by Vera Roberts
“Like a husband,” Eli chuckled. “You?”
“Great.” Her phone went off and Faith ignored it. “What’s on the menu today?”
“Nothing, really. I need to clean up at the hotel but that can wait an hour or so. They’re usually good without me. Then my mother wants my help creating flyers and a website for Art’s mayoral campaign. He’s expected to announce today with a press conference. I’m not going to go to it but I’ll watch it from here.” Eli’s phone went off and he ignored it. Kieran called him. “How are you feeling?”
Faith wasn’t sure how she felt. Yesterday, she was ready to throw in the towel about her marriage and prepare life as a single mother. Now she was ready to fight for her marriage. “I thought everything was over for us, honestly. And then last night happened.”
“Oh?” Eli’s phone went off again and he silenced it. Nick called him. “What do you mean?”
“I just mean I thought it was over for us and now I’m ready to fight for us,” she admitted. Her phone went off and she silenced it. “I just think we need to work on each other and keep no more secrets.”
“I agree,” Eli’s phone kept ringing. “No more secrets. I need to get that. Answer yours, too. Something may have happened.”
Faith picked up her phone while Eli answered his. “Hello? What? When? Are you sure it’s me?”
Eli quickly dressed and rushed downstairs to get the latest New York Post and studied the picture in front of it. “Got it. Thanks.” He hung up the phone and walked back inside the home. “We have a situation.” He handed the paper to her before he walked into the kitchen.
Faith covered her mouth as she stared at the front cover of the New York Post. In her glory and in front of the world, was her naked body in Darren’s bed.
Splashed across the headline was big, bold letters:
DEFLOWERING MRS. D’AMATO
Fifteen
“Girl, did you hear the latest gossip?” Sylvia Winston entered the locker area where her best friend was trying to nap on a cot.
Dr. Erica Toure yawned and shook her head. She was in the middle of a long twelve-hour shift and she only had twenty minutes to nap before she checked on her patients. “Syl, you know I don’t care about any of that.”
“You might want to care,” Sylvia produced the latest New York Post and placed it on Erica’s lap. “Lookahere.”
Erica opened her eyes and stared at her best friend for a long, hard moment, debating how badly the woman needed a throat-punch before she turned her attention to the paper. She sat straight up when she read the headline.
DEFLOWERING MRS. D’AMATO
A picture of Eli was in the caption as Erica’s eyes widened. The front page was a naked woman assumed to be Faith. She quickly went through the bullet points:
Spicy phone calls and texts!
Promises to finally leave Eli!
Threats to make the entire D’Amato family bankrupt!
Erica didn’t know Faith very well but she couldn’t imagine the woman saying such heinous things. Even when things weren’t that great between Eli and Faith, he’d always spoken fondly of his ex and praised her as a mother.
Was Faith really playing Eli this entire time?
Erica only thought about how devastated her ex must be. Eli loved Faith so much and even Erica had to admit, she had to stop watching the show because she was too jealous of Faith.
No, she won’t call him. She won’t call him. She most definitely won’t pull out her cell phone, search for his number, and call him.
Search for his number? Erica knew good and well she had Eli’s number memorized. “Oh no.”
“Oh, it gets better!” Sylvia turned the page to the middle where more incriminating pictures of Faith appeared, along with some text messages. Erica usually turned a blind ear to gossip but her eyes were glued to every word, every picture, every bad thing from one Faith D’Amato.
And her paramour? Darren Matthews? Erica did not see that coming.
Erica immediately thought about Eli. The paper’s content suggested he knew about a previous relationship but did not know about the salacious details of it. And Faith was still in contact with Darren a year after they broke up?
This was better than any reality show.
“I don’t know,” Erica shook her head again, “this is just too much. Eli wouldn’t stay with her if he knew all of this.”
“And that’s the joke!” Sylvia nodded with glee. “He didn’t know about any of it! Girl, I bet his phone is ringing off the hook now! Have you seen his IG page? His comments have exploded with all these thirsty-ass girls trying to shoot their shot! He just has tail thrown at him left and right now. You need to go talk to him before he gets locked down!”
“Locked down?” Erica glanced at Sylvia. “He’s still married, by the way.”
“Not for much longer. You honestly think he’s gonna stay with her after she humiliated him on a worldwide stage?”
Erica thought about Eli’s affair. She didn’t know how many people knew about it but she was surprised how quiet it stayed in their private circle. She wondered if the rumors of Eli and the D’Amato clan being connected to powerful figures had some truth to it.
She then wondered if that was true, why would Eli allow this news about his wife come out? Eli wouldn’t do it. No matter what he and Faith went through, he would never let this come out about her.
It then occurred to Erica what the answer was – the target was not Eli or the D’Amatos; it was Faith.
Erica briefly glanced at her iPhone and resisted the urge to call Eli. She knew how desperate it sounded. Her reaching out was the equivalent of ‘Hey, Big Head!’ and she might as well send Eli kiss emojis while she was at it.
If he wanted to reach out to her, he would find a way. He had three small children to think of in addition to his business. His priority was not Erica or anyone else, for that matter.
Erica read a few more paragraphs and gave the paper back to Sylvia. “I’ve seen enough.”
“Well?” Sylvia asked. “What do you think? Are you going to call bae back?”
Yes. “No.”
Sixteen
Darren grinned as he read every tweet. Faith was dragged up and down, sideways and upside down. Everyone felt sorry for Eli. Many commentators were calling for Eli to leave her.
Darren already knew the answer – Eli was going to.
There was no way Eli was going to stay with Faith after he learned everything she did. She just humiliated him on an international level; he would be a complete fool if he stayed with her.
Darren didn’t bother to check his name hashtag. He was going to enjoy the devastation the D’Amatos were facing to their Teflon brand. He would deflect all questions to his attorney.
His phone had been ringing off the hook all morning but he ignored all phone calls. He wanted to relish the destruction of Eli D’Amato in peace and quiet. He briefly checked his office window and was shocked to see the throng of reporters outside.
Was his affair that important? He didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Maybe reporters wanted to get his take since he was now connected to the D’Amato family. He already had a prepared statement.
He finally put a call into Simone. She hadn’t called him all morning and he wondered how she was taking the news. She picked up on the first ring. “Hey baby. How are you?”
“How could you?” She cried over the phone.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I told you to leave Eli alone and I would handle it!” Simone berated. “Now you’re all over the press!”
“Simone, listen…” Darren winced at her tears. “….this will all blow over in a day or so. No one is going to care.”
“No, I care!” She screamed. “My name is in the papers! Someone exposed my affair with Eli!”
Darren felt his heart drop. “What?” He noticed the crowd of reporters grew increasingly bigger. “What’s going on?”
“And then someone f
ound that woman who accused me of having an affair with her husband when I lived in Savannah!” She cried. “I’m ruined, Darren! And then there’s you!”
“Me?” Darren was taken aback by what was going on. “What do you mean? What did I do?”
“I should’ve known how friendly Noah was! I should’ve known!” Simone breathed. “I know better now! Goodbye, Darren. Don’t ever contact me again!” The line went dead.
“Simone, wait!” It was too late. When Simone hung up, more calls kept flooding Darren’s line. Something huge occurred.
He noticed Ronnie was trying to get through the crowd and Darren quickly let him in. “What the hell is going on?”
“Oh?” Ronnie blinked. “You have no idea?”
“I know about the affair with Faith being released but that’s it, right? Someone leaked Simone’s affair with Eli but I don’t know who did that.”
“Well, I don’t know who did that,” Ronnie handed a copy of the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago-Tribune, and several printouts from the Associated Press, CNN, and Fox News, “but I definitely have an idea on who did this.”
“What?” Darren questioned. His eyes bulged at the first headline.
QUARTERBACK’S BROTHER SACKING LITTLE BOYS
Seventeen
He sat across from her and studied her eyes. He saw how frightened they were but he couldn’t tell if she was preparing herself for his potential reaction or if the truth would ruin them both forever.
They both were on the edge of the cliff of hopeless, and he honestly couldn’t say if he would save his wife. While he could admit his affair was careless, hers….hers was wrecked with vengefulness and hurt. Maybe a part of him was still angry at her reaction to what he did. Maybe a part of him pushed the denial in the back of his head so far, but the anger couldn’t see past it.
They were together for so long, to the point where he’d practically raised her. She was more than just his woman, she was his baby girl and they both knew it. All of her dreams were supported by him. Whatever she wanted, he made sure she had it.
His chest tightened, and breath quickened. He felt the erratic beat of his heart and pushed out a breath to quiet it. Did he want to know the answer? A part of him didn’t. He was content living in denial, with frequent stops in reality.
He leaned back into his chair, with an arm casually draped across the back as he looked up at the popcorn ceiling. If he didn’t know the answer, the real question became could he move forward with no clear resolution?
It was a question he had a difficult time answering. He knocked back his bourbon and stared straight into her remorseful eyes. Fallen tears had dripped onto the oak table. He could already hear the empty ‘o’ sound her voice will make, though she hadn’t said a word. He remained calm, though he was completely tormented inside.
It was then Eli realized he loved Faith enough to let her go forever. “Can you honestly tell me that you know for one hundred percent fact I’m Junior’s father?”
Faith’s bottom lip quivered as more tears flooded her eyes. Her voice came out like smoke and dissipated just as fast. “I can’t.”
Eli felt his heart sank to the floor. His biggest fear came true. “Okay, fine.”
Faith looked up at her husband. He stared right back at her. “Eli, I need to explain…”
He held a hand up. “You don’t got to explain shit.”
“Eli!” She cried as more tears fell. “You need to believe me when I say I think you’re his father!”
“I need to believe you?” He repeated. “I’ve asked you repeatedly to come clean and you refused every single time. Girl, you better get some act right.” Eli got up and paced the kitchen. “When I had the affair with Simone, I came clean about everything in therapy, okay? Every fucking thing! I told you when I had issues in our relationship. I told you how it made me feel when she gave me some attention. I told you when we had a fight, I went to her. I told you all of this! And I came clean. I didn’t want any more secrets, any more lies, I wanted a fresh start.
“So then I find out you’ve been texting the quarterback. Then I find out you’ve had lunch with him. Not from you, though. The phone bill told me. My friend at the paper told me. But we got past that, man. We worked on everything.
“I thought we had a good life, Faye! I thought we worked past everything! Now I got find out in front of the whole goddamn world that there’s a fucking sex tape starring you and him? Now I have to find out there are pictures floating around and he might have shown other people? And now, you’re telling me there’s more. Now you’re telling me it wasn’t just that weekend with Darren but there were a few times after the reconciliation.
“And there’s more, there’s more, there’s more!” He angrily pounded his fist into his palm, causing Faith to flinch. “And this is what you did every time I went to the shop? Every time I went out of town, you ran up the damn phone bill talking to him?
“I told you to tell me everything all at once. I told you I didn’t want to find out from anyone but you. You don’t think I’ve heard whispers? You don’t think there are people saying, ‘Yo, I heard from so and so about Faith?’ And what did I do? I ignored them because if it didn’t come from my wife, it was just bullshit. And it’s only when we have a fight, ‘Oh, by the way, I fucked Darren after we reconciled.’” He mocked her voice. “But I shouldn’t question E.J.?”
“Faye, every time I’ve worked on our marriage, you worked just as hard to destroy it. Why do you put me through all of this? Break my heart once! You gotta break my heart each time I do something that pisses you off? You gotta bring up shit from the past? This is every single time, Faye! I’m tired, okay? I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of we’ll have a good week, a good month, and then it’s like World War Three in our home because you’re still hurt over Simone.”
The silence was thick between the pair for a long while. Faith remained silent at the dining room table while Eli breathed hard as he found the strength to press on. “If you don’t want me, let me go. If you don’t want our marriage, let’s end this shit right now.” His voice was calm like a river. “But let it be no mistake, there are many women who would love to be Mrs. Eli D’Amato, would love to be in your shoes, and you’re abusing the fucking privilege.”
Eighteen
Everything went according to plan.
As Jay Edwards relaxed at his home in Newport Beach, flanked by his submissives, Dove and Aileen, he was so proud of the work Dominic had put in. He was currently on vacation in an exotic locale with Sanora. They would return in a week. Eduardo was currently on assignment in Savannah, Georgia to do more research on Simone Harris. He would return soon.
He didn’t know how Eduardo found out about Simone’s past and knew better to ask questions. He knew with the scandal with the D’Amatos, the real focus was going to be on Darren Matthews’ cover-up of his brother’s crimes. No one is going to care about Darren having sex with a married woman when he protects pedophiles.
Now the Senator had bigger fish to fry – he needed to protect the D’Amato brand. He knew the story about Faith sexing Darren wasn’t going to go away on its own until more legs formed out of nowhere.
He needed help.
He needed the expert.
There was only one person who could make everything go away with just a couple of phone calls and play pass interference. Jay knew Eli was on the verge of finally leaving his wife, but that wasn’t the issue.
It was Faith’s reaction to it that Jay needed to prepare for. She a wild card variable who had everything to gain if she took down the D’Amatos.
He took out his cell phone and dialed the only person who could help them with their request. “You’re going to New York soon and you’ll be there for a week to assist with Nick’s family. You’ll be compensated very well once this is long buried. Handle this.”
Scott Reed turned around and faced the skyscrapers in his office. A trip to New York was long overdue. “It’s handled.”