Power Couple (15 page)

Maverick looked appalled by the suggestion. “No, I didn't take her phone. What do I look like, the head of security for Drake or Chris Brown? I printed a copy of our confidentiality clause and she signed it.”

“Okay, but can you give me an idea of what the novelty act consists of?”

“I'm not sure, but you should put on something comfortable—and no panties.” He winked at me as if a mere hint of a naughty surprise should have excited me.

I wasn't excited in the least. Having my cooch eaten by a woman was more of an annoyance than a turn-on. I spread my legs for bitches purely for Maverick's enjoyment. Sure, my body reacted when a carpet muncher was trying to suck a nut out of me, but as far as my emotional needs went, I preferred feeling my husband's strong arms gripping my shoulders while forcefully plunging dick into me.

After Maverick left the bedroom, I turned on the shower. In no rush for the novelty act, I deliberately took my time, letting the water jets pummel my shoulders and back while I closed my eyes and imagined my favorite fantasy: me standing on the stage, wiping away tears as I accepted my Emmy.

CHAPTER 22

I
entered the dining room, wearing a black-and-white Givenchy dress that had an ethnic look about it. I felt like an African queen about to hold court.

Maverick sat at his place at the dining room table, and I took a seat at the opposite end. Tamara emerged from the kitchen, pushing a serving cart. Behind her was the most ratchet-looking bitch I'd ever seen. The little thot was carrying a silver tray with a bottle of wine and two monogrammed crystal wineglasses. She was rocking a sparkly bustier and a super-short, tight skirt. Her seven-inch heels were leopard-print and had fringes dangling around the ankles. I frowned at her fingernails that were shaped like sharp daggers with multiple colors and designs.

Unbelievably tacky, she had to be a stripper. She looked like she'd been yanked straight off the pole of one of the sleaziest strip clubs in town. Her ass was so humongous, there was no way it was real. Her nasty-looking ass had to be the result of butt implants or ass injections. I would bet money that the ho was all over YouTube grinning at the camera while twerking and throwing that big ass around in complete circles.

My eyes scrolled up to her weave and I blinked in revulsion. Her hair, a pale shade of green with lavender, pink, and gold streaks running through it, was an assault to my eyes. She looked vile and unclean, like she was full of STDs. She looked like the kind of girl whose pussy smelled like ass.

“Hey, y'all! We up in this bitch with the food and wine,” the stripper announced, bouncing her shoulders, and wiggling her ass like she was the featured entertainment at a bachelors' party.

It was embarrassing to imagine this gutter slut entering my exclusive apartment building and announcing that she'd come to visit Maverick and me. I shuddered to think about how offended our concierge must have been by our skanky guest.

I shot Maverick a murderous look. He returned my look with a dumb expression, like he didn't understand what my problem was.

Astounded that Maverick and Tamara would think it was okay to invite such ghetto-trash into a fine and decent home, I swiveled and gawked at both of them.

But neither met my gaze; both pretended that it was perfectly normal for Tamara to have an assistant that looked like she missed the cut for
Love & Hip Hop.

Tamara cleared her throat. “Cori, this is Heavenly.”

I groaned inwardly. Of course, she would have a stripper name. I felt appalled and annoyed and personally violated that someone named Heavenly was in my presence and was actually standing in the dining room of my sumptuous apartment.

“Hi, Cori,” Heavenly said, grinning. From her confident smile and the way she dragged out the word, “hi,” I could tell that Heavenly thought she was the shit.

I didn't bother to return her greeting. Instead, I addressed my husband. “Did Heavenly sign her stripper name or did she use her government name on the confidentiality agreement?”

“She used her real name,” Maverick responded. Embarrassed by my sarcasm, his eyes darted downward.

Taking me totally off guard, Heavenly shot across the dining room and slammed the silver tray on the table. The crystal glasses clattered loudly against the wine bottle. Startled, my body involuntarily jerked in alarm.

“Yo, bitch, don't be talking trash about me and acting like I ain't even standing here. If you got a question about me, then ask me. I don't need your husband or no-fucking-body else to speak for me.”

The nasally tone of her voice grated on my nerves, not to mention her grammar. “She's a novelty act, indeed,” I said, speaking pointedly to Maverick. “I want this tacky chick out of here!”

“Who you calling ‘tacky'? Fuck you, you dumb bitch, acting like you better than somebody. Bitch, please,” Heavenly squawked in her annoying voice.

I gawked at Maverick and Tamara. “Are either of you going to do something?”

“You're overreacting, Cori,” Maverick said with a stupid smile that I wanted to slap off his face. “You and Heavenly got off on the wrong foot, that's all.”

I couldn't believe that my husband was actually taking up for a ho that was disrespecting me in my own home. I was about to curse him out when Heavenly suddenly moved into my personal space. She bent over, positioning herself so that her face was only inches from mine.

“Don't start with me, bitch. I don't appreciate being called out of my name. Just because you on TV, shit don't make you better than me.” Looking around the room, she smirked and said, “You got ahead in life when you lucked up and sucked the right athlete's dick.”

Appalled, I gasped. “You better get the fuck out of my face!” I pushed my chair back, putting a little distance between us.

“And you better watch that smart-ass mouth of yours…don't be talking shit about me,” Heavenly clapped back.

“I want her off the premises this instant,” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

“Cori! Babe, calm down,” Maverick said.

“No, I'm not calming down. I want this clown bitch out of my
home.” At that point I stood up and to my utter shock, Heavenly pushed me back down.

“We about to have a problem, you bougie bitch. Even though this is your crib, you can't insult me and expect to get a pass.” Heavenly dug her sharpened nails into my shoulder.

“Ow!” I tried to squirm out of her clutch, but she was clawing me with her dagger nails, holding me in place. It was a natural reaction to swing my fist at her in defense.

To my horror, she reacted by grabbing the wine bottle from the table and wielded it like a weapon. “I told you not to start with me, bitch. Put your hands on me again and I'ma crack you in the face.”

Maverick wasn't doing a damn thing. He was sitting there gawking as if mesmerized. To get Heavenly off me, I picked up the glass of ice water from in front of me and tossed the water in her face. The shock of the cold water caused her to loosen her grip. I jumped out of my chair and rushed her, going for the weave and trying my best to yank that rainbow-colored bullshit clean out of her head.

The pain of her tracks being ripped out of her scalp disabled her. I was about to beat that bitch's ass when Maverick decided to jump into the fray. Somehow he managed to get her weave out of my fists. Tamara grabbed Heavenly, holding her back, while Maverick held me.

Heavenly struggled to break Tamara's hold. “Get off me, Tamara. Let me go. I'ma beat that bum-bitch's ass.”

Being called a bum-bitch by a broke-ass trick caused me to flinch, but I recovered quickly. “Try to beat my ass! You're not going to do shit, you thirsty bitch.” I had come down to her level, and I didn't care. “I can't believe I'm breathing the same air as a disgusting prostitute like you,” I shouted with my face twisted in disgust.

“It's true. I be out here chasing dick to pay the rent. I do what I gotta do to pay my bills, but you need to look at your own damn
self, before pointing a finger at me. I was invited here to get in a situation with your husband, so tell me…what does that say about you? I wouldn't even be up in this piece if it wasn't for your dry-ass pussy with no walls and no type of grip.”

Her accusations about my cooch were a goddamn lie, and I reacted with a straight face—I didn't bat an eye. “Listen, stank ho…I'm asking you nicely to please leave the premises. Go twerk that fake ass on some other man because you are not touching my husband!”

Heavenly let out a bitter laugh. “Everybody got a little ho in 'em, so don't act like you don't. I bet you hoeing for the network to get ratings for your corny show. I wonder who you had to smash to get your face on TV.”

“Be quiet, Heavenly,” Tamara said, giving her a hard yank. “I think we should leave.”

“You think?” I shouted mockingly. “You no longer work for us, Tamara, so take your hooker friend with you and get the fuck out!”

“It's not Tamara's fault,” Maverick said, still holding me.

“I don't care. Her employment is terminated as of right the fuck now!”

“I ain't going nowhere 'til I get my coins,” Heavenly yelled in a high screechy voice. “If y'all want me to roll, then somebody better pay me for my time.”

With every fiber of my being, I wanted to fight that bitch, but I had to walk away from this one. It wasn't worth it. I had a show to tape and couldn't risk turning up at work with my face scratched up. Clayton would have fainted on the spot if he were tasked with the job of having to patch up my clawed face with makeup.

“Pay that whore and get her out of here,” I told Maverick, and then jerked away from him. With all the dignity I could muster, I held my head high, and exited the dining room.

• • •

I sat on a chair in the bedroom, seething. Being married to a sexual deviant wasn't easy, but I'd done my best to keep my husband happy, but this time, Maverick had pushed me to my limit. Maverick and his whoring ways were going to be the ruination of the wholesome image I'd carefully crafted for us.

I glanced at the time and felt myself growing angrier. Why was it taking him so long to pay the bitch and get rid of her? I stood up, intending to find out why that stank ho was still on the premises. But I only managed a few steps toward the door before Maverick entered the bedroom, looking guilty. I wondered if he'd tried to get his money's worth by getting a quickie before the bitch bounced.

“Has Tamara and the stripper left, yet?”

He nodded.

“How much did you pay the ho?”

“Five hundred.”

“Some novelty act,” I said snidely, shaking my head as I repeated his terminology.

“We were supposed to have a good time. I had no idea she would go from zero to a hundred so fast.”

“That's how those crack babies act. What were you thinking when you invited that trash to our residence? Don't you realize that hood rats like her don't care anything about a confidentiality agreement? She'll post a picture up on Instagram without a second thought. What does she have to lose? If you were to sue her, what would you get? Nothing except a bunch of bad press. We can't afford a scandal, Mav. I can't understand why you'd flirt with disaster.”

“She won't say anything, babe.” He rubbed my arm, trying to placate me.

“How do you know?”

“She was recommended by Tawny.”

“Who the hell is Tawny?” I asked with my face scrunched up.

“That's Kevin Berenbaum's wife.”

“I thought his wife was an ex-chef, not an ex-stripper.”

“Tawny was never a stripper.”

“Well, you could have fooled me with a name like
Tawny.
How does Kevin's wife who travels in a private jet and was given a small island as a wedding present even know a lowlife like Heavenly?” I said the stripper's name like there was shit was on my tongue.

“They've used her services before and Kevin sort of put me in touch with her.”

“He
sort
of put you in touch? What does that mean? And why would you tell Kevin Berenbaum about our sex life?” I felt instantly humiliated that Maverick would share such sensitive information with someone of Kevin Berenbaum's status. It wasn't as if he and Kevin were best buds or anything. Their relationship was clearly defined as boss and employee.

Maverick took a deep breath. “I rarely even see Kevin or speak to him on the phone. But…apparently Tamara talks to Tawny and—”

“Tamara signed a confidentiality agreement with us.”

“She probably thinks it's okay to confide in a close friend.”

I rolled my eyes. “So, who told you to hire Heavenly?”

“Kevin texted me. He said something like, ‘I hear you have a naughty chef. Add on to the fun with Heavenly. Talk to Tawny.' Next, he texted his wife's number. It seemed like a direct order, so I called her. You don't ignore the big guy when he makes a request.”

“I don't get it. First, he forces us to keep Tamara when I wanted to fire her and now he's telling us who to bring into our bedroom. He can kiss my ass. I'll be goddamned if Kevin Berenbaum or anyone else is going to control my life.”

“It's not like that, Cori. You're blowing things out of proportion. Kevin never told me that I couldn't fire Tamara, but I had sense
enough to know that since she and Tawny were friends, it wouldn't be a good idea to piss Tawny off before I signed the deal.”

“Yeah, well, the deal has been signed for weeks. So what's your excuse for letting him talk you into inviting filthy trash to our home?”

“Let it go, Cori. Let's have dinner and try to forget that tonight ever happened.”

“I don't have much of an appetite after being accosted in my own home. And I'm not eating anything that Heavenly touched.”

“Suit yourself,” Maverick said with a shrug.

He turned to leave, and I blurted, “Did Heavenly suck your dick while I was confined to our bedroom?”

“No.”

“You're lying, Mav.”

“All right, she gave me some head…it wasn't a big deal.”

“Unbelievable! A woman attacks your wife and you feel it's okay to stick your dick in her mouth.”

“But I was thinking about you the whole time, Cori.”

I made a sound of disgust.

“For real. I never saw you go at a chick like that before. Watching that cat fight got my dick hard as steel.”

“Our marriage is so fucking pathetic,” I said quietly, feeling hopeless and lost. “What was Tamara doing while Heavenly gave you head?”

“Uh…she wasn't doing anything.”

“Be honest, please.”

“Okay, Tamara licked my balls.”

All I could do was let out a long, weary sigh. No matter how much I gave in to Maverick's sexual whims, none of my sacrifices were enough for him. With his out-of-control, male-ho behavior, I was getting the impression that I would never be enough to completely satisfy him.