by S. K. Hardy
Tina blinked. She looked around as if in a daze and still caught in the past. Composing her features, she glanced at Lorenzo. “To make a long story short, Isaac told me I was to leave New York that night and never come back. His men took me directly to the bus station and stayed until the bus left.”
“And you never saw my father after that? Never tried to contact me until recently?”
Tina shook her head and shrugged. “I’m sure you know your father better than anyone. I was afraid of him.”
Lorenzo tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair without replying. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of everything. Yes, his father could be a hard son of a bitch, there was no denying that, but there were too many gaps that Tina left unfilled. Something wasn’t adding up.
““Please don’t take this the wrong way, but your explanation is a little vague. I have a hard time believing my father would just let you and his son go like that.”
Tina blanched at the statement. “Excuse me?”
“He has his flaws, but for him to just walk away from his own flesh and blood like that… I’m not saying it didn’t happen that way, nor am I excusing his behavior if he did. However, before I leave, I’d like a clear understanding of all of the facts. Not just bits and pieces.”
Tina’s hand fluttered up to massage the left side of her chest. “I…I don’t understand. That’s what I’ve given you. The facts. I can only imagine what he’ll tell you, but Lorenzo, your father was a very possessive man. He monitored the places I went, the people I spoke with. If another man even looked at me, he would accuse me of cheating on him.”
That snagged Lorenzo’s attention. Now they were getting somewhere. Watching as Tina squirmed much the way witnesses on the stand did under cross-examination, he stood and slipped his hands in his pockets. Patience had always been his most effective weapon. He would get the truth before he left, but it was imperative that he pace himself in order to arrive at the desired destination.
“Is that what caused the fallout between you two? My father thought you cheated on him?” Lorenzo’s eyes latched onto her face and never looked away. “Did he think you were carrying another man’s child?”
For a moment, Tina sat stunned and at a loss for words before her face twisted up in an ugly sneer. “You’re trying to blame me for your father’s actions, aren’t you? Trying to find a way to excuse his cruelty.”
“That’s not what I’m doing at all,” Lorenzo answered calmly. “I’m just trying to piece together what really happened thirty years ago, and the only way to do that is for you to be completely honest with me.”
The two of them squared off with each other, their features closed but watchful. Suddenly Tina’s face relaxed. Her mouth tilted in amusement as she let out a short chuckle.
Lorenzo’s expression never changed. “Want to tell me what you find so funny?”
“You accuse your brother of being so much like Isaac…which he is. But you?” Tina stood up gracefully. She hesitated for a moment before cupping his cheek in her palm. “You don’t see it, of course, but you’re more like me than you realize.”
The corner of Lorenzo’s eye twitched, but he didn’t move away from her touch. “And why do you say that?”
“Your father and Darrell are very hot headed individuals. More times than not, they let their temper and emotions dictate their actions without thinking them through. You and I are slower to react. We analyze situations and evaluate circumstances before deciding on a course of action. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Tense moments passed before Lorenzo spoke. “Are you saying that’s what you did when it came to my father?”
Lorenzo saw something flicker in Tina’s eyes in reaction to his question, but before he could pursue it, they heard the raised voices of Darrell and Jerra outside the room. Lorenzo frowned, turning his head in that direction. He thought he’d detected tension between the two of them earlier. The heated argument they seemed to be having now only confirmed it.
“Take…your hands…off me!”
Lorenzo froze when he heard Jerra’s anger filled words, but stayed where he was. Their marital issues were none of his business.
“They had a horrible argument just before you got here,” Tina told him quietly. She had been watching him the entire time. “I’m just glad D.J. isn’t here to witness it this time.”
He was silent for a moment before sighing in resignation. Ignoring the side of him that cautioned he was making a mistake, Lorenzo headed out the door to at least make sure Jerra was okay.
He didn’t see the sly smile that stretched across Tina’s mouth before she followed behind him.
CHAPTER 4
Darrell stood behind Jerra as they waved to Angela, who blew the horn at them as she pulled away from the house. As always, D.J. had been a bundle of energy, barely taking the time to hug Darrell and Jerra goodbye before he ran to join his friend.
Closing the door, Jerra turned to stare at Darrell in a way that usually meant she thought he was being unreasonable about something.
“What?” Darrell sighed, but of course he already knew what she was going to say.
“This situation is already difficult for everyone involved. Snapping at everything Lorenzo and Tina say is only making things harder.”
“Right. And we wouldn’t want to make things hard for Lorenzo, now would we?” he asked, arms folded and feet planted slightly apart.
His eyes slowly roamed over her, noting that she’d changed clothes when she took D.J. upstairs earlier. In place of the shorts and t-shirt, she wore a pair of soft, fitted jeans and a sleeveless white blouse. When she’d walked back into the room, a feeling of possessiveness had assaulted him as he absently noticed how the jeans emphasized her small waist and flared hips. Lately, Jerra had been complaining about the seven or eight pounds she’d gained over the last few months, but in actuality, she had a figure that most women envied, and red-blooded men couldn’t look away from…including, he noticed, Lorenzo Pattel.
Even more disturbing was how at ease his wife seemed to be around the guy. It was Jerra’s nature to be polite but somewhat aloof towards people she didn’t know very well. Apparently, this wasn’t the case with Lorenzo.
“What’s the deal between you and him, Jerra?”
“I told you, we met in law school.”
Because he knew no other way to be, Darrell asked her with characteristic bluntness, “Did you sleep him?”
Jerra glared at Darrell in silence. Her nerves were on edge, frayed and raw. She suddenly felt drained and wanted nothing more than to be alone to think. She refused to stand there and be interrogated by Darrell after what he’d done.
“You’re so good at that,” she observed in an absent tone.
Darrell’s eyes grew cloudy with confusion. “What are you talking about? Good at what?”
“Twisting things around and displacing attention from yourself to me. That’s what you’re doing now.”
Darrell hissed impatiently. “Here we go.”
Exasperated, Jerra’s anger increased when he attempted to downplay her observation. “The issue you need to be concerned with has nothing to do with anyone or anything else.”
“You don’t think I have a right to ask what kind of history you and this ‘brother’ of mine shared?”
“Oh. Suddenly, you want to be open about relationships from our pasts now that it’s something you want to know?”
Darrell struggled to keep the impatience out of his voice. “That ain’t the same thing, Jerra, and you know it.”
“Why, because what you and your precious Roni shared was something so unique and incomparable?”
“That’s not what I–”
“You’re such an ass,” Jerra muttered. The hand that came up to rub her brow trembled. With everything that had happened between them earlier, she was holding it together by a string; a slight tug was all that was needed to make her come unraveled. Jerra didn’t want to argue with him, not right now, but from
the determined look on his face, she knew he had no intention of dropping the subject.
Turning her back to Darrell, she massaged her temples. Things had been good between them these last couple of years; better than good. After all of the drama they’d been through because of this very same subject, they’d managed to repair the cracks in the foundation of their marriage to make it solid and stronger than ever. Or at least Jerra had thought so. Now, she saw how wrong she’d been about that.
Hearing Darrell call her name in a tone that was soft and cajoling, she knew he had switched tactics. Jerra turned to face him, steeling herself against the pull he’d always had over her. It was magnetic. At times irresistible. Her husband was so good at sweet words and heartfelt apologies, but they wouldn’t fix what was broken between them. Not this time.
He moved towards her cautiously, as if afraid that any sudden movement would send her bolting away like a skittish colt. “Jerra, we need to talk about what happened.” Stopping a couple of feet away, he dipped his head to try and capture her eyes, but Jerra froze him out as effectively as a wall of ice. “Baby, about the phone calls to Roni–”
Jerra held a hand up to stop him, the fiery diamonds in her wedding band catching the light and winking at him tauntingly. “I’d prefer not to do this right now. With Lorenzo and your mother waiting on us, it’s not the time.”
“Let ‘em wait.” Darrell’s voice told her how unconcerned he was. “This is important. I know things looks bad, but I swear I’m not involved with her. Not like that.”
Despite her resolve not to discuss the subject, Jerra’s face tightened in anger. “‘Not like that?’” she repeated. “So you are involved in some way. Is that what you’re saying?”
Frustrated that he couldn’t get his thoughts to coincide with his words Darrell growled in frustration. “No. That’s not what I meant. Involved was the wrong. I haven’t spoken to Roni since I saw her in Aruba. Truthfully, I never expected to talk to her again, but then all of this came up. When I called her, I wanted to find out what she could tell me about the Pattels. That’s it. Swear to God.”
“Then why keep it a secret if it was as innocent as you claim?” Jerra fired back. “We’ve been doing so good, Darrell, been in such a good place. Why would you mess it up like this?”
“I didn’t tell you because I thought you wouldn’t understand. I didn’t want it to cause problems between us.” He clenched his teeth at Jerra’s laughing snort and continued on. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
Jerra tried to turn away again, not wanting to hear any more. When Darrell stepped in front of her and placed his hands on her waist, she shoved them off her as if her flesh burned at his touch.
“Don’t!” she snapped, wrapping her arms around her body to try and stop the trembling. She was so angry with him, so…disappointed. “Just…don’t.”
Hurt flared in Darrell’s eyes at her rebuff, but he held his hands up and stepped back, making sure to keep his tone deliberately even. “You’re upset. You have every right to be, but please, just hear me out. I never meant to hurt you, Jerra. I was trying not to cause confusion between us but that’s exactly what ended up happening. Baby, listen–”
“Would you please just stop?” Jerra hissed. “This is so like you. I asked you to drop it for now, but Darrell always does what Darrell pleases. Damn what anyone else has to say about it. I’m beginning to see just how little respect you have for me.”
Darrell shook his head. “That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?” Just thinking about it caused her to burn with a white-hot anger, but along with that anger came a sense of sadness. Jerra felt as if they’d lost something very precious. The question that kept resurfacing was whether or not they could get it back. There was no way they should even be dealing with this situation. Not again. And all because of Darrell’s inability to cut ties with…
Jerra swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She refused to even think “her” name. Jealousy ate away at her like a debilitating disease. The very idea of Darrell having room in his heart and his thoughts for another woman literally made her ill. She and only she was supposed to occupy such an intimate part of his life. He could say she was overacting all he liked, but the fact that he’d made room for someone else to share that position was unacceptable to her.
She glanced at him now, more confident than ever that she was doing the right thing. He was the one who had brought discord into their home. Now he would have to deal with the consequences.
“I hope it was worth it,” she told him quietly. Jerra straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “Nothing’s changed. I want you out. Tonight.”
CHAPTER 5
Fear spread through Darrell until it threatened to suffocate him, but his rising anger came to his rescue and threw him a lifeline. Even as it seeped through his pores and tried to make its way to the surface he did his best to suppress it, keep it at bay. One of them needed to keep a clear head and remain calm if there was any chance of getting this worked out.
Yes, he’d made an error of judgment. He admitted that. He should’ve handled things differently. He admitted that too. But damn, neither of those mistakes warranted the type of punishment she was determined to dish out all in the name of proving a got damn point.
Taking several deep breaths, he strived to keep his tone carefully controlled. “It was three phone calls over the course of a few days that lasted maybe a total of ten minutes each, Jerra. That’s it. Three.”
Livid at his attempt to minimize what he’d done, Jerra lashed out swiftly. “It was three too many!”
Darrell continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “If I’d been able to get the information I needed from Bryan, I would have, but when I called him, all he would tell me was that Roni had recently spoken to one of the Pattels. Anything other than that, he felt it should come from her. That’s why I called her. It’s the only reason I called. And you want to kick me out over that?” Incredulity crept into his tone. “Don’t you see how crazy that is?”
“You’re trying to manipulate the facts to suit your argument but it won’t work. Besides, the issue goes so much deeper than you calling Roni.”
Darrell’s face twisted up in confusion. Now what? “How so?”
“After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t trust me. No, let me finish,” she said in a rush when he started to interrupt. “I’ve known something was on your mind for a while now. I kept waiting and waiting for you to come to me, to talk to me about it so that we could work through it together, but you never did.” Jerra’s voice cracked with emotion, but she cleared her throat, determined to get her point across. “Even after all these years, you continue to keep a part of yourself locked away from me. The very fact that you felt you could turn to your ex-girlfriend for help with a problem instead of me says a lot about our marriage. That’s what’s crazy.”
“Baby, it wasn’t my intention to shut you out, I just...” Darrell shook his head in bewilderment, his voice low and subdued. “I don’t know what else to say other than I’m sorry and to please forgive me.”
“And what happens next time? Because at this point, I don’t doubt there will be a next time.”
Darrell swallowed the denial forming on his lips. They could go back and forth all night with accusations, explanations, and recriminations but that wouldn’t get them any closer to repairing the damage in their marriage. Neither would being apart from each other.
“Jerra, those are all things we need to talk about. Me leavin’ our home ain’t gon’ fix the problem.”
“Have you ever considered that you leaving is something that I need right now?” Exasperated, Jerra threw her hands up. “Lorenzo was right, you don’t try to see any other points of view other than your own. You always have to dictate how things will go.”
Darrell’s head snapped back as if she’d physically struck him. She’d lost him the moment she inserted Lorenzo’s name in the conversation. “Tell me you didn’t just stand t
here and throw some mu’fucka’s words in my face who met me barely thirty minutes ago.”
Shaking her head, Jerra turned to go back to the family room, but Darrell hooked an arm around her waist to stop her. “We ain’t finished talkin’, Jerra.”
Infuriated, Jerra struggled to slip free and push away, but she may as well have not even bothered. His body was all hard, unyielding muscle beneath her palms. “Take…your hands…off me!”
Darrell’s grip tightened on her waist. “Baby, I don’t wanna fight with you.”
“The let me go! Now!”
“Dammit, Jerra, just hear what I have to–”
“Everything okay out here?”
The sound of Lorenzo’s voice made Darrell and Jerra turn in his direction. They’d been so caught up in their argument that they hadn’t noticed him and Tina standing a few feet away from them in the foyer.
Lorenzo’s words were spoken in a quiet tone but had a definite bite. Although the question was supposedly directed at both of them it was obvious where his concerns lay. His eyes did a quick check of Jerra, scanning over her slowly, as if to make sure there were no obvious signs of injury.
Once his attention switched to Darrell, however, his entire demeanor changed. His posture stiffened, the vein visible in his corded neck throbbing like a rapidly beating heartbeat.
“You alright, Jerra?” he asked, his gaze still on Darrell.
The muscles in Darrell’s face coiled tight. The coolness in his own eyes dipped several degrees to match Lorenzo’s. He stepped in front of Jerra, his large body effectively blocking her from Lorenzo’s view.
“Why wouldn’t she be alright?” he drawled in a deceptively calm tone.
Jerra glared at Darrell’s broad back. She knew what he was doing, but she wasn’t a toy he could stuff in his toy box so that no one else could look at it. Blowing impatiently, she inched around him to answer.
