Betrayal (29 page)

Tamia sat forward slowly, her eyes narrowed on Honey's face. “So you sold me out.”

The girl swallowed hard, then nodded. “For my next date with the bishop, I brought one of your
Slave Chronicles
videos for us to watch together. After we fucked to it, I told him that I knew who Mystique was and I could arrange a threesome with her. He got all excited, but I told him he had to pay to play. Since Lou was the one who'd given me your identity, I thought it was only fair to cut him into the deal as well. Bishop Yarbrough agreed to pay whatever I asked. Once I told him who you really were . . . it was like he'd hit the mega jackpot.”

Tamia felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want to hear any more, but she had to know how this betrayal had unfolded—from beginning to end.

“Dominic and his wife had visited Redeemed Life a few times,” Honey explained, “which is how he and Bishop Yarbrough met. They did some investment deals together, and apparently the bishop found out that Dominic had embezzled a ton of money several years ago. Once the bishop decided on a plan, he went to Dominic and basically made him an offer he couldn't refuse. If Dominic didn't agree to it, the bishop was gonna turn him in to the feds.”

Stunned, Tamia stared at Honey, trying to process what she'd just heard. Dominic had been blackmailed into blackmailing
her
?

Honey smiled ironically, interpreting her thoughts. “Did you honestly think a man like Dominic Archer would have to force any woman to have sex with him? Hell, no. The bishop has dirt on a lot of people, but he chose Dominic because he knew you wouldn't be able to resist him.”

Tamia's face heated with shame as Honey continued, “Dominic resented the hell out of being blackmailed, especially over something he considered so trivial. He thought Cynthia was desperate and pathetic, and he thought Bishop Yarbrough was crazy for going to such lengths just to get a man for her.”

Tamia frowned, remembering the comment Dominic had once made to Brandon.
You got some interesting taste in women
. Now it made sense.

“Sometimes Bishop Yarbrough worried that Dominic might renege on the deal,” Honey said. “But he kept his mouth shut, even during your trial when Brandon put him on the stand and interrogated the hell out of him.”

This didn't surprise Tamia. She'd long ago realized that in some twisted way, Dominic enjoyed being punished by Brandon almost as much as he enjoyed making Brandon suffer.

“All of them were hoping that you'd be found guilty of Isabel's murder,” Honey grimly continued. “When Brandon got you off, I thought the bishop was gonna kill somebody. And Cynthia was absolutely devastated. She was worried that you and Brandon would get back together. That's when her father decided that I needed to keep a close eye on you so I could report back on everything you and Brandon were doing. It was his idea for me to become your friend.”

Tamia shook her head in disbelief. “So it was all a setup. The night you came to my apartment after you'd supposedly gotten into a fight with your boyfriend, it was just a fucking ploy to get you in the door.”

Honey nodded slowly. “I had followed your trial. You testified about your childhood, how your mother was abused by your stepfather—”

“So you knew that was my soft spot,” Tamia said bitterly. “You knew I'd be sympathetic toward you.”

Again, Honey nodded.

“Who really gave you that black eye?”

The girl bit her lip, glancing at Lou.

Tamia eyed him incredulously. “
You
hit her?”

He looked shamefaced. “It was her idea,” he mumbled.

“Dear God,” Tamia whispered, shaking her head at him. “How
could
you, Lou? How could you have agreed to any of this?” She pointed at Honey. “
That
bitch didn't know me, but
you
were supposed to be my friend! You didn't have to be a part of this. You could have told her you weren't interested! My God, Lou, I still remember the night you came to tell me that Dominic had supposedly showed up at the studio asking questions about Mystique. You acted all concerned for me, promising to get to the bottom of who'd outed me. But you knew all along because
you're
the one who sold me out!”

“What else was I supposed to do?” he burst out defensively. “The studio was losing money! I was facing bankruptcy!
You'd
moved on with your life a long time ago, Tamia. You didn't care about me or the studio when you decided to walk away. You did what was best for
you
, and I had to do what was best for
me!
”

“Really?” Tamia jeered, gesturing around the garishly furnished house. “Well, I hope it was worth it!”

He clenched his jaw, dropping his guilty gaze to the floor.

Tamia sneered at Honey. “By the way, you seem to be
awfully
familiar with the inner workings of Dominic's mind. Did Bishop Yarbrough tell you how Dominic was feeling about all this? Or did he tell you himself during pillow talk?”

Honey's face reddened as Lou shot her a stunned look. “
Puñeta coño!
You were
fucking
that asshole?”

“Oops.” Tamia smirked. “Didn't mean to let the cat out of the bag. Speaking of cats, nice panties, bitch. Did you mean to leave them behind at Dominic's crib so I'd find them? When you called me that morning when he and I were driving back to Houston, did you already know I'd be stupid enough to go home with him?”

Honey shook her head quickly. “No, I didn't.”

“
Liar!
”

“I'm not lying, Tamia! I didn't even know you and Dominic had spent the weekend together because I hadn't spoken to him in weeks! The last time I'd seen him was the night he showed up at your apartment and—”

Tamia gasped. “
You're
the one who let him up, aren't you? You left for a date, and the next thing I knew, he was standing on my doorstep. He wasn't let up by some woman who lives on the same floor as me!”

“No, he wasn't,” Honey confirmed, looking guiltier by the moment. “He paid the front desk clerk to tell you that story. It ended up costing the guy his job—in case you were wondering where he's been. Anyway, I don't even know why Dominic was there that night. Once you went to prison, he told Bishop Yarbrough he was done with the whole scheme. He'd kept his end of the bargain and wanted nothing more to do with any of us.”

Tamia sneered. “Yet he kept fucking you. No wonder you told me you didn't blame me for sleeping with him. As you rightly said, the brotha can lay some pipe!”

Honey shot a remorseful glance at Lou, who looked hurt and disgusted. “Like I said, I hadn't spoken to Dominic in weeks. The day after you and I went shopping together, I went to his apartment to see him—”

“Feenin' for the dick, huh?” Tamia taunted.

Honey blushed, biting her lip. “I didn't leave my panties there on purpose. After we . . . were done, he kinda hustled me out the door, didn't really give me a chance to get all my shit together.”

“Made you feel cheap and used, didn't it?” Tamia smirked, relishing the girl's humiliation. “That's what men like Dominic do. They use you, then they toss your ass out when you've served your purpose or they've grown bored with you. Guess being the bottom bitch ain't all it's cracked up to be, is it?”

Honey sniffled, scraping tears from her eyes with the heel of her palm. “I know you don't wanna hear this, Tamia, but I've always admired you. I can't tell you how many times I watched your Mystique videos and took notes. You were a badass bitch, the best in the business as far as I'm concerned. And I respected the way you did your thing and made your paper, then got out the game after you earned your college degree. Honestly, I jumped at the chance to live with you because I really liked you and I
wanted
to get closer to you. I didn't have to pretend to be your friend. I
am
your friend.”

“Some friend,” Tamia spat bitterly. “With friends like you and Lou, who the fuck needs enemies?”

Tears leaked from Honey's eyes. “Tamia—”

“This is CRAZY!” she exploded, slapping her palm against the armrest. “I'm running out of muthafuckas to trust!”

Lou swore under his breath in Spanish, his voice hoarse with shame and regret. “I'm sorry,
mamacita
. I'm so—”

“
Save your fucking sorry!
” Tamia screamed, jumping to her feet. She snatched up her baseball bat, then spun on her heel and marched toward the front door.

Lou caught up to her, grabbing her arm to detain her.

She whirled around, shoving at his chest hard enough to knock him backward.

“I love you, Tamia,” he fervently declared. “If I could go back and make a different choice, I would in a heartbeat!”

Tamia sneered contemptuously. “When Dominic showed up at my office and called me Mystique, I didn't know who could have sold me out. My first instinct was to question everyone—including you. I should have trusted that instinct. Lesson learned.”

Lou flinched, pain darkening his eyes.

Without sparing Honey another glance, Tamia turned and strode out the front door.

 

Instead of returning to Dominic's penthouse, she drove straight home, seething with pain and fury.

When she arrived at her building, she relinquished her Porsche to the valet, wisely taking advantage of the complimentary service so she wouldn't have to go anywhere near the parking garage.

After letting herself into her apartment, she tossed down her keys and crossed to the windows, fuming as she glared out at the downtown skyline that would be ablaze with fireworks at the stroke of midnight.

Honey and Joseph Yarbrough had ruthlessly conspired against her, setting her up for a fall she'd never seen coming. Since they'd thought nothing of destroying
her
life, she'd gladly return the favor.

Pulling out her phone, Tamia scrolled through her contacts until she found the number she was looking for.

Ten minutes later she'd placed her phone call, setting the avalanche in motion.

Staring out the windows, she smiled narrowly.

Everyone was already gathered in the sun-drenched solarium when Brandon arrived at his parents' house for the family's traditional New Year's Day breakfast. They sat around a long table adorned with fresh-cut flowers from the garden, fragrant platters of food stretching from one end to the other. Laughter and conversation flowed over the pleasant tinkle of crystal and silverware.

It was all so perfect and idyllic. Like a picture out of one of those home-decorating magazines.

This year's familial gathering included Joseph and Coretta Yarbrough and their four sons. Cynthia was conspicuously absent.

As Brandon entered the solarium, his mother beamed at him from her throne at the head of the table. “Hello, darling! We didn't expect to see you or Cynthia this morning. She called and said you two wouldn't be able to make it to church or breakfast because you'd had a late night ringing in the New Year.”

“Did she, now?” Brandon drawled, stopping beside his mother's chair to survey the feast on the table. “Did she also tell you that we rang in the New Year separately?”

Gwen's smile faded as the others exchanged speculative glances. “No, she didn't tell me that.”

Brandon smirked. “Then I guess she also didn't tell you that I broke off our engagement yesterday.”

This drew exclamations of angry protest from his parents and Cynthia's family.

“Why on earth did you do that?” Gwen demanded.

“It's kind of a blur now,” Brandon mused, thoughtfully stroking his goatee, “but it might have had something to do with me finding out that she's been faking her pregnancy for the past month.”

Shocked gasps went around the table, his mother's being the loudest and most scandalized. One look at Coretta Yarbrough's flushed face told Brandon that his bombshell announcement wasn't news to her.

“Coretta,” Gwen coolly inquired, biting off each syllable, “what is the meaning of this?”

Coretta nervously picked up her glass and gulped down her mimosa as her husband gaped incredulously at her.

Beau and Brooke bowed their heads, their shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

Their father looked outraged.

Cynthia's brothers looked like they wanted to be raptured away.

“Call me old-fashioned,” Brandon continued sardonically, “but if I'm gonna be forced into a marriage of convenience, I expect to get a real baby out of the deal.” He sighed, shaking his head as he snagged a powdered beignet from a silver tray on the table. “Anyway, I'm afraid I can't stay for breakfast. But Mrs. Jessup, God bless her, is fixing me a plate to go. So you folks enjoy the rest of your meal.”

He moved to leave, then snapped his fingers and turned back. “Oh, yeah, that's the other thing,” he said, addressing Bishop Yarbrough. “I was listening to the radio on my way over here, and they were talking about you. Apparently some story just broke about you paying escorts for sex?”

As a shocked silence swept over the room, the bishop looked like he was about to have a stroke.

Bernard glared furiously at his campaign surrogate, a vein throbbing at his temple.

Coretta burst into tears, sprang from her chair, and fled the room.

Darting a shamefaced glance around the table, Joseph got up and hurried after his distraught wife. Their sons weren't far behind.

In the deafening silence that followed the Yarbroughs' departure, Brandon kissed his mother's forehead, smiled into her eyes, and drawled, “Guess we really dodged a bullet, huh?”

As her mouth flapped open and closed, Brandon bit into the warm beignet and hummed appreciatively, then glanced around the table at his family.

“Happy New Year, everyone.” He winked, then turned and sauntered out as Beau and Brooke erupted into laughter.

 

Later that evening, Brandon sat alone in the shadowy darkness of his living room. He was nursing a glass of scotch as he broodingly contemplated a DVD in his hand. He read the title scrawled in marker across the plastic cover.
Mystique Slave Chronicles: Pussy Sublime, Volume One.

He remembered the first time he'd ever laid eyes on the DVD at Dre's apartment. He'd casually pulled it out of a moving box, never suspecting that the video held a secret that would turn his whole world upside down.

Brandon stared at the disc, tapping it slowly against his thigh.

Then he glanced up at the television—a huge high-def flat-panel TV he'd bought to replace the one he'd destroyed during an argument with Cynthia.

Brandon tossed back the rest of his scotch, then set the glass down on the table.

Chest burning, heart pounding, he opened the plastic case and removed the disc, then got up and slowly made his way over to the DVD player....