Confessions (24 page)

I love attending BookExpo America. It's always a fabulous opportunity to get a lot of free books, meet a lot of the popular authors, pass out business cards and encourage authors to add my bookstore to their tour.

I had two rolling suitcases filled with books and catalogs from several of the big houses. I always made it my business to visit the Kensington Publishing booth as well as several others before heading down to the African-American Pavilion.

Physically drained, I made it back to my hotel and moved down the hall to my room. I was ready to take a hot shower and get room service. I slipped out of my clothes, called downstairs and ordered a salad, then jumped in the shower. Twenty more days and Donovan would be back in the states. I couldn't wait to wake up beside him every morning. This time our marriage was going to work, I was confident of that.

I climbed out the shower just as I heard a knock at the door. Damn, room service was quick. I slipped into a hotel robe and padded across the room. The moment I swung the door open, I was swept up in a kiss. I was so shocked it took me a second to react and push him away.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Showing my baby how much I missed her.” Kenyon was smiling as he moved over to a table in the corner, carrying a bag. “I brought your favorite wine and some fruit.”

Okay, this mothafucker was definitely stalking me. “How in the world did you know I was in New York?”

He gave me a puzzled look. “Baby, don't you remember? You invited me to go to New York with you?” He shook his head, then reached for the corkscrew.

“I didn't…” I paused, suddenly remembering I'd not only told him in detail about the exposition but had also said it would be fun if he attended. “Fool, that was when we were still together!”

“Sweetie, I understand,” he said with a reassuring smile.

“Understand what?”

“That you had to pretend we weren't together so your husband wouldn't know. I understand. But I had this day circled and my ticket bought, and I knew you still wanted me to come so we could spend this time together. By the way, something is wrong with your cell phone. I tried calling you to see if you wanted to share a cab from the airport, but I wasn't able to get through to you.” Kenyon swung around and carried over a glass of wine. “Baby, here you go.”

I slapped the glass away, splashing wine all over his shoes and the carpet. Kenyon frowned, then moved into the bathroom and came out wiping himself off. “Why are you angry?”

“Why do you think I'm angry? Because we…are…not…together…anymore.” I spaced out each word evenly.

He looked up and gave me that sexy smile of his, and I ain't gonna even lie, my nipples hardened in response. “Baby, I told you we would always be together. Nothing or nobody is ever gonna change that.”

“Either you get outta my room or I'm calling hotel security!”

The smile slipped from his face. “Baby, we love each other. Why are you playing games and trying to act like you didn't want me here?”

“Because I don't!”

“Room service!” called a voice from out in the hall.

I moved toward the door quickly and opened it. I looked down at the name tag. “Charlie, come on in, because this fool is leaving.”

The short white dude with blond hair and blue eyes had to be in his twenties. He looked from me to Kenyon, then pushed the cart inside. I held the door open. “Kenyon, you need to leave.”

He looked confused at first, then turned angry. “Oh, so that's whassup! You're trying to get rid of me so you can spend time with him.”

This dude had really lost it. “What are you talking about?”

“Don't play dumb! I fly all the way up here to spend a romantic week with you and then you try to play me with this short butterball. So tell me, did the two of you meet in the elevator?”

Charlie held up his hands. “Sir, I don't know what you're talking about. I just came to deliver the food.”

“Sure you did, and my woman just happens to be sitting in her room half naked waiting for you.”

He turned to me. I frowned and tightened the belt on my robe. “Ignore him. He's crazy. Kenyon, get the hell outta my room!”

That damn muscle at his jaw twitched, and the next thing I knew he flipped the food cart over and charged the delivery guy. “That's my woman! She's mine!”

I tried to pull Kenyon off him. My belt kept coming loose and my robe flapping wide open. I ended up reaching for the bottle of Moscato wine and breaking it across Kenyon's head. He crumpled onto the carpet, and Charlie scrambled to his feet.

“What the hell just happened?” he asked. His blue eyes were wide with fear.

I shook my head. “I'm sorry, but I have no idea. That man is crazy.”

“Obviously.” He looked down at Kenyon, who groaned and rolled to his side. Charlie balled his fist ready to go another round. He had just gotten his ass kicked, so he would want to go sit down somewhere before Kenyon dusted the floor with him again. I quickly moved to the phone, called the front desk and asked them to send up security.

Rubbing his head, Kenyon slowly rose to his feet. Charlie's punk ass suddenly chickened out and dashed from the room, leaving me alone with that psycho.

“Security's on the way,” I warned, just in case he was even thinking about trying anything.

Kenyon gave me a disappointed look. “Nikki, you were wrong for hitting me. All I ever done is try to make you happy, and this is the thanks I get. Mark my word, you're gonna regret taking my love for granted.” He hurried out of the room and down the hall.

If that wasn't proof that dude was crazy, then nothing is. The second I got back to St. Louis, I would get an ex parte.

It was Saturday and I was sitting at my kitchen table studying for a big test when my cell phone rang. I looked down and smiled when I realized it was Leon. Every time I saw his picture flash across the screen I felt all funny inside. “Hey, baby. Missing me already?”

Leon cleared his throat. “I was just out to my mailbox, and guess what I found?”

“What?” Like I didn't already know.

“A letter.” He sounded surprised.

I was smiling because my letter had arrived. I knew it would make his day. Monday, I had taken the time to send him a personal handwritten letter just to let him know I was thinking about him. I truly needed to start doing that more often. “Really now? From who?”

There was a pause. “I don't know. There is no return address.”

Leon is such a kidder. I decided to play along. “Wow, a mystery letter.”

“Yeah…let me read it to you.”

I moved over to the refrigerator for a bottle of water while I listened.

“‘Dear Leon, I don't know if you're the right Leon Montgomery who's married to Trinette Montgomery, the case worker who lives in St. Louis. If not, please disregard. If this is the right Leon, I feel it's my duty to tell you about your wife. The adulteress…'”

What? I dropped the water onto the floor. That wasn't the letter I sent him. My pulse was racing and I didn't dare breathe while I waited for him to continue.

“‘Your wife is not the woman you think she is. She has no intentions of moving to Richmond. She doesn't really want you. The only reason why she is still with you is because of the money, and without you she can't afford to live the life she has grown accustomed to. She spends her time at work bragging about how she got her man wrapped around her finger while she has a different man in her bed every week. She's been sleeping with men in Ft. Leonard Wood, St. Louis, Chicago and Dallas. In fact she has been messing with the husband of one of her clients for some time now. What she's doing is not right, and I felt you should know. You deserve better than that. Trinette has been this way all her life, and she's not going to change for you or anyone else, because all she truly cares about is herself.'”

There was a long silence. All I could hear was my heart pounding heavily against my chest.

“Well…is that true?”

I moistened my mouth so I could speak. “No, Leon. It isn't true.”

“Which part isn't true? That you've been messing around on me or the part about you only wanting me for my money.” I could tell by the tone of his voice he was hurt. That was one thing I never wanted to do to him.

“Both.”

“Now I know you're lying, because all you've ever cared about, Netta, is money. Why would someone be lying on you?”

“Because folks be hating on me.”

“No, it sounds to me like someone decided to tell on you.” He released a frustrated breath while I tried to think fast as to what to say. “Is this why you didn't want to come to Richmond and live with me, because you were messing around?”

“No, that isn't why! I told you, I was trying to live for me. Get my degree and a promotion so I could be more than just your wife. Why's it so hard for you to understand?”

“It's not. I told you before I'll support you in every way, but I get the feeling there is a lot more to this story.”

“Why you say that? Because someone sent you a letter and now you're gonna believe what someone else said?” My knees threatened to give out. I managed to make it to the table and take a seat.

“Trinette, I asked you before to put everything on the table, and you said you had, so I'm going to ask you again. Have you been messing around?”

I learned a long time ago you can't admit everything. “I didn't start seeing anyone until after you dumped me on Valentine's Day.”

“I
didn't
dump you on Valentine's Day.”

“Look, let's not go there again.”

There was a pause. “Are you and this man still together?”

I quickly answered. “No, I ended it right after it got started. I was hurting.”

“So because you were hurting you found comfort with another man?”

“What was I supposed to do…sit around and hope you changed your mind and took me back? You dumped me on Valentine's Day!” I was yelling now because I was angry. I had put everything into making our marriage work and this was how he wanted to treat me. I deserved better. “I thought we were past this. I thought we were leaving the past behind and starting fresh.”

“We are, but we can't do that until we put everything out there on the table. Honesty is important. If I can't trust you, then we don't have anything.”

My heart was pounding so hard my chest hurt. “What makes you think I'm not being honest with you now?”

He sighed. “I just don't know. I'll probably never know.”

“Leon, I've changed since we've gotten back together.”

“How do I know that? How do I know you're still not messing around with that dude? Do you know how it makes me feel to know some other man has been fucking my wife?”

“I know good and damn well the way you like to screw you haven't always been faithful!”

He forced a laugh. “That's the difference between you and me. I take my marriage vows seriously.”

I gripped the receiver and dropped my head. “Baby, I made a mistake. I'm sorry.”

“And what about the men in Chicago and Dallas?”

“I don't know where that shit came from, because that's definitely a lie.” Hell, this was one time I wasn't lying. I used to date a dude in Chicago, but that was many moons ago. There was a long silence, and the hairs at the nape of my neck curled. I don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life. “So now what do we do?” I asked.

“I don't know. Knowing you slept with someone else, I need some time to think.”

I wasn't going to beg. I couldn't. I had given everything I had to my marriage. I just didn't have anything left to give. “Okay. But before you hang up I just want you to know I love you. I never realized how much until after we split up, but I know now and I am willing…” My voice broke. I took a breath trying to hold on. “I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make things work.” I didn't even wait to see if he told me he loved me. I couldn't handle it if he hadn't. I hung up the phone and fell to the floor and cried like a baby. Someone was out to get me, and I was determined to find out who it was.

Trinette came barging into my office at the back of the store. I had just gotten back from New York yesterday and hadn't even called to tell her I was back. I was ready to cuss her ass out when I saw the look of panic on her face. “What happen to you?”

She flopped down on the couch, and it was several seconds before she finally found the words to speak. “Leon dumped me.”

“Again! I mean…why? Why did he dump you this time?”

Her eyes snapped to me and I saw the pain. “Someone from St. Louis took the time to find his address and send him a letter telling him about everything I've been doing.”

“What?” I couldn't believe that shit. Someone had finally told on her. “How did you find out?”

“Leon called and read the letter to me, then he told me it was over.”

“Oh, no! Who would do something like that?”

She shook her head. “It could be anyone. It could be Jay's girlfriend. It could be this girl named Cimon. I was messing with her daddy.”

“You had you a big daddy, huh?”

She ignored my attempt to make light of the situation. “I wouldn't be surprised if it was Maureen. I think she caught me coming out of the motel with her husband a couple of weeks ago. Whoever the bitch was, she tried to run me over.”

“Whoa! Slow your roll! You were at a motel with her husband?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Uh-uh. No buts. I thought you said you were committed to your marriage and you were gonna do everything in your power to make your marriage work.”

“I am.”

“Then why the fuck were you in a motel room with someone else's husband?”

She knew she was wrong. I could tell by the look on her face. “I don't know why I went, but once I got there I changed my mind and left.”

Did she really think I was stupid enough to believe her? “You are so full of crap.”

“Nikki, I'm serious. I had no intentions of screwing, but he said he had a surprise for me and I was curious what it was.”

“Well, let's see…if you were meeting him at a motel, it's quite obvious what his surprise was. How about some dick!”

She shook her head. “It wasn't like that.”

I rose. “You know what, I am so sick of your shit! You have me feeling sorry for your ass, but you haven't changed. You're never gonna change. I've got enough problems dealing with Kenyon.” I turned around and walked out my office. Trinette came to the wrong place if she was looking for sympathy.

“Nikki, you tripping,” she called after me.

Swinging around, I faced her. “No, you tripped. Leon is a damn good man, and he doesn't deserve this. You're my girl, but I'm tired of your shit and I'm not gonna lie to you. The only person who can help you is yourself. You got yourself in this mess and you'll have to get yourself out.”

Trinette looked so lost sitting there on my couch. “I don't know how.”

I'd never heard her sound so defeated before, but I wasn't about to feel sorry for her. I'd humored her enough over the years. “You'll have to figure that out yourself. Oh, and one more thing, watch your back. Someone is out to get you, and it's probably someone close to you.”