If she could, though, she would ruin Porsha to the point where no church would have her; something that would be easy to accomplish if she released that video. But it was like she’d already concluded before, starting a new war with Dillon and his family wasn’t worth it. Although, if she wanted she could probably find a good film editor who could shadow Dillon’s face and show only Porsha’s. But instead, Raven would be nice and have mercy on her—if she paid that three hundred thousand dollars and signed every single one of those documents.
Raven wrapped her hair up with a silk scarf and climbed into bed. It was only nine o’clock, but she’d showered and slipped on her pajamas an hour ago. Part of her had hoped she might be able to go see Kane, but when she’d called him earlier he hadn’t picked up. He also hadn’t answered when she’d phoned him back last night.
But now she tried him again.
“Yeah?” he finally said after four rings.
“Is that how you answer the phone now?”
“Raven, why are you calling me?”
“I told you yesterday. I’m not giving up.”
“Well, I wish you would.”
“Kane, every couple has problems.”
“Yeah, but not these kind. And if they do, more power to them. Because I’m not living like this for the rest of my life.”
“Like what?”
“With a woman who only cares about herself. What she can get. Who she can use. How much fame she can drum up. And let’s not forget, how much money she can accumulate.”
“Why are you being so cruel?”
“I’m not. I’m being real.”
“But that’s not who I am. I mean, I do want to grow the ministry to the highest level it can be, but I’m not selfish.”
“Yeah, you keep right on thinking that. And anyway, what part of growing the ministry do you think is most important? Or do you even think about things like that?”
“I don’t get what you mean.”
“Just what I said.”
“You’re confusing me, and what’s with all these crazy questions?”
“They’re not crazy. I just want to know how much your growing the ministry has to do with people. Like for example, are you really doing this to help God’s children? Are you really concerned about souls being saved? Or do you only care about the tithes and offering contributions they give?”
Raven’s mouth flew open. “Wow. Just wow. Is that really what you think of me?”
“Why can’t you just answer my questions?”
“Because they don’t make sense. They’re foolish and uncalled for.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure they are—to you, anyway. And to be honest, your lack of response says everything. It shows exactly how self-centered you are.”
Raven had never heard Kane use such a nasty tone with her before, and for the first time, she had a feeling that this truly was the end for them.
“Maybe I should give you some space and call you in a few days,” she said.
“Don’t bother.”
“Do you hate me that much?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because this whole time you and I have been together, I never cheated on you once.”
Raven squinted her eyes. “Yeah, and I’ve never cheated on you, either.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really,” she said, wondering what he knew.
“So I guess you’ve been spending all that time at John’s for no reason? Ever since you and I had that big blow-up.”
Raven tried to conjure a quick lie, but nothing came out.
“Yeah, that’s right. I followed you to his house one evening, and then I drove by there again on a few other days close to midnight—and your car was still there. So don’t even try to deny it. Don’t say anything. Just make this your last time calling me. And if you call me again, I’m blocking your number.”
“Oh my God, Kane—” she said, attempting to explain.
But he hung up before she could finish her sentence.
Raven closed her eyes and covered them with her hands. How had she let something like this happen? And been so careless? She’d spent so much time giving John what he wanted in the bedroom so he could transfer that money to her that she hadn’t covered her tracks. But to be honest, she hadn’t worried about Kane following her because he wasn’t that kind of man. He was mature and confident, and he never resorted to anything petty. He certainly had never spied on her before or even acted as if he wanted to. Until now.
Still, it was shocking, and she knew she had to end things with John quickly and carefully. She’d planned on doing that anyway, but she’d also decided that at the very least, she’d be able to keep him on as her CFO. But that whole idea had become null and void a few minutes ago. The more she thought about it, too, John had become just a little too obsessed with her. He even acted as though he thought they might get married someday. So she definitely had to let him go. Not just because of what Kane had found out but for many reasons. Raven would give him fifty thousand dollars of the money he was embezzling for services rendered, though, because he’d certainly earned it.
She also wanted to double check with John again about their overall plan, making sure everything was set to go. John had assured her that it was, but she just wanted to confirm with him one last time. So she called him. But after a few rings, the call went to his voice mail. She didn’t bother leaving a message, though, because she knew he would call her back within minutes. He always did.
Raven still had another call to make, however, which actually was the most important one of all. So she dialed D.C. Interestingly enough, his phone rang and went to voice mail, too, so she hung up. She’d been hoping to tell him that she would bring him his money by the end of next week, which was a little sooner than expected. But now she would just wait and call him again when Porsha delivered that cashier’s check. Raven was also happy to be paying D.C. a lot earlier than planned, so she could finally sleep normally again. In fact, she sort of wished D.C. had been willing to take a cashier’s check himself, because then she could have paid him immediately. She knew he didn’t operate that way because of the paper trail aspect, but it certainly would’ve been easier than having to withdraw so much cash. But nonetheless, all would soon be well, and Raven would be able to get back to the great life she was creating.
The kind of life that most people only dreamed about.
Chapter 38
Friday was finally here, and Raven was glad to know that this was the last day Porsha would step foot inside NVCC. She also couldn’t help thinking about all the money she would soon have, which was the reason she’d spent most of the morning searching online for lots that could house at least a seven-thousand-square-foot home. Many were located about a half hour from the church, and actually, she liked that idea. Right now, she lived only about fifteen minutes away, but she didn’t like the fact that some of her members knew exactly where she resided. None of them stopped over unless she’d asked them to do something church-related, but she also didn’t want them simply driving by whenever they wanted. Because who was to say that there wouldn’t come a time when she had certain visitors she didn’t want them to see? Some things just weren’t everyone else’s business, and she wanted to protect her privacy. It was the reason, too, that she was leaning more toward building a gated property, because that would ensure the best kind of seclusion.
As the morning continued, Raven became more and more excited because everything in her life was about to change for the better. She would actually be earning a minimum of one hundred thousand dollars per month. It was sort of hard to fathom, because she still remembered how thrilled she’d been when Pastor Black had hired her a long time ago and paid her just over seventy per year. But now she was on her way to earning what he did. In fact, if it hadn’t been for all the books he’d written and the millions of copies that had been sold, she would soon earn more than him. But that was okay, because Raven was doing fine wher
e she was and she had no complaints.
She looked at her watch and wondered what time Porsha would be showing up with those documents and that cashier’s check. It was already half past eleven, and Raven hoped she wasn’t planning to wait until the end of the day. Especially since Raven wanted to deposit the money right away and then write checks to twelve other accounts. She’d purposely opened all of them at different banks, because even though it wasn’t common for anyone to withdraw twenty-five thousand dollars in cash at one time, Raven didn’t have a choice. D.C. had forced her into mob-like territory, and she had to see this thing to the finish. She would literally have to visit one bank after another…twelve…different…times. But the good news was that it would all be over very soon. Then, this morning, she’d also gone to the bank that John had transferred the five hundred thousand dollars to. She did trust John not to double-cross and steal from her, but to be safe, she’d withdrawn the money and split it equally into two new money market accounts.
Raven sat at her desk for another half hour but started to feel a bit nervous. Partly because she still hadn’t heard from Porsha, and partly because she hoped John had covered all of his tracks the way he’d told her. She certainly trusted his intelligence, but last night, when she’d gone over to sleep with him one last time—because he’d called, begging her like never before—he’d seemed more concerned about sex than he had about the money transfer. He’d also seemed a little nervous, and she hoped he wasn’t allowing fear to get the best of him. Because after all, before Raven had coaxed him into embezzling the money, John had been a straightlaced, by-the-book financial guy. He’d always followed the law and had never placed the church or Raven at any risk when it came to the federal government.
But maybe she was just paranoid, and John was fine. Still, she called his office to check on him. But he didn’t answer. So she left hers and walked down there to see him. When she looked through his doorway, though, she noticed that his lights weren’t even on. It was unusual for him not to be in yet, but maybe he had an outside appointment. So Raven went back to her office and closed the door.
But only five minutes after she sat down, Michelle hurried in. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Pastor, but Porsha and Dillon are here. They’re waiting to see you.”
“Together?”
“Yes.”
“Did they say why?”
“No.”
Raven tried to think fast, because she hadn’t planned on Dillon finding out about her conversation with Porsha. She also wouldn’t have expected Porsha to contact Dillon about anything. But all this showed was just how desperate Porsha was in terms of trying not to sign those documents and pay the money Raven was demanding.
Raven wasn’t afraid of them, though. “Send them in.”
When Michelle turned and left, Raven walked around to the front of her desk, sat on the edge of it, and folded her arms.
Finally, Porsha and Dillon entered.
“What’s with the sitting-on-the-desk thing?” Dillon said, shutting the door. “Some kind of power move?”
Raven hated Dillon, and she was irritated already. “What is it you want? Why are you here?”
He glared at her. “Well, first of all, Porsha’s not signing away her rights to anything or paying you any money.”
Raven smirked. “Really? Well, if she doesn’t then that porn video of yours will become the most-watched sensation on the Internet.”
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “And I’ll tell you something else. Not only will you never try to blackmail Porsha again, but you won’t be blackmailing anyone.”
Raven tightened her face. “Dillon, just get out, okay? And Porsha, I suggest you hand over my money and those documents.”
Porsha stared at her but never said a word.
Dillon pointed his finger at Raven. “I told you I wasn’t playing with you, and I meant that. You messed with me the whole time our divorce proceedings went on, but now it’s payback time.”
Porsha turned her head abruptly and looked at him. She acted as though Dillon was catching her off guard, too.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dillon,” Raven spat. “Whatever you say.”
Dillon smiled at her. “You think you’re the smartest person alive, when really you’re one of the stupidest women I’ve ever met. And because you were bold enough to steal all that money from my dad when you worked for him, I knew you would steal again if you had to. Especially if D.C. put some real pressure on you. And not thirty thousand dollars’ worth, either, but ten times more than that amount. I knew if he demanded that kind of money, you would find a way to steal it from your own church. But I also knew you would never do it yourself, because you didn’t want to go back to prison.”
Raven’s body went numb, and she had to hold on to the edge of her desk with both hands to steady herself.
Dillon smirked at her again. “Yeah, I’ll bet you’re taking me serious now, aren’t you?”
Raven looked at Porsha, wishing she would say something—anything—but she was as stunned as Raven.
“But just like D.C. put the pressure on you, he put even more pressure on that John character.”
“What are you talking about?” Raven asked, trying to make sense of what Dillon had done.
“You slept with him again last night, didn’t you?” Dillon asked, but his question sounded more like a statement.
Raven swallowed hard, trying to relax her breathing.
“Don’t even bother trying to answer that,” he said, “because I already know you did. And I have the video footage to prove it.”
Porsha covered her mouth with both hands.
Dillon walked closer to Raven, staring her down, but his cynical smile was gone. “So if you even think about leaking that video to anyone, I’ll be leaking yours…Pastor Raven.”
Raven couldn’t speak if she wanted to, so she just watched him turn and walk away.
“Baby, let’s go,” he told Porsha.
But before they could open the door to leave, a small group of men and women barged in. Raven didn’t even have to ask who they were, because she knew they were FBI agents. She knew John had betrayed her, and that life as she knew it was over. Worse, as Dillon and Porsha exited Raven’s office, Dillon glanced back at her. He never said a word, but the snide look on his face spoke volumes. It said everything.
Chapter 39
Dillon, what happened?” Porsha yelled. “What did you do?”
“I took care of things just like I said I would. You can’t play with somebody like Raven. You have to deal with her like the enemy she is or suffer the consequences.”
Dillon drove out of the church parking lot, and Porsha was still trying to figure out how Dillon had exposed Raven to the FBI.
“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?” she asked. “Why didn’t you prepare me?”
“Because I didn’t want you involved. I just wanted to protect you from Raven. I wanted to stop her from ever trying to blackmail either one of us again.”
“I get that, Dillon, but why was the FBI there?”
“Because I called them.”
“Why? And is that the reason you made a copy of those documents Raven gave me?”
Dillon pulled up to the stoplight and looked at her. “Baby, I really don’t want to give you any more details. Just know that Raven will never bother you again. She’s going back to prison, and that’ll be the end of it.”
“How did you know she was going to steal money from the church?” she asked.
“I just did. I used to be married to Raven, remember? I know how she thinks and what fuels her criminal side. I also hired a private investigator to follow her.”
“You what? When?”
“Sweetheart, I’m begging you. Please let this be.”
“No, Dillon, I want to know and I want to know now.”
“I hired him months ago, but it wasn’t until these last couple of weeks that he saw Raven spending a lot of time at your CFO’s house. Th
en he learned that she was staying overnight sometimes.”
As Dillon drove through the intersection, Porsha looked straight ahead. Raven had actually been sleeping with John? And used him to steal money for her? Porsha knew Raven was capable of a lot of things, but this wasn’t something she’d expected.
“Well, who is this D.C. person, and what does he have to do with any of this?” she asked.
“You’re just not going to stop, are you?”
“No, and if you don’t want to answer my questions, you can just drop me off at home and leave.”
“D.C. is the loan shark that you’ve heard Raven talking about in her sermons. You know, when she shares about how she worked for one and stole from him.”
“Yeah, and?”
“Well, D.C. is also one of my brother-in-law’s best friends. And even though D.C.’s profession isn’t legal, he still loves and respects my dad, too. He always has.”
“Are you saying that Levi and your dad asked D.C. to do this?”
“No, neither one of them know anything about this. But when Raven made those rape accusations and got all those rumors started about my dad, I knew it was time to stop her. So I called D.C., told him what was up, and we came up with a plan. And like I said earlier, I knew it would only be a matter of time before she figured out a way to steal money. I also knew her CFO would be the best person to help her.”
“Is that why she cleared your dad’s name?”
“Yep. D.C. told her he would give her more time to pay, if she did.”
“And Raven was that afraid of D.C.?”
Sin of a Woman Page 21
