by Cydney Rax
Kiara hesitated. “What about it?”
“We are sorry for taking months to contact you. But someone had been going through a lockbox that he had at a bank, and they found a life insurance policy that apparently the people close to him didn’t know existed. I wanted you to know that Rashad listed you as his beneficiary.”
“What? We aren’t—”
“And we have a check ready for you to pick up. Bring your driver’s license.”
“Oh. Alright. How much?”
When Patrice told her, she nearly hung up on the woman.
“Okay, Ms. Grant. Thanks for the call. I’ll be in to your offices. Very soon. Good-bye.”
Kiara stared into space, feeling as if she was dreaming. Could it be possible that this man really had cared for her after all? Sure, some of his reckless and selfish behavior had led to so much confusion in their lives that she’d had no choice but to want better for herself. She thought that he might have forgotten to change his beneficiary from her to Nicole when he got remarried. But something told her that he left her on the policy on purpose. Maybe in his own peculiar way, Rashad’s enduring love for Kiara and his family had caused him to look out for her even when she might not have deserved it.
“You crazy-ass man.” She fussed at him as if he were in the room. Memories flooded her heart and mind. And the pain of his absence threatened to cause her to cry fresh tears. But she had made peace with him and did not want to cry anymore. Kiara wiped the corner of her eye and said out loud, “You’re not going to believe this, but guess what? I loved you. Period.” And she realized she did.
She remembered the ups, downs, highs, and lows, and she knew that nothing or no one could cause her to ever forget the love and the life that she shared with Rashad Quintelle Eason.
Chapter 21
One year later, Nicole was as restless as a caged animal as she tried to grow accustomed to the life of an imprisoned murderer. Although she’d been sentenced to life without parole, she told herself that one day this nightmare would end.
Each day she woke up at four in the morning. But the morning felt exactly like the evening. Time meant nothing in prison.
She spent her days playing dominoes, working out, and hoping that someone would come to visit her. Once a month, Evelyn and Mimi stopped by. Twice a month, Shyla showed her face.
But Nicole never wanted to see Ajalon Cantu again. She closed up her heart to his memory, and after a while it almost felt like he never existed.
One particular day in the fall, she went to the yard. A game of volleyball was about to begin. It was the black team versus the white team. The black team wore black T-shirts. They rolled up their sleeves. The white team didn’t.
Three minutes into the game, Nicole was hit hard by an ugly, almost six-foot-tall woman with the thickest arms she’d ever seen. She braced herself, for Viv had warned her how things could pop off any second.
The thick-armed woman hit Nicole so hard she fell to the floor. Soon three other females pulled Nicole’s shoulders to the ground, keeping her from being able to get up.
“Move,” she screamed. “Get the fuck off of me.”
“Shut up,” said one of the women.
Another chick said, “Get her.”
Nicole’s eyes enlarged with horror. She was dragged by the arms into a corner of the yard. The rubber surface of the floor made it feel like her skin was on fire.
As the three women pressed her back hard down on the floor, she started to yell. But one other chick came out of nowhere and held her hand over Nicole’s lips. Some sheets were shoved into her mouth, making it difficult for her moans to be heard.
The big, tall chick, with a thick neck in addition to her huge arms, walked over to Nicole and bent over her. The lady was just about to kick her in her stomach. This reminded her of the last time she got kicked. Nicole screamed, “Don’t, please!”
In a rare moment, the woman simply laughed and walked away. The violent kick that was planned for Nicole never happened. The women all abandoned her, and she was relieved.
As she lay alone on the ground quivering from fear, she wondered if that would just be the last time that she’d be targeted. And her helpless feeling made her want to remain on the ground and not get up.
Nicole prayed that one day Karma would leave her alone, but she knew in her heart it may not happen until the day she died.
* * *
On that same day in the late afternoon, Kiara Eason met up with Ajalon Cantu at a fancy Italian restaurant in the Montrose area.
They sat in a private booth far away from all the other diners and ordered their entrées and drinks.
“Do you have any news for me?” she finally asked.
“Yes. Nothing has changed. She’s not doing too well. She got back-doored this morning.”
Ajalon had taught Kiara prison terminology and she knew exactly what he meant. She gave him a blank stare, then finally muttered, “I would have given anything to see a video of her getting attacked. And it’s a damn shame that she lost her baby last year. Having a miscarriage in jail must have been a nightmare. Or maybe not,” she concluded. Kiara took a tiny sip of champagne.
Ajalon continued and exaggerated his report. “From what I was told, someone gave her an ass whipping she’ll never forget. ‘Her jaw turned to jelly’ is the quote I was given. I think she’d tried to make a friend or two in there, but that won’t be happening. Nicole always told me she didn’t trust anyone. Too bad she learned she can never trust an inmate. Once a criminal, always a criminal.”
“Ain’t that the truth? You definitely can’t trust anybody and everybody. Not in this crazy-ass world.” After they ate their delicious pasta meal, Kiara reached in her purse and left a thick pile of cash on their table.
“This money will pay for the meal plus there’s a bonus for the waitress. There are two tips, actually. Thirty percent for her, and the rest is for you.”
“Thanks, as usual. I appreciate that.”
Kiara got up, sweetly told Ajalon good-bye, and quickly left the restaurant. She reached for her cell phone and placed an immediate call to Alexis.
“Hey there, Mrs. Alexis Brown. I have something crazy to tell you. I heard that some lesbians treated her like she was a piece of hamburger and they were the brass meat tenderizer.”
Meanwhile, back in the restaurant, Ajalon took another long sip of his bubbly champagne. He felt a teensy bit of regret about what happened to Nicole. At one time he loved her with all of his heart. But love made a fool out of him and left him a broken man. Ajalon shrugged and grabbed the generous tip money that Kiara had set aside. He counted off the bills and decided to skip out on paying for their meal. He looked both ways and pocketed all of the money.
He’d already decided not to meet with Kiara anymore to inform her about Nicole. Ajalon reached down and lifted a suitcase that Kiara never noticed. It was filled with all of his belongings. He calmly walked past the other diners until he had exited the restaurant. He stood outside and glanced up at the sky.
Ajalon was on his way to the Greyhound bus station. For he no longer wanted to be involved with the criminal life, or with love and all of its tragic revenge.
Want to see how it all started?
Be sure to check out
IF YOUR WIFE ONLY KNEW
and
MY MARRIED BOYFRIEND
along with all of Cydney’s sizzling books
available now from
Dafina Books.
A CONVERSATION WITH AUTHOR CYDNEY RAX
Cydney Rax has been published since 2004 and brings with her a wealth of knowledge through her experiences as a novelist who primarily writes about infidelity and forbidden love triangles. Here she gives us her thoughts about her writing process and what she went through for two years in penning the Love & Revenge series.
How did you feel about writing your first-ever fictional series? At first I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off. It is very challenging to develop continual story
lines using the same characters for three books, or using 240,000 words. But the more I wrote, the more I got into it. By the time I was writing the final book, I was hooked. I became very involved with all of my characters. They invaded my mind and captured my imagination more than any other characters that I’ve written about.
Where do you get your ideas for plot twists and storylines? Believe it or not, as I wrote these stories, sometimes when I was driving to work at my day job, ideas would suddenly pop into my head. And I would open up the recorder app on my smartphone, and I would just talk into the recorder, describing the new ideas that had been developed. It was a very involved and amazing process.
How do you come up with the titles for your books? I must say that the title selection process is incredibly important. Thankfully, IF YOUR WIFE ONLY KNEW was the perfect title for the leading novel in this series. It was so fitting, and basically it was chosen because it is catchy and memorable. A title for this type of series should be juicy and maybe even scandalous. So MY MARRIED BOYFRIEND was perfect. Simple and to the point. I have become known for these titles—it’s what makes readers pick up my books in the first place (along with their amazing book covers).
Why did you feature Birmingham, Alabama, in the Love & Revenge series? This probably happened subconsciously. I just mentioned the city and it kept coming back for return appearances. I think one reason is because I knew that Nicole Greene was going to be a Southern girl. And I’ve been to Birmingham a few times, so it made sense to include that city in the novel.
What are your goals when you write a novel? I want to write a story that has a plot with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. I want to take my readers on an emotional journey. I want to make the readers feel something. There’s nothing worse than reading a novel and you never felt anything at all. I want you to laugh, be angry, be disgusted, to think, and either agree or disagree with a character’s philosophy or attitude. I want my characters to be flawed, never perfect. Like someone said, “Perfect people make horrible art.” And lastly, I never try to write the absolute perfect book. Don’t get me wrong, I will write the best story that I can, but it’s never my goal to try to be completely perfect, to be completely politically correct, and to try to do something that I think everyone will like or agree with. That’s not me at all. If my characters spark an emotion within a reader that hits close to home, I think I’ve done my job. And I want to be unique in having my own style. Although I admire many talented authors, I do not wish to write like any other novelist. My desire is for readers to like me for me.
Do you feel a need to rescue your characters when they get themselves into trouble? Why or why not? I definitely feel some type of sympathy for some of my characters regarding the trouble they find themselves in. And I hope they eventually get it together. But like someone said in one of my books, “You just never know.”
Overall, how do you feel about the entire Love & Revenge series? Why should readers get involved with these books? If you love juicy, scandalous fiction involving insane love triangles, this is the series for you. I had a fun time writing these novels. They pushed me out of my comfort zone, believe it or not. I had to explore topics that I’d never written about before. So, yeah, I am in love with these books. And I hope that the readers will get a kick out of the Love & Revenge series, as well.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
REVENGE OF THE MISTRESS
Cydney Rax
About This Guide
The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group’s reading
of Cydney Rax’s
Revenge of the Mistress.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
In Revenge of the Mistress, the author has portrayed each character as someone who is seeking revenge. Were you surprised by the actions of the characters in wanting revenge? Were any of their tactics or feelings justified? Could you relate to their desire for payback?
1. Which scene stood out the most to you in this novel, and why?
2. Was Rashad wrong in his reasons for wanting to marry Nicole Greene and then being so determined to leave her?
3. In the end, did Nicole get what she deserved? Why or why not?
4. Do you think Kiara ever stopped loving Rashad? Should she get married again?
5. What do you think will happen to Myles and the rest of Rashad’s children?
6. Should Nicole have listened to her mother, Evelyn, when she warned her about Karma? How should Nicole have handled Rashad’s announcement that he wanted out of their marriage?
7. If Rashad had lived and gotten a divorce from Nicole, what do you think would have happened to him? Could he have ever won back Kiara’s trust? Why or why not?
8. Are Kiara and Eddison a good couple? Should they get married, or should they just live together and operate as a family unit?
9. Is Alexis really a reformed side chick? Did she learn any lifelong lessons from dealing with Rashad and/or Kiara? If so, what were those lessons?
10. Are there many women out there like Nicole, Kiara, and Alexis? How should each of them have handled the challenges that they experienced in dealing with a man like Rashad?
11. Do you understand Nicole’s need to be loved and to find happiness? Did she go about it the right way or the wrong way? How should she have handled settling into her role as Rashad’s second wife?
12. In your opinion, do people really need to go out of their way to extract revenge on their enemies? Is there such a thing as Karma? Why do some people seek revenge while others do not?
13. What emotions, if any, did you feel while reading this book? Can you explain why you felt the way that you did?
14. Which book was your favorite, assuming you have read the entire series? Which character(s) did you love (or hate) the most? Which ones stood out the most to you?
15. Why do you think Nicole’s plans to get revenge on Rashad severely backfired?
16. What final thoughts or feelings remain with you after reading If Your Wife Only Knew, My Married Boyfriend, and Revenge of the Mistress?
Credit: Monica Landry
CYDNEY RAX became obsessed with becoming a writer after reading Terry McMillan’s Disappearing Acts. Her author dreams were realized through her eyebrow-raising debut novel, My Daughter’s Boyfriend. Her novels include My Husband’s Girlfriend, Scandalous Betrayal, Brothers & Wives, and My Sister’s Ex (cited by Essence® as one of 2009’s best reads). She has also contributed to the anthologies Crush and Reckless.
Born and raised in Detroit, Cydney graduated from Cass Technical High School and earned an undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University. She resides in Houston.
Visit her online via Facebook, www.cydneyrax.com, or email her at [email protected].
If Your Wife Only Knew
In this scandal-filled new series, Cydney Rax delivers a sexy tale of a doubting wife, a seductive challenge, and explosive consequences no one will ever see coming . . .
Something’s wrong with her perfect marriage, but Kiara Eason isn’t sure what. Her ambitious husband, Rashad, is the last person who’d ever cheat—and she never imagined she’d stray. Still, why is she confiding so much in her handsome co-worker, Eddison? And why is she wondering what would happen if she put her marriage to the ultimate test—secretly setting Rashad up with a younger woman to see if he’s tempted? . . .
When Kiara decides to test Rashad for real, her world turns upside down. Not only does he take the bait—it turns out he’s had a mistress on the side for years. Now, betrayed and furious, Kiara will take all the sizzling erotic satisfaction Eddison can give—and forever flip the script on Rashad’s infidelity. But secrets cut both ways, and Kiara soon finds that the only road to winning this game could lead to losing it all . . .
My Married Boyfriend
A pregnant mistress desperate to be a wife. An unexpected temptation. And stakes so high no one will walk away unscathed . . .
Gorgeous Nicole is about to get everything she’s hustled fo
r. She’s having her rich, married lover Rashad’s baby. And a lucky break has made her a media heroine—and the perfect new wife material. With one more deception here, a couple more little seductions there, she’ll finally push Rashad’s wife, Kiara, completely out of his life. With her formidable competition gone, Nicole will lock down Rashad’s ever-wandering interest, and be the next Mrs. Eason for sure . . .
But there are some temptations even this sexy schemer finds tough to pass up. Especially her first love, ex-con Ajalon, who’s just walked back into her life. His intense hunger, chiseled body, and mind-blowing endurance are throwing Nicole off her game and reigniting emotions way too hot to control—or resist. But he’s also handed Kiara, and another interested ex, the perfect ammo to expose Nicole and blow her world apart once and for all. Now the only guarantee for all involved is shattering scandal—and mutually assured destruction . . .
