The Game of Seduction (Arrington Family Series) (19 page)

“Are you going to confront him?” Raven asked.

“Nope. I never want to hear from him again. I wrote him a note not to contact me, but I’m sure he’ll be fine. He has his cheerleader now. I’m just one less woman to worry about.”

Shelbi sighed. “I just can’t believe this is happening. Oh wait. I have to go. I’m being paged. I’m at the hospital until midnight. I’ll call you back.” Shelbi had just started her residency at the hospital two weeks before.

“Bria, I can stay on the phone with you until you get back to Memphis, and then you can come straight here if you need to. I have wine in the fridge and Shelbi gets off at midnight. Justin is out of town so she doesn’t have to go straight home.”

“Thank you, Raven, but I really just want to go home and crawl into my bed. I’ll come get Mr. Hamster tomorrow or the next day. I’ll call you when I arrive home.”

“Okay, baby sis. I’m so sorry this is happening to you. I really wanted Rasheed to be the one for you. Everyone should be with the one they love.”

Bria heard a tremble in her sister’s voice, and she knew Raven was thinking about her deceased husband.

“Thank you for being here for me. I’m going to concentrate on the road. I’ll call you back if need be.”

Five hours later, Bria pulled into her assigned space in the garage underneath her apartment building. She was exhausted mentally, physically, and spiritually, but glad to be home. She rested her head on the steering wheel and exhaled. She couldn’t believe she was back in this place again where she’d been two years ago with her ex-fiancé. But this time was different. This time she’d lost a man that actually understood her and was compatible with her in every way. This time she’d lost a man that she was actually in love with, and it hurt more than she thought possible. Her heart had been trampled over by a herd of elephants led by Rasheed through an open field and each elephant had a different scantily clad woman on top of it laughing and pointing at her.

She decided to grab two of her rolling suitcases for now and come back in the morning for the rest. She just wanted to climb into bed and cry herself to sleep.

Ten minutes later, Bria stood outside of her door and stopped. She could hear her television on as she placed the key in the deadbolt, but she ended up locking it.

Great. I thought I had turned off the TV and locked the top lock. Was I that excited about going to Atlanta?

She unlocked the top lock and then the bottom lock which was locked. She pushed the door open and turned around to roll her suitcases into the foyer. She closed the door, locked it and threw her keys and purse on the foyer table. She left the suitcases where they were and proceeded to walk to the living area to turn off the television.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she screamed out in shock at the man seated on her couch and drinking a beer as if he lived there.

“I should be asking you the same question,” Rasheed said calmly.

“Put my house key on the coffee table and get out.” She pointed to the front door.

He turned off the television and walked over to stand in her personal space. “Not until you explain to me how you can avoid me all day and then pack your belongings and drive all the way back to Memphis. I deserve some type of explanation and not that crass note you wrote either.” He shouted so loud she hoped her neighbors didn’t hear.

“You deserve nothing from me, you lying, cheating dog.”

“What are you talking about? For the last time, I haven’t cheated or lied to you,” he yelled.

“Bastard, please. First the stripper called, and I guess the only reason why you didn’t hook up with her is because I was in the car and could hear the conversation. Then I actually fell for the way you smoothed things over by having sex on the side of the road. Then that cheerleader you lied about. Jeff’s fiancée. Boy, please. Fiancée my foot. Don’t think I don’t know who she really is.”

“Did you get any of my messages today?” he asked.

“I got a text from you after I left this morning saying ‘I love you.’ Humph! You don’t love me. You only love yourself.”

“Did you listen to any of the voice mails I left today?”

“No. After your text message, I turned off the phone. Besides, why would I want to listen to a bunch of lies from a cheating dog?”

“So, on the six almost seven hour drive back to Memphis, you never once turned on your cell phone?”

“I tried to but it’s dead. It won’t charge anymore. I used my emergency phone for work to call Raven and Shelbi to tell them what a lying cheat you are. Now will you please just get out before I call the police.”

He sat back down on the couch and ran his hands over his face.

She walked toward the foyer to grab her working cell phone. She couldn’t believe he just sat down frustrated. She was the one frustrated. She was the victim. When she returned he was still on the couch but now his elbows were on his knees with his hands crossed under his chin.

“What are you doing? Trying to think of more lies to tell me? There is nothing you can say that I will believe. Now please leave.”

She was surprised when he spoke in a calm tone, yet it seemed like he was forcing himself to speak that way. “Bria, what makes you think I don’t love you? That I’ve cheated and lied to you? I’m not him, Bree. I’m not.” He stood and pulled her by the waist to him so tightly she couldn’t even squirm to get away from him. “I’m not him, dammit!” he shouted.

She looked up at him and could feel the tears in the corners of her eyes about to drop and her heart breaking even more for when she looked at him she saw the man she loved even though she hated him at the moment.

“I … saw … you.” The first set of tears rolled down her face. “At the Sundial.”

“Wait. You did come to the Sundial?” he asked in a confused manner.

“Yes. You lied and said you were having dinner with Jeff but …”

“Bria …”

“You had dinner with that cheerleader that you claimed was Jeff’s fiancée,” she said in between the tears. “And you gave her the bracelet. Now, will you let me go and get out? Please just go!” she screamed trying to push him away with the palms of her hands, but he barely budged and didn’t let up on his hold of her.

“Bria, she wanted to see the bracelet, that’s all, and if you would’ve stayed longer, you would’ve seen Jeff arrive. He was parking the car.”

“You just love to lie. You know damn well you gave that girl the bracelet.”

He let go of her and walked to an overnight bag that she hadn’t realized was on the other side of the couch. He pulled a long, black velvet box out and opened it. It was the clasp bracelet.

“You mean this bracelet?”

She was speechless for a moment. It looked like the one she saw on his mantle except now it had a diamond in the middle and the emeralds looked different.

“So, you give all your women the same bracelet and lie about it being your mother’s?”

He was silent for a moment and stepped back, closing the velvet box.

“Bria, now I’ve been patient with you, but there’s one thing I don’t tolerate and that’s saying I’m lying when it pertains to my mother.”

She sat down on the couch and leaned her head back on the cushion. She was confused, tired, and frustrated.

“Here,” he held out his cell phone. “Call your dead cell phone. The battery may have died but the voice mail messages should still be there. It’s all computerized. I left you the first message at around 2:30 this afternoon.”

“Rasheed, I’m tired. Please just go.”

“Not until you listen to my voice mails.” He placed the phone in her hand. “I’ve already dialed your number and put it on speakerphone.”

“Fine.” She took the phone from him and put in her pass code when the computerized voice said her mailbox was full. She had a few messages from the day before that she hadn’t listened to but skipped over them. When the computerized voice said Rasheed’s cell phone number and the time of the call was 2:34, she got her mind focused to listen to the first lie.

“Hey, Bree. I’m having dinner at 5:00 with Jeff at the Sundial on top of the Westin Hotel. He called earlier to tell me he’s bringing his fiancée, Cindy, you know the cheerleader you saw me chatting with. Since she’s coming, you should come too. I just had the reservations changed to four under Vincent. I can’t pick you up because I have an appointment at 3:00 that I’m headed to in a few. Can’t wait to see you, baby. I love you. Call me back.”

She looked at him in shock and felt her heart sink. Oh no. Had he been telling the truth all along?

The next message was at 4:30.

“Bria, I’m headed to the Sundial Restaurant. I haven’t heard from you and I’m a little worried. I hope you can make it. If you can’t, please call me.”

The next message was at 5:16.

“Hey girl, I’m here at the restaurant. No one has showed up yet. Oh wait. Cindy just walked in. I hope to see you soon.”

The next message was at 6:00.

“I guess you aren’t coming. I really wish you could’ve. I wanted you to meet Cindy and Jeff. Cindy wanted to talk to you about some alternative methods for female issues.”

Bria could hear Jeff and Cindy saying ‘hi, Bria’ in the background. She handed the phone back to Rasheed.

“I don’t need to hear anymore, Rasheed.” She was so scared to say anything else.

“Listen to the next message.” He handed the phone back to her.

“I’m not flying out to New York tonight. Instead, I booked us a room at the Westin and then I would love for you to fly with me to New York in the morning. I have something special in store for you. Love you.”

She turned off the phone and handed it back to him. He stood there looking at her for a moment, and the silence between them was so thick it couldn’t even be cut with a chainsaw. She was at a loss for words and was so scared to open her mouth, even though she didn’t seem to have a problem earlier when she was accusing him of lying and cheating.

He sat down in the chair opposite the couch and leaned forward to the coffee table to take a swig of his beer.

“Bria, I’m confused with one thing,” he said, looking straight at her with such a scowl on his face that it scared her. “How did you know to come to the Sundial if you never received my messages?” He crossed his arms over his chest, and she felt like a student sitting in the principal’s office.

She briefly told him about Jade getting the information.

“I see. So if you had stayed and spied on me longer then you would’ve seen Cindy take the bracelet off and me placing it back into my pocket. Then you would’ve seen Jeff arrive moments later and giving Cindy a big wet one.”

“Rasheed … I’m so sorry of accusing you of cheating and lying to me.” The tears started again. “It’s just my ex put me through so much. At first, I would believe him when he said he was being faithful, but he had a girlfriend on the side the entire time we were together. The girl was even calling me telling me they had been together, and I just didn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. He would tell me so sincerely how much he loved me and that he would never hurt me, but right before we were to be married, he finally told me the truth because the girl was pregnant.”

Rasheed moved from the chair and sat next to Bria on the couch. He pulled her into his warm embrace and held her close to him.

“Do you still love him?” he asked.

“No. I don’t think I ever did.” She looked up at Rasheed, praying he would forgive her rants from earlier. “The man I love is you. Rasheed, I’m so sorry I accused you of such horrible things. I just didn’t know what to think. I started to notice similar patterns with the phone calls and the secrecy. I just don’t want another relationship like that.”

He grabbed her and sat her on his lap. “Listen to me, Bree. I know my past is questionable, but I haven’t always been a player. After Terri left me because she wanted to be with a basketball player that actually played and had more money than me, or so she thought, I just didn’t trust that women wanted to be with me. I couldn’t tell who was genuine and who just wanted to be with me because of my bank account. But I met you, and you don’t care about that. You haven’t asked for money, expensive shoes or purses, or some fabulous trip abroad. But more importantly, I fell in love with you, Bree, and baby, I promise you that you can trust me just like I trust you with my heart.”

Tears rolled down her face as he kissed them away. “You forgive me for going off on you earlier and for spying on you?”

“I forgive you, Bree.”

“Can we go make up?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Are you trying to smooth things over with sex?”

“Um … yes.” She laughed.

“Perfect, but first, I have something for you.” He lifted her off of his lap and reached over to the coffee table to grab the black velvet box. “This is for you.” He opened the box and pulled out the bracelet and placed it on her wrist. “Bria, this bracelet is very special to me because my father gave it to my mother on their wedding day. I wear the original diamond in my ear, and I had the emeralds removed to make earrings for Brooklyn last week. When you heard me on the phone, I was speaking with Mrs. Harris about coming to pick up the bracelet. She owns an upscale jewelry store in Atlanta and has been my personal jeweler for years.”

“It’s beautiful and I promise to cherish it forever.” She placed her hands on either side of his face. “I love you, Rasheed, and trust you with all my heart. I promise to never doubt you again.”

“And I promise to never make your beautiful smile leave your beautiful face.” He kissed her tenderly on the lips and then released her with a sigh. He reached over to his overnight bag and grabbed another black velvet box except this one was smaller.

Her eyes widened and her heart thumped hard against her chest as he got down on one knee in front of her. A surprised cry rushed from her throat, and the tears welled up in her eyes again.

“Bria, I love you, and I want to spend my life with you.” He opened the ring box. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes. I would love to marry you.”

He slipped the ring on her finger and then kissed it.

“I do believe this is the finger that started it all,” he said, kissing her finger in the location where the pin stuck her on Shelbi’s wedding day. “And it’s still finger-licking good, and now I get to do what I wanted to do the day of the wedding.” He lifted her up in his arms.