Inner Circle (19 page)

“I’m sorry!” Eve shouted out, hoping that Chase could hear her through the running water. She studied Chase’s silhouette through the steamy glass door. He was right. She hadn’t taken into consideration any of the things he’d mentioned. It hadn’t dawned on her how neglectful and selfish she had been throughout the years. Although her relationship with his family was very civil, she never extended herself more than she needed to as it related to them. She never initiated visits with them, nor did she have them over to their house often. In her mind, since her relationship with Nadia was estranged, she didn’t feel comfortable allowing herself to get close to his family. Her passion for various projects had always been her calling card for success. She never realized that it had also been the root of her problems with her husband, her in-laws, and her mother.

“Chase,” Eve called out to him again, but he didn’t respond. In
one swift motion, she slipped out of her dress and made her way into the shower with him.

“Eve, seriously, I don’t feel like—”

Ignoring him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing him softly on his chest. “Hold me, please,” she begged. “You’re right. And I’m sorry.”

Eve felt Chase’s resistance but didn’t give in. Instead, she held on to him tighter. “I want to.”

“You want to what?” Chase sounded annoyed.

“Start a family.” Eve looked into his eyes. “I’ll stop, I promise. I’ll stop meddling. I’ll stop putting others before you, and I’ll even stop”—water poured down her face but Eve continued—”taking the pill.” She wiped the water from her eyes, waiting for Chase to respond.

Although his words never came, he did return her embrace, giving her a ray of hope that she’d be given another chance. As she stood in the shower, locked in his arms, she thanked God for her husband. He was and had always been the man of her dreams, and given the opportunity, she was now even more determined to reciprocate and make all of his dreams come true.

16

Eve
was awakened by the sound of Chase’s snoring. After their argument the night before, she was glad to see him sleeping so soundly. She smiled as she listened to the grizzly-bearlike snores ring from his mouth. With the Leopards advancing to the next level of the playoffs and being considered serious contenders for the National Bowl game, Eve knew his snores were usually an indication of his nerves. The idea of the two of them starting a family was a lot to digest, especially all at once. In addition, the fact that Eve had opened their home to Amber and Olivia, forcing Chase to be on his best behavior despite the fact that he didn’t want them there had really begun to take a toll on him. Eve knew that as long as Amber needed to stay with them, she’d have to be on her p’s and q’s where Chase was concerned. Although she wasn’t normally accustomed to being passive, she knew in order to keep the peace, she’d have to play her position and make sure Chase was straight in every possible way. If he said jump, she was more than prepared to become Michael-freaking-Jordan in order to keep him happy.

Eve gently rolled out of the bed, making sure that she didn’t wake Chase. It took an hour of persuasive lovemaking to get him to agree finally to allow Amber and Olivia to stay with them. Her jaws
hurt from all the dick-sucking convincing that was needed in order for him to say yes indefinitely. In addition to allowing him to use her body as his own personal pogo stick as she rode him frontward, then backward, until he was completely sexually satisfied, she also had to agree to officially stop taking her birth control pills so that the two of them could start on their own family immediately. Although she and Chase never had issues sexually, it was only on special occasions that she allowed him to just have his way with her. Eve liked being in control and took pride in giving out her sexual tricks and favors to Chase when she deemed them necessary. Last night was certainly one of those nights, and Chase took full advantage of playing on and with every inch of his personal playground.

As she readied herself for her six o’clock run, she thought about inviting Amber to come along with her. Eve threw on her workout clothes and running shoes, then made her way across their spacious bedroom, tiptoeing all the way to the door and shutting it behind her quietly.

Once in the hallway, she moved across the hall to the guest bedroom. It was during times like these that she regretted not going with her original floor plan where the master suite was on the first level instead of placing it upstairs with the other four bedrooms. Eve justified her choice in floor plans on the notion that when she and Chase agreed to start their family, the baby’s room wouldn’t be so far away. It was for that reason alone that she insisted that all the bedrooms be on the same level, with the exception of a small guest room on the first floor which rested just off the kitchen.

Eve opened the door to the room Amber chose for her and Olivia to sleep in and found them cuddled comfortably in the bed together. Amber had the nanny drop Olivia off at Eve’s house directly after the party with the plan of having Sandy, Eve’s housekeeper, go over to their house later in the day and bring back some more of their belongings. Since the situation was so fresh, Amber wasn’t sure how long she was actually going to stay with Eve, even though Eve knew
that once she took care of Chase, Amber could stay as long as it took to reach a resolution.

Eve gently closed the door, opting not to wake her. The last thing she needed was for Olivia to wake up only to find her mother gone and her left in the house alone with Chase. Eve smiled to herself.
He’d flip the fuck out,
she thought as she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. She reached in the refrigerator for a bottle of water that she tucked into her sports fanny pack that rested around her waist.

She chose to leave through the French doors next to the breakfast nook. Eve knew it would be a lot quieter than using the front door or exiting through the garage. She cleared the night alarm so that it would not announce her leaving, opened the side door, and slipped outside. Realizing she had left her keys upstairs, she considered going back into the house, but the thought of skulking back upstairs and down again was not appealing.

“Oh, well,” she said as she closed the door behind her and began her morning stretches in the driveway.

Her routine two-mile run normally took less than an hour, but Eve had a lot on her mind, and she wanted to use this time alone to sort things out. She jogged at a slower gait, allowing herself to think. She hated not being on top of things. Wheeling and dealing and making shit happen was what she did, and she was good at it. But as she scrolled through her mental library, she couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this uncomfortable about handling a situation. Maybe part of the problem was that it was not one situation, but several. Eve mentally scrolled through the issues she had on her plate. The highlights alone were overwhelming. There were the current situations with Amber and with Callie, and, of course, the whole idea of starting a family with Chase. Then there was her job, The Wives Association, and the other ladies in the group, not to mention the fact that she’d been so busy with her life that she hadn’t taken any time out to check in on her mother and her store. For the
first time in her life, Eve was beginning to question whether she had taken on too much.

With The Wives Association finally off the ground, and with Amber, who was supposed to be serving as co-chair, finding her marriage in ruins, Eve had been taking the bulk of the responsibility on all by herself. She thought about asking Jackie to help out, but she was hesitant because Jackie always seemed just a bit too eager to take over the association rather than just taking on a few new responsibilities. Jai, on the other hand, didn’t seem remotely interested in taking on a leadership role. And she had made it very clear to all the ladies in the beginning that beyond the financial and business support, she was confident in the strength of her marriage and didn’t see the need for the association, at least as it pertained to her life. She made it clear that it was only the strength of her friendship with each of the ladies and the extra incentive of an even tighter bond that kept her there at all. Her only commitment was to their friendship, and if the association provided comfort for the other ladies as it related to that, she was all in.

Eve pushed forward with a strong stride, making her way down the winding hill from her house, her heart pounding hard in her chest as she controlled the rhythm of her breath. The issue that gave her most concern was how to handle Sa’Myra.

Eve had taken it upon herself to have Sa’Myra checked out and immediately discovered that in terms of pregnancy scares and baby-daddy drama, she’d been down this road before. Eve learned that Sa’Myra had not only been pregnant before but that she’d also had two children by two different celebrities as well as two abortions by two others. Her MO hadn’t changed a bit. With her, it was always the same story: she’d get hired on as the family chef and within months, she’d sink her claws into the arms of someone else’s celebrity husband. Sa’Myra was a pro who didn’t just prey off athletes. The only prerequisite she had was that the husband had to make seven figures or higher. He had to be rich, and he had to be married to his wife for at least
seven years, preferably ten. Eve guessed that Sa’Myra was hip to the laws that allowed wives a certain entitlement to assets regardless of any prenup, ensuring her a hefty payday either way.

“Clever bitch,” Eve said aloud as she picked up her pace.

So with one comedian, two actors, and one television producer already victims of her plan, Sa’Myra could officially add an athlete to her résumé. Eve discovered that Sa’Myra was getting $20,000 a month for the two kids she already had, and with Sean’s new $60-million contract extension, she would have officially hit the gold-digging jackpot.

Eve wasn’t overly concerned though, especially now that she knew Sa’Myra was so easily motivated by money. All she really had to do was figure out where to cast her line in order for Sa’Myra to take the bait.

Eve reached the bottom of the hill where she usually made a left turn to begin the circle back toward her house, but today, she decided to keep going. The run felt good, and she wasn’t ready to end her solo therapy session. She ran for another fifteen minutes before deciding to head back.

She knew what she needed to do in order to feel like she was back in control, and as she trekked up the hill, breath heavy and legs burning, she was fueled with the motivation to do whatever was required.

Eve smiled as she neared her house. She glanced at her watch; it was almost 7:30. Although she’d been running for over an hour, she wasn’t tired. In fact, she felt refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle everything on her plate. She cooled down by walking the last one hundred yards home, gathering her thoughts each step of the way.

As she made her way along the side of the house, Eve heard Chase and Amber conversing through the sliding door off the kitchen. She eavesdropped while taking off her shoes and adjusting herself before going in the house.

“This was never supposed to happen. If anyone were to ever find out that—”

“They won’t, I promise,” Chase replied.

“Then there’s Olivia. I can’t fathom putting her through this.”

“We’ll do whatever is necessary to keep her out of it,” Chase said.

“I know,” Amber said. “I want to make sure I never have to have that conversation. It’ll kill her.”

“Which is exactly why you can’t let that happen. No matter what, Olivia should always be your first concern.”

“I know. Whatever I do is always in the best interest of everyone involved.”

Eve smiled. She knew she was wrong to be eavesdropping, but Chase had never been a big fan of Amber’s, and the fact that the two of them were having a civil conversation, even if it was about her problem with Sa’Myra and Sean, was a good start.

Eve made her way to the French doors. From where she was standing she could see Amber leaning against the kitchen counter with her head down. Eve couldn’t see Chase, but she saw his hand rise to push Amber’s hair away from her face.
Such a softy!
Eve thought as she slid the door open and entered the kitchen. “Good morning, you two!”

Chase and Amber turned, obviously startled.

“Babe, you scared the shit out of me!” he said.

“Me too,” Amber said, clutching her chest.

“Sorry,” Eve replied, smiling widely. “I was actually enjoying the fact that the two of you were having a friendly conversation for a change.” She sank into a nearby chair allowing her shoes to fall from her grasp.

“Conversation?” Chase asked.

“Yes, I could hear you from outside,” Eve said.

“Mommy!”

“Olivia’s awake,” Amber said and hurried from the kitchen.

Eve walked to the counter and selected a hazelnut coffee. She placed it in the coffeemaker and turned to Chase who kissed her on the cheek.

“I know this isn’t the best time for Amber, but if this whole mess somehow brings the two of you closer, it would really make me happy. She’s a great person, and if you give her a chance, I’m sure you’ll see that she’s really a sweetheart.”