“Yes,” she screamed. Her body relaxed knowing Blake didn’t go through with it and passed the test. She was her own worst enemy it seemed.
She dialed Blake’s cell phone. “I’m exhausted, so I’ll be staying at my friends house tonight.”
“Do you want me to come get you?” he asked.
“No. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
They said their good-byes. She had the condo for the entire weekend, so she might as well enjoy one night. She could tell Lisa put the money she gave her to good use. It looked like they ate well. She found some strawberries in the refrigerator. She washed a few off and ate them. She poured herself several glasses of wine. With the soft music playing in the background, she fell asleep on the couch.
It was late afternoon by the time Caitlyn made it home. She showered at the condo earlier, but because she didn’t have a change of clothes, she made a detour to the mall before going to her hair appointment. She decided to get a manicure and pedicure for the full pampering effect.
“Blake, I’m home,” she yelled. He didn’t respond.
Her cell phone rang. “Hi Lisa…yes. I got the video…I was very upset. You led me to believe you two slept together…No, I haven’t talked to Blake. It’s not like he’s going to admit he almost slept with you.”
Caitlyn turned around just in time to see the bouquet of flowers fall to the floor from Blake’s hand. “Lisa, I have to go….Blake I can explain.”
“I think you’ve said enough.”
He stormed out the house. Caitlyn rushed to the door. “Blake,” she yelled out his name several times as he jumped in his Jaguar and sped away.
Caitlyn went back into the house and paced the floor. She dialed his cell phone number but to no avail. Each call went to voice mail. She never wanted Blake to find out. How could she explain herself if he wouldn’t talk to her? Her nerves were on edge. She called Tasha but she wouldn’t pick up her phone either. “Trent. What’s Trent’s number?”
She went to Blake’s office and opened up his phone book. She dialed Trent’s number. “Trent, I know we’re not the best of friends, but if Blake calls you or stops by please call me.”
“I have to respect my boy’s wishes. If he doesn’t want to talk to you, I can’t be going behind his back.”
“Please. I just need to make sure he’s okay. I can’t tell you what happened, but I’m sorry and I really need for him to know that.”
Trent placed her on hold. “That’s him now.”
“Let me talk to him.”
“It’s best if you just let him cool down. You two can talk when he gets back home.” Trent hung the phone up.
Caitlyn wasn’t sure if she could depend on Trent. He was Blake’s friend not hers anyway. The guilt was eating her up. She wasn’t supposed to care this much. She hadn’t planned on falling in love and getting a conscious. Caitlyn hoped Blake never found out about the other things she did that affected his business. If he did, would their relationship be able to survive?
Chapter 42
Blake recanted what happened with Lisa. Trent listened in disbelief when Blake said, “Man, Caitlyn was setting me up. If I would have slept with Lisa that would have been a wrap.”
“I have to hand it to your girl. She’s a slick one.”
“I thought I could trust her. I thought we were past the contract and were really exploring our feelings.”
Trent interrupted him. “Never trust a woman when it comes to money. “
“I’m so pissed right now, you just don’t know. I’m dealing with trying to get my son and Caitlyn pulls this mess.”
“Calm down. Just go home and talk to her. It might not be what you think.”
“I know what I heard.”
“You’re welcome to stay in the guest room.”
Blake thought about it for a few seconds. “No man, I’m sleeping in my own bed. I’m not letting Cat drive me from my home.”
Talking to Trent calmed him down enough to return home. The light was on in the living room. He watched Caitlyn as she slept on the couch. How could someone look so innocent but be so conniving?
Blake had planned on confessing the incident with Lisa to Caitlyn but when he overheard Caitlyn’s conversation, his feet wouldn’t move. His mouth went dry. He opened it to say something, but he was shocked to hear Caitlyn had set him up. A set up that almost worked, but his mind and body wouldn’t agree to it. Why? Because she crept into his mind and was a part of his heart. Guilt wouldn’t let him do it. Now he wished he would have gone through with it. It would have served her right. Then again, he would have lost his business because he would have forfeited the rest of the inheritance money.
Maybe Caitlyn’s doubts were right. Maybe all they had between them was a business deal. She couldn’t be trusted and after this incident, he was sure, she felt the same way about him. Her friend probably filled her head with lies.
Blake pulled a blanket out of the downstairs closet and covered Caitlyn with it. He was mad at her, but her actions were a wakeup call. He needed to keep his feelings under control or else he would be living in the poor house and so would the hundreds of employees who depended on him. Blake had a son to get so for the sake of his company and his son, he would do whatever he had to do to get along with Caitlyn, but his heart was officially on vacation.
“What’s this?” Blake asked. He stooped to pick up a small notebook on the floor in the hallway outside of Caitlyn’s room. Curiosity got the best of him. He thumbed through it. He saw his name written on the last several pages. He skimmed the pages. So she did feel guilty, but most importantly she loved him.
“Give me that,” Caitlyn said, snatching the journal from his hands. “How dare you read my journal?”
Blake stuttered, “I didn’t realize…I found it in the hallway.”
She hugged the journal tight. “We’re even. You think I can’t be trusted and now I think you can’t be trusted.”
As much as Blake wanted to disagree, he couldn’t. After the stunt she pulled with Lisa, he couldn’t put his guard down around her, but he couldn’t go on without addressing what she did. “Let’s go back downstairs because we need to talk.”
Caitlyn snapped, “We can talk right here.” She sat on the edge of her bed.
He sat on the other end. “If you meant what you said in your journal, we might be able to get past all of this.”
“I meant it, but don’t regret doing it.”
“Enough with the lies Cat. You love me and I love you too so let’s stop playing these silly games.”
Caitlyn wouldn’t look him in the eyes. He took his hand and gently touched her face moving it in his direction. “Look at me,” he said.
“I can’t,” Caitlyn responded.
“Cat, I’m putting my pride to the side. I need you. Tell me you need me too.” By now Blake’s hands are on his lap.
Caitlyn turned her back to him and didn’t say a word. Blake not only left Caitlyn alone in the room, but he left a piece of his heart. The next few weeks went by in a blur. He poured himself into his job. Caitlyn became what he dreaded—his invisible wife. They avoided each other as much as possible.
Blake was miserable and the only solace he got was when he was wheeling and dealing in the office. The research and development department came up with a new product that would be tested in the market. If successful, his stock would be worth double, maybe even triple its worth. Business was better than he had hoped. Too bad he couldn’t say the same thing about his personal life.
Overton called Blake and said, “We have a court date. I know it’s last minute, but I need you and Caitlyn to meet me at the court house tomorrow morning; otherwise it’ll be two more months before we can get on the docket.”
Blake responded, “We’ll be there.” He hung up with Overton wondering how he was going to mend things with Caitlyn between now and tomorrow. She could be mad at him, but would she halt his chances of getting his son?
Chapter 43
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks.” Caitlyn stopped typing and turned her chair around.
“A few of us are going to happy hour after work. You’re welcome to join us.”
“I’ll pass. Work has me swamped.”
Tasha picked through the candy jar until she found a piece of candy she wanted. “If I was the boss’s wife, I wouldn’t even be worried about it.”
“Things aren’t going great on the home front right now,” Caitlyn admitted.
“You know helping folks with their relationships is my expertise; although why they want to listen to someone whose longest relationship was six months behooves me; but anyway, let Tasha help you.” Tasha went on and on.
Caitlyn chuckled. “It’s something I have to deal with, but thanks for the offer girl.”
“You sure? I have a good track record. I’ve saved several marriages.”
Caitlyn grabbed her notepad and stood up. “Girl, I have a meeting to go to. Blake and I will be fine.” She said it more to convince herself, than Tasha.
Caitlyn arrived at the meeting early. Blake stood with his back facing the door. Caitlyn cleared her throat. Blake turned around. They both said at the same time, “We need to talk.”
They laughed around each other for the first time. “I’m not sure this is a good time,” Caitlyn said.
“I cancelled the meeting with everybody else. It’s just the two of us.” Blake walked to the door, shut it and locked it.
Caitlyn leaned on the table. “Here we are.”
Blake walked towards her and stopped right in front of her. “You and me.”
The tension from the past few weeks seemed to subside as soon as Blake’s lips covered Caitlyn’s. “I’m sorry,” Caitlyn admitted when she came up for air.
Caitlyn was now sitting on top of the table and Blake stood in between her legs. “It’s been hard living under the same roof with you and not being able to touch you and talk to you,” Blake said.
“We’ve talked.”
“Small talk doesn’t count.” Blake kissed her on the forehead. He sat down in a nearby chair. “I need to discuss something serious with you.”
Caitlyn remained sitting on the edge of the table. “Is it about the business?”
“No. Business is good. It’s about my son. My lawyer has a court date set up for me to try to get him.”
“Blake, that’s great news.”
“I know we haven’t talked much about the situation, but I’ll need you to go to court with me in the morning. We need to put on a united front.”
“So trying to make-up has been about your kid. It wasn’t about making amends at all was it?” Caitlyn snapped.
“It wasn’t just about Christopher.”
“Whatever Blake.” Caitlyn slid off the table and almost tumbled. Blake caught her. She pushed his hands away.
“Cat please,” Blake pled.
“I’ll think about it.” Caitlyn swore she saw a few tears in Blake’s eyes and that’s what stopped her from leaving the room. She hadn’t seen him like this before. She didn’t have the heart to resist him. “Fine. What do I need to do?”
“You may get asked a few questions, but other than that, you being there will be enough.”
Later that night, Blake surprised Caitlyn with a candlelight dinner. Caitlyn broke the ice by saying, “Blake, I want to apologize again for the situation with Lisa.”
“I think I was more disappointed more than anything. I thought you were finally trusting me so it hurt,” Blake admitted.
Caitlyn washed her food down with her drink. “I love you but after Byron cheated on me, trusting a man hasn’t been easy for me to do.”
“Haven’t I proven to you that I can be trusted?”
Caitlyn thought about her original plans of revenge, although she had given up those plans long ago. Could she trust Blake? She responded, “Blake, so far, you have shown me you can be trusted.”
“Can we start back sharing a bed again? I would love to be able to tell Betty to move all of your stuff to my room. I mean our room.”
Caitlyn thought about it for a moment. “Sure, we’re married and married folks should sleep in the same bed.”
They sealed their agreement with a long night of lovemaking.
Chapter 44
Blake woke up before Caitlyn. He brushed the hair from her forehead as she slept. He didn’t want to move, but knew they would need to get up and get dressed so they wouldn’t be late for court. He gently shook Caitlyn. “Time to get up sleeping beauty,” he said and planted a kiss on her lips.
Caitlyn stirred. “I have morning breath so you might want to save the kisses.”
He kissed her again. “We have an hour to get ready so get up.”
Blake left Caitlyn stretching in bed. He went to his closet to locate his favorite navy blue suit. Less than an hour later, Caitlyn stood at the end of the stairway dressed in a pinstriped navy blue dress suit. Her hair was pulled back in a bun with a few ringlets of hair falling on the sides. She extended her hand out and he took it as they walked out the door to head to court.
The Dallas traffic didn’t disappoint. Despite being stuck in traffic, they made it to the courthouse with ten minutes to spare. Overton waited for them outside the court room. “I was just about to call you,” he said. He extended his hand out to Caitlyn. “Mrs. Banks, thanks for coming. Blake’s going to need you.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it,” Caitlyn responded.
“Follow me,” Overton said. He led them to the front of the court room. Caitlyn took a seat first. Blake and Overton sat on the left side of her closer to the aisle.
“We’ll sit here until our case is called. If either one of you feel unsure about a question their attorney or the judge asks you, just say so and I’ll have them clarify.”
Blake reached over and placed his hand on top of Caitlyn’s and squeezed it.
The bailiff said, “All rise. This court is now in session. Honorable Judge Carrie Prudence is residing.”
Judge Prudence said, “You may all be seated.” She looked at some of the files in front of her. Blake watched as several people went before the judge. He hoped she had compassion when it came down to his case.
“Will Blake Banks and Byron Matthews and their attorneys come forward?”
He heard Caitlyn gasp. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s my ex.”
Blake followed Caitlyn’s gaze. Byron Matthews, immaculate dressed in a black suit, held a woman’s hand, and walked up towards the table on the right hand side of the court, with who must have been his attorney. “I remember him. You danced with him at our reception.”
Overton interrupted his train of though. “Blake. Come on you’re up.”
Blake couldn’t believe his luck. How could Caitlyn’s ex be the man standing in the way of him having his son? He stood in between Caitlyn and Overton and sat only when directed to do so by the judge.
Overton walked to the podium and handed the judge some information. Time stood still as she read over the information. She addressed him first. After being sworn in, she asked, “Mr. Banks. Is it true that you didn’t know Christopher Matthews was your biological son?”
“Yes, your honor. Tara Spain provided me with a false DNA report.” She wrote down a few notes as he spoke. She continued to ask questions. “Can you tell the court how you learned of the false report?”
“I was informed by my attorney. He learned of it during research for my late uncle—Jack Banks.”
“Your honor how do we know this research is accurate? It’s already been established that Tara Spain was a liar,” Byron Matthews’ attorney stood and said.
“With all due respect, your honor and Ms. Williams,” Overton said, addressing the other attorney. “Second set of tests have been done per court orders and confirmed. Blake Banks is Christopher’s father. We are
petitioning for custody of his son.”
The woman sitting next to Byron whispered in their attorney’s ear. Ms. Williams stood and said, “My clients would like to appeal to the court. Christopher has only known Byron and Nicolette Matthews as his mom and dad for the past three years of his life. Taking him away from a structured and loving home could be detrimental to his mental being.”
Ms. Williams cited examples of how moving Christopher from one household to another might pose issues for him in the long run.
Blake hadn’t thought of it that way before. He whispered to Caitlyn. “What do you think?”
“You seem to love the child—sight unseen, so don’t let them play mind games with you,” she responded.
Overton turned to face him. “I’m not sure how you feel, but would you agree to joint custody?”
“I don’t want to disrupt his life where it’ll scar him. But he needs to know that I love him and I want to be a part of his life. I don’t want him to have to grow up without a father like I did.”
Caitlyn squeezed his hand for support. “Whatever you decide, I’m behind you one hundred percent,” she assured him.
Blake whispered in Overton’s ear.
“Mr. Overton, have you and your client decided how you would like to proceed?” Judge Prudence asked.
Overton responded, “Judge Prudence, my client, Mr. Banks and his wife Caitlyn would like full custody.”
“I object,” Ms. Williams shouted.
Overton continued to say, “I wasn’t finished. However knowing that Christopher has grown up in a stable and loving home as Ms. Williams has pointed out, we feel that it is in the child’s best interest to grow up with two sets of parents. We are hereby asking for joint custody.”
Bryon and Nicolette didn’t seem too thrilled by this request. Ms. Williams stood up. “My clients would like some time to think about this your honor.”
Judge Prudence said, “Your clients have had a few months to think about this. I think it’s an unselfish decision on Mr. Banks part. He was not aware that he was a father and he could have ignored the facts; instead, he took the initiative to become a part of Christopher’s life. Since he is saving the court time by not having us go back and forth on this issue, I would like for your clients to reconsider and agree to his offer for joint custody. You will have until the end of the month to decide. In the meantime, I advise you to get with your clients and come up with a schedule for Mr. Banks and his wife to meet Christopher. The first few visits should be supervised by Mr. Matthews or Mrs. Matthews. It will be a transition, but I’m confident with two sets of parents Christopher will grow up knowing that he’s loved and that makes him one lucky fellow.”
Betrayed by Trust Page 16
