Black Lace: Book 4 of the Black Butterfly Series

by Nika Michelle

  Thank God Resean was still asleep because I knew I’d been loud as hell. I went in the walk in closet to grab a suitcase. As I threw his clothes in it, I heard him enter the bedroom. He grabbed my hands in an attempt to stop me.

  “Nell. Baby. Please. Just think about what you’re doing. Please!”

  “Get your damn hands off me motherfucker! I don’t need to think about shit! I don’t want a lying ass thief for a husband. You will not be in my son’s life because you don’t deserve to be! I can’t believe you!”

  He backed away from me with tears glistening in his eyes. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I mean every word. I cannot marry you and if I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have ever had a damn child with you! I should’ve known better. I should’ve known that I wouldn’t be so lucky. You were never the man I thought you were. As a matter of fact I have no idea who the hell you really are. Because of that, I want you out of my life. I don’t want to see your lying, scheming face again. If you come near me or my son again, I’ll call the police and tell them everything.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me.” I gave him an intimidating look that made his face soften.

  “Don’t take my son away from me Nell. Please.”

  “Fuck you. I don’t feel sorry for your ass. You don’t have a son as far as I’m concerned.” I walked back to the closet and grabbed more of his clothes.

  “Stop Nell, damnit! I’m not going any fucking where!” He opened the suitcase and started pulling clothes out as I put more clothes in.

  “Move out of my way!” I yelled pushing him away from the suitcase. “You will leave and you are leaving now!”

  “No the fuck I’m not! Now let my shit go woman!” He demanded with an expression on his face that I’d never seen before.

  It made me let go of his clothes and just stare at him like I was at a loss. What had gotten into him? If I didn’t know any better I’d think he was going to hit me.

  “I’m taking my son for a drive and when I get back I want you and your shit out of here and I mean it. If not, well, you’ll see if I mean it when I say that I’ll tell the police everything. I’m not afraid of you and I don’t give a damn how I supposedly feel about you. Our relationship has been one damn lie after another and I’m not building a future on that shit.”

  I walked out of the room and headed into the nursery to get my son. When I came back his ass better had been long gone.

  * * *

  I had been driving around for about an hour before I decided to head back home. Ricky’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so I figured he’d gotten the point and went back to his house. I was so glad he hadn’t decided to sell it. We’d decided to keep it as second home. Well, that was out. It was his home and my home was mine. The tears I’d been crying had dried up and Resean was thankfully still asleep.

  He was such a good baby and I guess he didn’t get that from his father. I couldn’t really say that Ricky was a bad person, but he wasn’t a good person either. If he was, he wouldn’t be able to just steal from people like that. I needed a man who was honest and made an honest living. If I couldn’t trust him to be who he said he was initially, how could I trust him down the line? I had so many regrets, but my baby was not one of them. He was the only good thing that came out of whatever it was that I had with Ricky.

  I’d never done it before, but the first night that Ricky was gone, I put Resean in the bed with me. I was careful not to roll over on him, which was a fear of mine, but I needed him close to me. I cried myself to sleep not believing that the love I thought I had was over. From that moment on I would pour all of my love on my son. No other man would be able to break down the brick wall I was going to put up. Unless it was for my son, love didn’t live in my heart anymore.

  * * *

  I went into the office the next morning at ten because it had been so hard for me to get out of bed. As much as I wanted to reach out, I hadn’t talked to my sisters at all about what was going on. Part of the reason I didn’t call Tay was because I didn’t want a pity party. Although I was the oldest, I seemed to have the worst luck when it came to love. She and Rah were still going strong, so she wouldn’t understand how I felt anyway. Calling Seandra was a no go being that we still weren’t on speaking terms. As far as I knew she and Ahmad were doing better than ever and that shit sucked.

  I was the one who had a child out of wedlock and I was no closer to getting married than I was before I had him. Why the hell did the man I loved have to be a fucking criminal? All I could think about was if I married him and he got caught. How would that affect me and my son’s future? Would they think I was involved? The shit had hit the fan and it had been so unanticipated.

  When I walked inside everyone was bustling and moving around like the scare with Grady had never happened. The sight put a huge smile on my face. At least I had a successful business and maybe it was time for me to become focused again. Being with Ricky had kind of knocked me off my square. I was a workaholic before him and well, my priorities had shifted a little bit. After what I’d been through I would never let a man do that to me again. Resean and my business were at the top of my priority list and I vowed to keep it that way.

  “Hi Miss Beauvois,” Marianne, my marketing director, called out as soon as I crossed the threshold.

  “Hi Marianne and how many times do I have to tell you all to call me Renell,” I said forcing a smile on my face.

  “Oh, sorry Renell. Have a good one.” She walked pass me and I ended up bumping right into Brock.

  He held on to my arms in an attempt to steady me

  “Oh, sorry. I, uh, sorry,” he stammered nervously.

  “It’s okay,” I said as I pulled away from his grasp. “No damage done.”

  “I was trying to stop you the other day to apologize. I was out of line and I don’t want that to interfere with our work relationship. If I offended you, please forgive me. I think I was being just a little overzealous. The last thing I would want is for you to be uncomfortable around me.”

  When I looked down I noticed that he had offered his hand for me to shake. At first I was skeptical, but something in his clear blue eyes told me that he was sincere.

  “Okay,” I shook his head. “By gones are by gones.”

  “Good,” he said with a smile.

  I nodded in his direction. Hmm, maybe Brock was saner than I thought. His first day in sales had been very productive and if I may say so myself, he was probably outselling everybody else. I was just wondering why he was still standing there.

  “Well, have a good day Brock.” I was about to walk away when he stopped me.

  “I also wanted to give you my two weeks’ notice. Things have been kind of awkward after my…confession. It was just a little crush. No harm, no foul. Maybe I was feeling like Superman because of what I did. I do apologize again.” There was a remorseful look on his face as he passed me an envelope.

  I nodded in understanding. He was right. It would be best if he left, but I pretended that his news bothered me.

  “I’m sorry to hear that you’re leaving. I’m so grateful for what you did. If it wasn’t for you…well, I don’t know. You did great on your very first day in sales, so I know that you’ll excel in whatever you do from here. Thank you Brock,” I said in gratitude and relief. There was no need to bring up his confession again.

  He shook my hand. “No problem Miss Beauvois. Have a great day.”

  When I headed to my office there was a smile on my face. It wouldn’t last long though. In my life, I had learned to expect the unexpected.

  Chapter 17

  Seantay

  One month later

  Of course the wedding between Ricky and Renell didn’t happen and she never explained why. Seandra and Ahmad hadn’t patched things up either. The media had been running with all types of speculations about the two very public break ups. On top of all of that Seandra and Renell still weren’t spea
king. Nell was pissed at Seandra because she’d been publically spending time with her co-star Pierre. That was causing even more buzz in the gossip mill. Everybody was trying to figure out the extent of their relationship. Seandra insisted that there was nothing romantic between them.

  “We’re really just good friends,” she’d said over and over again. “He’s new to the States and he’s my co-star. It’s not like he has any friends or family here. Why not show him around? I’m single and I’m free to mingle, but it’s innocent. I swear.”

  Her explanation sounded fair enough, but it was hard to believe that she could just be friends with a man without benefits. We all knew how Seandra was and if she was telling the truth, I’d be shocked. Still, in my eyes she was grown and could do what she wanted. Who was Nell to judge?

  As far as Dean, his new trial had started a week before and the evidence that the DA had was finally revealed to the public. The second trial was just as sensational as the first one. It was crazy how Dean’s groupies were lined up to get inside of the courtroom. You would think that a man who was on trial for raping a young girl would turn women off, but it didn’t seem to be deterring them.

  That time I couldn’t chance showing up at the trial out of fear of being spotted. There were too many media outlets camped outside and I didn’t want my identity to be revealed. It was a good thing that the trial was being televised. Me and Rah sat there and watched it unfold in anticipation of the guilty verdict that we were waiting for.

  When it was time for the defense to drop the bomb everyone had been waiting for, you could hear a pin drop in the courtroom.

  “The state of the art security system that Dean’s estate was equipped with monitored and recorded everything that happened inside and outside of the property. That even includes when he entered or exited any door of his house. On the night in question the defendant did not leave his home at all. He had returned home four hours before the alleged rape and did not leave his home again until six am the next morning. We also have evidence that none of his vehicles were moved at that time. Please run the footage,” the defense attorney said with a stern face.

  He was a tall, middle aged black man with pecan brown skin and a receding hair line. Everyone in Miami knew who Kevin Foster was because he was a defense attorney who was known for winning cases. My nerves were shot, but I was relieved that the evidence they had did not point to any of us.

  The footage showed that Dean’s vehicles were all accounted for in his multi-car garage. It showed the video in fast motion to account for the hours before and after the rape. That and the evidence from the alarm company proved that he was at home. All we needed was for the prosecution to place doubt in the minds of the jury.

  “My client never left home during the time before or after the rape and you all have the proof. Dean Monross was framed. At this point and time we have no clue who would do that or why, but he is not a rapist. His vendetta with Franklin Williams stopped with him and never crossed over to his daughter. I would like to call the next witness.”

  I watched in silence as he called a computer expert to the stand.

  “Bradley, you are a computer forensics expert correct?”

  “Yes,” the short pale white man, with thick bifocals said into the microphone.

  “What did you discover on Dean Monross’s computer?”

  “There was no evidence in the history of the computer that supports the claims of the emails and Facebook messages. As a matter of fact his computer had not accessed those websites at the times that the correspondences were made.”

  “Which means?” There was an anxious look on the defense lawyer’s face as he waited for the answer.

  “That someone had to send the emails and instant messages from a different computer.”

  “Thank you Bradley. That is all.”

  We waited for the prosecution to cross exam the witness. DA Monroe stood up and ran his hand down his gray silk tie. He was looking dapper in a charcoal colored Armani suit. With his good looks and charm, no one would ever know that he had a secret fetish for young boys. I shook my head just thinking about it.

  “The evidence that you found on Dean’s computer does not really prove that he did not send those messages himself, it only proves that they weren’t sent from that particular computer. Correct?” His eyebrows shot up at the end of the question.

  Bradley nodded and then spoke up. “Yes, that is correct. There were two computers presented to us. One was his personal lap top and one was his business computer, which was a desk top. Neither of the computers could have been used in the exchange of messages between the victim and defendant, but it does not rule out the possibility that he himself could’ve used another computer. Therefore we accessed his cell phone and iPad and found that they were not sent from those devices either. However, it does not rule out that he could have sent the messages himself from another device.”

  “No further questions.”

  The judge looked at Bradley and quickly dismissed him from the stand. The next witness was from the actual alarm company and it was time for the DA to debunk their so called evidence that would get Dean Monross off.

  “So, was every door and window secured by the state of the art alarm system that Mr. Foster spoke of?” The DA asked with his eyes focused on the blonde woman who sat on the stand.

  “Yes. Well, almost every window. There is a small window in the basement of the home and well, Mr. Monross felt that that window didn’t necessarily need to be wired to the system. He said that was because sometimes small animals like possums or skunks may end up tripping the alarm. Just a slight tap on a window could set the alarm off,” she said confidently.

  “So, that means that the defendant could have exited the home from that window without tripping the alarm?”

  She looked shocked by the question. “Uh, yes, I guess he could have, but why would he do that?”

  I almost laughed out loud at the fact that she asked the lawyer a question.

  “A person who does not want to go to prison for rape,” the DA shot back.

  “Objection!” Kevin Foster jumped up from his sea like it was on fire.

  Suddenly there was chatter in the courtroom.

  “Order!” The judge said loudly as he banged his gavel twice.

  A hush came over the courtroom again.

  “On what grounds Foster?” The judge was a stocky, dark skinned man with salt and pepper hair and a stern face. He looked like he was in his mid-fifties or early sixties.

  “He’s leading the witness.”

  “Sustained. Okay Monroe. No more insinuations. Continue.”

  “The surveillance that your company provided did not show footage of the outside of the estate. Would you say that it is possible that Dean had a car parked outside in the driveway, or that someone could have picked him up?”

  The witness looked uncomfortable at that point. “Yes, I would say that is a possibility. We do monitor the outside of his home, but we were only asked to provide surveillance of the garage.”

  The DA looked at the jury with a smirk on his face. “Now why would the defense only ask for surveillance of the garage? It may sound crazy, but it is a possibility that the defendant could have climbed out of the basement window and drove off in a car that was parked outside of the estate. Correct?”

  She nodded. “That is correct.”

  “Thank you. No further questions.”

  I smiled because the jury appeared to be buying what the DA was selling. After that the court was recessed for lunch, so we decided to break too.

  “What do you think?” I asked Raheem as I spread mayonnaise on wheat bread.

  “I don’t think Dean stands a chance. Like Monroe said, anything is possible. People do crazy ass shit every day. I was feeling Monroe when he asked why this stuff didn’t come up in the first trial. It was obviously because Dean just knew he’d get off.” He popped a Lay’s original potato chip in his mouth.

  I piled turkey and Swiss c
heese on top of the bread. “I don’t know. It sounded farfetched even to me. Who would think to crawl out of their basement window to go rape somebody?”

  “Like dude said, somebody who wants to get away with it.”

  I pushed the plate over to him and made another sandwich for myself. “I just hope it works.”

  Rah took a huge bite out of his sandwich. “Don’t worry babe. Even if it doesn’t work he has no idea who set him up.”

  I sighed. “You’re right.”

  “Chin up beautiful,” he said flashing a smile my way.

  I smiled back. “I’m good babe.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “So, I ran into this nigga named Jay who work a trap for Nafis and he gave me the scoop. I was gonna tell you earlier, but when I got here you were stuck to the TV.”

  He had my full attention. “Okay, so what did he say?”

  “That nigga is full of shit. Ain’t nobody take no charges for him and he ended up taking a plea deal for two years.”

  I frowned. “Two fucking years? He must’ve had a good ass lawyer.”

  Rah shook his head. “Money talks baby. It’s cool though because all we need is two years. By that time we’ll be married and out of Miami.”

  “Who says I’m leaving Miami?” I asked. “He or Dean will not run me away from my home.”

  “Did you look into security? I can’t be with you every moment, so I need to know that you’re good.”

  “I don’t want some big buff guy following me around. It brings unwanted attention. I’m more incognito without that extra shit.”

  Rah shook his head. “You are hard headed.”

  “But my ass is soft,” I said giving him a seductive glare.

  “As hell,” he said giving me a matching look.

  “Do we always have to have sex on the brain?” I asked with a laugh. “Even in the worst circumstances we be ready to get busy.”

  “It’s the best medicine baby.”

  “Hmm. I’ll just be glad when all of these dark clouds clear up. We don’t need Dean running around making our lives a living hell. I need to be worried about my runway show. Shit, and I need to get Nell and Seandra back talking. I don’t remember the last time we had a Divas’ Day. We have to start filming the reality show soon. I don’t need more drama.” I sighed.