Lethal Love: Deceit can be Deadly

by Perri Forrest

  “What’s cookin’ sweet thang?” I called out to her.

  “It was so weird not seeing you here yesterday. You just add so much character to the place.”

  “Aww, that’s sweet, Kali. Trust me when I tell you that it was different for me too. I needed a mental health day in the worst way,” I told her.

  “Yeah,” she said, remorsefully. “I get it. Well… I don’t get it-get it, but I can kind of understand.” She reached out to rub my arm, her expression turning serious. “You’re so strong, Nova.”

  “I try to be…”

  She leaned in close and lowered her voice to lessen the risk of being heard. “They should both be dead. Sorry to speak ill of the dead…”

  Tuh! Go ahead and speak ill of the dead, Kali. I don’t care.

  I shrugged nonchalantly, feeling as light as a feather after the way my morning greeted me.

  “I was thinking. We need to get out and get drinks sometimes. I say a girls’ night out or something fun.”

  Kali’s eyes sparkled at the suggestion. “Yes, let’s!” she exclaimed. “We’ve only ever been in company settings with all these people—these guys,” she smirked, with an eye roll. “So, yeah… let’s.”

  “Alright. We’ll make plans soon. But let me go ahead back here and get logged on. I need to see how many emails are waiting for me. I already know it’s about to be an avalanche.”

  “That’s how it is when you’re in high demand!” she called after me. “Oh… hold on, Nova!” The clickity clack of her heels hit the tile as she hurried in my direction. “I forgot to give you a message. A guy named Leo came by for you yesterday. He had some exotic sounding last name—Kastellanos.

  “Okay, girl. Thanks.”

  We exchanged smiles. Kali was waiting to hear more; but that wouldn’t be happening. Whatever it was that Leo and I were building was going to be protected for now. And while I adored Kali, my life was in some kind of weird space, and I needed to secure everything near and dear—first and foremost, my peace.

  “Okayyy,” she dragged out, taking slow steps backwards. “If you feel the need to share, I’m all ears. Even if you want to just tell me that he’s a friend, that he’s single. I mean…” She shrugged. “And maybe—”

  “See you later, Kali.” I turned my back to her and tossed my hand in the air, laughing all the way to my office.

  Immediately after putting my things down, I opened my blinds to allow the natural light in. No sooner than I had done that, my cell rang. “Unknown” flashed across the screen. I didn’t turn my nose up, I didn’t roll my eyes, and there was no anxiety. I was ready.

  “Hello?”

  “How’s it going, Nova? You have a nice day off work yesterday?”

  “A day off work is always nice.”

  “Good. I just wanted to see if we’re still on for Sunday?”

  “Sunday works.”

  A sigh from him collapsed into the receiving end. “This is great. I want you to know that I don’t plan in any way to make life difficult for you, Nova. I plan to live up to my end of the bargain. I trust you to do the same.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. You can definitely trust me to do the right thing.”

  “Cool.”

  “What time on Sunday and where?”

  “I’ll send you a text when we hang up that’ll have all the details in it.”

  “Okay, that sounds good.”

  When our call ended, I proceeded to get my day going by completing my ritual of waking up my computer and heading for emails. As I was getting ready to open the first urgent message, I was notified of an incoming text:

  “I’m a man of my word…” was how he started off.

  What followed was two lines of information that left my mouth hung wide open. The name staring back at me had stunned me into silence. While reading the message several times over, all I could do was shake my head in disbelief.

  At least now, I had more to go on.

  But damn… now, it also meant that I had more to do.

  47 | Leo

  “You’re a hard man to get in touch with.”

  “Nah, I’m always around. Where you been lookin’?”

  Randy and I laughed at the same time in each other’s ears. “I called you back yesterday when Kali let me know you came by. I wish she’d told me you were downstairs.”

  “When she said you were in a meeting, I told her it was okay.”

  “Yeah, I had these foreign dudes in my office wanting to partner with me on another lot in Henderson.”

  “Cool. That’s good, right?”

  “Not really. I got my hands full with this location. And the wife is pressuring me to retire soon so she can travel. Tried like hell to find her an expensive habit that would deter her for a minute, but—”

  “I already know!” I laughed out loud. “She’s not hearing it, huh?”

  “At all, man. And I love what I do. But, shit… happy wife, happy life. And since I can’t see life without her, gotta make her happy.”

  “She might change her mind about wanting you to retire. They change their minds a lot.”

  “They do for sure. But my Missus… she’s a different kind of woman. She just wants her man.”

  “Hey, can’t knock that. That’s a beautiful thing.”

  “Yeah, they broke the mold with Gayle. I’m sure I loved her in a past life. But anyway, enough about my life, what was going on when you came by?”

  “Actually, I came to see Nova, but she was out. I figured since I was there, I’d check in with you.”

  “Nova, huh?”

  I could tell that he was smiling. He probably already knew what I wasn’t planning to tell him—that we had seen each other outside of that brunch. If Nova hadn’t already told him.

  “Yeah. Just wanted to check on her.”

  “What does that mean, exactly?” he pried. “I know you guys exchanged numbers that day. Have you gone out? You in regular contact?”

  Judging by Randy’s barrage of questions, Nova divulged.

  “We have an occasional check in,” I said, without offering too much.

  “She needs that, Leo. You don’t know how happy it makes me, that you’re there for her. That sweet girl’s been through a lot. You’d never know it the way she carries herself. She has a work ethic that people twice her age don’t have. So, thank you.”

  “I’m happy to do it. She’s good people.”

  “Definitely. And she deserves a break. That bum that she was married to, never deserved her.”

  “Yeah, I gathered that much. I didn’t tell you this, because I didn’t want to bring up the situation that day. But I was there the day they arrested Nova’s husband.”

  “Ex-husband,” Randy quickly reiterated.

  “Yeah, him. Saw the whole thing go down. Was visiting the site to check closeout progress, and was out there talking to one of the subs. Hadn’t been there for more than about twenty minutes when the police swooped in and rushed the front door. Not too long after that, they escorted him out in cuffs.”

  “Shit,” Randy said. I pictured him shaking his head, and probably pacing while he was talking to me. “That fuckin’ son of a bitch. To know that some shit like that happened to her, just makes me mad as hell. If I was her father, I’d kick that fuck’s ass my goddamn self. Too many of these idiots have good women, but choose to shit on them rather than lather them with love. How ass-backwards is that?”

  I nodded, my mind floating back to the chaotic scene that day. “Backwards for sure,” I cosigned.

  “What’s your Saturday look like, Leo? You should come over for dinner if you’re free.”

  “I could do that. Thanks for the invite.”

  “No problem at all. Looking forward to it.”

  “Yeah, man, same here.”

  “Alright. Well, I’ll see you Saturday evening.”

  “Saturday, it is.”

  “Oh, and Leo…”

  “Yep.”

  “Thanks again, for
being a friend to Nova. I appreciate it.”

  “No thanks needed.”

  48 | Nova

  Friday was upon me, and I was ready to be out!

  Now, don’t get me wrong, I probably loved my job more than the average person. But this week. Whew! This week had me working like a Hebrew slave. Somehow, in the last two years, whenever Mr. Canton was out of the office, I had become the go-to person. Whether the sales staff had questions, whether the credit department had questions, whether elite clientele came in for exclusive stock… I was the person they came to, for next steps. Any and everything.

  Since Mr. Canton had made minimal appearances this week, I’d been busy as a queen bee! It felt good to be winding down. Especially because once it was time to go, I wouldn’t need to return until Monday. Bless the staff that worked on the weekends. I only came in on a Saturday if I had a special client. And when I say “special”, it’s not the person who thought they were, but rather someone with the status and bank account to back it up. Other than that, this girl had weekends off.

  I finished a text response to Nigel, the realtor that Leo had found for me. He had sent me some gems to review, and was texting to find out a good day to go and see them. Once that was done, I started shutting down my office. With a smile, and softly humming, “Everything”, the song that Leo and I danced to at Skyfall that first night, I put my computer to sleep and strolled up front.

  Although the entire building received great lighting, there was just something about rounding that corner and seeing the trees and the beam of light coming through the dome ceiling. It seemed to serve as some sort of energy field. Today was no exception.

  That was until I saw her…

  Had it not been for our eyes immediately locking, I would have acted like I didn’t see her and gone straight to my intended destination—to chat up Kali and Mandy.

  What the fuck does she even want?

  I rolled my eyes hard as I approached. Seeing Peg Bundy with a new hoe outfit with a side of titties and stilettos, wasn’t a surprise. She had a cute ponytail; I’ll give her that.

  “I guess you’re wondering why I’m here… again,” she said, shrugging and offering me a smile that I didn’t bother to return.

  “Not at all. Actually, I was just about to ask you to leave. Unless, of course, you’re here to make a purchase. Otherwise, there’s nothing here to see.”

  “Okay, look…” She looked left to right. “I deserve all that. I really do. And I’ll gladly leave. I’m just asking for like… maybe ten minutes of your time. No more. Well, maybe a little more. But not too much. Is there somewhere we can talk?”

  I hesitated at first. Fed her a few moments of silence while I stared her down. It was hard to believe that she shared a bloodline with somebody who was so amazing. It was because of him, that I reluctantly, ended up giving her the time of day.

  “What’s so important that we can’t talk here?” I asked.

  “Nova…” she pled with her eyes. “It won’t be long. I promise.”

  I looked around at everybody minding their own business, and decided that a few minutes wouldn’t hurt. “Follow me,” I told her, leading the way down a corridor.

  Once we reached the balcony on the lower level, I led her to the far end, where a few employees lounged on their last break of the day. Upon sitting down, I crossed my leg and folded my hands across my lap—lying in wait.

  “I was out of line. For the negative vibes I brought to brunch that day. For coming to your job that day. And especially for the things I said to you. I don’t expect you to accept the apology, and you don’t even have to believe me. But I’m coming from the heart, and trying to right the wrong. I’ve known you since before all this, and I know your character. My actions were way out of line. I’m protective. I’m obnoxious. Spoiled. A lot of shit that I don’t normally admit to. But I love hard. And I love my brother. He’s really kind of all I have, and the only person in my life that’s ever loved me for me—the horrible and the good. So, I’ve kind of always put myself in the self-appointed position of his heart’s bodyguard.” She paused for the first time since she started her spiel. “I hope that makes sense.”

  As much as I wanted to stick to my guns of blank-staring her until she got up and away from my space, I understood her reasoning. I loosened my position. “I actually get it, Jennifer. It’s your brother. And…” I hesitated, trying to reel in the smile that wanted to break through. “… he’s a good guy—worth protecting. But listen; he’s just been a really good friend to me. A good friend that came at the perfect time. I would never hurt a person that’s been as good to me as he’s been.” I gave her a stern look, then pointed something out to her. “But Jenn, you do know that I understand that it’s not just about that for you, right?”

  “What?” she said, feigning innocence.

  “I don’t doubt for a split second that you love Leo to death. But I’m also smart enough to know that your biggest concern… no, let’s call it what it really is… your biggest issue… is the color of my skin.”

  “That’s not true. He… Leo… he kinda has a type. I’m used to—”

  “You’re used to it, but it doesn’t negate the fact that you dislike it. Just keep it real. I won’t be offended. If I had a brother, and he walked up to me with a white girl on his arm, I might take a second look too. I might even have a few thousand questions for him about why. You know? But that’s just because I would have a whole list of concerns about whether he knew what he was getting himself into. So, I get it. But I’ll say this too. My issue would be less about the color of her skin, and more about the shit my brother would have to endure on the inside of said family. And not just that. I would trip off the outside world who don’t deem him good enough to lay down with a white woman. You, on the other hand—”

  “I know what you’re gonna say,” she interjected. “And a few days ago, you would have been one-hundred percent correct. But what’s crazy, is that after I got the chop-down by my brother—”

  I laughed out loud. “The chop-down? I don’t follow.”

  “He told me off. Put me firmly in my place, and had more than a few choice words for me. I really had to take a long, hard look at how I was thinking—or if I was thinking. The lecture that he gave me had me so nervous. Because the more he talked, the more I found myself waiting for him to drop the ball, and say that you’d told him I came to see you. But he never did.”

  “Because I didn’t.”

  She lowered her eyes, probably in shame before saying, “Wow. Why didn’t you tell him? I mean, I thank you. But why didn’t you?”

  I shook my head, then hunched my shoulders before letting them fall slowly. “What purpose would it serve?”

  “I feel so fucked up. Listen, I can say it until I’m blue in the face, but it still won’t really convey just how sorry I am.”

  “It’s cool, Jennifer,” I told her, softening more than I thought was possible. “It’s not like I didn’t throw some pretty harsh insults your way. I’d say we’re even at this point.”

  She laughed. “You did kinda do that,” she said. “Got a mouthpiece on you, woman. But I knew that.”

  “I’ve heard that before.” In a surprising turn of events, she and I fell into joined laughter. “Got popped in the mouth a lot when I was a kid because of the mouth.”

  “Shit, maybe I should’ve gotten a few of those myself,” she admitted. After the laughter died down, Jenn and I seemed to reach a mutual understanding. In the far distance, I caught the time on the huge digital clock mounted on a wall. Seemed a few minutes had turned into thirty. “Thank you for taking the time to hear me out, Nova,” she said. “I went way over the time I asked for, so I’m gonna let you get back to whatever I interrupted you from earlier.”

  We stood at the same time. “You’re welcome. I respect what you did. A lesser woman wouldn’t have.”

  I proceeded to walk Jennifer through the showroom, and to the front door. As she was about to make her exit,
she turned me and said, “Oh, and for the record, you were right about a few of those remarks you shot at me that day.” She walked off smiling, and then glanced back over her shoulder one more time. “I’m sure you know which ones I’m talking about. Have a good weekend, girl!”

  I waved her off, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

  49 | Nova

  Moments after Jenn was inside of her car, Mandy appeared next to me. “That didn’t look tense at all,” she said. “She was here before, right?”

  I turned to Mandy and smiled. “She was.”

  “She a friend of yours?”

  “She’s the sister of a friend.”

  “Uhh-ohh…” she beamed. “What kind of friend are we talking about?”

  I looped my arm through hers and ushered us both over to Kali’s desk. I released her once we were at the marble countertop, and rested my arms on the surface. I felt Mandy’s eyes still on me. She was searching; waiting for answers that she wouldn’t be getting.

  “What’d I miss?” Kali asked, her big brown eyes scanning back and forth between me and Mandy. “I know it has something to do with the breasts that just walked up out of here, right? You were talking to her for a while, Nova. And she was here before. I remember her. And she didn’t leave with a car that day either.” She folded her hands across her chest and smirked. “So, what’s the tea?”

  “Ooh, she gets spicy when Friday hits,” I kidded. “That sass is unlike everyday Kali.”

  “Right?” Mandy cosigned. “I like Friday Kali.”

  “Okay, so you two are just going to overtly deflect,” Kali stated. “M’kay. I see what this is.”

  “Nah, really,” I said. “It was nothing. She was actually just coming to apologize about the last conversation we had.”

  “Yeah…” Mandy chimed in. Then using air quotes, she added, “…because she’s the sister of a friend…” She cut her eyes at me. “But Miss Nova isn’t giving up any names. So, we’re never going to get off of square one.”