“Talk to me,” he said into the phone. “Let me put you on speaker phone.”
He pushed a few buttons and then held his phone up between us. “Go ahead.”
“Hi, Tori.” Jeff’s voice came through the line. He sounded excited, which was a good sign.
“Hi. What’s the big news, Jeff?”
“About fifteen minutes ago, federal agents arrested Annabelle outside of Rich’s house.”
I gasped at that news. “What?”
“Suzy Lawson, AKA Annabelle Watson, was arrested on charges of identity theft and suspicion of murder.”
My hand shot out and grabbed the counter in an effort to keep myself standing upright. I looked at Jay to see him smiling radiantly.
“Is this for real?” I asked unbelievingly.
“As real as it gets,” Jay answered.
“Between Jay’s friend and my investigator, they were able to track down the sister of Annabelle’s, well Suzy’s, ex-husband. Seems he and his girlfriend disappeared not long after their divorce was finalized. Authorities believe she and her boyfriend at the time were responsible. Turns out the ex had never changed over his life insurance beneficiary after the papers were signed. Annabelle then stole an eighty year old woman’s identity after the woman was nice enough to take her in. The woman’s grandkids say that Annabelle had told the woman that her husband beat her, and she was on the run with no money. The woman felt sorry for her. Worst decision she probably ever made,” Jeff explained.
“I can’t believe this is over,” I muttered in a daze of all sorts of emotions. Happiness, sadness, anger, and disappointment. “I wish that bitch had never set eyes on my father.”
“She’s going away for a long time, T. Focus on that. She got shit from your father and she just lost her freedom,” Jay reminded me.
“He’s right,” Jeff concurred. “I’m going to let you guys celebrate. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Wait,” I stopped him. “What about Rich?”
“I suspect he’ll have a lot of groveling to do if he ever wants back in this family. Enjoy the rest of your day guys.” With that, Jeff hung up.
“We got some celebrating to do,” Jay announced. “Go get dressed up. I’m taking you out for a night on the town. Then I’m going to fuck you in as many rooms in this house as I can tonight.”
That caused a shiver in numerous places. I could live with that.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Thank you,” I said into Jay’s chest. We were laying in bed, and he was holding me close.
The night before we had a wonderful night out on the town celebrating our news. There was great food, excellent champagne, and lots of dancing and laughing. Once we got home, there was lots of playtime. In the kitchen, in the dining room, and on the stairs.
I was on cloud nine with the way everything had turned around for us. Life was good, and I was going to bask in the glory of it. In the space of twenty-four hours, I gained a full-time daughter—well, technically—and my arch enemy was arrested and facing serious charges. I just hoped my dad was happy in heaven with my mom and not kicking himself in the ass for trusting such a snake.
“For what?” He asked.
“Everything. This is a beautiful life and it’s only going to get better. Thank God you went into Lace that night.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” He kissed the top of my head and ran his hand down my back to grip my ass. I knew what that meant. Jay, or more aptly Jay’s dick, was ready to play a little game of slap and tickle.
“Not this morning, Casanova.” I grabbed his hand to stop him.
“Thought you just said this life was about to get better. In my mind that means smashin’ my woman.”
“Yes, well. Let’s just say I’m not pregnant and we can smash again in a few days.”
The corner of his mouth turned up in a sad grin. “Sucks. Kinda liked the idea of you barefoot and pregnant.”
“Me too.”
We lay in silence for a while, and I thought about how I had wanted to be pregnant once I knew it was a possibility. Life was too short to worry about how long we had been together or what kind of shit was going to get thrown our way. Deciding to embrace the moment, I said, “So I was thinking that maybe we could start trying for a baby.”
I really hoped he said yes. I couldn’t wait to be pregnant with his child. I pictured him rubbing my swollen belly and doting on me. The very idea of another little girl or boy for him to spoil, or more accurately to wrap him around their finger, made my biological tick loud and hard.
“Like the way you think.”
“Good.” I squeezed him and started drawing patterns on his chest. “Can we go to my special spot down by the Arboretum today?”
“Anything you want, T. All you gotta do is ask.”
Yes, life was good.
* * *
The bike pulled off to the side of the road, and I swung my leg over and took my helmet off.
“What’s in the bag?” I asked, referring to the bag Jay pulled from his Harley’s saddlebags.
“A surprise. Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed my hand, and we began our trek to the boulder overlooking the lake and the Dallas skyline that I visited so many times as a youngster.
“What did you do?” I asked when I realized the path was completely clear of the junk and overgrowth that was there the last time we were here.
“This place is special for you. I wanted to make it beautiful again. Bought the plot of land and had it cleaned up.” His hand squeezed mine, and he turned to look at me.
Talk about going above and beyond to make me happy.
“You’re amazing,” I breathed. This was such a great gift.
“Can’t take all the credit. Keesha worked her ass off to make this possible.”
“Well, be sure to give her a raise,” I joked.
“Not so sure about that,” he joked back.
We settled on the boulder, and I put my head on Jay’s shoulder. This place really was beautiful and brought such a sense of peace to me whenever I was here. I imagined Jazzy and hopefully three or four little mini-Jay’s or T’s running around enjoying this place like I did as a youngster, while Jay and I sat just like this watching them.
“We should bring Jazzy here,” he informed me. I wondered if he had similar thoughts to mine when he said that.
“No. You should bring her here. She deserves a special place with you, especially now that things are going to be changing for her. I’m willing to share and then eventually we can start working me into the mix.” At least for now I’d let it be their thing. Once we had more time together and she was more used to me, it would definitely become a family thing.
“Alright. I’ll bring her up here and we’ll make it a thing. I just hope she can sit still long enough to enjoy it.”
I laughed at that. She really did have a rather large amount of energy. “I’m sure I drove my father crazy a time or two when he brought me here.”
“Probably,” he agreed. “Which reminds me.”
Jay dug in the bag he brought and produced a chocolate croissant and a small bottle of chocolate milk. When he handed them to me tears sprung to my eyes. “You remembered?”
“Remember everything you’ve ever told me. It won’t bring your dad back, but it will remind you he’s here with you.”
“I love you.” The tears fell from my eyes. I swiped at them and vowed I wasn’t going to cry anymore about this.
I took a bite of the pastry and then shook the bottle of milk before taking a sip.
Everything about being here was just like I remembered. The smells, the scenery, and being with a man I loved. Perfect.
We watched the city as everyone went about their business. The birds chirped, boats passed by, and off in the distance kids played. It was the most wonderful way to cap off all the amazing things that were happening to us.
“Got you something else.” Jay rooted in the bag again and pulled out a box from Harry Winston, identical to
the one he gave me on my birthday.
“You didn’t need to…” I trailed off once I saw what was inside.
It was a necklace like my birthday necklace, but better for obvious reasons. Inside the locket was a diamond encrusted “Love” charm, a diamond encrusted J and T, a peridot for my birthstone, an opal, and a garnet—which I knew was Jay’s birthstone. Dangling next to the locket were three tags, each one with a different saying: Love, Trust, and Forever.
“The opal is Jazzy’s birthstone,” he explained. “You can either wear it alone or there is an extender so that it can hang off your first locket.”
“It’s perfect. Shit. I’m going to cry.” And just like that the dam opened and tears flowed.
Jay gripped each side of my face and pulled me to him. His thumbs swiped away my tears. “Love you, T.”
“I love you, too. Put it on me?” I held my hair up and he did the clasp for me. “I’m going to wear this every day.”
“It’s not a ring, but—”
“I don’t care. It means more to me than a ring. You’re very thoughtful, Mr. Santiago.”
“I try.”
“I fell in love with a great guy,” I declared while looking at my necklace.
He shook his head and gave me a mischievous grin. “No. You fell in love with a bad guy.”
“Wrong. I fell in love with the perfect guy.” I gave him a wide smile and leaned into him. My head rested on his shoulder again.
“Nutty,” he murmured against my hair after he kissed me there.
“Want to ride off into the sunset with me? It’s still part of the dream,” I told him.
We might not be getting married anytime soon, or well ever, but he was still my knight and we were still going to have a kick ass future just like I always imagined.
“Totally fucking nutty,” he said with a smile in his voice.
I looked up at him and batted my eyelashes. “But you love me.”
He gave me a deep, wet kiss. When he pulled back, the amount of love I saw in his eyes made my heart skip a beat. “You know I fucking do.”
Epilogue
The private jet came to a halt, and I lifted the sleeping toddler out of the car seat and into my arms. The assistants I brought with me would worry about things like the luggage and car seats. I had better things to focus on. Like getting my clan out and into the waiting car.
“Jazzy, hold your brother’s and sister’s hands for me.”
“Sure thing Mama T,” Jazzy murmured as she finished sending a text and pocketing her phone. I swear that thing was more of a nuisance than it was helpful. We had barely landed before she had it on and was communicating with God knows who.
I smiled at her when she called me Mama T. Even though she wasn’t my flesh and blood, I loved her like she was. Monica had no idea what she was missing out on. She still had her weekend visitation, but other than that she didn’t put in more than the minimal amount of effort necessary to raise her daughter. I felt bad for Jazzy and did everything I could to make her feel loved the way she should.
“Malika and Marcus, hold your sister’s hand. And no running,” I added as an afterthought. Those two were crazy. At four and five, they weren’t far apart in age and were known to get into trouble wherever trouble could be had. I often joked they were Thing One and Thing Two from Dr. Seuss’ books. My little mischief causers.
Malika was the product of one hot, sweaty night of sex when Jay came home from an extended time on Plado’s tour. I had been breastfeeding Marcus and we didn’t take the time for precautions. Jayden, our eighteen month old daughter, was planned however. Lots of baby making practice went into her conception. Lots and lots and lots. It was memorable, that’s for sure.
We exited the plane and Jerome helped me load up the kids into the waiting SUV. Thank heavens for third row seats. I refused to rock a minivan. Now before you judge, I test drove one and even had Jay’s blessing if I wanted it. I just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t who I was. I was a sporty convertible, large SUV type of girl. And that was who I was going to keep being as long as I could. Which was why I had an Escalade for when I had the kids and a Bentley convertible for when it was just me.
I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt. One last glance in the back assured me everyone was buckled in and ready to go. I gave Jerome a slight nod and he put the car in drive.
“How’s he doing?” I asked Jerome.
“He’s good. No nerves at all. Or at least that I can tell,” he replied.
No nerves at all? I had no idea how I could be a complete mess of nerves while he was cool as a cucumber. Butterflies had been dancing around in my stomach all day. I barely slept last night thanks to my anxiety.
I took several deep breaths to try to relax before deciding that I needed conversation to keep my mind off my nerves. I was too used to tuning the kids out for that background noise to help.
“How’s Lucy?” Much to my surprise Lucy stuck after all these years. Mike was still whoring around, but Jerome was settled and married. I was proud of him.
“She’s real good.” A slow grin spread across Jerome’s face. “She’s just starting to show and let me tell you, she’s becomin’ one helluva wildcat with her hormones.”
“I know how that goes,” I muttered under my breath. Whenever I was pregnant, Jay had his hands full. Morning, noon and night I wanted it. He even joked once that he never thought he’d be tired of sex, but that I was leading him to it. I let out a soft giggle remembering that conversation, and how I ended it by giving him something more productive to do with his mouth.
“And Sylvia’s house is all set for tonight?”
“Yup. Everything’s baby proofed and she’s waiting for us.” His tone held amusement at how anal I was when it came to the kid’s safety. It had been a few years since there was an infant on the move in her house so I was being extra cautious.
“Good.” I closed my eyes and leaned back in my seat. It felt like forever until we arrived at my mother-in-law’s house.
Yes, I said mother-in-law. Jay finally put a ring on it.
Right before Marcus was born, we flew to a remote island, and we were married with just our family and close friends in attendance. Seems he had a change of heart and decided we needed to be a real family before his son was born. He had a whole speech planned on how he wanted his son to grow up knowing that his father showed his mother respect and love. He wanted to set an example on how women should be treated like queens and the first way to do that was to give me his last name.
He so did not need that speech.
I would have been completely happy even if we never married, but the fact that he came to that conclusion on his own meant the world to me.
“Nana!” Malika squealed at the top of her lungs when she saw her grandmother exit the house. The car was barely stopped and both kids were demanding out of their booster seats at decibels that should be illegal for kids to speak in. Jazzy reached over the back seat and helped them both out. Doors flew open and then they were nothing but little streaks of color darting across the lawn.
Jayden started squirming and making her ‘I’m about to cry’ noise, so I quickly got out and rounded the car to get her. I lifted her out of her seat, bouncing her and cooing to her as I joined the ruckus on the front lawn.
“Give me that baby,” Sylvia demanded.
“She’s hungry,” I informed her after the exchange. “There’s food in the bag. Zeke should be behind us with all the luggage. Trina is going to stay behind in case you need help.”
“We’ll be fine. Stop worrying. I know how to take care of my grandbabies.” She gingerly kissed Jayden’s dark hair.
“Just try not to spoil them too much,” I half joked. The kids knew Nana would let them do and eat whatever they wanted. It was an argument I gave up on a long time ago.
“Shoo, child! And give my boy a big kiss from me when you see him. Let him know I’m real proud of him.” Her voice held conviction, and I could see a
shimmer of tears in her eyes. I knew all too well how all-encompassing a mother’s love was.
I nodded and kissed her cheek before kissing all the kids goodbye. I joined Jerome in the car, and then we were off—on our way to Madison Square Garden, where my husband was about to do a sold out performance.
It had been years since he did a solo concert. His time had been spent on producing and the occasional collaboration. But when he was approached by a youth organization in Harlem, struggling to help inner city kids, he jumped at the chance to do a concert that would raise money for them. All of the ticket sales for tonight’s show were being donated so kids like Jay, who wanted out of the projects but needed the help, would benefit. We had even bought out a section of seats for a group of kids to attend.
As we entered the back entrance of the arena, you could feel the buzz of energy in the air. It was electrifying and contagious. Tiny hairs on my body stood on end. None of the other times I was backstage for an event did it feel like this. Not even when we attended the Grammy’s or the MTV awards. This was on a whole other level.
I spied Jay behind his partially opened dressing room door. He looked good in a pair of baggy jeans and a wife beater. He had a Yankees hat pulled low over his eyes, and I could see his mouth and hands moving as he silently mouthed words to himself.
I gave a tiny knock on the door and pushed it open. My feet immediately took me across the room and into his arms. They wrapped around my waist and pulled me tight against his body. His lips met my lips, and his tongue swept into my mouth and tangled with mine.
When he broke the kiss, he whispered, “I missed you.” And I knew he had. He called me every night and told me so.
It had been a long two and a half weeks with him on the East coast preparing for the show, and me holding down the fort at home. I refused to take Jazzy out of school—even though her mother didn’t seem to care—so the kids and I had to wait to join him. Knowing our history, some might wonder if I was worried about him being gone for so long. And my answer would be no. I learned that I needed to trust him and to believe in what we had. He made his mistakes and I suffered for them, but I knew he made a conscious effort not to put us through that again.
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