The plan, as Steven had described to Carter over the phone that night, was to be the best thing that ever happened to Avery. To do everything he could for her, but not so much that she would suspect his intentions. It would take a while, and it was important he be in a high-profile relationship with someone else. This would take her off her guard.
“Now that you’re this baby’s father,” Steven stated, “you be the best father in the world. You be self-sacrificing and committed a hundred and fifty percent. You give the baby everything Anthony can’t, but it’s about more than money. You’ll become the one who solves Avery’s problems before Anthony even gets a chance. You can use the guilt she feels for deceiving you in your favor. Because of it, she won’t deny you anything when it comes to the baby. For a while at least.”
“What about Coral Gables?” Carter asked.
“He’ll be fired by the university as soon he gets back. I’ve been assured of that. And unlike you and Michael, I know how to make sure it doesn’t get back to this family. He’ll be out of a job and living off your child support.”
“That won’t last long.”
“It will be long enough for him to hate you for no good reason. His animosity toward you will come between Avery wanting what is best for the baby.”
Carter smiled. “Then what?”
“We’ll work it from there. Maybe a job offer in New York. Something . . . anything that, coupled with your interference in his life, will make him want to leave.”
“Avery is not the kind of woman you leave,” Carter said.
“He won’t be leaving Avery,” Steven corrected. “He’ll be leaving you and by that time, Avery will only remind him of you.”
If Carter couldn’t get Avery to leave her husband, he would get her husband to leave her. Meanwhile, Carter knew what he did for Connor and for Avery would bring her closer to him. Close enough that when things went bad with Anthony, he would be there for her.
“In the end,” Steven said, “she’ll want you. She’ll want to be with her child’s father.”
Carter only hoped he could wait that long. He wanted Avery back now, and Connor only made him want that more. “It’s hard, what I’m doing now.”
“You have to make her believe that your only interest in her is because of Connor. If she thinks you’re still in love with her, she’ll keep her guard up around you. Even with Connor being yours, she’ll still believe she needs to limit her interaction with you for the sake of her marriage.”
“This way, she’ll catch on early that I’m no longer a threat to her marriage. There’s no reason for her to be cautious.”
As she made her way toward them, Carter knew it would be difficult to pretend he didn’t want her. It seemed so unnatural to him, a man who felt no need to hide how he felt. A man so used to getting everything he wanted right away, especially when it came to a woman, the woman who pushed all his buttons.
“What?” Avery asked, certain from the way they looked at her that they had been talking about her.
“Nothing.” Without protest, Carter offered Connor to her outstretched hands.
“I need to feed her.” Avery kissed Connor before holding her against her chest.
“There are a lot of things that need to be hammered out,” Steven stated.
Avery didn’t want to get into that today. She dreaded what that might turn into especially if Steven and Janet were involved.
“There’s time for that,” Carter said. “When it comes to it, Avery and I will sort that out ourselves. Today is just about Connor.”
When she smiled her appreciation Carter thought that this might be a lot easier than he had expected.
Standing on the front porch of the Jacksons’ home with his mother, Carter left the third message in the last hour for Michael. When he hung up, he shrugged helplessly.
“I can’t do more than that,” he said. “As soon as I leave here, I have to go to the office. All hell is breaking loose there because I’ve been out so long.”
Janet gave him a grudging nod. “I understand. I’ll take it from here. I just wish I knew where he was.”
“I’m telling you, Mom. He’s with her.”
Janet refused to believe that. “He can’t be.”
“He can,” Carter stated. “He shouldn’t be, but I bet he is.”
Just as she started inside the house, Anthony was stepping outside. He made eye contact with Carter and Carter could sense his uneasiness. He resisted showing how much that pleased him.
“I was looking for you,” Anthony said.
“I’m right here.” Carter leaned against the railing. Anthony had no idea how often Carter planned to be right here.
Anthony gripped the railing, choosing to look out onto the street instead of at Carter. “I’m willing to give this a try. I hope you are.”
“Of course I am.” Carter stared at him, noticing the clenched jaw. Anthony already hated him. The feeling was mutual.
“Avery believes we can all work together for Connor’s sake.”
“I agree,” Carter said. “I’ll do anything for Connor. I’m her father.”
Anthony looked at him, suspicion on his face. Carter could tell he wasn’t sure if Carter meant that innocently or as an affront. He expected that suspicion to grow with everything Carter said and Avery would find Anthony’s reactions more and more unreasonable in light of his behavior.
“We’ll be going home in a month or two.” Anthony’s tone was resigned. “But we’ve already decided to come back as soon as I’ve secured a job.”
“You don’t have to wait until then.” Carter spoke in a casual, almost lighthearted tone. It would annoy Anthony more this way. “Avery will be able to afford a place here with the money I’ll be giving her.”
“Carter, I—”
“I mean, we haven’t worked it out yet, but—”
“Carter!” Anthony’s frustration showed itself sooner than expected. “I can support my family.”
“And I can support mine,” Carter added. “Connor is my daughter. She’s a Chase and I’ll be taking care of her in a manner expected of a Chase.”
“We’ve got to work together on this, Carter. You can’t just—”
“Don’t worry, Anthony. You won’t have to take care of anything when it comes to my kid. When Connor needs something, it’ll be like you’re not even there.”
Carter’s lips inched into a cocky grin as he saw Anthony try to control his temper.
“Be happy,” Carter said. “You’ll be living at a much higher standard than you did in Miami.”
Anthony was clearly angry now. He turned to face Carter head-on. “How dare you suggest you’re going to support me?”
“How dare you think you could keep my child from me?” Carter’s eyes narrowed as he leaned in close enough to make Anthony take a step back. “And don’t try to put this on Avery. She would never come up with something like this.”
Anthony stared, seeming to contemplate whether he wanted to make peace or go on the attack. After a second, he sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I was doing what I thought was best for Avery and the baby.”
“And I understand that.” Carter smiled at Anthony’s confusion. “I just hope you understand that that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”
Carter left him on the porch to stew in the mess of his own making. The professor’s days were numbered and Carter got the distinct feeling he was finally aware of that.
“Mommy, are you sick?” Evan tried to climb onto his mother’s lap as she sat at the kitchen table of their home.
“Mommy has a tummyache.” Kimberly took his hand and twirled him around to face his chair. “You sit in your own chair for now, okay? Let Marisol make your lunch.”
Evan did as he was told, but was clearly unhappy about it. He continued to take quick, concerned looks in his mother’s direction. Daniel was too involved in the cartoon on the television to notice anything.
Kimberly had come home with Michael and the boys
yesterday. She tried several times to talk to Michael, but he would only look at her with disgust before walking away. He’d sent Marisol to tell her all her things had been moved to the guest bedroom on the other end of the house from him and the children.
Kimberly had thought she would never go to bed afraid after she married Michael. The promises he made to her, the love he showed her all convinced her that going to bed afraid was over. But last night, she had felt more afraid than ever in her life. Every little noise shook her awake. Even though she had locked the door to her new bedroom, she knew Michael could come in any time he wanted. He’d said he wanted her to suffer and here she was just lying in wait for his torment to be unleashed. But until she figured out how to get her kids, what choice did she have?
Kimberly couldn’t hear her sons call her name as she stood up and left the kitchen. She was in a daze, so tired and uncertain. But maybe if she talked to Michael one more time, he would listen. She couldn’t afford to give up.
She passed through the dining room and the living room and into the foyer, but before taking the stairs to find Michael, she was halted by the sound of a slow clap and then another. When she turned around, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Janet Chase standing just in front of the door.
Janet clapped one last time. “I have to applaud your performance, Kimberly. For more than seven years you have only made me suspect you were a worthless piece of trash.”
Kimberly didn’t have the energy for a fight, but it didn’t appear to matter to Janet.
“You’ve been lucky,” Janet said. “Your pimp, your tape, and your murder have all vanished into thin air.”
“What do you mean?” Kimberly asked, curious since Michael hadn’t given her any update.
“My family has done what was necessary to protect its name. The name you so thoughtlessly tried to destroy.”
“If you think I’m going to try and explain myself to you, Janet, you’re wasting your time.”
“You couldn’t if you tried.” Janet slowly placed her purse on the antique Roman table. “Because I wanted you to know that even though it is gone, it’s never going to be forgotten.”
“I’m still here, bitch.” Kimberly stood her ground as Janet took a couple of steps toward her.
“A fact I will have to stomach.” Why Michael allowed this woman back into this home was beyond Janet. She was livid that he would let her go anywhere near the boys. He had to hate her, so why would he do it? She could only imagine it was part of his plan.
“But you won’t be here for long. You see, whatever it is Michael has planned for you is going to take time. That’s why he’s allowed you to come back.”
“You don’t know what happens between me and Michael.”
“I do now,” Janet said bluntly. “I know he’s canceled all your credit cards, moved all the bank accounts so you can’t find them. If you check your key chain, I’ll bet you there isn’t even a car key on it anymore.”
“Get out of my house!”
“No.” Janet smiled. “Nothing is yours anymore. Not this house. Not my son and not my grandchildren. You can call around all you want. With Carter’s help, Michael has made it clear to all the divorce lawyers in L.A. that it would be disastrous for them to take your case.”
“You know my past now, Janet. You should know that I’m a survivor.”
“But you’ll never survive this,” Janet said. “What person do you know has gone against this family and succeeded? Steven destroyed that tape, but everything else is still in a very safe place. And that witness? She’ll stay on our payroll and help us if we ever need her. Call it all insurance in case you lose your mind and think you can fight us for those boys or even one red cent.”
“Exposing me hurts your family too.” Kimberly’s voice was trembling. She couldn’t cover it up.
“Don’t be mistaken, dear. What was done was to take back control of the situation. Now that we have it, we can manipulate it how we see fit.” Janet’s mouth twisted into a threatening grin. “It’s all I’ll be thinking about. You see, Kimberly, you could never understand the advantages of good breeding. One of them is being able to use even what could hurt you in your favor.”
“So you’re the winner, Janet.” Kimberly just wanted to get away from her so she could break down. “Congratulations.”
“Oh, honey, I was always the winner. I told you this time would come. You were warned with eyes wide open and you still fell into the trap of your true nature.”
“I’m not trapped,” Kimberly stressed as she folded her arms across her chest. “And I’m not done.”
Janet took an amused note of this defiant gesture. “It’s adorable how you try to hold on to hope. I guess that’s the street in you, always thinking there’s a way out of that gutter, but never getting that there is no way out because the gutter is where you belong.”
Janet took her sweet time leaving and when she was finally gone, Kimberly fell to her knees. This was going to be her punishment. She wouldn’t leave because she couldn’t. There was nowhere to go, no one to go to, and she wouldn’t leave the boys either way. Her prison was to never escape this family and be at the mercy of a man who believed she had ruined his life.
But Janet was right. Kimberly’s hope was the street in her. The street that helped her survive was going to be the street that helped her take this family down for good. America’s black royal family was about to lose its crown in the most disastrous way one could imagine.
When it comes to joining the ranks of
Washington D.C.’s glamorous elite, no social ladder
is too high for these ambitious ladies to climb
in Angela Winters’ latest,
Back on Top
On sale in August 2011 from Dafina Books
1
Sherise Robinson couldn’t believe she had let herself run behind today of all days. Her first day back at work from maternity leave and she was going to show up late if she didn’t speed things up. That was not the message she wanted to send.
As she rushed around the master bedroom of her elegant Georgetown town house in Washington DC’s Northwest side, Sherise felt panic start to set in. A lot was riding on how today went, no matter how much her husband, Justin, tried to tell her otherwise. The power-hungry, manipulative bitch, as her coworkers had secretly named her, was coming back, and if she showed any signs of softening, weakening, she was dead. The barracuda was now a mama and she could just imagine what they were all thinking: She’s vulnerable.
As she stopped to look in the full-length mirror that covered her walk-in closet door, her confidence was lifted. She was going to show them they were wrong. Finally she found her missing Missoni stacked pumps and her outfit was complete. She looked sharp and sexy, and at twenty-seven, Sherise felt certain she showed no signs of having given birth six months ago. That was thanks to very expensive underwear that tucked everything in, but also to the fact that she made sure not to gain more than the twenty-five pounds her doctor told her was the minimum amount healthy during her pregnancy. While there was still a stubborn pound or two hanging around, everything was tightening up nicely.
From head to toe, Sherise checked every inch. Her shoulder-length hair, just done yesterday, was styled nicely in a sharp “don’t fuck with me” bun with just a few “I might be flirting with you” dark brown tendrils falling down. She liked to keep the men confused. It gave her an advantage and Sherise was all about getting the advantage. Her makeup was flawless, highlighting her high cheekbones and dark green eyes. It was spring, so her lipstick was a soft, flirtatious pink. Her golden caramel skin was glowing and it would wow when she took off the jacket of her black and white striped Nipon wide-legged pantsuit to reveal her white sleeveless Marc Jacobs business shirt. No one who saw her at the Executive Office Building today would forget.
“I’m back,” she said in that sexy, raspy voice of hers. “Bitches better step aside.”
“You’re late,” were the first words Justin R
obinson said to his wife only seconds later as she entered the contemporary European-style kitchen.
“I’m fine,” Sherise answered as she rushed for the refrigerator. “I’m taking a cab.”
“Ah! Ah!”
Sherise quickly closed the refrigerator door and rushed over to the little monster emitting those sounds. Her six-month-old baby girl, Cady, was the love of her life. She sat in her baby chair, her hands reaching out for her mommy with evidence of her breakfast all over her face, not to mention her bib. She was an adorable baby with soft, chocolate skin, nice and chunky with fat cheeks that Sherise couldn’t get enough of.
“Sorry, baby!” Sherise leaned in for a quick kiss, but didn’t trust herself for more. She knew leaving Cady today would be hard enough. “Mama has to go.”
“You should eat something.” Justin put down the baby spoon and leaned back in his chair. He was looking at his wife with concern. “You don’t want to go in there without your fuel.”
“I’m grabbing something on the way.” Sherise appreciated her husband’s concern, but there was a part of her that was still a little angry with him for trying to pressure her to stay home for good.
Justin, thirty, was old fashioned and his upbringing had been very different from hers. Because Sherise grew up poor as dirt on the hard streets in Southeast DC with no father to be found and a mother who couldn’t give a damn, she only knew how to fight. Justin was a lover, not a fighter. From Chicago, he grew up in a traditional middle-class black family with a stay-at-home mother, a doctor for a father, and all the safety cushions that came with such an upbringing. He was stable and reliable and represented what Sherise wanted to be, which was why she decided the night she met him four years ago, when he was just a recent Georgetown Law grad, that she wanted to marry him. A reliable wage earner who was hot enough to be attractive, but not so hot that every other woman would want him too. He was the kind of guy who would come home every night. Most of all, Justin, a six-figure lobbyist on Capitol Hill, had the connections that Sherise’s never-ending ambition could use to get ahead.
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