The Pleasure's All Mine (49 page)

Pierce looked at Raven. “Don’t ask,” he instructed.

“This trip is more treacherous than last time,” she muttered.

“Don’t worry,” Inoke said with a mild laugh. “I’m also a minister.”

“And that’s supposed to reassure me?” Raven said, just low enough for Pierce to hear.

Pierce stroked her hand gently. “We’ve been through worse.”

And they truly had. Eric was still recovering, albeit slowly. He was a bit less talkative, more pensive than before, but his mind was as sharp as ever. Raven had conceded that Marie was a wonderful match for him—if Eric had to be married. And the moment he actually turned eighteen there was another small ceremony in New York to make sure he
was
married—the proper way this time. Marie’s father was a little concerned at first when Eric told him the truth and the reason why another ceremony was in order. Finally the man conceded with a small chuckle as he said, “My daughter must be a special woman if a man wants to marry her twice.”

Janetta, who did not have nearly the physical challenges as Eric, was having a much harder time in rehab. Raven was incensed at how ungrateful her sister could still be at times, but “the big guy” reined her in. Pierce seemed to have a connection with her sister that Raven never would. One word from him and all griping and moaning stopped.

Raven’s three Latino brothers, all varied ivory-to-mocha shades and handsome like their father, had accepted Raven with open arms the moment they laid eyes on her. Her sisters, however, seemed more reserved and hadn’t quite yet seen their way to being warm or receptive in any regard. That hurt a little, but Raven realized they might feel threatened in some way. Although she couldn’t see why. They’d had Roberto most of their lives. She, on the other, hand, had only known him for a few months. And despite how they felt, she wasn’t giving him up quite so easy, or giving up on the beautiful women that were now her sisters.

The guide’s gaze connected with Pierce’s. “If you want to see some authentic Hawaiian dances, why don’t you let me take you to a real luau. I can shake it with the best of them.”

Pierce chucked as he looked at the burly man attempting to shake his hips in the seat. “You? In a grass skirt?”

Inoke nodded.

“You’re on,” Pierce said with nod. “Tour guide, dancer, minister. Is there anything you don’t do?”

“Weddings,” he said with a chuckle, wiggling his hand to show his bare ring finger.

“That’s why I brought my own minister,” Raven replied smoothly, giving Sesvalah a wide grin. The golden skinned, bushy-haired woman smiled back.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t do
yours
,” the older man protested with a frown.

Pierce didn’t care who performed the ceremony. Raven, to his surprise, had insisted on getting married right away rather than wait the six months that Pierce thought would give everyone time to recover. “There’s no way that I’m strolling down the aisle with a belly that turns corners before the rest of me,” she had declared.

Pierce had concurred, but wanted to first go to Hawaii for the vacation days he’d promised. Raven had agreed to that, sort of.

“While we’re there, let’s do the wedding. We can have another one when we get back.”

Unfortunately, that idea did not fly with Eric. Or Ava. Or Steve. Or anybody else. So now they were all here, except for a sputtering Janetta. “We’ll just have to go without her,” Raven had said. “The baby might be walking by the time she gets out of rehab.”

“Behave, Raven,” Pierce had said, silently agreeing.

“Well, it’s true.”

And to some degree it was. Janetta still had some things to face. As did Simeon Cahill who was now sitting behind bars in Rikers doing a bid for attempted murder. His counter charges of assault, battery, and attempted murder against Eric and Raven had not held up in court. Pierce’s prayers had been answered on that one since Eric had insisted on telling the truth about things. Fortunately, prosecution witnesses to Sim’s many misdeeds had helped convict him.

Raven and Pierce were splitting their time between Chicago and New York, with a mutual commitment to settle in one place and buy a house with a big yard when the baby got to walking age. Pierce still couldn’t get Raven to concede that New York had better pizza. However, he had managed to get her hooked on Virgil’s smoked barbeque wings, cheese grits, and honey butter biscuits. New York had to have something going for it. Besides him, of course.

When they arrived at Tedeschi Winery, the group spread out over the leafy green areas in front of one of the most historic buildings on Maui. Inoke grinned as he told the story. “King’s Cottage dates all the way back to 1874, when it was built specifically for the visit of Hawaii’s monarch, David Kalakaua and Queen Kapi’olani. Hawaii’s last king often came here to find peace of mind.”

And it followed that so did the not-quite-blushing bride and her handsome groom. They spoke vows that each had written from the heart. Right after putting an elegant platinum band on her finger, Pierce signaled to Steve, who came forward and passed a package to Pierce.

Pierce handed Raven a present wrapped in silver and bound with a bright blue bow. She peered up at him before opening.

Her clutch tablet, the writing all intact, stared back at her. Wordlessly, Raven stood on tip-toe to kiss her husband. Then she took his hand and led him near the cliff’s edge, with the group trailing behind them. She tossed the tablet into the water and watched the swells take it out to sea.

Pierce frowned down at her. “Why? Woman, what’s going on? All I’ve heard about is you getting your tablet back.”

Tears filled her eyes as Raven remembered the night she’d met Pierce. Her heart had been heavy with the possible loss of her only child. That night, she’d known without a doubt that Eric’s condition had gotten worse.

“I was writing as hard as I could that night to block out my knowledge that I might lose the most precious thing in my world.” She looked over her shoulder at Eric, who tried for a smile. “I didn’t realize that my life was about to change from a time of loss to a time of gain.” She locked gazes with Pierce. “I was about to gain a man who loved me—the real me—with all my flaws and issues. A man who won’t let me keep anything hidden from him. A man who brings out the best in me.” She reached out to cup his face and pressed another kiss to his lips. Pierce could only beam.

Raven turned to her pareo-draped daughter-in-law. “I didn’t know that I would gain a daughter who has given me moments of pride that I didn’t think possible.” She reached out to place her hand over the younger woman’s. “Thank you for being a wonderful friend and wife to my son.” Marie embraced her, as her tears ran down her freckled face.

Raven turned to Drew with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “And I got my big brother back. Should I tell them how you used to…”

Drew shook his head vigorously. He had taken care of little Raven, made sure she had her baths, and had braided her hair because their mother never really wanted to touch her. “Thank you,” Raven whispered.

Drew leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Then Raven reached for Anita, saying, “I love you and I forgive you because I now truly understand. Thank you for coming back into my life.”

Anita hugged her fiercely, whispering her love, as Lorrie kissed her cheek.

“And I gained a father,” Raven said, looking at the handsome man who moved forward into her embrace. “Life brings you what you need when you need it most. I love you and I will always need you.” She released her father and swept her gaze over her brothers and sisters, then held her arms out for a group hug. Her three brothers came willingly. Her sisters came, not quite as fast as her brothers, but they came—and that was a major point. One of them, the tallest of the beauties, actually gave Raven a small smile, which she gratefully returned.

Next Raven turned to Ava and clasped her hands. “My life has been blessed all along with my best friend, my spiritual sister, who has always had my back. She always believed that I would find the right man. And when I found Pierce, she finally got to say, ‘I told you so.’ “

Applause and whistles greeted that statement.

Finally Raven went back to Pierce. “So, baby, I don’t need that tablet anymore. I was writing about a pain that I thought would happen, but was not part of my path. I was writing my hopes and dreams for my life, and they’ve already come true.”

Pierce pulled her close. As her head rested on his chest, she let the wonder that was Pierce wrap around her and fill every fiber of her being. The others made their way to the reception area as he soothed her, stroking strong, steady hands along the swell of her back. “So you’re saying that everything you write about comes true?”

She looked up at him. “Oh, yes. Yes, indeed!”

Pierce brushed a finger across her trail of tears, then said, “Then maybe I can get you to write that New York has better pizza than Chicago.”

She burst into hearty laughter and punched him lightly on the arm. “Keep on dreaming, baby!”

a Chicago native, is an inspirational speaker, a Mercedes Benz Mentor

Award Nominee, the national bestselling author of
Every Woman Needs a Wife, The Pleasure’s All Mine,
co-author of
Speak it into Existence
with Sesvalah, and a contributing author to a
New York Times
bestseller. She started writing in December of 1999, self-publishing her first three novels before landing a book deal with an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

She works for a major international law firm and is the CEO of Macro Marketing & Promotions Group, as well as marketing consultant to several national bestselling authors and a publishing consultant to aspiring writers. Naleighna is the mother of J. L. Woodson, the NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literature for his book,
Superwoman’s Child: Son of a Single Mother (www.jlwoodson.com)
She is currently working on her next novels,
Rich Woman’s Fetish
and
Slaves of Heaven
.

* * *

www.naleighnakai.com

www.macrompg.com

www.thecavalcadeofauthors.com

Aspiring writers, please visit the website for resources, contacts, and information on the different ways to get your book completed from point A to Z and off to press! Be sure to join the mailing list.

published by Simon & Schuster

This national bestselling novel is the hilarious, but thought-provoking story of a wife who does the “unthinkable.” Strolling in on Vernon and his mistress one night, Brandi Spencer insists that the new woman in his life come home and earn her keep the honest way -- on her feet helping the wife clean the house, keep the children and pay the bills, instead of laying on her back servicing the husband.

Tanya Kaufman has had one shock too many -- one minute she’s a fiancée, the next she finds out she’s been the mistress all along. When Tanya shows up during the surprise anniversary party to take Brandi up on her offer, the women seize the opportunity to teach Vernon that infidelity will no longer come at the expense of the women’s time, money, and happiness. Vernon fights back by launching a high-profile court battle that doesn’t have a thing to do with splitting the money, keeping the house, or visitation rights.

Had any married couple ever fought for custody of...the mistress?

“Wild...an Awesome ride. After reading Every Woman Needs a Wife, I knew I needed one too!”

--L.A. Banks/Leslie Esdaile Banks, New York Times Bestselling Author

“An implausible premise evolves into a fascinating story. Kai has penned a novel that plumbs the emotions of three people caught up in an all-too-common triangle.”

-- Evelyn Palfrey, National Bestselling Author of
Three Perfect Men

“What Naleighna Kai has done with this book -- this storyline -- is create a work of imaginary genius...Once you start reading, you will not stop until you reach the very last page. Yes, this novel is that good!”

-- Zane,
New York Times
Bestselling Author