“You must be Alexis,” he said with a smile. “Cute.”
Dogs were cute. I gave him the down, up, two-second once-over. His shoes revealed he had real long bank. Spencer’s seven figures net worth was lunch money in comparison. I was already feeling Bing’s love.
Devereaux hurried to me. “Alexis, leave this man alone. Hi, Mr. Sterling. We came to talk to our mom, not you. No disrespect intended.”
would beg to hire me after this off-script episode.
“He owes me an explanation,” I told her before redirecting my attention to Bing. “You know my mother has four daughters or did you forget about me,” I said, placing my pointing finger near my cleavage.
Mercedes and Sandara joined the party in time to hear me say, “Are you that rich and insensitive guy that only cares about himself? I’m having an abortion tomorrow and thanks to you my mother didn’t have time to respond to my text asking her to go with me.”
Impressed that Bing was a good listener, I wasn’t done firing ammo at him. My sisters had to wait their turn. My mom’s Yorkie, cradled in Sandara’s arm, stared up at me, then barked several times. “Bet if something was wrong with him”—I gestured toward Max—“she—”
“Lil girl, you are being very inappropriate,” Mercedes scolded.
So? And her ass was rude to the tenth power all her life. She’d better not make me unleash on her. This was my platform and I had no problem knocking her off of it.
Staring at each of my siblings, I told them the truth. “What’s inappropriate is you bitches leaving me to bleed out. Especially my mom.”
Bing spoke directly to me. “Alexis, if you have to curse to make your point, I’m going to have to reconsider thinking about asking you to work for me. I understand that you’re angry but there are better ways to express yourself.”
I didn’t need his handout and sure as hell didn’t need a j.o.b. My daddy left me extremely well off. He didn’t understand a damn thing about Alexis Crystal. “You’re not accustomed to polishing your own shoes. How are you going—”
Mercedes grabbed my bicep. Devereaux shook her head at Mercedes.
“No. Let her speak. I like that. I’m listening, Alexis,” Bing said. “Continue.”
“You’ve been privileged all your life. I barely knew my father before he died. They never met theirs. So the woman you’re flying all over the world is the only father we know—”
Bing interrupted, “You mean my fiancée.”
His what? He put a ring on our mother’s finger? My sisters and I stared at one another. I mean, Spencer had done the same except his was a relationship ring, not an engagement ring.
“I get where you’re coming from. But you don’t know anything about me. Everything I have, I earned. No one gave me a dime. Let me tell you girls a true story. My mother was a maid for this wealthy couple. The couple had three rich, entitled kids. Their father is my father. This well-known politician raped my mother. Told her she’d better not tell anyone and that included me.
“I was not allowed to eat, play, or go to school with my brothers. The youngest and I are the same age. Our resemblance is so close we could pass for twins. The secret and shame eventually killed my mother. She died on my eighteenth birthday. Before she took her last breath, she told me the truth. She told me everything. She’d saved most of her money for me to attend college. After her funeral I went to Harvard. Freshman year, some days I had nothing to eat. Other times I could afford noodles. Sophomore through graduation, I studied hard and earned my degree.”
Bing looked at me, then said, “Alexis, you have to start earning, instead of taking.”
The authoritative tone silenced me. All my sisters stared at me. I was dramatic but I was no fool. I returned their empathetic expressions.
“I understand,” I told him, wondering if having your father disown you, or if not knowing your father was harder for Bing or us.
“Intelligent people have discussions. Every problem has at least one solution. Tell me your concerns. And we can work it out. Disrespect any one of us, and I’ll disown you,” Bing firmly stated.
Blah. Blah. Blah. Wonk. Wonk. Wonk.
All of a sudden, since Bing gave them the opportunity, Devereaux, Mercedes, and Sandara couldn’t shut the hell up and let me respond. When they were done spilling their issues into Bing’s ears, I said, “I apologize. It won’t happen again.”
Mercedes taught me never to say, “I’m sorry.”
This time my sisters gave me wide-eyed looks. Alexis Crystal was no fool.
“Apology accepted, baby girl. Now that we know one another better, if you’d allow me, I’d like to be the best father I know how to you. Your mom and I are getting married and I already consider you my daughters. Let’s go have a talk with your mother.”
“What about your flight?” Sandara asked.
Too late, Lil Sis. I was already locked in as his baby girl and I’d make sure there’d never be enough space for two. If Mom wasn’t careful, there’d barely room for her.
CHAPTER 24
Blake
“Lawd. Lawd. Lawd. Thank you.”
The words escaped my mouth as I added a Grand Marnier floater to my third mimosa. I raised my glass. Took a sip, placed my drink on a coaster. Feeling good, I reclined on my chaise, crossed my ankles, then closed my eyes.
If Jesus would’ve told me my love for Spencer would’ve been replaced with a man who could give me the world along with unimaginable sexcapades, I would’ve doubted Him. Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me to release and let go of the man who I thought was my destiny.
“Lord, forgive me for fornicating.” I questioned whether I should’ve said that knowing I’d never had marital sex . . . but not much longer.
An incoming call disrupted my relaxation. Hadn’t heard that tone in a while. I pressed send to voice mail. He called back. Annoyed, I answered, “What?”
“Blake, you can’t marry dude,” Spencer exclaimed.
The devil was an angel, too. Busy as Satan may be, I told my ex, “Please don’t call me again,” ending the call.
Our season was over. When I was with Spencer, despite all he’d done, I believed he was my future. Knowing what real unconditional love was, I—
I answered, “Spencer, please. Show some respect.”
“Blake, I need to see you. If you can look me in my eyes and tell me that you don’t love me, I’m out,” he said, as though he was certain that I still had feelings for him.
This time I didn’t say good-bye. I placed my cell on the coffee table, enjoyed my cocktail.
Never married was one thing, letting that woman lick between my legs was a first. My body shivered from the flashback. “Lil ole Blake Crystal. Country girl raised in North Carolina.” Several of my siblings still lived in Charlotte. Work and vacationing with my fiancé left no time to visit Carol, Peter, or—
I dialed my sister, Ruby.
“Hey, honey,” she answered. Immediately, I missed hearing her soothing voice.
“I love you,” I told her.
“Love you too, Sis. What’s up?”
I’d raised four gorgeous girls by myself. Who they developed into as women, they could credit themselves. My time had come.
“I called to tell you . . .” I paused, then said, “I’m engaged to one of the wealthiest men in America.”
Why buy the cow was no longer my life.
“Shut up. Tell me more,” she exclaimed.
Spencer stayed by my side, dabbed witch hazel on my black eye three times a day after (my at that time ex) Fortune had beaten me. Spencer and I used to soak in my Jacuzzi sharing our deepest secrets. He loved me the best way he knew. It wasn’t enough. I had no regrets for moving on. Just memories I couldn’t erase.
“I need a huge favor.” Had to get it out. This was different from the secrets she’d kept.
“You know I got you.”
“I’m going to set the stage for Bing, that’s my fiancé, to call you and ask about the girls’ father
s.”
“Blake, you sure you want to do that?” she questioned. “You already lied to Alexis.”
“She should thank me! Ruby, please. I have to. I can’t tell my girls the truth their fathers. I’ll buy you a house, car, whatever you want.”
“Let me hear it first,” she insisted.
I needed everyone to feel sorry for me. Not look down on me for my mistakes. There was one way I could assure my marriage would not falter at the altar.
“Since nobody in the family knows what happened to you, tell Bing those things happened to me as a little girl. Then when my daughters hear it from him, they’ll accept Bing as their father figure and leave me the hell alone.” I was tired of my children questioning me about putting ‘unknown’ on their birth certificates and I didn’t want them burdening Bing with their daddy issues.
I sensed her head shaking side to side as Ruby told me, “Blake. Why lie when I was the one who protected you?”
“I know, but I’m begging you.”
“Okay. But if it backfires, I still want a new house, car, and hush money for this lie,” my eldest sister said.
Taking another sip, I pinched myself to stay focused. Bing was real. I glanced around the living room. Should I sell or rent my property?
“You got it. I’ma call you back,” I told her, feeling relieved based on my strategy.
“I love you.”
I knew she did. “I love you, too. Bye.”
I texted Brandon, We need to do lunch asap.
Bitch you back? I know you brought me a Parisian penis, Brandon replied.
Time to stop avoiding the inevitable. God knew my heart. I started with reading my boss’s message.
Hi Blake, Hope you had a glorious time in Paris. Come to my office when you get back.
I could reply, I resign, or how did you know where I was, but my better judgment told me to type, Will do.
Scrolling on to the least dramatic daughter with real problems.
Sandara had texted, Mother, I’ve never been more disappointed in you. I understand if you don’t have time to go with me to court but not responding hurt my feelings. You didn’t even respond when Max was sick.
I sat up, my heart thumping, and typed, How’s Max?
My Yorkie was sick? Deleting the message, I thought, Okay, Blake. Calm down. How’d it appear if you were more concerned about your baby boy than your baby girl?
Mercedes’s message was direct. Glad to see you haven’t changed. A man shows up and you forget you’re a mother. That’s hideous! I won’t cry for you when this one leaves.
Cry? For me? Please. Mercedes didn’t shed tears for anyone. Not her husband, her children, not even herself. If I hadn’t birthed her, I’d swear that girl could’ve been cloned.
Devereaux was brief. When I needed you the most, Mother. Her emoji had a teardrop.
I closed my eyes to keep from felling guilty. Defeated by my guilt, I cried through the cracks. Inhaling deeply, I blew cool air from mouth. When could I stop being Mom first and become Mrs. Bing Sterling? That was how I desired to live.
Sighing heavily, I had to see what Alexis, the manipulator, had to say. By the time you respond your grandchild will be in Heaven with my two siblings you aborted.
Ruby promised she’d never tell a soul. What I’d just asked of her could destroy my bond with my girls, and end my engagement, if she’d break our promise. I knelt beside the chaise.
“Lord, give me strength. I don’t want to lose this man. Dear God. I’m asking for forgiveness in advance.” If I told the truth and lost Bing . . . I deserved to concentrate on me. Picking myself up, as I’d done all my life, I sat erect, welcomed the taste of liquor coating my throat. Maybe this was payback for my standing over my ex, Fortune. I could’ve called the paramedics while he was still breathing. Why should I have been the bigger person to a man who had beaten me until my eyes were practically swollen shut? I was glad Fortune was dead.
I was not going to—
Voices from outside interrupted my thoughts. There was a heavy knock at my door. Peeping through the hole, I saw Bing’s handsome face. I needed more than a hug.
Exhaling several times, I opened the door. All four of my daughters walked in behind him. He stood in front of me. “Blake, we need to talk.”
So he did have time. Suddenly, I was cornered in my living room. The only tail wagging happily at seeing me was my baby boy’s.
As they chose their accommodations, I refilled my mimosa, then topped it off. The last time we gathered like this at my place was when Alexis’s father, Conner, met her for the first time.
I took my appropriate place, next to my fiancé on the love seat.
“I’ll do the talking and try to make this quick,” Bing commanded. Scooting over, he’d left enough space to sit Max between us on the leather. Max crawled back onto my lap.
Not knowing what was about to be said, I was already pissed. Long as they didn’t fuck up my engagement, they could say whatever. My stomach churned. Stroking Max with one hand, I began to calm down.
“So you knew our girls were having serious problems while you and I were in Paris?”
Was the question rhetorical? I waited for him to continue. They all remained silent.
“Yes and no,” I answered. “I just read most of their text messages after you left a moment ago.”
He countered with bass in his voice, “You knew when we were in Paris and you didn’t tell me it was this serious. We should’ve been back here to assist our girls. I could’ve squashed Sandara’s upcoming court hearings with one call. Did you know she’d stopped modeling?”
Who gives a fuck? Is that my fault? Hell, if he could’ve fixed it with a call, being here wasn’t necessary. This is their selfish bullshit that is new to Bing. Not me.
Humiliation, heaped on top of anger, festered in my spirit. The girls remained quiet. I had no idea all of what they’d told my fiancé. Stroking Max, I opted not to say a word.
Bing addressed Devereaux, “Never lie with a man who cheats on you. A cheater is a liar. A liar is your enemy, not your friend. You’re too good to give yourself to a Neanderthal. Never keep a man from his child. If Phoenix wants to see Nya, I’ll arrange supervised visitation. I know Antonio personally. He used to work for me years ago. He’s an upstanding guy. Give him a chance but never give a man your heart until after he gives you his.”
Suddenly, Bing was Steve Harvey on steroids to my girls. My lips were tight, eyelids narrow. Drink in one hand, the other stroked my Yorkie’s back.
Devereaux approached Bing. “Thanks, Mr. Sterling,” she said, opening her arms for a hug.
“You can call me Papa Bing, if you’d like.”
Tears streamed down her face. What the hell for? Bing hugged her longer than he’d held me before he’d left. Devereaux wept like I’d never seen nor heard.
My eyes scrolled toward the ceiling.
“It’s okay. I’m keeping the promise I just made to each of y’all. You have a real father figure in your life now. Oh, and don’t worry about finding your fathers.”
That was the most exciting news I’d heard since they walked in.
“I’ll put my investigator on that tonight. Shouldn’t take him long. He’s the best.”
Really? At this point, I should intervene. I was not ready to deal with this. I’d die if Ruby divulged the lie I was determined to tell to put an end to the daddy madness. Didn’t want to ruin their hopes or dictate the ending of this session. I sat quietly.
My girls gave him a group hug. Alexis nudged Devereaux and positioned herself directly in front of Papa Bing.
“I’ve had enough, girls. Have a seat,” I insisted, wanting to offer them a group choke and strangle Alexis first.
“I love you girls too,” Bing said, filling in the dent his ass had created next to me.
Love? Too? He barely knew my girls. I hated when men casually used the ‘l’ word.
My statement didn’t stop him from saying, “Mercedes, you have
to tone it down. You’re trying so hard not to be your mom that you’re actually sabotaging your marriage. You said, ‘I do,’ to prove a point. You had kids to show they had a father. You didn’t do those things because that’s what you truly wanted. You did it all to prove that you’re better than your mother. From what your sisters said, you have a good man. Husbands are easier to come by than finding an honorable man. Emasculating Benjamin will push him away. Fall back. Chill. Be respectful. Be eager to listen. Slow to speak.”
This would be a fantastic time for Mercedes to snap her fingers twice and exhale in Bing’s face. All she said was, “Okay.”
Time for the ringleader herself to get advice. I could not wait. Folding my legs like a chicken wing, I placed Max in the center of my thighs, lifted my drink to my lips, then sipped long and slow.
Bing said, “Alexis, baby girl.”
I had to swallow to keep from spitting liquor on Max. Baby what? Here we go! I gave her a “Mama is mad as hell” piercing stare where I widened then narrowed my eyes to a slither. I knew she felt me. Her seemingly undivided attention was directed at my fiancé.
“You’re not killing my grandson.”
Humph. It’s a boy. Well, lucky her.
“I’ll be there for the delivery and I’ll hire you a full-time nanny or two.”
That was it! I uncrossed my legs, sat at the edge of the sofa with Max on my lap.
“Here we go again! A what?! Lil girl, you need to grow up.” I told Bing, “She will take care of her own baby. I did it with four. She can do it with one!”
Calmly, he said, “Girls, give us a moment. I have each of your numbers. I’ll be in touch. Oh, and Mercedes, think about coming to work for me. I have the perfect position for you.”
I watched my daughters hug Bing before damn near skipping out of my house arm in arm. My entire face must’ve been shriveled like a prune that had been soaked in lemon juice.
“Blake, sweetheart,” he said. “You’re not the woman I thought you were. Next time a man asks you to marry him, don’t send your representative.” Opening my front door, he turned to me.
“Don’t contact me. That’s not a request.”
Who in the hell did he think he was talking down to? I had options.
The One I've Waited For Page 14
