“She was in a relationship with a man at the time,” Billie reminded him. “Which makes her a cheater.”
“You can’t judge her,” Michael said. “You don’t know what her relationship was like.”
“I can judge her,” Billie stated. “She’s disrupting our lives with this bomb. I definitely am going to judge her and so should you.”
“I don’t care about that man,” Michael said.
“You should,” Billie said. “Who is he? She has to at least prove that the kid doesn’t belong to him. When did you have sex? When was Duncan born? She could lie about anything. We need to see—”
“Can you stop being a lawyer for a second?” he asked.
“No,” she answered. “I can’t. This is a situation that is fraught with legal land mines. Women do this shit all the time. We need to look at her finances. If she’s down on her luck, she could be looking for a payday.”
“Darina doesn’t care about money!”
Billie wasn’t at all pleased at the urgency with which Michael defended this woman. Did he think she was a saint? Clearly she wasn’t, or she wouldn’t have kept this truth from him for eight years. If it was even the truth.
“Why are you so reluctant to see what’s in front of your face?” she asked. “This is suspicious at best, Michael.”
“She wouldn’t lie to me about my own child,” Michael said. “I know this woman. You don’t.”
“But I will,” Billie proclaimed. “I’m gonna find out everything about what she’s been doing since your one-night stand to see what she’s up to.”
“What if she isn’t up to anything?” Michael asked. “You put all your effort into this shit and it turns out she was telling the truth?”
“I’ll be so happy that I wasted my time,” Billie said.
“You’re being insecure,” he accused. “I understand that you might feel threatened by this situation, but you shouldn’t be.”
“Bullshit,” Billie said. “I’m not new to this game. Something is fishy here and I’m telling you, Michael. You need to hold off on letting this boy into your life until you have more proof.”
“You want her to be lying,” he said, angrily. “You want to demonize her because you don’t want me to have a kid.”
Billie was shocked. “Michael, are you really going to attack me? I’m just trying to make sense of this. We need to figure out what’s going on.”
“Seems like you’ve already figured it out.” He stood up from the table and walked over to the window, looking down at the street.
“I didn’t let a child keep me from marrying Porter,” Billie said. “I loved Tara from the first second I met her. And if Duncan is yours, I’ll love him the same. But there were no questions about Porter’s paternity.”
“I can’t focus on that right now,” Michael said. “I’m just going to meet him. I want to look at him. I want to see him. He needs to know I didn’t know.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Billie said softly as she walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around him. “You’re thinking of your absent father, how much you missed out on. How it hurt to know he just walked out of your life and acted like he didn’t care.”
“I won’t be him,” Michael said.
“You’re not him. Once you find out Duncan is your boy, you’ll be a great and present father. But the last thing you want to do is let a little boy get attached to you and have to let go.”
Michael turned to her. “If he’s mine, you’re okay with me going all in.”
“I wouldn’t want to marry a man who didn’t believe in going all in at fatherhood.”
He placed his hands over hers as they lay across his chest. “You know if this is true, that makes the issue of moving back to Atlanta even more important. I mean, we’d have to go back. I’d have to be near my son.”
Billie felt inevitability come over her at this realization. She didn’t respond. She couldn’t do that truthfully and she didn’t want to upset Michael any more. He was probably right. He’d need to be near his son, but what about Billie needing to be near her daughter?
She had to stay focused. She knew that Michael’s emotions were getting the best of him and she couldn’t let this thing get out of control. She had to get proof and figure out if Darina was really a woman who was just trying to right a wrong or if she had more nefarious motives.
Either way, she wasn’t going to let this get in the way of the happiness she’d found, a happiness Billie never thought she’d have again.
10
Even though she was in the living room and Corey was all the way down the hallway in the bedroom behind a closed door, Erica made sure to keep her voice low so he couldn’t hear.
“It’s been a while,” said Alex Gonzales on the other end of the phone.
“I know,” she responded. “I’m sorry. How long?”
“Almost seven months.” His voice held a hint of his hesitation. “I was thinking of calling you when . . . well, you know.”
“I was thinking the same.” Erica curled her feet underneath her legs on the sofa. “But I assumed you didn’t want to talk about him any more than I did.”
“He doesn’t exist to me,” Alex said. “So in my opinion, no one I knew died.”
“I feel the same.” Erica felt envious of Alex’s clarity.
“I thought you’d be more affected,” he said. “You know. You were closer to him. You had an actual relationship with him.”
“I wasn’t close to him,” she insisted. “I mean, I gave him more chances than I should have, but after what he did to you, he was dead to me.”
“But he still tried to contact you,” Alex said. “Never once even called me.”
“When Jonah does something wrong to someone, he blames them for feeling wronged. In his fucked-up head, he probably thought you and your mother owed him an apology.”
Alex laughed somberly. “I would tell him not to hold his breath, but I guess he’s not.”
Erica laughed. “God, you’re really not upset at all, are you?”
“No,” he said. “Honestly, my life here in Miami is great. I have a great job as a teaching assistant in the political science department of the university. I got my own place. I have a girlfriend.”
“You have a girlfriend?” she asked. “What’s she like?”
“She’s nice,” he said. “She’s Cuban and she works in administration on campus.”
A moment passed before Erica congratulated him. This was still a little awkward, but they both pushed through it. Erica had stopped having feelings for Alex the second she found out he was her half brother. She was sickened to the point of throwing up whenever she thought of the time they kissed.
There wasn’t much chance to deal with it. Once the news hit, Alex left town and didn’t look back. After a couple of months, they would text each other and then talk on the phone. Both of them knew this wasn’t their fault, that they’d done nothing wrong. This was all Jonah’s fault.
“I’d like you to meet her if you ever came to visit,” Alex said after that short silence.
“That goes both ways,” Erica said.
“No.” His tone was less open now. “I’ll never go back to D.C. Now that Mother has moved down here, there’s nothing that can get me back in that city.”
“I can understand that,” she said. “So maybe I’ll come down. It’s starting to get cold up here anyway.”
Erica wondered if he really wanted to see her. She wondered if she really wanted to see him. It seemed safe, these emails, texts, and infrequent phone conversations. They could be friends this way. While they might have both moved on from their little romance, they weren’t ready to acknowledge being brother and sister. Maybe they’d have to do that if they ever came face-to-face again.
“I’m dating someone too,” she said. “His name is Corey. He’s a lobbyist.”
“A lobbyist?” Alex asked. “I don’t see you dating a lobbyist.”
“He’s really cool,�
� she said. “Down-to-earth and all that.”
“Does he know?”
“About Jonah?” she asked. “No, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep it from him. I don’t want to keep it from him at all.”
“It’s a huge secret to keep,” Alex said. “Not sure how you could have a real relationship with someone without telling them. It’s such a big part of who you are.”
“No, it isn’t!” Erica surprised herself at how adamant her tone was. “Nothing about Jonah defines me. My life is the same as it was before I ever met him. I’m the same person.”
“Whoa,” Alex said. “You don’t have to bite my head off. Look, it doesn’t matter. He’s gone. It’s done.”
“I hate him.” Erica was feeling suddenly very sad. “I hate him, Alex.”
“There’s no point in that,” Alex said. “Not anymore. I don’t hate him anymore.”
“How can you not?” she asked. “He knew you were his from the beginning and said nothing. He was your father, but he barely showed you the attention that a distant friend of your parents would. And when it all came out, he didn’t even try to make up for it.”
“I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be hated,” Alex said. “I’m just saying, it’s done.”
“He didn’t even leave you anything!” Erica blurted out.
She tried to catch herself, but it was too late. She hadn’t intended on bringing up the topic like this.
“In his will?” Alex asked. “I didn’t expect him to. I wouldn’t have accepted it anyway.”
Erica didn’t understand that. “Don’t you think he owes you?”
“There isn’t anything he could give me to make up for what I missed out on, not having a father.”
“No,” she agreed. “But it’s not fair. I mean you and I—”
“Erica?” Alex asked after some silence. “Did he leave you something?”
“I don’t want it,” she quickly said. “That’s why I’m calling you. I want you to have it. I want to stick it to him for being an asshole.”
“You can’t stick it to a dead person,” Alex said.
“It’s one million dollars,” she said.
There was a silence for at least five seconds.
“He left you one million dollars?”
“His bitch wife and kids tried to keep it away from me, but I got it. The check is in the mail, so to speak.”
“You accepted it?” he asked.
“Well . . .” She was suddenly feeling defensive. “I mean, I didn’t want to.”
“But you did.”
“For you,” she insisted. “I wanted you to have something. You’re the one whose life was turned upside down by his lies and deceit.”
“No, Erica. I never wanted anything from him.”
“But you deserve it!”
“I don’t want it,” Alex stated soundly. “I don’t want anything from him. That money is . . . It would only bring him back into my life. I don’t want that. I can’t believe you do.”
“I said I didn’t!” she exclaimed, her tone harsh. “I couldn’t let her do that.”
“Who do what?” Alex asked.
“Juliet. She was trying to make me invisible like I didn’t matter.”
“Why do you care what she thinks? She’s a WASP-y old hag.”
Erica shot up from the sofa, feeling her blood start to boil. “But she wanted me to accept that I wasn’t real. That I was less a daughter because I wasn’t hers too.”
“She’s a bitch. You can’t let her get to you like—”
“But I got to her,” Erica said. “I found her weak spot and she decided not to fight the will. The whole family backed down. Even that bitch daughter of his. I proved to them that . . .”
“That what?” Alex asked.
Erica sighed impatiently. “Alex, it’s a million bucks. You can’t turn that down.”
“I can,” he said. “And I am. Keep the money, Erica. It means something to you, not me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“Obviously it’s some sort of victory for you,” he said. “So keep it.”
“The victory was for both us,” she explained. “Hey, why don’t we share it? I’ll give you half and—”
“I don’t want any of it,” Alex said.
“Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do with it?” Erica asked.
“If I were you,” he said. “I’d get rid of it before it changes you.”
“Why would it change me?” she asked. “I’m not some flaky person who lets money fuck them up.”
“It will change you because it’s from Jonah. Nothing good ever comes from him.”
“It’s money,” Erica said. “It’s not him. There are no strings attached.”
“There aren’t any answers either. All the money in the world won’t explain the lies, the rejection, the shame, and the lost time.”
“I don’t care about that.” Erica heard her own voice choking a bit. “I thought you knew me, Alex. How could you think I’d be so gullible as to let money make me forget all he’s done?”
“I don’t think you’re gullible,” he said. “But I think you have a lot of unresolved issues with him and you could easily let the money help you avoid dealing with them.”
“You don’t know me at all,” she yelled. “Dammit, Alex. I was trying to help you.”
“I don’t need help. My life is going great.”
“Well, mine isn’t!” she shouted. “And your bullshit is just making it worse. I’ll remember never to do a favor for you again!”
She hung up the phone and threw it farther down the sofa.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
She turned to see Corey come out of the hallway and into the living room, looking alarmed.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Did I disturb you?”
“You were yelling,” he said.
As Corey walked over to her, Erica couldn’t believe she had gotten that loud, but she was so angry right now, she wanted to yell some more.
“What’s wrong?” Corey approached her cautiously.
“Don’t,” she said, as she noticed he was about to wrap his arms around her.
“Okay, that’s it.” Corey ran his hand over his head in frustration. “Erica, what the hell is going on with you? You look like you’re about to cry.”
“If he doesn’t want it,” she said, “I’ll keep it. To hell with him!”
“Keep what?” Corey asked.
“I deserve it just as much as he does,” she said. “Hell, I deserve it more after all I went through!”
He sighed, annoyed. “So you’re just gonna have a conversation with yourself? Even though I’m standing right here?”
“You try and do something good for someone, they don’t appreciate it!” She began pacing the small space between the living room and dining area, her arms folded across her chest. “No one understands. Everyone just judges.”
“I haven’t judged you,” Corey said. “And you haven’t given me a chance to understand you.”
She turned to him, feeling her body want to calm down at the sight of his calm, understanding demeanor. He was trying to reach out to her. Maybe he was right. Maybe he was the only one who could understand and wouldn’t judge her. There was no history here, no baggage.
Erica rushed over to him and threw herself into his arms. She loved how he was big enough to make her feel small. She wrapped her arms around him and placed her head against his chest. She felt her body calm as his arms tightened around her.
“You have to talk to me, baby.”
She lifted her head and looked up at him. “Baby?”
“You’re my baby, right?” he asked, with a smile.
She leaned up and kissed him on the mouth. “I like the sound of that,” she said.
“I like the sound of some truth,” he said back. “How about I get some?”
She nodded, leaning away from him. “You’re right. We need to talk
. We’re going to dinner still, right?”
“I thought we might check out that Ethiopian place you were talking about.”
She shook her head. “No, we can do that another night. I want to go somewhere nice. Real nice.”
“Like how nice?” he asked.
“Don’t worry.” She patted him on the chest. “Tonight, dinner is on me.”
“Erica, you know how I feel about—”
“We’re not on a date,” she said. “Remember? I’m your baby and you’re mine. That means I can pay sometimes. And I feel like spending a shitload of money right now.”
“Do you have a shitload of money to spend?” he asked.
“Get dressed,” she ordered. “You’ve asked enough questions tonight.”
Sherise hung up the phone after talking to Beth, her P.I., feeling more confused than ever. Maybe she needed to hire a different investigator. A person’s relationship with their P.I., especially one who had come through so many times, was a sacred one. But there wasn’t anything on Maurice yet. At least not anything strong enough to use against him.
They’d spent the last half hour discussing the biggest donors to the Northman campaign that Sherise was aware of, using the list the staff had been given for party invites. Beth had done some quickie investigating and found the usual scandals. A mistress here, an illegitimate child there, and maybe a bank account or two in Switzerland.
It would seem odd to someone not in politics, but this was not a big deal. Certainly not enough to force someone to influence the incoming president to hire you. Sherise was frustrated and felt, for the first time since starting on this mission, that she might not succeed. She felt completely stunted.
She was broken from her concentration by a knock on her partially open door. When she looked up, LaKeisha stuck her head inside.
“Busy?”
“No.” Sherise gestured for her to come in.
“Wanted you to hear the latest,” LaKeisha said as she rushed inside and closed the door behind her. She made a beeline for the seat on the side of Sherise’s desk.
“I know you get pissed at me when you hear something secondhand.” LaKeisha sat down.
“What happened?” Sherise could only hope it was something bad about Maurice.
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