by Naomi Chase
“You don’t understand,” she insisted. “You weren’t there. Tamia bumped into me—”
“I saw the whole damn thing!”
Cynthia looked stricken. “You ... did?”
“Damn right I did! I was looking for you, and someone told me you were in the copy room. I got there just in time to see what happened between you and Tamia at the copy machine. So I saw what you did, and I heard exactly what you said. And I gotta tell you, sweetheart, that was some petty, spiteful, mean-girl bullshit right there. If you’re not ashamed of your behavior, then you’re definitely not the woman I thought I knew!”
She gaped at him for a moment, then burst into tears. “I’m sorry! Okay? I was wrong. I let my emotions get the best of me, but it won’t happen again!”
Brandon regarded her skeptically. “Are you sure that’s all it was? Your emotions?”
Cynthia stared at him through tear-glazed eyes. “W-What do you mean?”
He frowned. “Ever since Tamia got out of prison, I’ve seen a side of you that I never knew existed. I know you’re not a saint, and I never expected you to be. But I also never expected you to have such a vicious mean streak. And it’s not just that. Before we started dating, you used to complain about how bougie and overbearing my parents are. Now you run to my mother about every little goddamn thing. Before we hooked up, you presented yourself as this proud, strong, fiercely independent sister, and I totally admired that about you. Now you’re clingy and smothering as hell.”
Her face reddened as Brandon shook his head, staring at her as if he’d never seen her before. “It’s like you’re a completely different person from the woman I thought I knew. So I have to wonder whether you’ve been conning me all this time. Are you the sweet, sassy, caring woman I met three years ago? Or are you the catty, cold-blooded bitch who just acted a damn fool in that copy room?”
Cynthia swallowed audibly and dropped her gaze to the floor, nostrils flaring, eyes blinking rapidly. “I love you—”
“That’s not what I asked you,” Brandon snapped.
“My love for you is all that should matter—”
“Bullshit! If you’ve been running game, that matters! If you’re not the person I thought you were, that matters! So again I ask. Would the real Cynthia Yarbrough please stand the fuck up!”
At that her head snapped up, and her glittering eyes locked onto his. “You wanna know who I am? I’m the woman who loves you unconditionally and would do anything for you! I’m the woman who was there for you when that lying, treacherous bitch broke your heart! I’m the woman who swallowed my pride and supported you when you rode to her rescue without thinking twice about my feelings! Don’t you dare stand there and pretend not to understand why I’ve been behaving the way I have! If I’ve become a ‘catty, cold-blooded bitch,’ it’s because you’ve turned me into one!”
“WHAT?”
“You heard me! You’re the one who gave Tamia a fucking job when even the janitor knows she’s not qualified! You’re the one who’s been sneaking off to her apartment for lunch and God knows what else! You’re the one who selfishly jeopardized your father’s campaign because you lost your temper and went caveman on Dominic Archer! And for what? Because he choked Tamia? Have you seen any of those filthy Slave Chronicles videos? Have you seen the perverted things she used to do with her fellow ‘actors’? The anal sex? The gang bangs? That disgusting whore probably enjoyed being choked by Dominic!”
Brandon had gone still.
Pulse pounding, eyes narrowing, he stared at Cynthia so long that she took a step backward, then another, as if she were preparing to take flight.
In a deceptively soft voice, Brandon said, “I’m going to ask you a question. And I’m going to give you one opportunity to tell me the truth. One. So think long and hard before you answer.”
Cynthia gulped hard, her eyes wide with something akin to fear.
“Have you ever met Dominic Archer?”
“What?”
“You heard me. Have you ever met Dominic Archer?”
Cynthia frowned. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Just answer the damn question.”
“No, I’ve never met Dominic Archer.”
Brandon searched her face, his mind racing with unthinkable possibilities. “So you had nothing to do with him blackmailing Tamia?”
“What?” Aghast, Cynthia stared at Brandon. “Of course I had nothing to do with Dominic blackmailing Tamia! How can you even ask me something like that?”
Brandon clenched his jaw. “Someone told that son of a bitch that Tamia was Mystique.”
“Well, it wasn’t me!” Cynthia’s lips twisted sardonically. “Believe me, if I’d known that your girlfriend was a former porn star, I would have told you as soon as I found out. Not only because we were friends, but because the truth would have set you free of her a lot sooner.”
Brandon’s eyes narrowed speculatively. “When did you watch the Mystique videos?”
Cynthia swallowed visibly. “When?”
“When.”
“I don’t remember the exact date,” she hedged.
“Try.”
Her eyes darted around the room before she shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “I guess it was about two months ago. I remember we’d been discussing Tamia’s porn career because the prosecution wanted her movies entered as evidence of her shady character, and you were glad that Judge Perlman had granted your motion to suppress the videos. Anyway, I couldn’t understand why you insisted on keeping them if you never intended to watch them, as you claimed. And I’ll admit that I was curious to see just how raunchy they were. So one night while you were out, I snuck into your office and found the videos.” Cynthia wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Believe me, one was all I could stomach.”
Brandon frowned. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that you’d watched one of the movies?”
Cynthia’s face flushed. “I was embarrassed. And, quite frankly, I was intimidated by the fact that my competition was a former porn star who knows more sexual positions than I could ever begin to imagine.”
Upon hearing that, Brandon could have assured Cynthia that he had no complaints about their sex life. But there was no point. They were through.
“Anyway,” Cynthia continued, starting toward him, “I don’t want to waste any more time arguing about Tamia. What we have is too special to be poisoned by her, or anyone else. I’m sorry for what happened earlier, but just remember that if you’d never hired her, I wouldn’t be forced to deal with her.”
Brandon smirked. “So it’s my fault that you behaved like a childish, vindictive bitch.”
Cynthia flinched, pausing midstride. “Can we stop with the name-calling?”
“I just call ’em like I see ’em.”
Cynthia sneered. “Except when it comes to Tamia, right? When it comes to her, words like whore, cheater, fraud, and ghetto are apparently off limits—even though they describe her to a fucking T.”
Brandon shook his head, mouth grimly set. “I didn’t want to do this here at the office—”
“Do what?”
He looked her in the eye. “It’s over, Cynthia.”
She recoiled as if she’d been slapped. “What’s over?”
“Our relationship. It’s not working anymore.”
She gasped, eyeing him fearfully. “Don’t say that. Please don’t say that.”
“I’m sorry.” And he meant it. “I wanted this to work. I really did. But it’s not.”
“What do you mean?” she cried. “Why are you doing this? Because of what happened in the copy room?”
“No,” Brandon said quietly. “That’s why I was looking for you this afternoon. I was going to suggest that we go somewhere private, because I wanted to let you know my decision as soon as possible.”
“Your decision to break up with me?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“I don’t believe this!” she shrieked, on the verge of hysteria. “She’s only been hom
e for eleven days, Brandon! Eleven days!”
His chest tightened. “I never meant to hurt you, Cynthia. You know that. But I can’t keep lying to myself—or to you.”
“Lying about what?”
“My feelings for Tamia. You know they haven’t gone away. It was a mistake for us to get involved. It wasn’t fair to either of us.”
She eyed him incredulously.“Don’t talk to me about fair, Brandon Chambers! It isn’t fair that you allowed me to believe we had a future together! It isn’t fair that you keep choosing that bitch over me! It isn’t fair that—” She broke off, her face crumpling into tears.
Brandon blew out a deep, ragged breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. He wasn’t immune to the sight of Cynthia crying. He hated to hurt her like this, which was why he’d been dreading this conversation all day. He knew he probably should have waited until tonight to speak to her, but after what he’d witnessed in the copy room, he’d been so angry and disgusted with her that he couldn’t put off the deed another second.
He exhaled another deep breath. “Cynthia—”
She lifted her head, her face ravaged by tears.“Please don’t do this, Brandon. You don’t have to end our relationship! If it’s space you want, I’ve already moved out of your condo, and I promise not to call you so much every time we’re apart! And if you really want me to, I’ll apologize to Tamia for the way I behaved. I’ll do whatever—”
“This isn’t one of your cases, Cynthia,” Brandon gently interrupted, shaking his head at her. “You can’t plea bargain your way out of this. I’ve made my decision, and you need to respect that.”
“No! You’re asking me to just give up on us, and I can’t do that!”
Brandon sighed. “Cynthia—”
“Please don’t do this, baby,” she begged, rushing forward and throwing her arms around his midsection. “I love you so much! I need you!”
He grasped her arms, peeling her off him and holding her firmly at arm’s length. “Listen to me, sweetheart. You need to let this go and get back on your A game, all right? I didn’t want to mention this before, but some of our colleagues think you’re slipping.”
“What?” Cynthia burst out, her red-rimmed eyes widening with shocked outrage. “Who told you that? Addison? You know you can’t trust a word that bitch says. She’s always spreading malicious lies about me!”
“It wasn’t just Addison,” Brandon countered gently. “I had a meeting with Mitch yesterday, and he shared some of the same concerns. You know he’s always been in your corner, but he’s worried that you’re hurting your chances at making partner next summer. You and I discussed this when we first started dating, remember? We both agreed not to allow our relationship to interfere with our jobs. But I think I’ve become a distraction to you, Cynthia, and others have obviously noticed as well.”
She sneered at him. “That sounds like just another sorry excuse to justify your decision to break up with me.”
Brandon frowned with frustration. “You’re not listening to me. Remember how you once told me that next to your family, making partner is the most important thing in the world to you? Remember that?”
She hesitated, then nodded grudgingly.
“Refocus your energies on achieving that goal, Cynthia. I’m telling you that as someone who knows how hard you’ve worked to make partner. I’m telling you that as a friend who wants you to succeed and be happy.”
Cynthia held his earnest gaze for a long moment, then wrenched free of his grasp and stepped back. “Thanks for the pep talk,” she said bitterly, taking an angry swipe at her wet cheeks, “but I don’t need your damn friendship.”
Brandon gave her a look of genuine regret. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Save your fucking ‘sorry,’ ” she spat viciously. “If you were really sorry, you wouldn’t be doing this to me. But you know what, Brandon? Karma’s a straight-up bitch. So when that scheming whore betrays you again—because I know she will—don’t come crawling back to me with your balls tucked between your legs. You had your chance to be with a good, faithful woman who truly loves you, and you blew it. So fuck you, and fuck her!”
With that, she spun on her heel and marched to the door, yanking it open so hard she nearly sideswiped herself. Skewering Brandon with one last glare, she turned and stormed out.
Chapter 34
Tamia
“Mamacita! Welcome back!”
Tamia beamed with pleasure when she arrived home that evening to find Lou and Honey sipping cocktails in the living room.
“Hey, papi,” she called out warmly.
“Hola, working girl.”
After setting down her attaché case and stepping out of her high heels, Tamia made her way over to the sofa. She laughed as Lou caught her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap.
She kissed his pockmarked cheek, then drew back and smiled into his eyes. “I didn’t know you were stopping by today.”
He grinned. “Honey invited me over for dinner. She’s been telling me for months what a great cook she is, so I decided to see for myself.”
Tamia grinned at Honey, who sat curled up on the love seat. “You definitely won’t be disappointed. Baby girl can throw down.” She winked at Lou. “Which is why I’m still keeping her around.”
Honey pretended to pout. “And here I thought it was because you enjoyed my company.”
Tamia laughed, snagging Lou’s glass and stealing a sip of his drink. “Mmm,” she murmured appreciatively. “She even makes good mojitos.”
“I know.” Lou’s voice was slightly slurred. “I can’t stop drinking ’em. I’m on my fourth glass.”
“Fifth,” Honey corrected.
“Really?” He winked at her. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were trying to get me drunk so you and Tamia can take advantage of me.”
Honey sighed. “I wish, but Tamia doesn’t do threesomes. I already propositioned her.”
Lou burst out laughing.
Tamia just smiled and sipped more of his mojito.
“Which reminds me,” Honey mused, tapping a manicured finger to her lips as she regarded Lou, “how come Tamia’s the only actress who never had any girl-on-girl scenes?”
After exchanging amused glances with Tamia, Lou explained, “That was one of her stipulations. No girl-on-girl action, and her identity had to be hidden from viewers at all times. She wouldn’t sign the contract unless I agreed to her terms.”
“Dayum.” Honey gazed admiringly at Tamia. “You were only, what, twenty?”
“Nineteen.”
Lou chuckled reminiscently. “Even back then, she was a savvy businesswoman who knew what she wanted. And after watching her audition performance, I would have been crazy not to sign her.”
“Wow.” Honey looked impressed. “Now that’s what you call a powerful pussy.”
Lou and Tamia laughed.
“Before you got home, Tamia, Lou and I were joking about how scandalized your neighbors would be if we went skinny-dipping in the pool after dinner.”
“Aw, hell, nah! Don’t even think about it,” Tamia warned.
When Honey and Lou traded conspiratorial grins, Tamia shook her head at them. “Okay, I think you’ve both had too many mojitos. And speaking of dinner, Honey, whatever you’re cooking smells wonderful.”
The girl beamed. “I’m making my grandmother’s jambalaya and corn bread.”
“Mmm. Sounds delicious.” Tamia smiled softly. “You know, I’d love to meet your grandma sometime.”
Honey grinned. “Funny you should say that. I was gonna invite you home with me for Thanksgiving next week. That is, if you don’t have any plans.”
Tamia’s expression clouded at the thought of Fiona, the only real family member she had. They’d always spent the holidays together. Even when Fiona was incarcerated, Tamia had made a point of visiting her so neither of them would feel lonely. It was sobering to realize that this would be the first of many Thanksgivings they would spend ap
art.
Observing her downcast expression, Honey said gently, “You don’t have to let me know right away. Take your time.”
Tamia mustered a grateful smile. “Thanks for the invitation. I’ll get back to you soon.”
“Whenever. No rush.” Honey set down her drink and rose from the love seat. “I’m gonna check on dinner.”
After she left the room, Lou kissed the top of Tamia’s head. “Thanks for letting her crash here. I really appreciate it.”
Tamia waved off his gratitude. “You don’t have to thank me. She’s a sweetheart, and I’m enjoying her company. Not to mention that I haven’t had to cook since she’s been here.”
Lou smiled, but only for a moment. “I know she came here because she had a fight with her boyfriend.”
Tamia was silent, neither confirming nor denying what he’d said.
His expression darkened. “She doesn’t want me to find out what happened because I told her what I’d do to that motherfucker if he ever hit her again.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Tamia gently assured him. “She can stay here as long as she needs. She hasn’t been taking any of his calls, so he doesn’t know where she is. This building has a twenty-four-hour front desk attendant. So she’s safe here.”
“Yeah, but for how long?” Lou countered grimly. “That asshole’s a cop, so he has resources. Once he realizes that she’s serious about leaving him, all he has to do is triangulate her cell phone to trace her exact location.”
Tamia hadn’t considered that possibility. “So we’ll need to get rid of her phone and get her a new one.”
“Assuming it’s not too late. We both know that if he shows up here and flashes his badge, he’ll be allowed upstairs—no questions asked.”
Tamia frowned, remembering how easily Dominic had gotten to her on Saturday night. Since learning that one of her neighbors had vouched for him, Tamia had been on her guard, viewing everyone with suspicion.
Lou growled, “I don’t want to give that motherfucker a chance to find Honey—or you, for that matter.”
Tamia saw the leashed violence in his eyes, could feel the tension radiating from his body. Even the serpent tattooed onto his neck seemed to be quivering with lethal anticipation.
