“Jonah!”
Erica looked toward the center of the lobby, where there were a few people standing around. One of them was Jonah’s other security detail, who joined them immediately. But also coming toward them was Alex, with a reluctant Mexican woman, who looked to be in her fifties, following behind.
“I’m glad I caught you,” Alex said as they approached. He looked at Erica. “Hey, Erica.”
“Hey,” she said. “I was just on my way home, so I’ll leave you two—”
“No.” Alex took her arm to hold her there. “I want you to meet someone. Jonah, you remember my mom, Leeza.”
“Of course I do,” Jonah said cordially. “It’s nice to see you again, Leeza. It’s been a very long time.”
“Yes, it has,” she agreed, her accent softly detected. “Always nice to see you, Mr. Nolan.”
“Mr. Nolan?” Alex laughed. “Mom, you know you can call him ‘Jonah.’ ”
“I’d really prefer you to,” Jonah said, seeming a bit annoyed.
Her expression was stoic as she offered, “Old habits die hard. Jonah.”
“Well, I have to get going,” Jonah said. “You all have a good evening. Erica and Alex, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Of course, sir,” Alex called after him as Jonah abruptly turned and walked away with his security.
For a second, Erica noticed a look of derision on Leeza’s face as she watched Jonah walk away. It was only for a second. If Erica had blinked, she would have missed it. Leeza quickly replaced it with a kind smile and turned her attention to Erica.
“So you’re Erica,” she said, holding out her hand. “My son has told me a lot about you.”
Erica shook her hand firmly. “That I mostly annoy him, I’m sure.”
“Not at all.” Alex laughed a little nervously as if he didn’t want his mother saying he’d been talking about her. “I’ve only had great things to say about you. As a matter of fact, I told my mom you would back me up on a disagreement.”
“I don’t want to get between you and your mom,” Erica said.
“It’s a waste of time,” Leeza said. “He wants me to come to that fund-raiser thing with him and I won’t.”
“She’s supposed to be my date.” Alex pouted. “But she’s not a big fan of Jonah’s.”
“Why not?” Erica asked, even though it wasn’t any of her business.
Leeza shrugged, seeming annoyed with Alex for even bringing it up. “I’m a Northman fan. That’s all I’ll say.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “You could stomach it for me.”
“I’m busy.” Leeza crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head away.
Erica laughed, seeing how much it annoyed Alex.
“You see how the love of my life treats me?” Alex asked. He leaned over and kissed his mother on the cheek.
“Aw,” Erica said. “So sweet.”
“I know,” Leeza said, pointing at Erica. “You take Erica!”
“Um . . .” Alex looked embarrassed.
At that moment, Erica remembered the last awkward moment between them when he’d helped her put her jacket on in the office. Jonah had interrupted them, probably the only time she’d been grateful to see him.
“Do you have a date?” Leeza asked.
“Mom . . . stop,” Alex pleaded under his breath.
“No, I don’t,” Erica answered.
“You don’t?” Alex’s eyes widened. “Oh, I . . . Well . . .”
“Then you’ll go together,” Leeza said, clapping her hands together and rubbing them as if she’d solved the puzzle of the century.
“Enough, Mom,” Alex pleadingly warned.
“Why don’t we agree to meet there and walk in together,” Erica suggested, hoping to at least end some of Alex’s clear suffering.
He pointed at her with a satisfied smile. “There you go. Sounds good. Genius. Happy, Mom?”
“That’s a solution?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “You kids these days and your dating rituals. Do what you want. What do I care?”
Erica laughed, already knowing she was going to like this woman.
When Michael opened the front door to his West End apartment, Billie could see the look of amazement on his face. She didn’t waste the advantage the element of surprise offered her. She brushed past him quickly and entered the apartment. When she turned around to face him, he was just standing there, with his mouth open.
“Billie—”
She held up her hand. “Before you start, I need to say something.”
As he shut the door behind him, Billie turned to him. She’d been so focused on getting her frustrations out that she hadn’t even realized until now that he was shirtless. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and his feet were bare. His chest was dark and his skin smooth and muscled. It gave her pause, just taking it in.
“I’m extremely angry with you,” she said, her voice cracking throughout. She was very warm.
“Me?” He laughed. “What did I do?”
“I haven’t been able to sleep since you left my apartment the other night.” Billie really doubted her resolve in the face of his chest.
She placed her purse on a console table in the hallway as an excuse to look away. His apartment was nicely designed in a modernist, bachelor style. Not a lot of details, but large pieces of furniture and art, which took up space and gave the place a masculine look.
“You know why I left,” he said.
“You didn’t give me a chance to explain the situation to you,” she emphasized. “Basically, Porter has haunted me since I left him.”
Michael shook his head in disbelief. “You came over here to talk about him?”
“Ugh!” She raised her hands in fists in the air. “You are so damn frustrating. I’m trying to tell you that you’re right. You were right to leave, and you were right to call me out.”
“I wasn’t trying to be right,” Michael said. “I was just—”
“Can you put on a shirt?” Billie asked.
“What?” Michael looked thoroughly confused.
“You’re making this impossible, standing there, looking like”—she pointed to his chest—“that.”
He laughed for a second, but then he frowned. “You’re serious?”
“Yes,” she maintained. “I want to have a serious conversation with you about how I want to move on from Porter and let him go.”
Michael shook his head. “You’re an odd bird, Billie.”
He started down the hallway and Billie followed. The hallway led to an open area, with consistently masculine design and dark colors set up with a living room, center stage.
“I understand why you were avoiding me,” she said.
He reached down on the sofa and grabbed a T-shirt with one hand, while reaching with the other for the remote and putting the baseball game playing on the fifty-inch HD television on mute.
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” he said. “I was giving you space to figure shit out. Looks like that was a good idea.”
“I came over here to tell you,” she continued to say as he put on his Morehouse T-shirt, “that I’m doing just that. I mean, I’m ready to. But I’m not doing it because you told me to. I’m doing it because not being able to sleep at night gives a person time to think.”
“And what did you think about?” he asked, walking toward her.
He stopped about a foot from her, with an engaging, amused look on his face. With him standing this close, having the shirt on didn’t seem to be doing much to help the situation.
“I’m being serious,” she warned, pointing her finger at him. “You said you wanted to be the only man on my mind that night if we made love. Well, you’ve been the only man on my mind ever since then.”
“Good,” he said.
“You’re damn right it’s good,” she asserted. “I don’t deserve to be hung up on the past. I deserve a future—a better, bigger future. I asked myself, what do I want more? To battle in a boardroom with Porter or in a bedr
oom with you.”
“Battle?” he asked. “Is that what you’re into?”
“Battle, celebrate, whatever it is.” She reached out and clutched at his hand. “I want to do it with you, and only you. And I won’t take no for an answer!”
“You won’t have to.” Michael grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him.
When his lips possessively took hers, Billie gave herself to it freely and swooned into him. His arms held her tightly as hers went up and around his neck. Immediately a flame traveled from her lips through her chest and the rest of her body. She wanted him so bad.
Billie looked him in his eyes, her voice giving away its eagerness as she asked, “You’re not going to get me all heated up and call it a night again, are you?”
“I’m not that good of a tease,” he answered. “Tonight, ain’t nobody going anywhere.”
He took her by the hand and led her to the sofa and they both sat down. Not wasting any time, his lips were on hers again, even more demanding this time. Billie let out a gasp as his mouth swiftly moved from a soft, moist kiss on her chin to her neck. His mouth was softly leaving molten lava wherever it touched.
Billie reached out for his T-shirt and began pulling at it. He separated from her for just a brief moment, although it seemed like forever, to let her pull it off him and toss it aside. Her hands explored his hard chest as his mouth claimed her again. She could hear him groan in response to her caress and it made her crazy.
As his hands left her waist and began unbuttoning her silk blouse, Billie began to lean back. But as she did, she felt something push against her, and her reflexes sprang into action as she quickly lifted up.
“What is it?” he asked, looking just a second from being lost in the passion.
“It’s . . . um . . .” Billie twisted around to see what was impeding her downward movement.
She was touched by what she saw. It was a pair of pink boxing gloves. She picked them up and showed them to Michael.
“What are these for?” she asked. “New and pretty boxing gloves.”
Michael grinned proudly. “A gift for a next date. You and I are going boxing.”
“When?” she asked, placing the gloves out of the way.
He pulled her back to him and said, “Next week, we box. Tonight, we burn calories another way.”
He quickly led her to his bedroom and got back to the business at hand. Billie found her body sent into spasms of desire and pleasure as he masterfully stroked, massaged, rubbed, and caressed her every inch. A storm set off inside her as he manipulated her body for his pleasure. Every whisper, kiss, rub, and touch sent her deeper into sexual bliss.
She responded with demands of her own. She was ravenous and he fed her everything she wanted, and more. She wanted to be taken, to have an intense, erotic experience; he delivered tenfold. After his lips left scalding kisses over her entire body, he thrilled her with his mouth until she exploded in sweet abandon.
The intensity reached a level of mania when he finally entered her. She melted at the sweet pain and pleasure as he moved in and out of her. His face was buried in her neck, and he was kissing her madly. Their bodies moved together like a current in the water, in unison, sharing immense ecstasy.
As his control began to slip, Billie felt the hysteria in both of them building up. Their bodies were frantic; their groans and moans got louder and louder until they exploded in each other’s arms.
When Sherise and Justin sat down in Jacob Swift’s DuPont Circle–area office, their hands entwined in each other’s, they knew they weren’t going to get good news. After all, they were there for an update on Elena’s claim, hoping that it would get refused as not being sufficient.
“The firm wants to give her money,” Jacob said, sitting behind his desk.
“What?” Justin shot forward in his chair, in complete shock.
“No,” Sherise said. “They can’t do that. She just filed. There’s a grievance process that the firm has to follow. I read it in Justin’s papers. What kind of bullshit is this?”
Jacob was shaking his head. “This is ridiculous, I know. I’ve never heard of a firm doing this, except—”
“Except when?” Justin asked.
“When the firm has just emerged from some serious legal issues and can’t afford any more so soon after.”
“Legal issues?” Justin asked.
Jacob nodded. “She’s saying that if she isn’t happy with the firm’s response, she’s going to the EEOC to see if she qualifies for a lawsuit.”
Sherise was shaking her head. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “What are they talking about, legal issues?”
“They just don’t want a show,” Jacob said. “They don’t want this to spread in the firm and especially outside of it.”
Justin turned to Sherise. “Last year, there was a sexual harassment issue on the legal side of the firm. I told you about it. A partner was having an affair with one of his associates.”
“But that never went public,” Sherise said. “Didn’t they handle that in-house?”
“Yes,” Jacob said, “but if this goes public, last year’s mess will certainly come out. She already plans to use it as evidence of a sexually hostile environment.”
“That bitch,” Sherise mumbled under her breath.
“And there was also an incident last year.” Jacob looked down at the papers in front of him. “She didn’t bring this up—so for now, she doesn’t know about it. But if the court requires the firm to give reasons for all disciplinary actions in the last year, the firm said they would have to disclose an inappropriate sexual relationship with a client. They’d like to keep that secret as well.”
“Oh, for fuck sake,” Sherise said.
She knew right away what he was talking about: Billie and her pro bono client, Ricky. She looked at Justin, who also knew. Of course she hadn’t told him, but he’d heard the rumors at the firm. After Billie resigned, Justin put two and two together on his own.
“There are a lot of vulnerabilities here,” Jacob said. “They are justifiably nervous, but I think they’re moving too soon.”
“When do I get a formal hearing?” Justin asked.
Justin told Sherise he’d been given only a few minutes to deny the claims to his boss and the heads of the firm before they asked him to take a leave of absence. He chose then not to say another word until he had Jacob with him.
“I’m setting that up for Monday,” Jacob said. “If they’re not happy, they’ll be more likely to give her money so she doesn’t make a fuss.”
“Is Justin going to have to sue the firm to keep his job?” Sherise asked.
“I don’t want to do that,” Justin said. “I don’t want it to come to that. I’ve put too much into the relationships there.”
“Look what good it’s done you,” she postured. “The second some bitch accuses you of something, they turn on you.”
“They’re just afraid because of all the stuff we just talked about,” Justin assured her. “When I go in on Monday—”
“I want to come,” Sherise said.
“You need to,” Jacob said. “You can’t sit in on the conversation, but you need to come to show your support and that you believe him.”
Justin squeezed Sherise’s hand more tightly and she smiled at him.
“They want to avoid a mess,” Jacob said. “Even if she’d likely get turned down for a suit.”
“But that’s my reputation on the line,” Justin said.
“We need more time,” Sherise said. “We have to convince them of that. We have to fight her. We’ll hire a private investigator to dig up all her dirt. I’ll ask around and find out—”
“I’ve taken care of that,” Jacob interrupted. “We’re looking into her past, but we have to be careful. We can’t make it seem like we’re trying to make the truth look like a lie through distraction. And we certainly can’t have what looks like a jealous wife pursuing her.�
��
“Not jealous,” Sherise insisted. “Pissed off, pregnant, and ready to scorch the earth to protect her husband and everything he’s worked for.”
Sherise looked over at Justin and could see how proud he was of her. He hadn’t looked at her that way in . . . She couldn’t even remember when. Yes, this was a disaster, but Sherise was better than any obstacle that had come her way. She would conquer this problem, and their marriage and their lives would be better for it.
Jacob’s cell phone rang and he quickly picked it up. “It’s the firm. Let me take this. I’ll be right back.”
“Tell them to wait,” Justin demanded as Jacob hurriedly rushed out of the office.
Once alone, Justin turned to Sherise.
“You know,” he said, “if we do get them to wait and she goes public, it will reach Northman’s people. You have to tell them.”
“I’m not worried about them,” Sherise said. “If they make a stink about it, I’ll handle it.”
“You could quit, if it’s too much for you.” He reached over and pressed his hand on her belly. “That’s all I care about.”
Sherise placed her hand over his. “If that’s the only thing that can protect you, I’ll do that. I’ll do anything. Justin, I’ll walk through fire for you . . . for our family.”
Considering all the battles she was facing, Sherise was afraid she’d have to do just that.
11
The second Billie entered the conference room, where the others were waiting, she made eye contact with Porter. Everyone was sitting down, waiting for her and Gil, who had walked in with her. She almost laughed out loud at how quickly Porter’s expression changed from when he greeted Gil to when he greeted her. She was kind and polite, despite his grumbling niceties. Yes, he was still pissed off from her putting him in his place last week, but he had no idea what was coming.
Despite what she’d told Michael, Billie had spent quite some time trying to figure out how to make Porter pay for ruining her evening with Michael. She hadn’t lied to Michael—she was never going to bring Porter up around him again, ever—but there was no way Porter would get away with what he’d done.
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