Consequences (17 page)

25

Nikki

Donovan had been home for almost two weeks now and he was better than ever. He was on medication for depression and still needed to see a therapist every week, but at least he was now talking about what he had gone through emotionally during his deployment. And that was a plus. Now we were taking things one day at a time.

I hadn't been to the shop since Lorenzo's murder. Mainly because just driving down Page Street gave me the creeps, but since Donovan was back to scheduling clients at the shop, I figured I needed to quit being a punk and go have lunch with my husband.

I stepped into the shop, greeted the crew, and sashayed back to my husband's office with the mail in one hand and a pepperoni pizza in the other. I had decided to surprise him and hadn't bothered calling, which would explain why when I pushed open the door, some chick was leaning across his desk.

Her face was only inches from my husband's and whatever they were discussing was intense. The second they heard someone coming through the door, she drew back and turned my way. I recognized her instantly. It was that chick from Donovan's unit. Sanders.

I wished I could say underneath that military uniform was a shapeless, manly body, but I would be lying. She was wearing black leggings, thigh-high red boots, and a long tunic sweater cinched by a wide belt that emphasized her tiny waist, and I couldn't even deny that she had ass and titties for days. I felt self-conscious in comparison and found myself wishing I had worn something other than my favorite purple sweat suit.

“Am I interrupting something?” I asked, staring both of them down. It was one thing to see her visiting him while he was in the hospital undergoing treatment. It's another to find her ass spread across his desk. “Excuse me . . . I asked a question.”

Donovan slowly rose from his chair and shook his head. “This is Malinda Sanders. She's in my unit.”

“I know who she is,” I replied with attitude. “What I want to know is why she is in your office.”

Her eyes traveled from mine to his while Donovan chuckled like I was the one being ridiculous. “Nikki, chill. Her son's out front getting his hair cut by my man.”

That may be true, but that frown on Malinda's lips hinted at something personal just between the two of them and I didn't like that shit one bit.

“Mrs. Truth . . . good seeing you again.”

I wish I could say the same.

“I better get back out there.” She glanced uncomfortably at Donovan, then nodded her head and started walking toward the door. “Truth, I'll see you at drill this weekend.” The whole time she avoided eye contact.

I waited until I heard her voice out on the floor before I pierced my husband with a hard stare. “What's up with that?”

His brow rose and he had the nerve to try and look confused. “What's up with what?”

“That chick . . . bent all over your desk. That's what.” I snarled and tossed the mail on the desk.

He reached for the stack still avoiding eye contact. “Nothing.”

“It sure the hell didn't look like nothing.” My head was moving with straight attitude. “It looked to me like she was ready to slob you up.”

He had the nerve to laugh like I was a joke or something. “Nah, babe. She was just stopping in, saying hello.”

Yeah right. I had been around long enough to know when something was going on. And if there wasn't anything going on, Malinda definitely wished there was. “Look like y'all were saying a lot more than just hello. Matter of fact, she looked like she was upset about something. I wonder what the fuck that could be?” I had never considered myself a jealous woman until now. Probably got a lot to do with the fact that Donovan had been accusing me of messing around on him for months.

The disbelief on his face was priceless. Of course he was going to deny it. That's what men do. “Nikki, ain't shit going on. Why you tripping?” he asked, and finally looked me in the eyes. “She was just telling me about a problem she was having at the unit that I need to address this weekend.”

I threw my hand up. “Then she should have saved that shit for the weekend instead of coming up in here disrespecting me.”

Donovan shook his head as if he couldn't believe I was tripping. Okay, so maybe I was. After the whole Kenyon thing I was feeling paranoid that he was going to try calling me again. I had even contacted the phone company, the second time to a shift supervisor, just to confirm my home number was unlisted and that in no way could someone get access.

I guess seeing how beautiful Malinda was without the uniform had me on edge. Here it was I'd been trying for months to prove my loyalty and then to find someone who was obviously interested in my husband making a play on him. Okay, so maybe Donovan was too stupid to notice. All I knew is that despite all the bullshit of the last few months, I loved my husband too much to lose him.

“Baby, I don't know what you think you saw, but it ain't happening. I love you. It's always been about you.”

I thought about pushing the issue, but considering how well Donovan had been acting since his discharge, I decided to just let it go for now. Last thing I wanted to do was be one of those wives who accused her husband of messing around without proof.

“I brought pizza,” I said like he hadn't noticed the pizza box in my hand. I moved over to his desk and set it down on the edge, then reached inside.

He looked relieved that I had finally let it go. Trust me. All I had done was tuck the little incident in the corner of my mind. I'd revisit it later.

“Thanks, babe. How'd you know I was hungry?” Donovan grinned with the devilish twinkle in his eyes. I felt my nipples start to tingle and grow hard. It had always been hard to stay mad at him for long.

I nodded and tried to act nonchalant as I took a bite. “It's my job to take care of my husband's needs.”

Donovan winked, then reached inside the box. “It most definitely is.”

While we ate pizza we talked about what we wanted to do for Aiden's third birthday, which was two weeks after Thanksgiving. We were planning to spend the holiday at Mama's house next Thursday. While he thumbed through the mail, Donovan suggested taking Aiden to Chuck E. Cheese.

“What's this?” He looked puzzled as he ripped open a large white envelope. And his eyes grew even larger as they skimmed the pages inside. “Son of a bitch!”

“What?” I asked between chews.

“That sorry mothafucka!” he yelled.

“What? What?” Dammit, inquiring minds wanted to know.

He stabbed the page with his index finger. “According to these papers, Lorenzo left his half of the barbershop to Tristan.”

“What?” I was sounding like a damn parrot. “No shit! He left him the barbershop?” It was starting to become clear that Lorenzo really had cared about Tristan. “No way!”

With a heavy groan, Donovan pushed his chair back and stormed into the shop. I could hear him cussing as he went to talk to his crew. The second he was gone, I quickly grabbed my cell phone and dialed Tristan while I chewed. This news was too good to wait.

“Hello?” Tristan said after two rings and had the nerve to sound sleepy.

“Wake your ass up before Donovan comes back,” I whispered loudly into the mouthpiece.

He gave a rude snort. “What? He's already acting a fool again?”

“Yep, but you'll never guess why?” I swung around on the desk and looked over at the door to make sure he wasn't coming back.

“Why? What's going on?” I heard the alarm in Tristan's voice.

I brought the phone close to my mouth while I eyed the door and said, “Donovan got a letter in the mail. Apparently Lorenzo left you his half of the barbershop.” I expected to hear Tristan scream loudly in my ear; instead, my announcement was met by silence. “Tristan . . . you still there?”

There was a soft cry. “He believed in me. My boo believed in my dream!” He started bawling and I felt bad for telling him over the phone.

“Damn, Tristan. I'm sorry. I shoulda waited and talked to you later in person.”

“Nope, I'm glad you told me. I was just laying here thinking about Lorenzo, wondering if he was alive if he would have really left Tammy. Now I know.”

I had to grin. He was right. Lorenzo had truly cared about him.

As I listened to Tristan talk about Lorenzo and his generous gift, I didn't have the heart to tell him there was no way in hell Donovan was ever going to allow him to set foot inside the barbershop.

26

Trinette

“Finally!” With a sigh, I pushed open the door to my condo in Virginia Beach. Although it was mid-October, it was stuffy inside. I slipped out of my green pumps, then moved over to the sliding glass door and slid it open.

“This is a nice place,” I heard Jrue say as he walked through the living room, admiring the space.

I smiled and took a quick sweep of the room. Every square inch had been decorated by me. “Leon bought it last year as a rental property. We have a management company that handles it for us. It pretty much stays rented.”

“I can see why. It's a wonderful location close to shopping and the beach. I would love to find a property like this myself, especially with the real-estate market as low as it is.”

My man definitely knew real estate. “Leon said the same thing. He wished he had bought two other units in this complex. This one pays for itself.”

“I believe it.”

Enough about real estate. That was not at all why I had come here. I signaled for Jrue to follow me to the master suite where I parked my rolling suitcase, then turned on the ceiling fan. His cell phone rang and I noticed him glance down at the screen.

“Hey, babe, it's Charlotte. I'm going to take this in the other room.” He walked off before I could tell him what I thought of his skinny ass wife. I was tired of sneaking around and sharing him with her. The sooner he left her and proposed, the sooner I could finally let Leon go. Trust and believe, I wasn't making any moves until I was certain of what was waiting behind door number two.

By the time he had returned from making his call, I had slipped out of my dress and was standing there in my bedroom in panties and a bra with my swollen belly prominently on display. Every chance I got, I tried to remind him of his daughter growing inside me.

“When are you going to talk to your wife?”

“When are you planning to tell Leon?”

“What is this, some kinda game? One of us goes first and then the other follows? I already told you I plan to talk to him just as soon as I have this baby. The question is whether my daughter is going to have her real father's name on her birth certificate or Leon's?”

The muscle ticked at his jaw. I knew that would get to him. “I'll talk to her next weekend. I promise. I just have to be delicate with Charlotte.”

Fuck Charlotte. I was tired of sharing my man with her. “Uh-huh,” I said and made sure he knew I didn't believe a word that he said. Hell, how long had he been promising? “And when's that? After she finds out her cancer has come back or even worse, she finds out she's pregnant.”

He shook his head. “Baby, we already talked about this. I'm not interested in putting my sperm in no damn dish. If she can't have a baby like normal people, then we just won't be having any.”

“Mmmm-hmm.” Like I said, I didn't believe a word he said.

“Trinette, I mean it. I'm going to handle it.”

“You better,” I said with enough attitude that he had to know I was serious. Until he talked to Charlotte, there was no way I was telling Leon. Jrue didn't have anything to lose except that skinny-ass barren wife of his. I had a husband who was an excellent provider. I'd be damned if I left with nothing when I planned to have it all.

He snaked out an arm and pulled me close to him. “Listen, I might not say it enough, but I love you. I want to be with you and my daughter. Nothing or no one is going to stand in the way of us being together. I promise you that.” He leaned down and kissed my lips. I tried to act like I was still mad, but eventually I softened and allowed his tongue to slip inside. All I dreamed about was our life together and I couldn't wait until I was officially Mrs. Jarmon.

Jrue backed me against the wall, then slid his arm around my waist. “I'm ready to taste that pregnant pussy.”

“You are so nasty,” I purred. I saw the desire burning in his eyes and my body quivered.

“Always when it comes to you.” He blew out a low breath, then dragged me against him. “I gotta have you.” He leaned down and kissed me and pushed his tongue inside, and I got lost in his tasty mouth.

I didn't know what it was about him, but he had this overwhelming power over me. It was hard to think with his warm body rubbing against me. Lust surged through me like new blood. With every stroke of his tongue my breasts tightened, and it wasn't long before I felt a familiar ache in my womb that traveled down to my kitty-cat and she purred.

“Jrue,” I moaned in his mouth. His masculine scent invaded my senses and I felt dizzy . . . and anxious to have all of him inside me.

Before I could catch my breath, Jrue's hands were on my body, cupping my round breasts.

“Oh yeah,” I whimpered, then arched my back, drawing closer, yet it still wasn't anywhere near close enough.

“Trinette,” he groaned. “You like when I play with your titties, don't you?”

“Uh-huh,” I murmured, unable to find the words to express how he made me feel. And as far as I was concerned, words weren't needed.

He pushed my bra strap over my shoulders while his lips traced a hot wet path over my cheek and down my neck. I gasped as his lips closed over an aroused nipple and sucked.

“You like that?”

“Dammit, quit playing! You know that I do.” It felt so good my wobbly legs were about to give out. I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand. “Please,” I whimpered.

“Please, what?” He got off on taunting me.

I ran my hands over the warm, hard expanse of his chest and along his rigid stomach. “Baby, I need you.” I deepened the kiss, needing to feel everything my baby had. He moaned while his hands bit into my ass and he dragged me against him, lifting me and rubbing his dick against my kitty.

“Sweetheart, you've already got me.”

He always knew the right thing to say. We frantically pulled off our clothes and tossed them aside. Then he reached down and parted my lips, and nudged at my opening.

“You're so wet,” he panted. I rocked against his fingers, heightening the growing pressure that coiled between my thighs. One of the good things about being pregnant, we no longer needed to use protection. Jrue always felt good, but without a condom the real thing was incredible.

“Wrap your legs around me,” Jrue ordered as he lifted me off the ground, then leaned my weight against the wall. Grabbing my buttocks with both hands, he entered me in one powerful thrust. I started rotating my hips.

“Trinette, dammit . . . don't move,” he ordered.

I'd never been good at listening.

“Shit!” he cursed, then pulled out and surged into me again with incredible force. My eyelids flew open in surprise as my kitty pulsated and contracted around his magnificent dick.

“Jrue!” I cried out, my nails digging into his forearms. He answered by pounding into me again and again, until I was spiraling toward orgasm so fast I thought I would lose my mind. Jrue continued to pump his length into me, long and fast, drawing out my orgasm. “Baby, yes . . . Oooh, yes!” I whimpered over and over, until with one final thrust he came. With his penis buried deep within me, I was still whimpering. I opened my eyes and what I saw over his shoulder made me scream.

“Leon!”

Jrue's head whipped around and the second he spotted my husband standing a few feet behind him, he dropped me to the floor and I fell on my ass. “What the fuck?”

Everything happened so fast I didn't even have a chance to catch my breath. Leon lunged at Jrue; then the two of them were punching and knocking over furniture.

“Stop it!” I screamed. Despite everything, I didn't want either of them to get hurt, but I was pregnant and helpless to break it up.

I was so shocked that I couldn't even move. I just sat there on the floor and watched the both of them punching and crashing into my furniture. There was no way this was happening. What in the hell was Leon doing here?

When Jrue turned his head to look at me, Leon threw a punch that sent his naked ass crashing into the 55-inch flat-screen television. Damn. I knew I should have had it mounted last winter.

“Leon, baby. Please!” I said. My lip was quivering so hard I thought I would throw up.

“Now you wanna act scared,” he said in this voice that was so calm it was scary. “Get your ass up!”

I scrambled to my feet. “Leon, baby, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, so now I'm your baby. A few minutes ago you were calling Jrue baby.”

Damn, he'd been listening that long?

Jrue rose from the floor. Blood was dripping from one cheek. “Look, dude, let's talk about this like men.”

“I advise you not to say a damn thing to me.” He narrowed his gaze on me. “I can't believe you've been fucking this nigga.”

I looked over at Jrue, wishing he would just leave the room long enough for us to talk in private. But leave it to a man not to get the hint. “Leon, please . . . it's not like it seems. I can explain.”

“Explain what? That this mothafucka just happened to trip and his dick fell inside you.” Leon shook his head. “Nice try. You know, I thought something was wrong when I got a call from the receptionist at your OB office confirming your appointment next week. Before I got off the phone she wanted to say how much in love we looked and apologize again for spilling coffee on my slacks.”

That stupid bitch. I knew I should have gotten her ass fired.

“But then I got an e-mail from the management company saying the condo had been reserved for personal use.”

“Leon, I'm so sorry. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I—”

He cut me off. “Save that shit for someone who cares. All I want to know is if the baby you're carrying is mine.”

I looked from him to Jrue. All that hurt on Leon's face, I wanted so badly to tell him what he wanted to hear. But I couldn't because, in truth, it wouldn't have mattered. Leon would never forgive me. Not anymore. I could see it in his eyes. And I couldn't blame him. I had vowed to make our marriage work, and instead I had fallen in love with someone else.

“I can't do that. I'm sorry, Leon, but I'm carrying Jrue's baby.”

I wanted to slap that smirk from Jrue's face. Leon looked like I had punched him in the chest and I felt bad. I had planned on ending our relationship, but not this way.

“The two of you have fifteen minutes to get the hell out of my condo. I also advise you to get all your shit out of my house before I return on Monday. I'll be staying at a hotel because I can't even stand to be in the same room with you.”

When he turned and walked out of the room and out of my life, I knew this time it was for good.