John stood and went to stand behind her chair. He massaged her shoulders.
She reached her hand to touch his, while gazing up at him lovingly.
I kissed her cheek and hugged his neck.
“Thank you,” I said to my stepfather.
“All in a day’s work,” he joked. “Like your mother said, go get my son and make his lifetime.”
I ran out the house with my purse trailing behind me in the wind. I jumped in the awaiting car and to the airport. As soon as we were out of Mama’s neighborhood, I took Justine’s letter our and began to read it.
To Destiny,
It’s not a secret that I never liked you. You have been a pain in my side since the day I found out Jacob was leaving me to be with you. Truth is, I knew he was a best friend turned lover that probably wouldn’t last, but I cared about him deeply. I didn’t want to lose what he represented for me, which was a safety net from all the ridicule that came from my parents and everyone who witnessed me being duped by Rick.
Jacob was my hero when Rick left me. I think he was just more so there for me because he didn’t want to see me hurt. I felt that he was my soulmate, but he didn’t feel the same way. Still, Jacob didn’t deserve the way I treated him. Neither did Rick. No matter what anyone thinks, I loved Rick. I think about him every day, now that my mind is not clouded by hate and I’m taking medication for my mental disorders.
I think about how great Rick and I would have been together had he not left me at the altar, and equally about how I should have just left him alone that day he invited me for a ride in his car. I want to take back the pain I have caused everyone, but what is done is done. What I can do now is come clean about Jacob.
The night Jacob and I had sex in your home, I snuck into a side window that had been left open. I went into your bedroom and hid in your massive closet after you left. I dressed in your clothes. I put on your perfume. I wanted to be you, because you had everything I coveted. While Jacob was in the kitchen, I slipped into his study and put a ketamine pill in his drink, which he drank as he worked on his laptop. He went to sleep. When he woke up, he was in a trance-like state. He could move around and talk to me, though. I knew he thought I was you, but I didn’t care. He called your name and said sweet things about you as I took advantage of his drowsy state imagining that I was you.
No child came out of our time together, so you and Jacob can live your lives without any further interference from me. I would say I’m sorry, but it’s not enough for all the pain I caused. Therefore, I will just plead for you to love Jacob in a way that I wasn’t equipped to do as his best friend or lover. If I die in this prison, that is my only wish. My only chance at redemption.
I’ll be repenting until the day I die.
Justine
Chapter Sixteen
Jacob
“Is Destiny still in Miami?” I asked my father when he answered his phone. “I’ve been trying to call her but she’s not answering.”
“No, she should be back in Atlanta by now, Son. Is there a problem?” he asked.
“No, I’m just checking on her. Maybe she hasn’t answered because she’s still on the plane,” I reasoned.
“Could be, Son. After you talk to her, give me a call to let me know she made it safely,” he said.
“Sure thing, Dad. Have a good night.”
“You too, Son.”
I hung up the phone, figuring I might as well go to my penthouse suite and take a shower. I had been staying at Destiny’s house for the past week. I didn’t feel comfortable being there without her, though. It wasn’t our domain. It was the house she built with Montie. Until she was back in our home in Miami, or one that we would build in Atlanta, I wouldn’t be satisfied.
Henry pulled into the loop at the Marriott Marquis and let me out. I greeted the bellhop and hopped on the elevator. I arrived in my room, kicked off my shoes and began to take off my clothes. I went into the bathroom and showered for the next thirty minutes. It felt so good rinsing under the hot shower spray that beat my skin in various rhythms. When I exited the shower, I felt like a new man.
I grabbed a towel and dried off before wrapping another around my waist. I had just began brushing my teeth when the doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I slipped into my pajama pants.
“Who is it?” I called out as I ran down the hallway to the front door.
“Jacob.”
I picked up my pace when I heard Destiny’s voice.
“Hey baby,” I greeted her by pulling her into my arms.
“Hey.”
“You look tired. Are you feeling okay? Have a seat,” I escorted her to the couch in the living room and guided her down onto my lap. My baby was rounding off her belly, since she turned five months pregnant, and I was extra protective of her.
“I’m fine, Jacob. I’m just glad I found you here,” she said.
“I’m glad you found me, too,” I said, placing feather like kisses on her cheek.
“I have to talk to you,” she said, but I should stand. She waddled out of my lap to her feet. The beautiful grin on her face was killing me with suspense.
“Have you found out the sex of the baby?” I asked impatiently.
“No, that appointment isn’t until next week, and you’re going with me, babe,” she said. “It’s not about the baby.”
Whatever she had to tell me had brought the old Destiny back. I liked what she had to say already, without even knowing the details.
“It’s Justine,” she announced, causing my good mood to evaporate into thin air.
“If she has done something else to hurt you, Destiny, I’m taking care of her once and for all,” I warned.
“She hasn’t done anything to hurt me, Jacob.” She stuck her hand inside her purse and brought out a letter. “Read this,” she said with that innocent, loving smile that she’d spared me of for too long.
“What is this?”
“It’s a letter from Justine. But you have to read it.”
“What is this about?”
“Just read it, Jacob.”
“Alright, sit down next to me and I’ll read it, baby.”
Destiny nervously obliged.
I tore open the letter with contempt running through me. Seriously, Justine was going to be handled if she was still causing hell for my family. I had no intention to live with her bullshit hanging over my head for the rest of my life. I was not her baby’s father. She needed to get that through her thick skull.
I read her letter aloud, as Destiny sat beside me.
My Dear Friend Jacob,
I owe you a heartfelt apology for the problems I have caused you and your new family. I should have let you go when you wanted to walk away, but I just couldn’t let go. I felt like I would not only be losing you as my boyfriend, but as my friend, too. We have always been by each other’s side and when Destiny came along and took your attention away from us, that triggered something nasty in me that I didn’t even know existed. For my actions following that, I am eternally sorry.
I have written Destiny a letter explaining exactly what happened the night we had sex in your home. I slipped a drug in your drink that put you in a trance, so you are not crazy when you say you thought I was Destiny. I was wrong to take from you what you would have never given me. I felt so desperate that I wanted to have you any way I could, and for that I feel demoralized and great sorrow. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I know we will never be friends again, but your forgiveness would ease the heavy load on my heart.
I’m taking psychiatric medications now and I have a huge sense of remorse for all the devastation I have caused in your, Destiny, Rick and his family’s lives. I can’t undo my wrongs, but I can come clean. I’m not pregnant, so you don’t have to even imagine a life where you would be attached to me for any reason. I wish you the best from this day forward.
Your friend eternally…
Justine
“Wow!” Jacob repeated several times
as the letter slipped from his hands and onto the floor. “She drugged me. I knew I never would have slept with her. There was no way anyone could convince me that I did it consciously.”
“I should have believed you. I’m so sorry for not trusting you, Jacob.”
“Trust is paramount from here on out, Destiny. Still, this is not your fault. The onus is on Justine. We all were deceived. No one in their right mind would believe my story. Hell, sometimes I didn’t know if I had all the details of that night straight.”
“Technically, she raped you Jacob, which could be another charge on her record, if you were to press it,” Destiny suggested.
“No, she seems to have learned her lesson, and I don’t want the attention. What I want is my family back. With the stress of her faking a pregnancy and trying to tear us apart gone, I just want to get back to us. Can we do that?” I asked, looking into my wife’s guilt-filled eyes.
“We can do that.”
“Good, and I want that guilty look out of your eyes too.”
“I can’t help but feel that I owe you so much for not trusting you,” Destiny said, and I bit her line.
“Now that you mention it, I could use a little make up sex?”
“Jacob! This is not the time to have sex.”
“There is never not a good time to have sex, Destiny.” I laughed as I pulled her back into my lap and kissed her. “I love you with all my heart,” I said and fixed my lips to hers, where I wanted to remain forever.
Passion grew thickly inside my pajama pants. My hand was already taking a seductive journey underneath her dress and inside her panties.
“I love you too, Jacob. With all my heart,” she said and clasped her legs together when I slipped a finger into her tight, wet honey pot.
“Can I have you?” I asked because I wanted to hear her desires fall from her lips.
“Yes, please,” she said, appearing to be in an otherworldly daze.
I stood with her in my arms and carried her into the bedroom. I couldn’t wait to unite with my wife without inhibitions hanging over us like a putrid cloud.
Epilogue
Jacob
My Girl
Four Months Later…
Everything went so wrong. We had to start over to make it right. Therefore, I had Mrs. Jefferson help me arrange a simple surprise reunion wedding outside of Tazi’s. My lovely twice bride beamed with joy, when she saw the roses that lined the sidewalk and makeshift canopy that was erected for our ceremony.
The ebullience radiating from Destiny transmitted to every person standing on the street corner watching our unconventional moment. Destiny looked radiant in an all-white sleeveless brocade gown with a veil made of satin lined with fresh flowers. Junior was dressed in a cream colored tailored suit. Montana wore a matching cream color with a dress that matched her mother’s.
Destiny smiled as she recited her impromptu vows to me, which included part of her “Want Me Like You Used To” poem she performed at the poetry club months ago. I assured her with Dylan Scott’s song, “My Girl,” that I would do better than want her like I used to; I would overwhelm her with love for the rest of her days.
The crowd erupted with laughter when I began to sing the song as part of my vows to her. People who knew the song sang along.
She looks so pretty with no makeup on
You should hear her talking to her mama on the phone
Mrs. Clara touched her heart and a tear slipped from her eye, when I sang that line.
I love it when she raps to an Eminem song
That's my girl
Man, her eyes really drive me crazy
You should see her smile when rubs her belly with my baby
I can honestly say that she saved me
My girl
As I sang my country boy song, Destiny’s beaming face slowly slipped into a wild-eyed frown. Then, she doubled over and lifted her dress to reveal a pool of water underneath her. My eyes grew the size of half dollars, when she yelled, “It’s the baby!”
“We aren’t due for another two weeks,” I said weakly, as I held her up.
“No, Jacob. It’s time, now,” she yelled and everyone started panicking.
“Pull the car around Henry. We have to get to the hospital,” I said to Henry who was standing beside me in a white tux that matched mine.
“It’s going to be alright, Son. Just stay calm,” Dad consoled me. I needed it because I was about to lose my shit. “You guys will make it to the hospital in time and the baby will be fine,” Dad said as I loaded Destiny into the back of a stretched Cadillac.
“We’re right behind you, Destiny.” Mrs. Clara screamed.
“Step on it Henry! My baby boy is about to make his debut into the world,” I said elated that I was about to be a father.
“Jacob Jr. is coming, Jacob,” she smiled, “I’m having your first baby.” Destiny grabbed my hand into hers and squeezed tight.
“I know, baby. This is the best day of my life.”
THE END…FOR NOW??
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking this journey with me. I typed the words “the end” of Breathless 5: Loving Jacob, but I’m going to take a page out of my label mate, Falon Gold’s book and add “for now.” You never know when the Breathless characters will strike again with more love, passion and drama for your Kindles!
I hope you enjoyed reading Jacob’s redemption as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now, Destiny can finally move on loving Jacob the way he deserves, Clara and John are in love again, Montie is happy, and even Tasha found a boo.
Do me a favor, and post a note on my Facebook page to let me know if you think Tasha should get her own love story with her new boss.
Until the next time,
Stay blessed with good books,
Shani
***BRAND NEW STANDALONE***
Dangerous Bonds is available now on preorder!
DANGEROUS BONDS Synopsis:
Kemara wants nothing more than a quiet, simple life. In her experience, relationships are anything but simple. However, when she meets the Channing, her convenience store hero, she can’t help but long for a life that’s a bit more…complicated.
From the moment Channing lays eyes on Kemara, he knows he has to have her no matter what it takes. Given his affiliations with a white supremacy group, getting with a black woman is going to take quite a lot. But what could he say? She’s the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and the heart has no biases.
Excerpt from DANGEROUS BONDS
Chapter One
Kemara
The universe was conspiring against me. That was the only way to explain the morning I was having, and when I got to work, all I wanted was a lukewarm cup of the cheap coffee in the breakroom, in hopes that the strong blend of mojo would perk me up. However, just as I was about to enjoy that coffee, an intern rushed into the room and bumped right into me. So instead of drinking the hot, life-changing fluid, I was wearing it. Perfect. I spent the next twenty minutes in the ladies' room trying to rinse the stubborn brown stains out of my chemise, but it was no use. No matter how hard I scrubbed the shirt wasn’t coming clean. I didn’t have an extra change of clothes and too much work piling up to leave, so I ended up wearing my blazer with nothing underneath. As I stuck one last safety pin in the top of my blazer to make it look presentable, I took a look in the mirror and sighed. I’m still going to make this a good day, some way, some how.
Walking out of the bathroom, the itchy material against my skin looked better than it felt. I was immediately struck by an endless barrage of issues upon entering my office and sitting behind my cluttered desk. I dealt with so many clients that I was already five minutes into my lunch hour before I looked at the time on my computer. Dann, it’s lunchtime already? Usually, time wouldn't matter, but I promised to meet Sharon for lunch, and I was going to be late.
As I drove twenty miles away to Moss Tavern in Lafayette, Alabama, work was still on my mind. I had to follow up with two cust
omers about their insurance claims, as well as investigate at least ten more before I got around to my regular daily duties. Mulling over the details of what needed to be done, I absentmindedly took a wrong turn, which was going to push me even further behind with meeting Sharon. I hoped my friend would understood that, for some reason, shit was happening that was beyond my control.
I reached over and took my phone out of my purse to call and let her know that I was on my way, when I noticed the screen was black except for the image of a red blinking battery. Damn, damn, damn. I threw the phone down and cursed the universe that helped to land me in this position of wearing a blazer with no shirt underneath, taking a wrong turn and now having a dead cell phone with no charger.
I laid my foot onto the pedal and flew down 431. As I drove, I looked for a place that I might be able to buy a charger. Up ahead, I saw this dinky old gas station—the kind in 80s horror movies that anyone with an ounce of sense knew to stay away from. But much like the characters in those movies, I was desperate. So I pulled up to the place and got out of the car. Not two steps later, I felt a squish under my heel. I closed my eyes and took long, deep breaths to keep me from screaming and tearing my hair out and someone dragging me away for my dramatics. I spent another five minutes scraping gum off my shoe before I finally headed into the shop. An old man behind the counter tipped his hat at me.
"Howdy ma'am."
I gave him a small nod and asked, "Do you have any iPhone chargers?"
"They're in the back aisle on the top shelf, ma'am."
I headed to the back of the shop and there was a group of white men huddled up in a little rancid lounge area. Some were standing to the side, chewing tobacco and some were sitting around an ancient fat back TV watching Fox News, at least they were until they noticed me. At that point, they all stopped what they were doing and just stared with their faces twisted in displeasure. Now, I was never the type of person to assume someone was a racist, but the way they looked at me suggested I needed to haul my black ass out of there, pronto.
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