“Well, I’m kind of in the middle of something,” she whispered to him, her head gesturing behind her.
“This will be brief,” he said. “You’ll want to hear this.”
“It’s not that simple,” she told him. “Whatever business you have . . . is not something I want to get . . .”
“Who is it?” Corey asked loudly.
She turned around and saw him walking toward her with a curious look on his face. Of course he’d want to know what man was visiting her at her apartment at night while he was there.
“This is just work stuff,” Erica told him.
Corey reached the door, studying Tyler.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you,” Tyler said.
“I’m starting at Robinson Associates at the start of the year,” Corey said. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Not that business,” Erica said. “It’s actually kind of . . . private.”
“Oh,” Corey said. He looked at Tyler a little suspicious, before turning to Erica. “I guess I’ll just go to the bathroom or . . .”
“That would be fine,” Erica said, nodding. “It’s down at the end of the hallway. This will just be a moment.”
Corey took his time turning and heading down the hallway, but when she felt he was at least out of earshot, Erica turned to Tyler.
“Is this about the country club?” she asked.
He nodded. “I guess you can say that.”
“I knew it would get back to you.” Erica hadn’t much thought of the repercussions of her behavior and really didn’t care. “I didn’t do anything illegal, but can we just schedule an actual time to talk about this? I’m really in the middle of something.”
“I didn’t think you’d want to wait to hear this,” he said.
“What?” she asked. “Are they suing me or something?”
“They caved,” he said with a firm, wide smile. “Whatever you did, it did the trick. They aren’t going to contest what Jonah left you in his will. They plan to contest some of his other bequeaths, such as leaving his war memorabilia collection to—”
“Are you serious?” she asked. “What . . . You mean, that’s it?”
He nodded. “Whatever you said to them must have made them think twice about it.”
Erica couldn’t believe it. This was what she wanted, right?
She didn’t want to fight. She just wanted them to know that it would be hell to try and cut her out of the will. They couldn’t deny her right to Jonah anymore. They were giving up.
“Old Juliet got scared,” Erica said. “I’ll bet it was her idea. I’m sure Elizabeth would have still fought me. She had more to lose.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Tyler said. “It’s done.”
“It does matter,” Erica insisted. She noticed Tyler’s surprised reaction to the urgency in her tone. “I mean . . . I guess it doesn’t. It’s just . . . I thought they would fight.”
“They won’t,” Tucker said. “What he left you is not affected by his estate tax. It was in several financial accounts that will be closed and the full sum sent via wire transfer to your bank accounts, your financial advisors, or whatever you . . .”
“I don’t have a financial advisor,” Erica said. “I only have one bank account.”
“Um . . . That’s not going to work. Most banks are only FDIC insured for $250,000. You don’t want more than that in one place.”
“What about taxes?” she asked.
“Well, D.C. is under federal law, so there are no inheritance taxes for this amount. It’s all yours. But you need to figure out your banking situation and get a financial advisor.”
What he was saying was starting to sound like Chinese to Erica. She was still on needing more bank accounts. Why did she need a financial advisor? What was he talking about? But mostly . . . she’d just inherited one million dollars.
She wanted badly to discuss this, but as she heard the broken, creaky bathroom door open from down the hall, she knew now wasn’t the time.
“Later,” she said. “I have a week, right?”
He nodded. “Yes, but . . .”
“Let’s talk tomorrow, okay? I have your number. Not here. Not tonight.”
Just as Corey appeared back in the kitchen, walking toward the dining table, Erica was shutting the door on Tyler with a speedy good-bye.
When she turned and headed back to Corey, she could see that he was skeptical of the whole situation. What could she tell him? She could lie to him. Make something up that satisfied his curiosity, but she didn’t want to. She was sick of secrets and lies.
“What was that about?” he asked. “Or am I not allowed to ask?”
She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She pressed her chest against his and looked deeply into his enticing eyes.
“No questions right now,” she said.
He rolled his eyes. “It’s always no questions with you.”
“I’m sorry that our evening got interrupted.” She reached down and took his strong hands in hers and backed away. “But I don’t want to talk about all that right now.”
“All what?” he asked, letting her lead him away from the table and into the living room area.
“There are much better things for us to discuss,” she said, feeling her excitement rising as she led him to the sofa.
“Can I at least ask one question?” he asked.
She turned him around and pushed him so he fell on the sofa.
“What?” She looked down on him with a seductive bite of her lower lip.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, his expression deadly serious.
She smiled as she lowered herself onto his lap. She took his face in her hands and lifted it up to hers.
“You’re so sweet,” she said. “And yes, everything is okay. As a matter of fact, it’s more than okay.”
“Is that right?” he asked.
She knelt down and slowly, seductively placed her lips on his. She let them linger teasingly on the surface until he pressed against hers. She responded by kissing him passionately, fully.
“Oh yes,” she said. “Let me show you.”
Their lips devoured each other, their passion growing more voracious by the second. Erica loved the feel of his large, strong hands on her body. She lifted up as they slid down her back and gripped her butt firmly. She straddled him, leaning in and wrapping her arms around him.
They rolled around on the sofa, quickly removing all their clothes. Erica felt no sense of self-consciousness revealing her curvaceous body next to Corey’s muscled, large figure. The way he touched her, as if every touch made him ravenous for more, made her feel so sensual, so perfect.
The seduction intensified as Corey’s possessive, hungry kisses trailed down her soft belly to her center. He teased the edges with his tongue before entering her. His forceful hands gripped her hips as he went deeper, making her go crazy. He was relentless and quickly brought Erica to orgasm. Her body melted like liquid as she felt him return to her, the weight of his body straddling hers, a feeling she had missed so desperately.
She looked up at him and saw the intensity in his eyes. He wanted her so badly, and she couldn’t help herself.
“Your turn,” she said.
Sherise was very educated on the natural progress of babies and determined that Aiden would excel just as his sister was. Cady was already a year above average for the toddler stage. Based on her understanding, Sherise felt Aiden was average for an infant, but he showed a great deal of promise. Despite her demanding career, all the drama she was dealing with at work and other distractions, Sherise’s children were her priority and she didn’t let a day go by without some quality interaction with them.
It was late and Justin was on his way home. Dinner was warming in the oven and the kids were supposed to have been put to bed, but Sherise was bad on consistent bedtimes. She knew she would regret it with Aiden just as she had with Cady. They sat in the living room with Cady learning about shapes and colors o
n her garden activity cube and Sherise teaching Aiden on the Einstein music table. It was a noisy toy. So noisy that she didn’t even hear Justin until he was halfway through the door.
“Hey, Princess!” Justin said as he first set eyes on Cady.
Cady screamed and hopped off the sofa, almost falling on her back on the floor. She turned and ran to her daddy, her arms opened wide. Sherise smiled as he picked her up and gave her quick kisses all over her face. By the time he reached the sofa, just seconds later, she was already wiggling to get free.
“So much for that,” he said, letting her go.
“She just wants her kisses and she’s done,” Sherise said.
Cady gave out a sweet laugh as she went back to her toy.
“Hey, little man.” He knelt down to give Aiden a kiss on his forehead.
Aiden looked up and smiled, saying a few coos before returning his attention to the much more interesting loud music machine.
Justin leaned to the right and kissed Sherise on the lips.
“Dinner is ready whenever you are,” she said.
He placed his briefcase on the floor and sat in the lounge chair next to the sofa. “I’m starving. You recovered?”
He was referring to Jerry’s lashing of Sherise earlier that morning. She’d told him about it after she’d gotten over the shock of it all.
Sherise shook her head. “I can count on one hand how many times he’s been that direct with me and still have a few fingers left over.”
“So you know it’s bad,” Justin said.
“He won’t even listen to his own son. And he loves that boy with all his heart. That, I am sure of.”
“Well, I’ve asked around and I’m getting the same thing you’re getting,” Justin said. “He’s got some powerful people who have his back. You know how this game is played.”
“We all do,” she stated. “But this goes beyond favors. He’s wreaking havoc in the office. It’s leaking to the press. The Washington Post is planning to run a story on transition drama, mostly focused on him.”
“With some help from you, of course.”
She smiled. “Well, I might be an anonymous source, but I’m not the only one. My inside guy says they have several sources. I know Jerry wouldn’t let someone taint him like this. Not even for favors.”
“It depends on the pressures backing those favors,” Justin said. “Knowing Blair, he’s not above blackmail. He’s done it before.”
Sherise didn’t want to believe that. “Do you have proof of this?”
He shook his head. “No, just rumors like you, but you know it’s true.”
She sighed. “My P.I., Beth, is useless. All I’m getting are rumors too.”
“Guys like Blair, they hold on to blackmail until they’re at the end of their career and use it to stay in the game. If he’s got something good on enough people, they’ve probably placed enormous pressure on Jerry.”
Sherise thought about it. It was true. She herself had held on to information about coworkers or others in the past in order to have something to save for when it was most needed. She had several little gems in her back pocket she had collected over the years. Maurice wouldn’t be the first guy to use info to keep or get a job. It just seemed ill-advised for someone to pressure the president-elect to his own detriment. Something at that level usually came back to bite you hard.
“I’ve got to find out who exactly has urged Jerry to hire and keep Maurice on. If I can, maybe I can partner with that person.”
“And do what?” Justin asked.
“If I can neutralize the threat that Maurice poses, the pressure is off and I can get rid of him.”
“I don’t know,” Justin said. “Whoever pressured Jerry had to be a major game player. Their secrets are usually hard to neutralize.”
“I don’t have a choice,” Sherise responded. “Jerry isn’t going to budge. I’m running out of time.”
Just then, Sherise’s phone rang. It was set on the coffee table and she reached forward to grab it, holding it up high enough so a reaching Aiden couldn’t snatch it away. She read the message sent from Billie to her and Erica.
“Holy shit!”
Billie had had her fill of being the supportive fiancée. After Darina’s surprise last night, she had been trying to help Michael cope with the possibility that he had an eight-year-old son out there he’d never met. But now, she needed some answers.
Upon hearing the news, Billie immediately became suspicious of Darina. Well, she’d been suspicious since she showed up, but especially so once she shared the news. The woman who had played nice and reluctant to invade their evening was suddenly dropping life-changing bombs, thinking a kind smile would make it all okay.
It wasn’t okay. Michael was in shock at first as Billie was the one to ask all of the questions. Darina explained that once she found out she was pregnant, she wasn’t sure she would keep the baby at first, knowing that things were over between her and Michael. Then, once she decided to have the baby, she felt it was best to move on.
This was when Michael finally got himself together enough to speak up. He was angry that she thought it was best to not let him know he had a child. She explained that their lives had taken different turns. Michael had chosen the capitalist path, as she described it. She didn’t want her child involved in that. She added that starting a new business, she imagined Michael would not be able to commit to a child in any way it would need.
The arrogance of her presumptions hurt Michael, but infuriated Billie. She was angry that the woman could pull off such a deceit and then show up without any proof to support her claim and expect everyone to just take a deep breath and get on with it.
Darina apologized several times, stating that she knew she’d done the wrong thing and was trying to make it right. After realizing she was getting nowhere with Billie, Darina focused her pleas on Michael. She wanted him to meet Duncan, gave him a picture of a little adorable child that looked nothing like Michael, with her hotel room number on the back.
After she left, Michael just stared at the picture for a while. Billie rubbed his back and asked him to express his feelings. He couldn’t. He just didn’t believe this. Billie didn’t believe it either, but her disbelief was more from skepticism than shock. She suggested that the timing was suspicious. They’d just announced their engagement to family and friends and suddenly Darina showed up with a long-lost child.
Billie wanted more answers from Darina and, after a sleepless night, she wanted more answers from Michael.
“You lied to me,” she said as she approached the breakfast table where Michael was sitting, looking out the window.
The picture of the kid that was supposed to be Duncan was next to his coffee cup.
Michael looked at her, his red eyes denoting his lack of sleep. “What are you talking about? I didn’t know . . .”
“Not the child,” she said. “Darina. You told me you hadn’t seen her since you broke up and moved to D.C.”
Billie could tell from the change of expression on his face that he realized what she was talking about. He clearly didn’t want to get into it.
“Really?” he asked. “That’s what you want to talk about now? I just found out I have a son that didn’t even know I existed for eight years.”
Billie sat down in the chair next to him. “I realize on the scale of everything that’s going on, this may not seem big, but it needs to be answered, Michael.”
Michael reached for his cup of coffee and took a slow sip. “I was ashamed.”
“Why?”
“It was a stupid mistake,” he explained. “A one-night stand.”
“There is no such thing as a one-night stand with the woman you were recently in love with.” Billie knew this all too well. How many times had she said her post-separation trysts with Porter were just a one-night stand?
“I went home,” he explained. “I was lonely and she was . . . familiar.”
“You were lonely?” she asked. “But Darina
said you were both in relationships at the time. That’s why you thought it would just be a harmless dinner. Who did you cheat on?”
Michael looked at her angrily. “I’m not a cheater, Billie. I don’t cheat.”
Billie was trying to control her own emotions so she could hear what he was saying. It was hard. Infidelity was a sore subject for her for obvious reasons.
“I wasn’t in a relationship,” Michael confessed. “The truth was I hadn’t been on more than two dates with anyone since we’d broken up. I lied to her so I wouldn’t seem . . . pitiful.”
“And you lied to me . . .”
“For the same reason,” he said. “I didn’t want you thinking I was the type of guy who couldn’t move on. I liked you very much. I wanted you to think highly of me.”
“You know what I think highly of?” Billie reached across the table and placed her hand over his. “The truth. We’ve all been weak. We’ve all made bad choices. The truth sets us free.”
Michael lowered his head. “I don’t know exactly what I’m getting into, but I know I can’t get through it without you. I need you.”
“You have me.” She squeezed his hand. “We’ll get through it together.”
“I want to meet him right away,” Michael said.
“No,” Billie stated definitively. “We need to sit down and talk to Darina more. We need to demand that she show us proof that he’s yours.”
He looked at her confused. “Proof? I mean . . . Darina wouldn’t lie about that.”
“Says who?” Billie asked. “The woman who kept you from the boy for eight years? She’s been lying to you for eight years. There’s a high probability that this kid is not yours.”
“There’s nothing to gain from lying to me about this,” Michael said. “This is something that can easily be disproven.”
“She has to give you proof,” Billie urged. “Before you meet with the boy. If she’s lying, you’ll be hurt, but that kid will be—”
“Darina is a good woman,” Michael insisted. He sat back in his char. “She’s not a liar. She’s a bit extreme when it comes to her politics, but she’s honest. She wouldn’t fuck over her own kid like that.”
Power, Seduction & Scandal Page 15