Thinking of her, I couldn’t help but force the bitterness down.
She knew that I’d stopped celebrating my birthday a long time ago. When Keith cursed me out about three years ago, I’d stopped celebrating altogether. He complained that I always made a big deal about my birthday and didn’t see what was so special about them. Not only had he failed to recognize it, but he hadn’t purchased a gift for me since our second year together.
Trying to make him feel bad for his comment, the next year, I didn’t mention it and ignored everyone’s attempts to recognize me on that day. It didn’t bother Keith at all. From that day forward, I’d just foolishly stopped.
“He was a bad man that you were with. Someone like him does not deserve someone like you. He is an insecure little man who feels good about himself by putting down the best thing that has probably ever happened to him.”
Briefly, I thought about the baby that Keith and Lana were about to have. I was sure that Keith probably didn’t feel as if I was the best thing.
Lifting my head, Dante kissed my lips. “The best thing that ever happened to me.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to stem away the tears. My heart banged loudly in my chest, and I cautioned myself not to think too much into it. Dante was a lover; there was no doubt about it. He was skilled at making women feel good.
Sniffling, I looked at the boxes that he placed on my lap.
“Now open.”
Smiling again, I grabbed tissues off his desk and wiped my eyes and then my nose. Opening the box, I smiled at the designer jeans nestled in the tissue paper. The next box held a pair of grey python Louboutin heels.
“Dante! These are too expensive,” I said, giving him the box back.
“Fermare!”
“What?”
“Stop. It is rude to reject a gift. Besides, I was blessed with this wealth, and I was given it not to hoard but to spread and share. Try them on.”
I did as he insisted and stood in them, turning this way and that. The fact that I had a pair of these shoes made me do a little dance. And when I turned back around to face him, he held out a small rectangular box.
“You cannot give me any more gifts, Dante,” I said, worrying that he was doing too much for me.
“This is the last one, I promise,” he said, smiling at me as his brown eyes sparkled like chocolate diamonds. “Well, I have another physical hard gift I’d like to bestow upon you later,” he said with a charming smile.
“You’re nasty.”
Shaking his head and one finger, he said, “Indigo, where is your head, mia regina?"
Sucking my teeth and rolling my eyes, I accepted the box and opened it. My hand instantly flew to my mouth, and tears stung my eyes.
A gold diamond pendant necklace lay inside. A diamond-encrusted crown hung at the end of the chain. Dante carefully removed it from its setting and unclasped it.
“No matter where this life leads us and where time takes us, you will forever be my queen, Indigo,” he said after fastening it around my neck.
Turning me toward him, he wiped the tears from my eyes.
“Never fail to continue to carry yourself as such,” he said, lowering his head and giving me the sweetest kiss before he kneeled at my feet and took my hand in his and kissed it.
Rising again, Dante announced, “I think we just might need to christen this office. It hasn’t seen sex, and we should do something about that.”
Laughing, I pushed my hand against his chest.
“You know you didn’t need to do all of this for me, Dante.”
“I know that. Maeve told me that you probably wouldn’t accept it. But it was important to her that you remember how special you are on this day your parents birthed you. I don’t know why he was so jealous of you the way that he was. But that’s what this equates to is jealousy. I desire to cherish and adore you and pour all that you need to live a happy and healthy life back into you again.”
“You are such a sweet man, Dante. And while I never thought that I would say this, I’m thankful that my wedding day turned out the way that it did.”
“Are you?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Yes, because I wouldn’t have met you had it not been so.”
“Then so am I,” he said, lifting me onto his desk and spreading my legs once more.
I may have thought he was full from the breakfast I’d prepared for us, but Dante quickly showed me that he was still ravenous. And after he’d consumed a side of pussy he dug so deeply into me, working his way around his office to make sure that no spot was left untouched, that I was sore when he finished.
I was thankful the next day was Sunday. Calling out on Monday morning just might be what the doctor ordered. There was no way that I’d be able to walk like a normal person again for at least three days after I’d been with Dante.
CHAPTER 22 – INDIGO
Over the last couple of weeks, I had gone back to the warehouse but found no other suspicious activity. What I had found I’d turned in to my executive producer and was told the investigation by local police, FBI, and the ATF was still ongoing.
Yet, when the news broke, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw coming across my desk that morning. It had come in overnight, and I had missed the story. Having to be at the station at three in the morning, I had two hours to prepare myself for the shock of my life.
It was unfair that one moment you could be at the top of a roller coaster ride as the wind blew through your hair, and the butterflies tumbled around in the pit of your belly. And then, as quick as the blink of an eye, you could be plummeting to destruction, and everything was rushing up at you faster than a hundred miles an hour.
That was the feeling that struck me when I got the news two hours before going on air. And I’d instantly run to the bathroom throwing up.
Splashing cold water on my face hadn’t helped. Staring sightlessly into the mirror hadn’t helped. Returning to my car for an intense prayer session hadn’t helped. Not even asking Amy for the rest of the day off helped.
She’d asked if everything was okay and told me that I looked horrible. I lied and said I had a flu bug over the weekend and hoped it had passed, but I quickly realized it hadn’t. I told her that I was vomiting, which was true. But I also said that I had diarrhea, which was a lie.
If anything, it made it worse.
“Are you sure that you’re going to be okay? You were just fine half an hour ago.”
“I’ll be okay. I just need to leave.”
Amy pursed her lips and eyed me carefully. She was a brilliant woman and one who knew me well.
“Indi, do you know Mr. Bianchi?”
Amy’s brown eyes bore into mine, searching for the answers. I swallowed, pressed my lips tightly together, and squeezed my eyes shut. My attempt to keep the tears at bay didn’t work.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said with a loud sigh. “When I first brought the memo to you guys, I saw your reaction. The wide eyes, your jaw dropped, chest moving rapidly like you were struggling to breathe. And so, I tested a theory by dropping the picture we’d received of him onto your desk. I thought you were going to pass out. When I asked if anything was wrong, you said no. You played it well. But Sarah mentioned that she saw you in the restroom throwing up, and you didn’t look well.”
Sarah was Amy’s assistant, who was also a big mouth who couldn’t hold water.
“I didn’t know, Amy. I had nothing to do with any of this.”
“I know, Indi. I believe you; I really do. But you leave me with no choice but to suspend you for two weeks pending an investigation.”
“But this wasn’t my fault!” I cried in outrage.
“Honey, this may not be your fault. But this is not going to look good to the execs. I can tell you right now they’ll be pushing to fire you. But you’re loved by the public, and you’re good for our ratings, and...you are a good person. Just let me handle it this way right now. Trust me; it’s in your best interest.”
“Look, I get it, you’re angry. But look at it from this perspective. We have a news anchor involved with a local businessman who’s under arrest and investigation for a federal crime. Not to mention he’s involved in a crime that this news station is investigating. It won’t take long before other news stations learn about that development and report it. We have to get ahead of this. But, it just doesn’t look good, honey. Trust me, take this time to decompress. I’ll get to the bottom of things, and then you’ll be back to work in no time. If something occurs that clears your name before then; then you’ll be back sooner.”
I swiped angrily at my tears, hating what Dante had done to my life. What I’d allow him to do by falling for him. Another man had made a fool of me.
“Whatever,” I said, scooting to the edge of my chair and grabbing my bag.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes,” I bit out.
“Are you...if I’m crossing the line, just say so.”
“Amy...ask,” I said in a weary tone.
“Are you pregnant?”
I’d been vomiting a lot lately and been feeling extremely ill. It had started last week, and I’d chalked it up to being a bug that I hoped would pass soon. But it still hadn’t.
“No, I’m not. It’s a virus just like I told you,” I said.
“Okay. Well, get some rest and get better. I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening around here,” Amy advised.
We said our goodbyes, and I rushed from her office before I blew up at her.
Getting home happened by rote because I couldn’t recall turning down the streets that I’d known all my life, crossing over the bridge that crossed the bay leading out of town and into the suburbs.
I didn’t even recall parking the car and walking into the apartment.
Somehow I just ended up on the living room floor with my back pressed against the couch. Tears were streaming down my face, hiccupping sobs releasing now and then, and a ringing phone that was driving me out of my damned mind.
On top of that, there was that stupid stick still sitting on the counter of my sink that I’d left there last night while I contemplated what I would do about it.
Two months. I had spent two months with a man that I thought I was getting to know, and it was all a lie. I couldn’t count the hours that I’d spent with Dante since my birthday weekend in September. Couldn’t begin to think about Thanksgiving and how I’d rather spend it with Dante than at my parents’ house with family. He planned to spend the day with his family, who were flying in from Sicily.
Our plans for Christmas were still in the air. Between flying to spend the holiday with his family in Sicily and staying at his log cabin in the Catskill Mountains was where our discussion lie.
It amazed me that he was already thinking of introducing me to his family, and I hadn’t introduced him to mine. Dante often intimated that he wanted more than the arrangement we had, but he also respected that I needed to move slow.
Yet, the test in my bathroom didn’t indicate slow. And while I prayed that my stupidity the weekend of my birthday didn’t lead to a lifetime decision, it had done just that. Caught up in the euphoria of our weekend, I hadn’t thought about the fact that I didn’t have my pill with me and didn’t realize it until Sunday when I returned home and saw the packet lying on my bathroom counter.
Dante never used a condom, but he did pull out. According to the pregnancy test, that hadn’t worked out too well. Unfortunately, I had fallen into the twenty-two percent failure rate.
And now this.
The phone rang again, and I picked it up to throw it but saw Maeve’s smiling face. Sending the call to voicemail, I noticed that I had seven missed calls from her, and she’d left a voicemail each time along with a couple of text messages begging me to call her.
How could I have been so stupid?
The phone rang again. I answered it just to ask her to give me time.
“Indigo!” her voice was a desperate plea.
And rather than turning her away, I found in it the solace that I didn’t realize I needed.
“Honey, I just arrived, and I’m in an Uber on my way to your place.”
“I...I can’t,” I sobbed, unable to finish my sentence.
“Sweetie, I know. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
“Nooo!” I cried. “I just can’t.”
“You don’t believe this, do you? I know you haven’t known Dante for as long as I have, but the man you’ve spent the last two months with is a good man, Indi. He would never do any shit like that.”
Sniffling, I said, “Whatever.”
“Indi! Don’t you hang up the phone on me!” she cried out.
“I need a minute, Maeve.”
“Okay, a minute is all you get because I’ll be there in less than ten. I’m not playing with your ass. You’d better answer the door, or I’m kicking that shit in Indigo Briana Scott!” she threatened.
I had no doubt her tiny ass would try it. But I didn’t care right now.
The only thing that I wanted right now was for my heart to stop hurting so badly. And to stop vomiting, I thought as I jumped up and raced to the bathroom again.
****
“You’re what!” Maeve shouted.
“Pregnant.”
“How could that be? You’ve always been so careful.”
“Except for the weekend of my birthday,” I said as tears sprang to my eyes again, blurring my vision of her.
Pulling me into her arms, she smoothed my hair down. “Ohh, honey, I’m so sorry,” Maeve cooed.
“How far along?”
“Don’t know. I’m guessing eight weeks? I just...the last few weeks I’ve been losing weight, and I’ve been extremely tired. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been vomiting and thought it was a bug at first, but when it wouldn’t let up...and I missed my period, I decided to take a test. Saturday evening, after I left his house, I stopped at the drug store and picked a few of them up.”
“I only saw one.”
“The other three are in the trash. They all say the same thing. The one that you saw was the first one that I took,” I said with a sigh, resting my head against the back of the sofa.
“We have to figure this thing out.”
“It hurts so bad, Maeve,” I said, tears leaking from the tips of my eyes and running down to the corners of my mouth.
“Sweetie, I have a few phone calls in to my contacts, and we’ll know something soon,” she said, squeezing my hand.
“I knew that he was too good to be true, Maeve.”
She pulled back, her eyebrows dipping down, and stared at me with her mouth open. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Bail on him when he needs you most.”
“I could lose my damn job over him, Maeve! A career that I’ve worked hard to build. Over a man that I barely know.
“Really? You may have known him for just a few months, but I’d beg to differ on your comment. I think you know him better than most in the short time you’ve been together. From every conversation you’ve shared with me, you know Dante's heart, body, and soul.”
I swiped the tears away and thought about the time that we’d shared.
“He said that he’s going to marry you someday.”
“What?” I jerked my head up and stared at her, fear building in my belly along with dread and anticipation about what my future now held.
Shaking her head, she said, “Yeah, he told me that you’re ‘it’ for him. That you were the woman for him, and he wanted to build his empire with you. He said that he was just waiting for you to realize that he’s ‘it’ for you.”
“When did he say that?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“I just can’t do this right now, Maeve. There’s too much going on in my life, and it’s too hard for me to focus on what could have been when it’s all changing right before my eyes. Just...ri
ght now, Maeve...I need my friend. Not Dante’s champion. Okay?”
Pulling me closer to her, my best friend wrapped her arms around me, and we rocked as she allowed my silent tears to drench her shirt.
My heart grieved for what it would no longer have and for what could have been. It was time to dig deep down inside and determine what was best for my child and me.
A child.
CHAPTER 23 – DANTE
...sting operation that led to the arrest of local businessman and billionaire Dante Bianchi and several constituents. During the investigation that led to clearing his name, WSKH has learned that an arrest warrant has been issued for local socialite and Sweet Valentine Lingerie owner, Nadine Valentine. We have learned that Miss Valentine has been named as a co-conspirator in the illegal arms trading scandal that has been rampant along the North Carolina coast.
It was discovered that Bianchi Logistics International Shipping Company was one of the locations of the illegal arms dealing. However, in the last week of the sting, federal authorities have cleared Mr. Bianchi of all charges. Miss Valentine co-conspired with...
I clicked the television off and threw the remote on the bed.
One week. One fucking week passed, and no response. It took me less time to get out of jail. Calling my attorneys as soon as I was notified that my warehouse was raided, Braxton arrived at my mansion before the authorities did. He rode with me to the precinct and had me out within twelve hours.
My legal team assembled to prepare a plan of attack to fight this battle within hours of the authorities showing up at my home. Within hours of my release, they had comprised a plan of attack but were still researching.
As I suspected, Nadine wasn’t to be trusted. The entire time she was drawing closer to me over the last couple of years, she worked with an arms dealer. Her brother, Frederick, was the operations supervisor at my warehouse. The two of them, in collaboration with a few others, were using my warehouse along with a few others along the coast to have illegal arms shipped into North Carolina and then sold to buyers in the surrounding states.
Trusting Frederick implicitly, I never looked over his shoulder or questioned his ability to do his job. He held the operations supervisor's title for five years, and the illegal arms dealing had been going on for the last two.
The Scandal : A BBW ALPHA MALE BWWM ROMANCE Page 14