Patrice’s shoulders slumped. At least the officer wasn’t here to say Kareem was hurt or in trouble.
“I’ll get the chief,” Patrice said. “If you’ll follow me to my father’s study, you two can speak in there.”
The officer nodded his head. “Thank you.”
She led him to the study, before interrupting the conversation the police chief was having with Chad. “Excuse me, but one of your officers is here to see you. I left him in my father’s study. He said it’s important.”
The bushy white brows of Chief Parker met over his steel grey eyes. “Thank you.”
After leaving the two of them together, Patrice went back to the front of the house. The party was going full swing, but she couldn’t force another laugh or another conversation. No one seemed to care that a party in honor of Kareem was going without him. Her father may like Kareem somewhat, but the rest of her family along with their social circle couldn’t care less about the man she loved.
The door to her father’s study burst open. Chief Parker stared at her with serious eyes. “You may want to go into the study. I’ll get the rest of your family.”
The heart that scrambled up her throat earlier plummeted to her stomach with a sick thud. Kareem had been angry when he left, but she couldn’t believe he would do something reckless.
The minutes oozed by slower than molasses in January as she waited for the rest of her family to join her in the study. The other officer waited with her, but his lips were sealed when she asked what was wrong, saying it was best for the chief to explain.
Her mother took one look at her and hurried over. “What’s wrong, Patrice?”
“I have no idea,” Patrice said. “Chief Parker asked me to wait in here.”
Her father came in next, followed by Chad and Melinda and Beth and Lad. Roland pushed through the door as Chief Parker tried to close it.
“This was mainly for family,” Chief Parker said.
Janice nodded and waved Roland over to their side. “Roland and Lad are family.”
Resentment sizzled and popped in Patrice’s midsection. No doubt her mother would fail to extend that same familiarity with Kareem.
Chief Parker nodded. “Fine. I’ll get straight to the point. Officer Jones responded to an attempted robbery at the Panera Bread not too far from here. Two teenage boys and an adult male were implicated in the robbery.”
Melinda gasped and Chad wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “What does this have to do with us?”
“One of the boys is your son Joshua.” Chief Parker then looked to Patrice. “The man is Patrice’s fiancé.”
The room swayed, and Patrice sputtered. “You must be mistaken. Kareem wouldn’t rob the Panera.”
Officer Jones stepped forward. “They didn’t rob the Panera. The boys responded to an online ad from a family who wanted to sell their tablet. When the family met, allegedly your fiancé jumped out of a car, snatched the tablet, and they all took off running.”
A humorless laugh escaped Patrice. “This is ridiculous. Completely absurd. Why in the world would Kareem try to snatch a tablet and run?”
Chad crossed his arms. “And why would Joshua think to do something so ludicrous if your fiancé hadn’t put the idea into his mind.”
“Kareem wouldn’t put Joshua up to this,” Patrice said with her hands on her hips. “If anything he would try to talk him out of it.”
Officer Jones cleared his throat. “Either way, we’ve got your fiancé in custody and are still looking for the two teens. When we ran the plates on the car and discovered who he was, I took it upon myself to come and alert the family first.”
Because of who they were.
“How did you get Kareem?” Patrice asked.
“He returned to the scene, and that’s where we apprehended him,” Officer Jones said.
Patrice threw up her hands. “Do you hear how crazy this all sounds? There’s no way he would return to the scene of a crime if he committed one.”
Janice placed a hand in the middle of Patrice’s back. “He’s been out of the gang for a while dear. Maybe—”
“If you’re about to imply he’s rusty on his robbery skills then can it, Mother.” Patrice jerked away from her mother’s touch and looked back to the chief. “Have you questioned him? Found out what happened, gotten some type of explanation?”
Chad slapped his fist into his palm. “The only explanation is you brought a thug into the family who put Joshua and his friend at risk. I told you he was no good.”
“I don’t have time for this,” Patrice said. “I’m going to the station, and I’m bailing Kareem out. You worry about finding Joshua and getting the real story about what happened.”
She hurried to the door.
“Wait!” Roland called out. “I’ll go with you.”
“Roland, I’ve got this,” she said.
“You’re upset and shouldn’t drive. Please, let me go with you.”
Her father stepped forward and nodded his approval. “Let him drive, Patrice. It would make me feel better.”
She clenched her teeth and sucked in a heavy breath. “Fine.”
Roland placed a hand at her elbow and led her out of the house. The sound of her family’s murmurs as they strategized a plan to find Joshua and cover the scandal of Kareem’s arrest followed them before the door closed. This entire situation was a nightmare. She had no doubt Kareem wasn’t involved, but she couldn’t fathom Joshua agreeing to such a harebrained scheme. If this thing blew up—no, when it blew up—the backlash would hurt her father’s career, and tarnish the Baldwin name. Combine that with Kareem’s name tied to it, and the unexplained rumors of prostitution at his gentlemen’s salon and things would be terrible.
She pressed a hand to her throbbing temple and tried to suppress the impending headache from all of the crap that happened today.
“Are you okay?” Roland asked as he maneuvered his car out of her parents’ crowded drive. He reached over to gently pat her leg.
“I’m fine. I just want to get this entire situation straightened out.” She shifted in the seat until he pulled his hand back.
“I can’t believe Joshua would do something like this on his own,” Roland said.
“I’d bet money it wasn’t his idea.”
“Then whose idea was it?”
She cut her eyes his way. “You can’t possibly believe it was Kareem’s idea?”
Roland shrugged but didn’t take his eyes off the road. “I don’t know, Patrice. I like Kareem because you love him. But after the things I heard tonight … I just don’t know if he’s good for you.”
“Oh please, not you too.”
“I thought the prostitution rumors were something that would blow over, but they came up again tonight.” Roland glanced at her quickly. “Then there’s this robbery with Joshua. I know you want things to work out with him, but some people don’t change. He was once in a gang. He’s used to easy money and hurting people. Patrice, what if he just looked at you as his ticket to deeper pockets?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it like? Because he doesn’t treat you like a fiancée,” Roland said in a snappy voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was my place to say anything. Not after I ignored your problems when we were together.”
“You know what, forget it. Let’s stop this conversation right now. I don’t believe the rumors about the business, and I don’t believe he’s actually involved in this robbery.”
“But—”
“No buts, Roland. I don’t want to talk about it.” She punched the armrest.
He gripped the steering wheel. “Fine. I won’t say anything else.”
“Thank you.”
They were silent for the rest of the trip to the police station. She ran into the stone and brick building to the information desk.
“I’m here to bail out Kareem Henderson,” she said to the officer behind the desk.
“Just a moment.” The man said, then
punched in something on the computer on his desk. “Attempted robbery. Give me a minute.” He said and got up. Several minutes later he came back. “Looks like someone beat you to it. He’s on the way out now.”
Patrice frowned. “Who?”
The officer shrugged then answered the phone ringing on his desk. Patrice glanced around the crowded lobby. Her gaze landed on Sandra. Patrice sucked in a breath.
He called Sandra instead of me.
“What’s wrong?” Roland asked.
“A lot,” she said.
Another officer led Kareem out, and Sandra ran over to hug him. A sharp, jagged pain sliced through Patrice’s heart.
Patrice stomped over to the two. “You called her. Instead of reaching out to me, you call your brother’s fiancée. I thought you weren’t in love with her.”
Sandra’s eyes widened, and she held up both hands. “I’m going to walk away and let you two handle this.”
Kareem glared at Patrice. “That’s the first thing you’re going to say.”
“What the hell else am I supposed to say, Kareem? You stormed out of the house, an officer comes and accuses you of helping Joshua with a robbery, and instead of reaching out to me you call Sandra?”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “For your information, I called David, who then let me know Sandra was in Charlotte for her job. Thank you for once again proving how little you trust me.”
“I … I thought …” she stammered.
“Yeah, I know what you thought. Just like you thought the worst of me earlier. Just like you and your family probably believe I would convince your teenage nephew to participate in the dumbest robbery scheme ever.”
“No, I don’t believe that.”
Kareem looked over her shoulder, and his jaw hardened. “Just like you thought it was okay to come bail me out with him by your side.”
Patrice ran her hands over her face. Her heart twisted into a figure eight knot, and she didn’t know where to start to untangle things.
“Kareem, I’m sorry.” She dropped her hands. The hard, flat look of his dark eyes tightened the knot in her chest. “I was worried, and when I saw her I got jealous. I know earlier tonight was … royally screwed up, but if we just stop and talk about things—”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the bulimia?”
Patrice’s mouth fell open. Her skin tightened, and the air in the room burned in her chest. “You know about that?”
Some life returned to his eyes in the form of pain and betrayal, both of which cut her deeply. “Yes. The problem is, why didn’t I hear about it from you?” He took a step forward, his body vibrating with anger. “Why didn’t the woman I trusted with my secrets not care enough to trust me with hers?”
Patrice licked her lips and tried to think of a good enough reason, but they all rang hollow. “I was embarrassed,” she whispered.
An angry, bitter smile twisted his lips. “You were embarrassed. Yeah. That’s cute.” He took a step back and shook his head. “I’m done talking. Let’s cut our losses and move on.”
“No.” Her voice trembled. Patrice reached out to put her hand on his arm.
Kareem pulled back. “Yes. I’m tired of playing your thug boyfriend. You’ve got the perfect guy for you right over there. One you can trust, because obviously you don’t trust me.”
He brushed past her and strode over to Sandra. Sandra gave Patrice a wary look, but Kareem shook his head and headed for the door. Sandra followed, but threw a glance over her shoulder. Patrice’s heart shattered. He’d walked out of her life, and she had no one to blame but herself.
CHAPTER 30
“So, you want to tell me what that entire scene was about?” Sandra glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
Kareem twisted in the passenger seat of her small SUV and stared out the window. “No.”
“Well, I think you need to tell me something. I thought things were going pretty good with you up here with her so much. You told your mom you like her. Now I’m bailing you out of jail, and she’s spouting off you’re in love with me. Sorry, Kareem, but you need to explain.”
Kareem ran a hand over his face. Irritation tightened his skin and made him want to scream. Today had turned into a colossal mistake of epic proportions.
“For you to call David must mean things got bad,” Sandra said in a softer, less scolding tone.
“I called David because there was no way I would ask my parents to bail me out of jail again, and Aaron is out of town.”
“Fine, David was your last resort, but you still owe some type of explanation. Come on, Kareem, talk to me.”
He let out a loud sigh and leaned his head back on the seat. “I thought things were good with Neecie, but they aren’t.”
Several seconds passed. He hoped she let the subject drop.
“Aren’t how?”
“I trusted her with things I haven’t trusted with anyone else,” he said. “Things I don’t even like to think about I shared with her. And instead of trusting me in return, she automatically doubted me.”
“Doubted you how?”
His neck tightened. Sandra was worse than the cop who’d interrogated him. “Someone accused me of something.” He glanced at Sandra, noticed the twist of her lip and decided he might as well tell the rest of the story. “I’m up here opening my gentlemen’s lounge.” Sandra nodded. “Tonight was the soft opening and a player from the basketball team told Neecie I said he and other patrons could pay to sleep with my female employees.”
Sandra sucked in a breath. “That’s unbelievable.”
“That’s what I expected Neecie to say.”
“Did she believe him?”
“She came and asked me about it. She didn’t come right out and say she believed him, but the pissed off way she came at me said all I needed to know. She wasn’t completely sure.”
Sandra lifted a shoulder, and her hands slid back and forth on the leather wheel. “You’re still discovering things about each other. It’s only natural that she would ask you about something that important.”
“But she should have known I would never take advantage or use my employees like that. She worked for me for a year, and I told her about what happened in jail. I shouldn’t have trusted her.”
Sandra’s upper teeth toyed with her lower lip. “What happened in jail?” she asked softly.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” He wouldn’t tell another person about what happened. “But that’s not all. She kept things from me. Important things. I don’t know if I can trust her.”
“Okay.” Sandra shook her head. “Look, I’m not excusing her. I know better than anyone that without trust a relationship can’t work. But are you sure you two can’t talk things out?”
“For what? Even if we were to work things out there’s still the issue of her family. They come with more drama than I want to deal with. I chased her sorry-ass nephew to Panera to try and stop him from stealing a tablet from a guy advertising on the Internet. I’m the one who ends up accused of being a part of the crime.”
“Why didn’t you call Neecie and explain?”
“The Baldwin family screwed me over twice today. I didn’t want to call and give them another chance to screw me over again.” He let out a humorless laugh. “But she showed up and I got it anyway.”
“I still don’t know why she’s so upset about me. She said you loved me. Kareem …”
He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t worry. We both know that for a brief period of time, I thought …” Kareem dropped his hand. “I considered what would have happened if you and David hadn’t reconnected at that party. If maybe our first date would have turned to something more. But that was for a brief period. I’m happy for you and David.” He pointed to her stomach. “Happy about the baby.”
He meant the words. All the spinning emotions in his brain tonight and none included leftover longing or jealousy where David and Sandra were concerned. Just a bunch of damn hurt and discomfort ov
er Neecie.
“So you aren’t in love with me.”
“No. I love Neecie.” Damn! Where the hell had that come from? The words just spilled out. Pain followed them. Rip out your intestines and tie them like shoelaces pain. Pain around his heart, deep in his gut, pounding through his brain. He loved a woman he couldn’t trust, a woman too far out of his league even if he could trust her.
“Oh, Kareem,” Sandra said all soft and sappy.
“Stop. This thing I started with Neecie is done. We both knew it wouldn’t last. I don’t belong in her world. Her family barely tolerates me and is happy to point out that she deserves better. And after tonight, I can’t trust any of them.”
“But you love her. Kareem, that means something.”
“It means I’m bad about choosing the women I care about.” He gave her a meaningful look.
Sandra’s brows knit together. “I understand you’re mad, and maybe you and Neecie aren’t destined to be together. But if you love her, and if you thought she was worthy enough to tell something you won’t even talk to your family about, that’s important. You deserve to be happy, Kareem. Don’t throw happiness away at the first sign of trouble.”
Kareem stared out of the window. Everyone told him he deserved to be happy, but whenever he thought he found something that made him happy things blew up in his face. The thought of being without Neecie filled him with regret, but regret was better than a lifetime of trying to prove to everyone, including himself, they belonged together.
• • •
All of the cars from the party were absent when Patrice and Roland arrived back at her parents’ home. Her body felt heavy, weighted down with the knowledge things were over between her and Kareem. He’d trusted her, and she’d accused him of terrible things.
Roland came to her side and slid his arm around her shoulder. “Are you going to be okay?”
She was too tired to care about moving away. “I’ll be fine.”
“Despite what I said earlier, I’m not happy to see you and him split. Not if you’re hurting.”
Roland’s words of comfort only grated her nerves. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” She picked up her pace toward the front door and eventually his arm fell away.
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