“Can I get you anything?” Dana asked.
“No nothing,” he said taking a seat. Dana sat beside him.
“Are you coming to the convention?” Diz asked.
“Yes, but only for a few of the seminars. The LA staff is going to meet with Duke this evening to decide which exhibits and seminars we will be attending. Unfortunately, Dell is back in Italy with Gio. His team made the playoffs and Dell wanted to be there to support him.”
“That’s certainly understandable,” Diz said, sounding distant. He had suddenly turned silent, and Dana knew instinctively that he was troubled about something.
“Diz what is it?” She asked, covering his hand with one of her own.
“Does Dell know that Cab is the father?”
“No, and that was the first time I have ever lied to him about anything. I told him it was a one-night stand and that I didn’t remember who the man was. The look in his eyes when I told him that broke my heart, and for the first time in my life, I think that he was disappointed in me and that really hurt. I’d rather him not know than to cause dissention within the company or in his friendship with your family.”
Diz took her hand in his. “I think this all stinks. Cab is so mistrusting of women that he can’t distinguish a good one from a bad one,” he replied, shaking his head sadly.
Dana pulled her hand away. “It’s okay Diz really. Look, I told him, he didn’t believe me, and life goes on,” she said as she rose to her feet. “It’s his loss.”
“It’s not too late Dana. Maybe if you…”
“Maybe if I what Diz? Give him a paternity test to prove that my child belongs to him? It’s bad enough that Cliff tried to say that this is his child, which he knows is a bald-faced lie, because I stopped being intimate with him a long time ago.”
Diz frowned. “What?”
Dana interrupted him. “It’s a long story. On top of that, he’s been saying a lot of slanderous things about me, such as I will be an unfit mother, and posting all his scandalous lies on all the social websites. He even had the nerve to sue for full custody of my baby. Now it’s bad enough that I was ordered to take the test to prove to some man that he is not the father, but I’ll be damned if I’ll take the test to prove to some man who called me a liar and a whore that he is.”
When Dana was done speaking, tears flowed down her face. “These darn hormones,” she chuckled, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
Diz stood to his feet, pulled her into his arms, and held her. “You know that if you need me, no matter where no matter when, I’m here.”
She lifted her head. “I know. My lawyers say that Cliff doesn’t have a leg to stand on, and I am currently counter-suing him for the slanderous things that he posted about me online. As it is, I took a paternity test before the baby was born just to prove him a liar in court, and even though he doesn’t have any money, my lawyers insisted that I continue with the lawsuit. When he retracts his slander and makes a full apology online, I will drop the suit.”
“I didn’t know you can have a paternity test before the child is born?”
“Yes. There is a procedure called Chorionic Villus Sampling. It’s a test done on some pregnant women who want or need to know who fathered their baby, and how they do it is that they remove a small piece of tissue from the placenta during early pregnancy.”
“Wasn’t that dangerous for you and the baby?” Diz asked, sounding very concerned.
“Everything has its risks, but everything went well and Cliff was proven not to be my baby’s father, which was all I wanted.”
“I hate to ask you this, but what about Cab?”
She hunched her shoulders. “What about him?”
“Not that I ever doubted your word, but then that means that Cab is the father,” he surmised as he took a step back.
“Cab lost his right to know,” she replied stubbornly.
Sensing that her anger was starting to rise, Diz let the subject of Cab drop and spoke on something else. “Does Dell know what Cliff attempted to do?”
“Are you kidding me? Dell would kill Cliff if he knew. I want to keep this from him because just as sure as you’re looking at me right now, Dell would put a hit out on Cliff and wind up in prison.”
Diz chuckled and hugged her. “Well then this Cliff fellow better hope that I don’t see him.”
Dana hit him on the chest and moved out of his arms. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Trust me Diz, Cliff is not worth any of you going to prison.”
“Did everyone come for the convention?” Dana asked changing the subject to something more relevant.
Diz smiled. “Yes, everyone’s here, including the triplets and Zoey’s little terror. I swear, that boy is worse than she was when she was his age. We are staying in Bel Air at Cat’s grandparent’s house. Those two jetsetters are in France and won’t be returning until the end of the month. “Do you need me to come and pick you up for the meeting?”
“No thanks, I have a car coming to pick me up. I’ll see you later at the meeting.”
“You do know that Cab will be there, right?” Diz questioned.
“Who? Who did you say?” Dana asked, her eyes shining with mischief.
“Cab.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch the name. Who did you say now?” She smiled.
Diz shook his head and moved to the door while a following Dana laughed.
“It’s fine Diz, I have no problem with seeing Cab. This is business and I can definitely separate the two.”
Diz looked at her with reservation. He was sure that she thought she could endure just as long as Cab didn’t say anything to her, but how would she hold up if he did? With Cab being Cab, that was almost guaranteed. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he kissed her forehead on his way out. “See ya later Sweet Pea.”
After closing the door, Dana leaned against it and sighed. No, she didn’t believe a word she had said either.
Cassandra Kendall could not believe her eyes. Cab Howard, her former lover, had just walked past her. She smiled. Damn he looked good too; real, real good. She was glad that she managed to convince Sonny’s former agent Byron Hickle to get her into the convention. It was the most talked about event of the year, and with all the gorgeous athletes, extremely wealthy businessmen, and doctors that were in attendance, there was no way that she could lose. She’d either become someone’s wife or become someone’s mistress before the week was out.
Feeling like a kid in a candy store, she turned and hurried to her suite at the Ritz next door. She had to give it to Byron; he knew that she liked the best, and he certainly delivered. After all, he was Sonny’s manager up until the time of his death six months ago, so he knew her almost as well as he knew her deceased husband. It didn’t matter that she had to gratify the old white man’s needs to get what she wanted, the important thing was that she got what she wanted.
She let herself into her suite and paused a moment to look around. Thinking that this style of living should be an everyday thing, and wondering to herself why it wasn’t, she laid the blame squarely at the feet of her late husband.
"Damn you Sonny! You could have at least left me with some cash instead of leaving me that money-sucking mansion in Atlanta!" She whined. "How can I keep the place up without cash, you jackass?"
She flipped her tawny hair over her shoulder and tossed her Louis Vuitton bag on the sofa. There was no getting around the fact that she just had to sell it, and besides, she didn’t need all those rooms anyway. She was sure that she could get a million plus for it just on Sonny’s name alone, and if he had left his sport souvenirs and trophies to her, she could have sold those as well. Hell, one of those baseballs would have netted her a hundred grand easy, but no. His simply ass left all the sports trophies, the championship rings, and the awards to the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum.
So what that they didn't have the best marriage in the world. She was still his wife and he owed her big time. She thought about her last statement and
laughed to herself. Who was she kidding? She and Sonny hadn't had a marriage for the past four years, but she was still his wife. Then, to add insult to injury, that damn momma's boy goes and leaves all that money to his mother Edith Kendall, and Edith had hated her ever since she married her precious son. Well, she doesn't have him now, and thank God that they never had children, or she would have had to deal with that woman for the rest of her life. After that first pregnancy scare two years ago, she got a tubal ligation just to make sure that there wouldn't be any more scares. Besides, she wasn't sure if the kid would have been Sonny's or her lover's at the time, anyway.
Cassandra sighed. What was she going to do now? Sonny has only been dead six months and already their circle of friends were alienating her. Even her so-called girlfriends no longer had time for her. Bitches. Oh well, once she got rid of that mausoleum in Atlanta, she'd have enough money to live off of until she found another wealthy benefactor. And speaking of wealthy benefactors, she was tired of playing the grieving widow; it was time for her to get out there and find her future.
"Raini?" She yelled from the living room. "Where the hell is that girl? Raini!"
Just then, the front door opened, and Cassandra stood there shaking her head. "Where were you?"
"I went to the gift shop for your magazines, just like you ordered,” she said meekly as she handed her the bag.
Cassandra rolled her eyes and snatched the bag from her hand. "Did you finish unpacking my clothes?"
"Yes, I..."
"Did you take out my black dress?" She asked as she looked through one of the magazines. "I'm going out tonight, and you had better have my black dress laying out for me!”
Raini stood there silently and watched her sister as she walked away.
"Guess who I saw down at the convention hall?” Cassandra smiled smugly as she flopped down on the sofa.
"Who?" Raini asked, even though she really didn’t care.
"Cab Howard. He was mine before I took your sorry butt in," she said nastily as she looked at Raini. "You didn't know that I had Cab Howard first, and he was about asked me to marry him."
"What happened?" Raini asked in a monotone, still not particularly interested.
“Unfortunately, I had to break his heart because he decided to retire from baseball. I tried to convince him to do a few more years; he was one of the best and I knew that he had a few more solid years in him, but he told me that his mind was made up and just wanted settle down. I, on the other hand, wasn't ready to leave this lifestyle just yet, so I arranged for him to catch me and Sonny in a compromising position."
Raini shook her head with disappointment. "Why couldn't you just tell him that you couldn't marry him Cassandra? Why go to those extremes?”
Cassandra laughed. "Because no man tells me no."
"Sometimes Cassandra...," Raini paused, shaking her head.
"Sometimes what Raini? I just know that you are not looking down on me after what you did. I still took your ugly, poor ass in after Momma died, and just look how you've been living?" She spread her arms, displaying the opulent grandeur of the room they were now in. “So please don't you dare look your nose down on me because I'm beautiful and I know how to go after what I want!"
Seeing that her sister just didn’t get it and probably never would, Raini shook her head and walked out the room as a smiling Cassandra continued turning pages in her magazine. Just then a brilliant idea came to mind. She closed the magazine and pulled out her I-phone to find out more on that fine ass Cab Howard, and after a few short minutes later, was very satisfied with what she had discovered. Suddenly Atlanta had lost its appeal. She had grown tired of Hotlanta, and it was now time for a change. She would put the mansion on the market and move to Philadelphia, she could be close to her future husband. She had enough money saved to relocate, and she would play the grieving widow long enough to have Cab Howard right where she wanted him.
"Raini start my bath!” She yelled.
Raini slammed the bedroom door behind her, so tired of her half-sister and her nasty ways. She should have never moved to Atlanta after their mother died, and somehow she had to get out from under her Cassandra’s thumb. After their mother’s death a few years ago, she came to live with her sister because of the promise she had made and also because she had nowhere else to go, but her sheltered life didn’t prepare her for her beautiful, flamboyant, selfish sister. As long as she known Cassandra, everything had to be her way, or it was the highway. It sickened her the way she treated her husband Sonny, and what was even worse was when he fell ill and had to have 24-hour care. Cassandra, his so-called wife in name only, heartlessly informed him that she didn’t do sick, and continue on with her lifestyle, and since the death of her husband, her bedroom has become one big revolving door. Raini shook her head. And now, here she was in search of another benefactor.
Knowing that there was nothing she could do to change her sister or her devious ways, Raini took a deep breath, and went into the bathroom to run her bath water as her sister had ordered. She was tired of being Cassandra’s house cleaner, her personal maid, and putting up her daily criticisms where she would constantly bring up that tragic incident up and throw it in her face. What saddened her most was that before the time of her death, even Momma had sometimes blamed her, and it was the most horrific time in her life. But things could have been so different. She has a degree in child development, and even had a job lined up after graduation, but when their mother took ill, the obligation to take care of her fell on her shoulders since Cassandra was nowhere around. On her deathbed, her mother made her promise to take care of Cassandra, because according to her, it was Raini’s fault that Cassandra didn’t have a father, and now poor, helpless Cassandra would be all alone. It took her less than a day to realize that she would never have a life if she stayed with Cassandra, but whenever she got fed up and threatened to leave, her manipulating sister would bring up the promise that she made on their mother’s deathbed, and now she was stuck with the overbearing, spoiled diva wannabe. Raini stopped thinking long enough to pour bath salts into the steamy water and swish it around. She looked up, caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, and began to wonder what had happened to her life.
Just look at her. She was a thirty-years-young spinster who had never even been kissed before. She wasn’t beautiful like Cassandra; let’s face it, she wasn’t even pretty. She wasn’t tall or had a fabulously toned body like her sister, but instead she was short, curvy, and unattractive, and could count on both her and Cassandra’s fingers and toes, the many times her half-sister reminded her of her dark, unappealing face. Her favorite insult was that she would never find a man; not with her dark skin and mismatched eyes. One of her eyes was hazel, while the other was green, and her mother had told her that it was a family trait on her father’s side of the family and at Cassandra’s insistence, except for at home of course, she wore dark sunglasses. Her sister’s comments hurt her very much, because all she ever wanted in life was to one day get married and have children of her own, but the way things were going for her, it appeared that Cassandra’s curse was bound to come true. If that was to be the case, then so be it. As her spinster years passed her by, all she wanted to do then was surround herself with children. One day soon, she would leave Cassandra to her life, good or bad, and move on with her own. She felt sorry for the next poor sucker that fell for her sister’s charms… her sister the barracuda. She only put up with Cassandra this long because of the guilt that was constantly drilled into her, and as she sat there looking in the mirror and blaming herself for this life, she knew deep inside her heart that the only way things in her life would ever change for the better is if she changed them.
Chapter 5
In the conference room that they had booked for this meeting, Duke sat at the head of the boardroom table where he and HWC staff went over the quarterly reports before the staff was let loose on the convention. At the other end of the table, Cab sat seemingly disinterested, but as he did so, Diz
watched as his eyes kept straying to the door entrance, more than likely looking for Dana who had yet to arrive. Dana was either late or decided not to come after all, and Diz certainly hoped it was the latter.
“Satch, I want you and the LA agents to hit the seminars with your chosen or potential clients,” Duke informed.
“Ah, Duke about that. I’ve invited Jared Grant, but I’m not sure that he will show.”
“Why not?”
“His sister is against sports management. She says that we are all a bunch of snakes and sharks, her words, and that we will not be taking advantage of her brother.”
“So, can’t you get around that?” Duke asked. “His talent is phenomenal! We would be an asset to him and we can keep him on top. Have you met the sister?”
“No. She refuses to meet with me, and to be honest, it’s really starting to piss me off.”
Duke nodded his head in agreement. “Well, keep working on them. Jelly, I know that you are going to hit the sports law seminars, and Diz, I want you to accompany me. Cab, you are slated for a tomorrow morning presentation of the financial software that you designed. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I’ve got everything under control. If we can sell this idea to a few of the other firms, our company will be going into yet another prosperous direction. I foresee…”
The door suddenly opened, and with laptop case in hand, Dana entered the room breathing heavily. Duke came to his feet, and rushing over to assist her, took the case from her hand.
“Sorry I’m late,” she exhaled as Duke led her to a seat at his right.
“It’s okay, honey,” Duke said softly as he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.
Once she had settled in and had her laptop open, she looked around the room. Some of the upper management from her office was present at the meeting, and she greeted them with a nod of her head. She was not familiar with the members of Duke’s staff, but she was sure that she would meet them all later.
Cynical Heart (Heart Series) Page 6
