“Chante, this is Amanda. What is all of this on the news?”
“A bunch of lies,” she replied.
“But this looks so bad,” Amanda said. “I mean, your credibility is going to come into question, and I don’t want to be mentioned every time . . .”
“Amanda, this will pass. Just let me talk to Liza about running some interference.”
“I don’t know if that’s going to be enough. I think I want to drop my case and just take a settlement. I don’t need or want this kind of publicity. Thank you for everything you’ve done, but I’m going to let Taiwon Myrick handle things from here on out.”
“Amanda, don’t do this. Hello?” The line was dead, and Chante was pissed. “This is some bullshit!”
“What’s going on?” Zach asked.
“Amanda believes what she sees on TV. And she went to Taiwon Myrick, of all people, to settle her case. A case that I could win for her! Damn it!”
“If you need to talk to her, go ahead. I have to head to the airport and meet Zoe.”
“Don’t tell me your sister believes this mess too.”
“That’s not important. You go save your client.” Zach leaned in and kissed Chante gently. “We’ll get this straightened out.”
She nodded, then pulled out her phone and called a car service to pick her up. Zach opened the door and peeked around the corner to see if there were any reporters or photographers roaming the halls. When he saw that the coast was clear, he and Chante headed downstairs.
“I could take you back to your office,” he said when they made it to the lobby.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be seen together,” she said. “I don’t want the media attention right now.”
He nodded, then leaned in and kissed her cheek. “We’re going to get past this,” he said. “None of these rumors change anything.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She knew how rumors could change everything. Just as she walked outside, the car she’d ordered pulled up, and she ducked inside it before the media could descend on her. She watched Zach dash to his car, and tears welled up in her eyes. She knew the future they’d planned for wasn’t going to happen. A soft sob escaped her throat as she turned around and decided that she had to let Zachary Harrington go.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport wasn’t as big as JFK, but it was busy as hell, Zach thought, as he slowly inched along, part of a long line of cars. He wondered about Zoe’s purpose for coming to Charlotte. If she was going to hit him with a chorus of “I told you so,” he’d drop her off at the first bus stop he came across and let her find her way around the city on her own.
Spotting his sister standing near the taxi stand, he put his blinkers on and blew the car horn at her. She crossed over to his car and hopped in. “You just can’t stay out of trouble,” she said.
“Hello to you too.”
“I should’ve shot Natalie when I had the chance.”
“And when was that?”
“The day you brought her home. What she’s doing is beyond words.”
“So you’re here to do what?”
“Get her arrested.” Zoe patted the black briefcase that rested on her lap. “I know she wants money, so I just need to . . .”
“She’s already done her blackmail thing. Chante and I told her to go to hell. She went to the press.”
“I know. Saw the coverage. She’s a criminal, and she belongs in jail. I’m sure she doesn’t have a southern judge in her little black book.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have friends in high places.”
“Like the FBI?”
“Don’t start.”
Zach shook his head as they stopped for the red light. “You stay in my business, but yours is off limits?”
“Yep, that sounds right,” she said. “Light’s green. Good thing we’re not in New York; you’d be run off the road.”
Zach drove through the light. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to find Nat the rat and pay her off, then watch the FBI haul her off to jail, where she belongs. I hope they send her to Angola.”
“That’s in a totally different state,” he said.
“Doesn’t matter. She could be a rodeo clown for the prison. Anyway, I looked into Chante Britt’s involvement with her, and I have to say I was wrong about your new love. She’s pretty brilliant.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“It’s amazing what she plans to do with her law firm.”
“That is, if she doesn’t lose everything. She had a client call her and fire her tonight.”
“Because of this mess that Natalie’s doing?”
Zach nodded. “She loves ruining people’s lives.”
“It ends now. She’s going to learn today!” Zoe clasped her hands together. “This is the part of my job that I love.”
“Pretending you’re Batman?”
Zoe rolled her eyes at her brother. “You can thank me by keeping your sarcasm to yourself.”
When they pulled up to another traffic light, Zach leaned over and kissed his sister on the cheek. “Thanks for having my back.”
“Always! Now let’s find this bag of trash and put her where she belongs.”
Chapter 23
Chante wasn’t surprised to see the media trucks parked outside her office. The driver pulled the car around back, and she hopped out of the car, trying to avoid the cameras. But the lenses were pointed in her direction, and flashes lit the night as she walked into her office.
Chante wondered how Liza had dealt with all of this when she went through that mess during the election. She walked into her office and kept the lights off, fearing that someone’s long lens would catch her. Plopping down at her computer, she shook her head as she logged onto the machine and opened her Google Chrome homepage. “This is a nightmare,” she thought aloud as she typed her name into the search field and watched the links populate the screen. Lies, innuendos, and just plain bullshit. Of course, QC After Dark had the most reprehensible story about her, replete with videos and stories about her relationship with Robert.
Picking up the phone, Chante dialed Liza’s number, again hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything with the newlyweds.
“I was expecting your call,” Liza said when she answered the phone.
“Are you busy?”
“Yes, I’m writing a press release about this ‘Harlem Madame’ thing, and trying to get Teresa to calm down because she thinks Nic and Robert are behind this.”
“No, this is all Natalie.”
“What about Gabby?”
“Really, Liza? That girl . . .”
“Probably has something to do with this. I told you not to hire her, and look at this.”
“Liza, Gabby isn’t who you think she is.”
“I don’t trust her, and everything that’s happening right now proves that she was still with Robert while she was telling you she admired you and wanted better for herself. All she was doing was setting you up.”
“You’ve never met Natalie. She did this because she wants to destroy Zach. Talk about a woman scorned.”
“Is he worth it?” Liza asked.
“Right now, I just want to save my firm.”
“That’s what I want to help you do. But I still don’t trust her.”
“My problem isn’t Robert or Gabby. This Natalie chick is nuts—but connected. What am I going to do, Liza?”
“Are you ready for some hard truths?” she asked.
“Not really, but I will listen—this time.”
“You have to distance yourself from Zach. I know that might be hard for you to do, since you care about him. But the court of public opinion isn’t that forgiving. So even if you love this man, publically you need to pretend you don’t.”
“But that isn’t fair to Zach.”
“Chante, far be it from me to give advice on love and falling in love with a man who looks bad on paper, but do you plan to move to New
York to follow Zach?’
“I don’t know. I love him. But I don’t how I can make this work. Liza, I do love him—even if I can’t tell him that.”
“Well, if he doesn’t know, then you shouldn’t tell him and rehab your image. If you and Zach are meant to be, you’ll find your way back later.”
“When you and Jackson met, you were working to get Robert elected and wanted me to marry him, and you didn’t hide how you felt for him.”
“That’s different,” Liza said.
“No, it isn’t. You were about to lose everything, Jackson could’ve lost everything, but you guys stuck it out, and look at you now.”
“There wasn’t a crazy ex in the mix determined to destroy me or Jackson. Nor was there a questionable employee . . .”
“Leave Gabby out of this.”
“Fine, keep your blinders on, but there might be a hint of truth in Teresa’s theory. At the end of the day, you need to step back and get your business together. Love can wait.”
“I can’t believe you said that,” Chante said.
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Chante. I don’t want your business to suffer when you’ve already given up so much.”
“This really feels like déjà vu. I gave you some really bad advice about Jackson and you ignored it.”
“Let’s be serious for a minute,” Liza said. “There are a lot of people out here hoping that you fail. I don’t want to see their smug faces because of this madness. Being a woman means we have to be perfect. We can’t have sex and can’t make bad decisions, and our hair better always be on point.”
“That is true, and I’m tired of following the rules. I’ve been following everybody’s rules all my life, and I’m done.”
“Any other time I’d be cheering for this new and improved Chante, but we have to think about your brand and the business.”
“Liza, I love you, but it’s not your business. And you know what? I’m not going to let these rumors derail me or my relationship. You know how good it feels to have someone love you, and I have that.”
“All right, my sister,” Liza said. “Check your e-mail.”
“What?”
“I wanted to see where your head was at, and how you would deal with some pushback. Miss Elsie would be proud.”
“You know what? You make me sick.”
“Nah, I make you better. And guess what, you need to go find that man and make a statement to the media ASAP. That’s actually a part of your media plan. And speaking of men, my sexy senator just walked in the door. I have to go.”
“Thanks, Liza,” Chante said with a smile on her face. She hung up and dialed Zach. When his phone went straight to voice mail, her heart quaked. Where was he? And what was he doing?
Zach sat in his rental car and watched his sister hand Natalie the briefcase. Okay, so where is the FBI? he thought as he watched the women. When Zoe shoved Natalie, he almost hopped out of the car because he didn’t want to see his sister being led away in handcuffs as well.
Then Natalie made a mistake: she tried to slap Zoe. Zach smiled as Zoe grabbed her wrist and bent it backward. Natalie fell to her knees, and then three agents appeared from the darkness and separated the women. Zach almost broke into applause when he saw Natalie get handcuffed. But he tempered his excitement as he saw Agent Carver Banks cross over to his sister and wrap his arms around her. Then they kissed. The man who’d harassed him to no end was kissing his sister. He needed answers, and as he opened the car door to get them, his phone vibrated in the console. Looking at the screen, he saw that he had a missed call from Chante.
Deciding that he was going to let Zoe handle her business, he called Chante instead.
“Hello,” she said when she answered the phone.
“Hello, beautiful.”
“Zach, where are you?”
“At the Doubletree by the airport. Zoe and I found Natalie, and I’m happy to say she’s being led away in handcuffs right now.”
“Really? What happened?” she asked.
“Blackmail is illegal, and Zoe knows how to do her job,” he said with a laugh.
“Wow,” she said. “I guess we have something to celebrate.”
“Yep, and the media just pulled up. Chante, I told you that we were going to get this worked out. The last thing I wanted was to cause you problems.”
“I know.”
“And I need you to know something else too,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said. Her voice was light and reminded him of a sexy jazz song.
“What are you doing right now?” he asked.
“Trying to save Amanda from making the biggest mistake of her life—well, second biggest.”
“You can do it. And when you save her, I want to finally have our dinner—or just dessert.”
“That sounds so good,” she said. “Zach, I can’t thank you and Zoe for what you’ve done. Liza and I were talking about ways that we could get around these rumors, and neither one of us could come up with anything.”
“Sometimes people don’t believe the truth, but we’re going to show them what happens when you try to come between two people in love.” Zach looked up at Zoe and Banks. Did that man love his sister? Should he mind his business and let whatever they had develop? Nope. He needed answers.
“Chante,” he said. “Meet me at the Westin in an hour.”
“Sounds good. Because I need to be with you so bad,” she said.
“Me too,” he replied. “Really bad.”
“See you soon,” she said. When Chante hung up, Zach got out of the car and headed toward his sister and Agent Banks.
“You two look really cozy,” he said, causing the duo to break their embrace.
“Zach,” Zoe said, “chill out.”
He focused a cold stare on Banks. “I already told you: if you hurt my sister, I’m going to hurt you.”
“There you go threatening a federal agent again,” Banks said with a smile.
“Not a threat . . .”
“Not your business,” Zoe said. “And there’s nothing going on here.”
“Is that so?” Banks asked her. Zoe folded her arms across her chest.
“I’m not doing this right now. We work very well together, and that’s about it.”
Banks turned to Zach. “Excuse me, but your sister and I need to talk privately.” Before Zach could say a word, Banks had scooped Zoe into his arms and dropped her into an unmarked car with dark-tinted windows. It happened so fast that Zoe didn’t even have a chance to protest. Standing there with his mouth wide open, Zach knew he was going to have to find out what was going on with his sister and the G-man.
But right now, he was going to focus on Chante. Every inch of her. Heading back to his car, he drove to the hotel. This time there were no cameras or reporters following him. And if someone knocked on his room door, he wasn’t going to open it.
When he arrived at the hotel, he sent Chante a text. I hope you’re in the lobby.
Her reply came quick. Ready and waiting for you.
Zach parked his car and sprinted inside. Seeing Chante sitting in the lobby with a silk scarf tied around her head and wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses aroused him and made him laugh.
“Really?” he said when he approached her.
“Yes. I’m so tired of seeing my face on websites and TV. So I decided to channel my inner Louise from Thelma and Louise.”
“There’s something mysterious and sexy about you being in here in the middle of the night looking like this,” he said as he drew her into his arms. Then he noticed her pink trench coat. “Nice coat.”
“Wait until you see what’s underneath.”
“Let’s go.” He took her hand and crossed over to the elevator. He impatiently pressed the up button.
“Zach,” she said, “I have to tell you something.”
He glanced at her as the elevator opened. “What’s that?”
“And I’m not sure what we’re going to do with all of this and all of this space between us. But I want to work for it. I want us to be happy.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist, and they stepped into the elevator. “We will be happy. All of this craziness will pass sooner than you think.”
“I can only hope, but I don’t even want to think about that right now. We’re just going to focus on you and me.”
Zach nodded and grinned. “I’m all for that.”
When they got into Zach’s room, he was more than ready to unwrap Chante. Pressing her against the wall, he slowly untied the belt on her coat, then pushed it off her shoulders.
The sight of her amazing body made him hard. “So beautiful,” he said as he ran the palm of his hand between her breasts. Then he took her shades off. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said, then pressed her lips against his.
Lifting her into his arms, Zach went over to the bed and laid her across it. She looked so alluring, so demure, and so sexy. Zach quickly undressed, but he wasn’t going to rush anything else as he parted her legs and slipped his finger between her wet folds of flesh.
Chante moaned as he probed her hot body with his finger. It was as if he was on an expedition to discover what pleased her and how to make her revel in delight. Each touch made her hotter, wetter, and Zach could barely contain his desire to melt with her.
“Zach,” she moaned as his tongue replaced his finger. He pressed her body closer to his lips so that he could taste every inch of her. Chante grasped the back of his neck as waves of pleasure washed over her. Zach traveled up her body, spending time around her navel, before reaching her breasts and suckling them until they swelled against his lips. He could have taken her easily. His hardness pressed against her thighs, and the heat radiating from her body made it difficult to control his desire. But Zach didn’t want to rush. He wanted to take his time making love to the woman he loved. Knowing that she felt the same way heated his blood and made him want to bury himself inside her forever.
“Zach,” she gasped as his tongue lashed her diamond-hard nipple. “Oh, Zach. I need you inside me.”
“And you’re going to have me. But you just taste so good,” he said, then took her breast back into his mouth as she ground against him. Pulling back, he reached for a condom from the nightstand. Chante stroked his chest with her fingertips as he slid the sheath in place. He pulled her against his chest, and their lips met. Chante kissed him deeply, sucking his tongue as if it was a piece of delicious chocolate. Holding her closely, he flipped her over so that she was on her back. As they broke off their kiss, Zach dove between her legs, seeking her sweet wetness, feeling as if he’d gone straight to heaven as her warmth enveloped him. He licked and sucked her throbbing pearl until she screamed his name as she exploded.
I Heard A Rumor Page 21
