Black Lace: Book 4 of the Black Butterfly Series

by Nika Michelle

  He passed me a manila folder. “That’s the entire file. I haven’t even looked at it yet. I was waiting to do that with you.”

  I nodded and bit my bottom lip. “Damn, I’m fucking nervous. Did the DA even ask who you were or why you were doing this to him?”

  “He kind of hinted around those questions, but I told him that shit didn’t matter. I let him know that the important thing was the fact that I had something that could destroy everything he’s worked so hard for. That was all I needed to say.”

  I opened the folder and took a deep breath. You could say that I didn’t know what to expect. What if the evidence that would get Dean off contained evidence against me, Rah and Chang? How would I explain that shit to my family? Reba would hate me for putting Chang in that position.

  There was a thick stack of papers and my eyes widened.

  “All of this?” I asked pulling them all out.

  Rah laughed. “Baby, this is a very important criminal case. What did you expect?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess we have our work cut out for us huh?”

  He nodded and sat down beside me. “Yeah, but I’m down to do this shit with you. Chang and Reba are having a romantic night and I guess we’ll be having the opposite.”

  I laughed “Once we’re done it’ll be romance time.”

  He leaned over and kissed my puckered lips. “A’ight, boo. Let’s do this.”

  I sighed. “It’s going to be a long night.”

  Chapter 15

  Seandra

  I was so glad that Cinnamon Star was a wrap because I didn’t want to see Ahmad’s stupid ass. I hadn’t told anyone about our break up and I assumed that he hadn’t either since it wasn’t all over social media and the news. We’d finally gone public about it and as soon as we did our love thing crumbled right before my eyes. Maybe it had been best to keep things quiet. It seemed that our relationship was fine then.

  It was a little after one pm and I was excited about reading with my co-star, whoever he was. The person who was playing my love interest in the romantic comedy “Nothing Even Matters” had been kept secret from me. The director claimed he didn’t want us overthinking things, so my co-star didn’t know who I was yet either. We would finally be meeting and going over some lines to see if we had that movie chemistry.

  I damn sure hoped we did. The thing was, I didn’t want to be tempted by another man. Pierre hadn’t called since that day I was on the beach. As much as I wanted to reach out to him to say thank you, I hadn’t. I didn’t want him to read anything into my communicating with him. Shit, I also didn’t want to end up tangled up in the sheets with his fine ass. No longer wanting to be that chick who seemed to be so desperate to be loved, I pushed Pierre out of my mind. Just because he was fine didn’t mean that I had to jump in the sack with him. That wasn’t me anymore. I guess I was finally growing the hell up and it was about damn time.

  * * *

  I pulled up to the studio and parked beside a hot ass canary yellow Ferrari. The sun’s glare shined off the candy paint job making me want to buy a new whip. Hmm, maybe that was exactly what I needed to get over my break up. I’d stopped my compulsive shopping slowly, but surely. I thought I deserved an impulse buy.

  The thought made me smile as I grabbed my sunglasses and put them on. When I stepped out of the car the afternoon wind immediately whipped my short, white dress up. Holding it down, I closed the car door and sashayed to the entrance of the building like the star that I was.

  We would be meeting with the casting director, so I walked up to the front desk for instructions. The guy at the counter was a short, chubby dark skinned man with wire rimmed glasses and a huge, white smile.

  “Hello, I’m…”

  “Seandra Beauvois. I know.” He chuckled. “Lauren is waiting for you. Just go down that corridor.” He pointed. “Once you get to the end make a left. It’s the first door on the right.”

  I nodded. “Thank you very much…”

  “Aaron,” he said quickly.

  “Aaron.” I proceeded to follow his directions and opened the door to what looked like a small boardroom.

  There were several people sitting around the square, mahogany table. My eyes scanned the faces. A few were unfamiliar and then I spotted Lauren, the casting director.

  “Seandra, you’re here great,” she said as she stood and made her way over to me. “Please, have a seat.”

  She cleared her throat and moved her hands over her peach colored pencil skirt. The white, collar shirt and blazer she matched it up with were killer.

  “I love that outfit,” I just had to say.

  She smiled, which lit up her almond colored skin. The Halle Berry short cut she rocked suited her round face to the tee.

  “Thank you,” she said as I took a seat.

  “Okay everyone. The star is here. I would like for you all to introduce yourselves to her and get acquainted. We are still waiting on the man of the hour, which will be her co-star. We’re keeping it on the hush until he gets here…”

  Just as she said that the door opened.

  “And here he is,” Lauren said wearing that bright smile again. “I love the fact that the both of you are punctual. You should get along just fine Seandra.”

  I made eye contact with my co-star and blushed. The man who would be playing my love interest in the movie was non-other than Pierre himself. Now wasn’t that some cruel ass coincidence.

  When Pierre spotted me a huge grin dominated his features and he looked like he could hardly contain himself.

  “Hello Pierre,” I laughed.

  “Hi Seandra,” he beamed as he made his way over to sit beside me.

  “Well, we all know that the two of you had a chance encounter recently. We had already planned to keep your identities secret until today, so it was very fitting,” Lauren explained.

  There were slight chuckles and nods around the table.

  “It’s good to see you again,” Pierre said still wearing that damn seductive ass smile of his.

  I damned his fine ass to hell for the millionth time. Why the fuck did he have to smell and look so damn tasty? I didn’t hear a word he said as his mouth moved. All I could do was imagine kissing those thick ass, succulent lips of his. Mmm mmm mmm. The more I saw him the sexier he seemed to get. Snap out of it Seandra, I thought to myself.

  Hmm, I had a feeling that things were about to get interesting.

  * * *

  I’d managed to make it through our initial reading without making a complete and utter fool of myself. If I should say so myself, I thought I did a superb job. Lauren and the rest of the crew did too. Pierre and I definitely had movie chemistry. He ended up being a great actor and although I didn’t know, acting was his first passion. He had become a model by accident.

  The story was, he had a movie audition in France, but ended up walking into a modeling agency instead by mistake. Once he realized that he was in the wrong place, he asked for directions to the studio. He learned that it was right down the street, but was also asked if he wanted to book a modeling gig. So, he ended up doing a major spread in Vogue for Dolce and Gabbanna with no prior modeling experience. He didn’t get the acting gig though. After that he stuck to a sure thing, which was modeling. He was getting back into the acting arena because it was his first dream.

  Getting to know him a little better made it easier to not just see him as a piece of meat. In all actuality, he seemed like a really nice person. If we were going to be working together it was very important that we remained professional. He asked about Ahmad of course and I did tell him that we had a talk. I didn’t tell him that we broke up because I didn’t want to him to think that I was available. I knew that our break up would come out soon, but until then, I planned to be tactful about everything.

  On my way home my phone rang and it was Ahmad of course. He’d called a hundred times since we broke up and that was no exaggeration. With a huff, I answered his call knowing that if I did
n’t he wouldn’t have stopped.

  “What do you want?” I asked with an attitude. Shit, he thought I was playing games with his ass.

  “Is that really how you’re going to handle this?” He asked.

  “Yeah, just like the way you handled our relationship. I’m going to be messy.” I rolled my eyes at the mere thought of getting back with him. How could he be so damn insecure? I hated an insecure ass man.

  He sighed loudly and then cleared his throat. “Look baby, I don’t want to fight…”

  “Baby?” I cut him off. “We’re not together anymore. Don’t you get that? It’s over.”

  “It’s not over Seandra,” he said sounding crazy as hell. “Where are you? We really need to talk.”

  “We don’t have anything to talk about Ahmad. You don’t seem to be understanding me. I’m done, finished. Maybe you’ll understand it if I put it this way. Curtains closed. Lights out. Cut. The end.” I shook my head at how oblivious he seemed to be.

  “Why do you want to just give up like that?” He asked. “After what we just went through with my ex and shit. I thought there was something worth fighting for, but you don’t?” The tone of his voice told me that he was hurt. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but I just couldn’t take him anymore.

  “I thought it was too Ahmad. I love you. I still do, but I can’t do this with you. You aren’t the same guy I fell for. You’re not the man I thought I knew. He was confident and secure about himself. You…you’re all jealous and possessive now and I vowed to myself that I’d never get caught up in that type of drama. I don’t need that shit in my life anymore, so no matter how I feel about you, I have to stay focused. My career is about to take off and…”

  “That’s what changed Seandra. You just don’t see it. Since the day you got that call about “Nothing Even Matters” you changed. You career is your top priority now and all you care about is being a movie star. I feel like you put us on the back burner. Don’t get me wrong babe, I know how important your career is to you, but you always made me feel like I was too. Well, up until recently. I guess when I didn’t pull out that day, I kind of hoped you’d get pregnant. I was desperate to get your interest back in me somehow and then when the shit happened with Pierre, I just snapped I guess. I’m sorry baby. I just didn’t want to lose you. I felt that if you became this, this big movie star, you’d forget all about me.”

  I couldn’t believe what he’d just said. Was he really intimidated by my career advancing? Did he want me to just be some sitcom actress forever? What the fuck kind of shit was that? I needed a man who was strong and would support me no matter what I chose to do.

  “So you tried to knock me up on purpose?” I asked. Although I did think that first, it was different to hear him admit to it. “I thought it was just a spur of the moment thing Ahmad. I should’ve known better.” I shook my head at him in disgust. “And as far as my career coming first, we talked about that before we even became a couple. You seemed to be okay with it all at in the beginning. We were friends, so I thought that was enough of a foundation for you to trust and support me. Your ass is obviously more concerned about yourself than me. Of course Pierre is attractive, but I love you. Don’t you see that you pushed me away with your attempts to keep me? Ironic isn’t it? Well, guess what? I took the morning after pill, so I really doubt that your plan worked. Oh, and before the media lets the cat out of the back, Pierre will be my co-star in “Nothing Even Matters”. How about that shit for irony?”

  I hung up with a sly grin on my face. Shit, I didn’t need or want a man who would hold me back instead of uplifting me. I needed and wanted a man who would let me spread my wings and fly, not put an anchor on me. I was a star and stars were meant to shine. A man was not going to dim that light anymore. I couldn’t care less about what we went through to be together. Some shit just wasn’t meant to be. Maybe that whole black magic thing I went through was supposed to deter me from being with him before it even got that far. Perhaps, Ahmad was never my soul mate in the first place.

  Chapter 16

  Renell

  More than twenty four hours had gone by since Ricky’s revelation and I was still stunned. I could not believe that the man I was planning to marry had misled me in such a way. Not only was he not a sports agent, but what he did do for a living made him the scum of the earth. My so called man, the father of my first born son, was a bottom feeder. My fiancé was a fucking scavenger.

  It was crazy how he explained that shit to me. As I sat there and waited for the worst, I still wasn’t really prepared for what he had told me. That shit changed everything.

  “Babe, please don’t judge me,” he’d said giving me a look that begged for understanding.

  “I can’t promise you that,” I had said and I really meant it.

  He let out a deep breath and rubbed his chin before his confession.

  “I’ve never been a straight laced square. I wanted you to think I was because I really fell hard for you. I’m deeply in love with you and I am willing to change who I am for you and our son. Deep down inside, I don’t want to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” he started.

  I was getting frustrated because the waiting game was getting tired as hell.

  “Get to the damn point Rick before I go the hell off in here!”

  He closed his eyes and then balled his fists at his sides. It was like whatever he had to say was killing him. I could tell that he didn’t want to tell me anything else, but he had no choice.

  “Just know that I love you Nell. Through it all there has never been a moment that I wasn’t real about how I feel about you. You and our son are the best thing that ever happened to me. You two inspire me to change.”

  I rolled my eyes in annoyance. It was like I was a ticking time bomb that was about to explode at any minute if he didn’t just go ahead and tell me what the fuck was going on. He must’ve felt the heat coming off me because he finally let it out.

  “For the past few years I’ve been the master mind of a fraud ring. I’m the one who calls all of the shots, which explains the millions that you were speaking of. I’ve done everything from scams with credit cards to my newest venture. A few months ago I actually figured out how to copy a website to make a dummy website and link my bank account to it. I did it with a Bentley and Mercedes dealership. When the cars are purchased the money goes directly into my account. I’ve also been automatically drafting funds from millions of personal bank accounts. I hacked into a few major banks’ websites and got access to the account numbers. All I have to take is a penny or nickel here or there to get millions of dollars.” There was even a smile on his face as if he was proud of what he had done.

  My mouth was wide open. “What the fuck? Why the hell would you do some shit like that? How did you fool me into thinking you were a sports agent? I mean, you supposedly had this long ass client list and…” I was so disappointed in him. “How can you live with yourself? You take from people who work hard every day for what they have. You’re scamming people and bragging about it with a smile like it is okay.”

  “I can live with myself because I feel like Robin Hood. The people I take from don’t even miss that shit. They’re rich and half of them have never worked a hard day in their lives. Because of me my parents could move out of the hood and my family is well taken care of. Nobody wants for anything, so I don’t feel bad at all. As a matter of fact having millions of dollars feel damn good.”

  I had never thought he was a narcissist, but I knew better at that moment. Truth be told, I didn’t know the man I’d laid down and procreated with at all. Damn, I really felt like a fool. How could I have been so easily misled? Was I really that gullible? I should’ve been more inquisitive. I should’ve been investigating the man I planned to spend the rest of my life with. The things he had just admitted to me made me question all of the feelings I thought I had for him. How could they be real if he wasn’t really the man I thought I had fallen in love with?

  “All this time I’ve
been with you I wouldn’t have ever thought. What makes you think just because you feel entitled, that is enough? You don’t have the right to steal from people. My father works hard for everything he has and so do I. If someone took from me you’d be ready to defend my honor. What is the difference between me and the people you’re taking from? Do you feel that I don’t deserve what I have? Would you want someone to do that to Resean? What if we’d set up a trust fund for him and someone just wiped it all out? Do you think that would be okay?” I was really trying to understand him. What had happened to the man I loved? Was he ever real, or was he just an illusion?

  “That’s different baby. Besides, I’ve been getting away with that shit for years, but I know that it’s time for me to retire now. I’m putting all of that risky shit behind me and taking the high road. We’re going to get married and I am going to invest that money into something legitimate. I promise to make you happy. Think about it. If I was a sports agent would I be able to afford you?” There was a snide smirk on his face that made me want to sock his ass.

  “You can’t be serious right now Ricky. I want you out of my fucking house! Now! You must be out of your damn mind if you think I’m going to marry your ass! You’re a fucking criminal and I don’t want anything to do with you! You are never to come near me or my son again! Do you hear me! I don’t know what kind of shit you’re involved in, or what type of thugs you’re involved with! I can’t with you right now!”

  He just stood there like I hadn’t just told him to leave and there would be no wedding.

  “Baby, come on. I’m still the same man. At least I told you the truth,” he said trying his best to level with me somehow, but it wasn’t working at all.

  “I don’t want to hear it. Our relationship, or whatever you want to call this lie we’ve been living, is over!” I stumped off upstairs to the master bedroom.