? You should’ve been man enough to come tell me yourself.”
“I’m beginning to think what everyone else said is true. We should have never mixed business with our personal relationship.”
“But I’ve been your accountant for the last fifteen years. All I’m saying is, you should have come and talked to me man to man.”
“I didn’t realize I needed to consult with you on how I chose to handle my business.”
“We have a contract. So, you can’t just take me off your account.”
“Truth is, our contract expired several years ago. Neither one of us bothered to renew it.” I looked at Jason as if daring him to disagree. “So Jason, please, let’s just table this for now and enjoy the rest of our night.”
“Maybe you can push it under the rug, but I feel like I’m getting the shaft.”
I knew Jason would be upset, but I never thought he would pitch a tantrum. I looked at him. “I’ve had a long day. I’m not in the mood for no drama. If I wanted to deal with drama, I would’ve gone home to my wife.”
Jason slammed his glass on the table and left.
Lovie walked up to the table. “Looks like Uncle Jason is a little upset.”
“He wasn’t too happy about being let go.”
“If he’s innocent, then he’ll be cleared.”
“It’s a complete mess. I hope you hurry up and finish your investigation, so things can get back to normal around here. I’m sick and tired of all of this. Money is important, but it’s not worth me losing my friends and loved ones over.”
Lovie got the waiters attention and then took a seat. “Get him another bourbon and bring me a glass of Cîroc.”
Lovie looked at me and said, “Let me deal with Uncle Jason. Concentrate on the other part of the business. I got this.”
“It’s hard. I’m not used to giving up control.”
“You trusted Jason with everything. I’m just asking you to trust me to figure out a way to recoup your money.”
I took a drink. “Have you talked to your mom today?”
“Not since this morning.”
“According to Jason, she caused a scene at his office.”
“You know Mom. She can be a little over dramatic at times.”
“Don’t I know it. Her and your sisters.”
We both laughed.
I looked up just in time to see Jason look in my direction, turn, and storm out of the bar.
CHAPTER 28
Charity
With my family drama, I needed a reprieve. So, after stopping by Tyler’s last night, I decided to spend the night for the first time.
Tyler walked in with a tray of food. “Breakfast in bed for my queen.”
He sat the tray over my lap. He sat beside me and fed me grapes. “Charity, what do I have to do to convince you that I’m sincere?”
After swallowing the grapes, I responded, “Right now, I’m trying to build my business. I don’t have time for a relationship. Besides, most men would be happy with our arrangement.”
“I’m not most men.”
I gently brushed his face with the palm of my hand. “If you decide to see someone else, please let me know. I don’t want to be the side chick. I would rather preserve our relationship and just be friends if it comes to that.”
“If I decide to commit to anyone else, you’ll be the first to know.”
I twisted my head with a “yeah, right” expression on my face.
He added, “Well, the third person to know.”
“Exactly. Don’t be like some men, who try to have their cake, icing, and pie.”
Tyler licked his lips. “All this talk of sweets got me hungry.”
Tyler removed the tray of food and placed it on the floor beside him. He eased his head under the covers, and I became his morning dessert. No complaints from me because I was enjoying every minute of it. He had all the muscles in my body responding to the sensation of his tongue.
Two hours later, I was in the shower at my own place. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about my morning escapade with Tyler. He was becoming an addiction. More addictive than a box of chocolates. I might not want to be in a relationship with him, but I sure didn’t want to give up our sexual encounters. I hoped it would be a very long time before he got into a serious relationship. Needless to say, my two-year drought was over and I didn’t want it to end anytime soon.
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