Authors: Niobia Bryant
Mistress No More (30 page)
“She’s moving in,” Tara answered.
Billie felt her chest tighten at the words. She tried to control her emotions. Their divorce had only been final three months. “Well, she is your father’s girlfriend.”
“She’s his jump off,” Tara corrected. “You don’t marry the side piece.”
“He’s not marrying her.” Billie shuddered at the thought. “At least not yet.”
“He married you after you moved in,” she countered. “Only I liked you. This stuck-up Barbie is not going to be my new stepmother.”
Billie sighed. “Tara, I can’t really tell you how to be with her. You know I’m compromised on this.”
“You hate her,” Tara said. “Just like me. She’s selfish and stupid and had the nerve to try and tell me what to do this morning.”
“You really need to talk to your father about this.” Billie’s instinct was to advise Tara to tell Claire to go fuck herself, but she knew that wasn’t right. Tara didn’t need to be put in the middle of this more than she already was. “You’re gonna have to sit down and . . .”
“Billie?”
Billie didn’t even need a second to recognize the voice of her ex-husband. Porter had a deep, mesmerizing voice that pulled at something inside of her even when he was mad, like now.
“Billie,” he repeated. “Is that you?”
“Yes, it is.” Billie could hear Tara complaining in the background. “Look, Porter, I was just . . .”
“You’re not allowed to talk to my daughter without my permission!”
“Since when?” Billie asked.
“Since I said.” His voice was cold and short. “You’re not her stepmother anymore.”
“But you know I love her and she loves me,” Billie said. “We were just talking.”
“You’re trying to turn her against Claire,” Porter accused. “And I’m not gonna let you do it.”
He hung up before Billie could defend herself. Not that it would have made a difference. While he had promised to give Claire up once Billie found out, he never had. And when she made it clear a divorce was what she wanted, he made it clear that Claire was what he wanted. Ever since, Billie only saw the ugly side of the man she used to love. He had humiliated her and betrayed her and now he was going to try and keep her from Tara, the closest thing she ever had to a child of her own.
Which made it all the more insane to Billie that she was still sleeping with him.
DAFINA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2011 by Niobia Bryant
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Dafina and the Dafina logo Reg. U.S. Pat & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7582-3823-8
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