“I’m sorry if I led you to believe I was going to leave my husband.”
“I’m sorry, too. Especially since you made me ask my wife for a divorce.”
Charlotte frowned. “I didn’t make you do anything. You did that on your own.”
“When you slept with me multiple times a day this past weekend and told me this morning how you couldn’t stop thinking about me, I knew that you wanted me to leave my wife. So that’s what I’m doing.”
“That’s fine, Michael, but just know that you’re not doing it for me. Also, I may as well just tell you, I can’t ever see you again. What we had is over, and I wish you all the best.”
Michael laughed out loud. “You’re a real slick piece of work, you know that? A common whore. The slut of sluts. No better than an average prostitute.”
“Why are you talking to me this way?” Charlotte said loudly. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You’re what’s wrong with me. But I’ve got something for ya. I took all kinds of naked photos of you when you were asleep, and I’m going to hand-deliver them to your husband at his church tomorrow. Then, I’m going to burn down that mansion you’re so proud of.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Charlotte screamed. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you doing this?”
“Baby, wake up,” Curtis said. “Wake up.”
Charlotte struggled back to consciousness and sat straight up. She looked around and realized she was in bed.
“Baby, are you okay?” Curtis asked, stroking her back.
Charlotte breathed heavily, perspiration covered her face and chest, and the temperature of the room felt like a hundred degrees.
“You were having a bad dream,” Curtis told her.
Charlotte’s heart beat the same as if she’d been running a marathon, and she wanted to jump out of her skin. There were times when she didn’t remember her dreams when she woke up or, in this case, remember her nightmares, but she remembered every aspect of this one. Michael had turned on her and threatened to tell Curtis about their affair, the same as Aaron had. He’d even threatened to burn their house down. Talk about déjà vu.
“What were you dreaming about?” Curtis asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, flicking on the lamp on her nightstand.
“Well, whatever it was, it really had you worked up.”
Charlotte looked at him and then thought about something. They’d come home from the school, Matthew had called to check on Mr. Rush and then gone to bed just like in her dream—but the only difference was that instead of her coming upstairs to call Michael, she and Curtis had taken a shower together and then made love. They hadn’t said more than a few words to each other, but Curtis had made her feel like a brand-new woman. He’d made her feel better than Michael had, and now she knew she must have been out of her mind to have ever considered leaving him. Yes, they had their problems, and yes, she had this deep-rooted dislike for Curtina, but after today—after Matthew’s near-death experience and her realization that her love for Curtis was so eternal she couldn’t even explain it—she was going to be a better person. She would call Michael first thing tomorrow morning, letting him know she couldn’t see him anymore, and she would work harder at trying to accept Curtina. It wouldn’t be easy, but she loved Curtis with all her heart and was willing to do what she had to.
Charlotte eased her body down flat onto the bed and looked at Curtis. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“The way I’ve been acting this last month. But I promise you, things are going to be different.”
“This whole hostage thing really puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. But even outside of all that, Curtis, what I realized is that I really do love you. I never stopped.”
Curtis leaned over and kissed her. “I never stopped loving you either,” he said. Then he devoured her lips and kissed what seemed like every area of her body. He took total control, just like he used to, and she begged him to continue. She pleaded with him to do whatever he wanted, and he did. He had his way with her, and she was thrilled about it. Her husband—the Reverend Curtis Black, the incredibly gorgeous pastor whom every woman in America loved—gave her exactly what she wanted. He proved once and for all that he was a master at his craft. The reigning champ. The one no other man could beat out. He was everything to her and then some, and she was glad she’d finally wised up. Glad she’d had sense enough to keep him.
Chapter 31
Charlotte passed the glass pitcher of orange juice across the table to Matthew and couldn’t have been happier. It had been two days since the hostage situation, but ever since then, she and Curtis hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other. They’d made love twice that evening, and then yesterday, he’d decided to stay home, and they’d done the same thing before getting up and then again in the afternoon, once Matthew had left the house. Matthew had decided not to go to school and had lain around most of the day, but when he started to feel better emotionally, he’d gotten dressed and told Charlotte and Curtis he was going out for a while. Curtina had still been at Aunt Emma’s, and Agnes had left early for her granddaughter’s dance recital, so Charlotte and Curtis had found themselves alone. It was almost as if they’d fallen in love all over again and were enjoying a mini honeymoon.
Charlotte bit into a piece of buttered toast. “So, sweetie, do you think you’re really up for going back to school today?”
“Yep,” Matthew said. “I’m good, Mom.”
“Because if you don’t feel like going, you don’t have to.”
“No. I’m really okay.”
Curtis set down the sports section of the newspaper and drank some of the espresso Agnes had made for him. With the exception of an occasional vanilla latte, Charlotte wasn’t a huge coffee or caffeine fan, but Curtis loved just about any kind. “I know I’ve said this more than once already, son, but your mom and I are very proud of you. You put your life on the line for those two girls, and then you did everything you could to try to help Mr. Rush.”
“I tried to do the right thing, Dad. Just like you’ve always encouraged me to do.”
“Well, you did an awesome job.”
“But it still wasn’t good enough, because look what happened. Mr. Rush shot himself, and Elijah and Jonathan were telling me last night that he’s in critical condition.”
“Nonetheless,” Curtis said, “you did your best and that’s all God ever expects from us. It’s all we expect from you, too.”
“Exactly,” Charlotte added.
Curtina clapped her hands and picked up her sippy cup. Agnes had filled it with apple juice, and Curtina seemed to love it. Actually, she’d probably loved it for some time now, but until today, Charlotte had never paid much attention to her likes, dislikes, or to her, period. She was really trying, though. It wasn’t easy, but she was trying not to feel any animosity or hatred toward her, not when things were going so wonderfully with her and Curtis. Things were fabulous, and Charlotte could even see how elated Matthew was about the two of them being on happy terms again. He’d let her know how he felt during the drive home from the school, so Charlotte was glad she and Curtis were now in a different place.
“You love that stuff, don’t you, little girl?” Matthew said. Curtina grinned, nodded, and took another sip.
Curtis smiled at his daughter, and Charlotte thought about Marissa. Oh, how she missed her child and would do anything to have her back. It was clear that Marissa had been born with a few “issues,” so to speak, and she hadn’t been the nicest child in the world, but Charlotte had still loved her. Plus, it wasn’t like she could help who she was. Yes, she had a demented personality, did devious things to people, but it was only because she’d inherited serious mental problems from her psycho father. Charlotte still remembered the day she’d caught Marissa waving her hand through a flaming burner on top of the stove and looking as though this was something normal.
; If only Charlotte hadn’t been in denial for so long and had tried to get her some help a lot sooner, things might have turned out differently. There was a chance she would have gotten better and would have been much more equipped to deal with the news she’d overheard Charlotte and Curtis arguing about—that Curtis wasn’t her biological father. She’d heard the truth, taken it badly, and had plummeted down the stairway accidentally.
“Hey, baby,” Curtis said. “When you finish up at the hair salon, why don’t you meet me for lunch?”
“I can do that. I won’t be finished until around two, though.”
“That’s fine. I won’t be finished with my one o’clock meeting until around then, anyway. So, let’s just meet at two-thirty. Actually, I’ll probably just take the rest of the afternoon off.”
“Sounds good.”
“Can I get you more espresso, Mr. Curtis?” Agnes asked, clearing away Matthew’s plate.
“No, I think I’ll pass.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’m good. Well, I’d better get going.” Curtis scooted his chair back from the island. “I have a couple of meetings this morning, and since I was gone yesterday, I have a few things to catch up on.”
Matthew stood as well. “I need to get out of here, too. See you later, little girl,” he said, kissing Curtina on her forehead.
“Bye-bye,” she said, waving at him.
Curtis slipped on his navy blue pinstriped jacket, and Charlotte admired how classy he always looked. Always picture-perfect by anyone’s definition. The perfect tie, the perfect tailor-made French cuff white shirt, the perfect suit.
“I guess I should get dressed myself,” Charlotte said. “My appointment isn’t until eleven-thirty, but I need to run a couple of those errands I never got around to the other day.”
Curtis walked over and kissed her. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Okay.”
Matthew hugged her good-bye, and Curtis pulled Curtina from her high chair, removed her jumbo-sized bib, and put her coat on. Within minutes, they were all on their way to their respective destinations.
About an hour later, Charlotte was finally in her car, heading to the beauty supply store. She had driven for all of two blocks when she heard her phone chiming. There was no doubt that it was Michael again, because she still hadn’t called him back. He’d sent her a couple of text messages the evening of the Mr. Rush incident and then again yesterday morning, but all she’d done was delete them. She’d been solely focused on Curtis over the last forty-eight hours, and she didn’t know what to say to Michael. She knew she wanted to tell him the truth, but after that dream she’d had, she was a little nervous. She knew she owed him an explanation, though, so when she slowed at the stop sign, she pulled out her phone, adjusted her earpiece, and dialed his number.
He picked up on the second ring. “Wow, I can’t believe it. You finally called me.”
“I know. I’m really sorry that I haven’t before now but a lot has happened.”
“Yeah, I assumed as much when I saw on WGN that a teacher in Mitchell had shot himself after holding three students hostage. They didn’t mention your son’s name but they did say one of the kids was the son of the popular pastor Curtis Black.”
“I wanted to call you, but it was never really the right time.”
“No problem. You had to take care of your son, and I understand that.”
When the light changed, Charlotte proceeded through the intersection but dreaded breaking the news to him.
“Why are you so quiet?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”
“Sort of.”
“Should I be concerned?”
“You probably won’t be happy about it.”
“Hmmm. I don’t think I like the sound of this.”
“I can’t see you anymore,” she said, as quickly as she could.
“Whoa. You’re right. I’m not happy to hear that at all.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. But Curtis and I have reconciled.”
“Really? In a matter of two days?”
“I know that sounds fast, but I did a lot of soul-searching and regardless of what has happened between Curtis and I in the past, I love him.”
“Gosh. So, you love him, and I love you.”
Charlotte hated this and couldn’t have felt worse. “I never should have started seeing you, Michael, and I apologize for that. I’m sorry for getting involved with you when I knew I was married.”
“But that’s just it, baby. We’re both married and very unhappy.”
“I was unhappy. But not anymore.”
“And you’re even okay with having your stepdaughter live with you? You’re fine with being a mother to her?”
“Not exactly. But I think I can be in the future. Especially if it means keeping our family together.”
“Well, if you don’t mind my saying so, I think you’re making a pretty big mistake.”
“I disagree. Curtis and I have history and the kind of love that will never die. We’ve been through lots of storms together, but one fact always remains: we don’t want to live without each other.”
“So, there’s nothing I can say to change your mind, I guess.”
“No.”
“Well, this is definitely a huge blow for me. Not what I expected to hear first thing this morning at all.”
“I know. And I really do feel bad about this, Michael. You and I had a good time together over this last week, but it was wrong.”
“No. Actually, I hadn’t felt so good about anything in years—and if you want to know the truth, I really did have high hopes about you leaving Curtis and marrying me.”
Charlotte turned into the parking lot of the strip mall and felt horrible. “Maybe you can work things out with Sybil,” she said, for lack of anything better to say.
Michael laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“The irony in what you just said.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I was so sure about you and me that I contacted an attorney yesterday afternoon. To get my divorce proceedings started.”
“Does Sybil know about that?”
“Yes. I told her last night.”
“Please don’t tell me I was the only reason you did that,” she said, thinking how dead-on her dream had been.
“I was planning to end things with her, anyway, but after spending time with you, I decided to do it immediately. I wanted to be free and ready for a new life. Which I thought included you.”
“I know I sound like a broken record, but Michael, I’m so, so sorry about this.”
“Hey, it is what it is. I knew you were married, so it’s not like I should have expected anything one way or the other.”
“I never should have contacted you on Facebook.”
“Maybe. But I was the one who responded and then asked you to get together with me. So, I’m just as much at fault.”
“Well, for whatever it’s worth, I did enjoy my time with you. You’re a wonderful guy, Michael, and any woman would be lucky to have you.”
“Yeah, but it’s you I really wanted.”
Charlotte sat with the car running and wished she’d thought long and hard before being with him. She’d made a careless and very selfish mistake, and now Michael had been hurt in the process. Not to mention, she’d hurt Curtis, too, except he just didn’t know about it.
“Well, hey,” he said. “I have to head out for a meeting, but you take care of yourself, okay?”
“I will. And you do the same, Michael.”
Michael told her good-bye, and Charlotte wanted to cry. What was wrong with her and all these terrible decisions she kept making? She had a whole list of things she’d done since marrying Curtis and even before she’d married him, she’d started sleeping with him while he was still married to his first wife, Tanya. Charlotte hadn’t thought twice about it at the time. Although, back then she’d been very young and hadn’t known any better, but today was diff
erent. Right now, she was in her thirties, and there was simply no excuse. It was almost like she felt entitled when it came to doing whatever she wanted as long as it made her happy, regardless of whom she ended up harming in the process.
Charlotte reached to turn her ignition off but stopped when her phone rang. Her stomach stirred when she saw the word Private.
“Hello?”
“So how are you on this beautiful but very cold morning?”
“Why are you calling me again?”
“I told you I’d give you some time to get used to all of this. Remember?”
“Well, I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Oh, I think you do. You’d better have a lot to say or else I’ll be calling the good Reverend Black with the quickness.”
“So is this a regular thing for you? Meeting women, sleeping with them, and then threatening to tell their husbands?”
“No. Not a regular thing at all. Actually, this is only my first time.”
“But why me?”
“Like I told you the other day,” he sang. “All in good time. When I’m ready, you’ll know everything.”
“You know what?” Charlotte said, tiring of him. “You go ahead and call my husband or anyone else you want to, because he’ll never believe you. He’ll just think you’re some crazy person who doesn’t have anything else better to do.”
“I don’t think you want that.”
“My husband knows I love him, and by the time I tell him my truth, he’ll laugh in your face.”
“I’ll tell you what. I’m going to end this call with you and send you something. Then, I’ll call you back,” he said and hung up.
Charlotte waited for a couple of minutes and then heard a text message coming through. “Oh, God, no,” she said after opening it. The text contained a photo of her, lying naked across the bed at that motel she’d gone to with Tom. Her eyes were closed, so he must have taken it when she’d been asleep.
This couldn’t be. Not now. Not when all she’d done was sleep with this man one time.
Love, Honor, and Betray Page 16