Читать книгу A Scandalous Affair - Donna Hill - Страница 14

Simone tossed her keys and purse on the hall table and aimlessly headed for the kitchen. The drive had done little to unfurl the tight coils of her tense insides. Rather, it aggravated her condition.

She opened the fridge, searched through its contents and took out a glass bottle of fruit juice. What she really wanted was a cigarette. A quick, relaxing smoke. But she’d given them up about a year earlier after a severe bout of bronchitis.

Sitting at the kitchen table, she twisted the smooth glass bottle around in her hands, staring blankly into space, and finally her gaze landed on the flashing red light of her answering machine. Slowly, she got up and pressed Play.

“Hi, sis, it’s me. I have so much to tell you. Call me when you get in,” she said, and Simone could hear the high pitch of excitement in her sister’s voice.

Simone pressed Erase. She stared at the phone, debating. A part of her wanted to hear the details and share her sister’s excitement. Another part of her dreaded what Samantha might say. Did he kiss her, touch her in that gentle way of his? Did he laugh at her corny jokes and did his eyes crinkle at the edges when he did?

She tugged in a breath. The truth was, she didn’t want to know, but she had to.

Simone defiantly snatched up the phone and dialed Samantha’s number.

“Hello…”

The voice sounded breathless. Simone flinched. Was Chad there? Were they…?

“Hey, sis, sounds like you were running.”

“Whew, sorry about that. I was outside when I heard the phone. I was hoping it was you.”

“This is your lucky day.”

Samantha chuckled, missing the sarcasm. She pranced into the kitchen and skulked around in the fridge for her container of vanilla soy milk. “Guess what?” she asked, following a long swallow of the creamy liquid.

Simone briefly shut her eyes. “What?”

“I had lunch with Chad today—at Cisco’s.”

“Really.” A tense bubble of laughter burst and dribbled over her lips. It was apparent that Chad hadn’t mentioned their brief conversation, so neither would she. “You make it sound like more than business.”

“Well…” She let the word stretch to four syllables.

Simone gripped the phone a bit tighter. “What does that mean?”

Samantha went on to explain about their upcoming “date” to the jazz club and Chad’s subsequent request for her to help him find an apartment.

“Sounds like you two are going to be spending a lot of time together.”

Samantha sighed. “I hope so, Monie,” she said, using her pet name for her sister. “I like him and I think we could have something.”

“You figured that all out after one lunch?”

Samantha frowned, startled by Simone’s sharp tone. “What’s bugging you?”

Simone caught herself. “Hey, I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired and I have a headache brewing. A bit on edge.” At least that part was true.

“Did you take anything?”

“No, not yet. But I will.” Simone’s tight expression softened. Although they were only separated by one year, with Sam being the younger, early on Samantha had taken the opposite role as big sister and nurturer. Samantha was the type of person who couldn’t stand to see anyone suffering or in pain. She somehow believed it her duty and obligation to take on the weight of everyone’s ills and find a way to make them better. You had to love her.

“You go and rest. If it gets worse and you need me, just call. Okay?”

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I think I will lie down for a while.”

“Good. I’ll check on you tomorrow. Later.”

“Hey, uh, when are you guys going to the club?”

“Wednesday. Why don’t you bring Chris and come along?”

“Chris Walker has risen to the top of my not-to-do list at the moment.” She’d been dating Chris for about three months, and although he was smart enough to have “Doctor” in front of his name, it had become abundantly clear, at least to her, that his intelligence was trapped between his legs. Whenever they were together all he ever wanted to do with any enthusiasm was to have sex. Any other activity he was always “too tired” to participate. That wore thin pretty quickly. Their relationship was going nowhere fast.

Samantha chuckled. “Girl, you and men. You shed them faster than I can keep up with. One of these days you’re going to have to figure out what you want and stick with it.”

“Sam, you don’t know the half of it. But that’s another story for another day. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Simone absently hung up the hone. Humph. Figure out what I want and stick with it. I thought I had, once upon a time. Guess I was wrong.

“How’s it feel to be back in your own office?” Justin asked, leaning against the frame of the door.

Chad looked up from sorting the files on his desk, happy to see his mentor. He leaned back in his chocolate-brown leather chair and expansively linked his fingers behind his head. “Man, I am home,” he stated, enunciating every word.

Justin chuckled and stepped inside. Casually, he gazed around, intermittently picking up and putting down objets d’art that Chad brought back with him from his travels. Statues from Ghana, talismans from Uganda, native cloths from Liberia and fetishes from the Sudan, among others.

Chad monitored Justin’s apparent ease and lack of agenda, and knew from years of working with him that he had something on his mind. It was a tactic that worked like a charm with juries, and Chad, too, had mastered the technique—biding his time before making his move. The only unknown factor was when Justin would strike. Chad didn’t have to wait long.

Justin crossed his arms and pursed his lips as though preparing for his closing argument.

“I have a few concerns I want to discuss with you.”

“I figured as much.”

The two men looked at each other with quiet amusement.

“You know I think of you as a son, Rush,” Justin began, using the name he’d tagged him with since Chad’s early days at the firm. “You’re one of the sharpest attorneys I’ve come across in years. I can easily see you winding up in a political office, maybe in the House or on the federal bench.”

“Thank you, Justin. You know your opinion means a great deal to me.”

“However…”

“I knew there was a ‘however’ in there somewhere.”

Justin took a seat opposite Chad, crossed his right ankle over his left knee and eased back. “And I’m sure you know that even though I will support you in this endeavor, I have some serious concerns on how this will impact on my family. Simone has always been the more levelheaded, thoughtful one of my children. But she can be willful and stubborn once she sets her mind to something. This run for the Assembly seat is a major step in her political career. And with the Republicans running the show and backing the police, what you propose could severely damage whatever chance she may have. These are very powerful people you’ll be battling, and the word defeat is not in their vocabulary. They’ll do whatever is necessary to protect the status quo. Don’t expect them to just roll over.”

“So what are you saying?”

Justin held up his hand. “Hold on. Sam, on the other hand, will run out into the fray with guns blazing. She’s hot-tempered and doesn’t care who knows it. Many times she thinks with that big heart of hers and not her head. Did she mention to you the death threats she’s been receiving?”

Chad’s eyes widened in alarm. “N-no. She hasn’t.”

Justin nodded. “I didn’t think she would. She believes she can handle everything. This is not the kind of think you ignore.”

Chad leaned forward. “How did you find out?”

“Purely by accident. I was in her office one day when the mail arrived. I saw her face when she opened one of the letters. I made her show it to me. That’s when she admitted it wasn’t the first one.”

“Has anything been done?”

“All the usual precautions. But it’s pretty hard to get police protection when they’re the very ones you’re going after. They won’t do anything until after the fact.”

“Damn!”

“I hired a private bodyguard. But Sam cussed him out his first day on the job, and pretty much made his life hell. He lasted about a week.”

Chad tried not to smile, but he could just imagine Sam working the poor guy over. But he quickly became somber when he reflected on the dark implications of all that Justin discussed. Death threats were serious business.

“What do you want me to do, Justin? Forget this whole thing?”

“No. Not at all. What I do want is to keep my daughters as far out of the picture as possible. I want them out of harm’s way. I know that’s not going to be easy, given their ethics and personalities.” He took a deep breath. “But I don’t want them hurt by this in any way. I don’t want to see anything happen to them.”

“I understand, Justin. But the reality is, Sam and Simone are grown women. If I told them tomorrow that I’d changed my mind, that the whole idea was crazy, they’d take it upon themselves to keep moving forward. You know how they are.”

“Exactly. That’s why I want you to work closely with me. Involve them as little as possible. Stall them with the big stuff. Keep them in the background.”

Chad’s brows rose with doubt. “That’s not going to be easy.”

“None of this is,” Justin said. “And it’s only the beginning.”