Love, Honor, and Betray, Roby, Lawson [i have read the book a hundred times .txt] 📗

“She kept trying to come on to me.”

“Really? That’s interesting.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because when she suddenly got the hots for me and started claimin’ she had all these feelin’s, that’s when I got suspicious.That’s when my money came up missin’.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, man, so if I were you I’d call in a few CPAs.”

“D.C., I’m already ahead of you.”

*  *  *

When Charlotte’s phone rang, she jumped. It was Curtis calling, and since she’d already spoken to him twice today, she knewhe could only be dialing her back for one reason. Sybil had blabbed to him. She heard two more rings and finally pressed theSend button.

“Hey,” she said, waiting with bated breath.

“Okay, you’ll never believe this, but the Raven saga continues.”

Charlotte’s body cooled down almost instantly, and her muscles seemed less tense. “Now what?”

“She stole money from D.C., but she called me this afternoon, saying she’d borrowed it from him.”

“D.C., Levi’s friend?”

“That’s the one.”

“Wow, how did she get caught up with him?”

“She claims it’s because of gambling, but who knows? Anyway, I’m not taking any chances, so I’ve asked Elder Jamison to hirea couple of auditors to go over our books.”

“That’s a good idea, but I sure hope she didn’t take anything.”

“Well, if she did, you know I don’t take kindly to thieves or to people who betray me.”

Charlotte’s muscles tensed up again. How am I ever going to tell him what I did?

“This is too much,” she said.

“Yeah, but we’ll see how it turns out and go from there. Oh, and before I forget, Matthew called me earlier to say he wasgoing over to Elijah’s after school.”

“Did he say how long he’d be there?”

“No, but you know it will be a while. So, maybe I’ll start heading home in about an hour and will pick up Curtina a littlelater. I think Aunt Emma was taking her over to Anise’s for dinner, anyway.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you soon.”

Gosh, things had really changed. Normally, Matthew always called her when he was planning to visit his friends or go elsewhereafter school—but not anymore, she guessed. She couldn’t think about that now, though, because she had to calm her nerves,practice her words, and create the saddest possible facial expression. She needed to make Curtis feel sorry for her and likehe could never live without her. She had to become a wounded duck, so to speak, so he would pardon her without punishment.She had to hone her acting skills before he got there.

Chapter 42

It had been two hours since Curtis had called Charlotte about that lunatic Raven, and she couldn’t wait for him to get there.She’d been a nervous wreck all day but was finally ready to confess about Michael Porter. She was still slightly apprehen­sive,but in the end she knew Janine had been right and that Curtis had to be told about this. Charlotte had to tell him first,before that miserable Sybil did it for her. It was always better to own up to terrible deeds, anyway, rather than to be caughtundercover, so she was glad this was almost over.

Finally, she heard the garage door opening and waited by the island. Thankfully, Matthew still wasn’t home yet, because thisway she could talk to Curtis calmly and privately. Things would be pretty tough right after she disclosed her secret, butshe was confi­dent they could and would get past it. She had to believe Curtis’s love for her outweighed the colossal mistakeshe’d made.

Curtis walked in, looking as though he was ready to kill someone and slammed his keys onto the counter. Charlotte steppedbackward.

“So, when were you going to tell me?” he shouted.

Charlotte swallowed hard and knew Sybil had already gotten to him.

“I’m going to ask you again. When were you going to tell me?”

Charlotte covered her mouth. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it,” she said, moving toward him.

“No! Don’t touch me.”

“Please, baby. Let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you’re the biggest whore of the century?”

Charlotte locked her fingers in a praying position. “Curtis, please, please, please. Please listen to me. This whole ordealwith Tabitha and Curtina had me all messed up, and I just wasn’t thinking clearly. I was completely out of my head.”

Curtis jerked his tie loose and undid the top button of his shirt. “I just don’t understand you. I mean, is it that hard foryou to keep your legs closed? Is it that hard to sleep with just one man?”

“No, and I didn’t plan any of this. I was hurt, then one day I was on Facebook, and the next thing I knew I was contactingMichael. After that, one thing led to another and before I realized it, I’d let him talk me into flying down to Florida forthe weekend. But I never meant for things to go that far, and I ended it right away. I told him last week I couldn’t see himanymore, and I haven’t.”

Curtis looked puzzled. “Michael? Who’s Michael?”

Oh God, please don’t let this be happening.

“Who’s Michael, Charlotte?”

She tried answering him, but she couldn’t speak.

“So, what are you saying? You’ve been sleeping with two different men at the same time? Because I’m talking about this guy named Tom.” Curtis pulled out his cell phone, presseda few buttons, and shoved it into her hand. “I’m talking about the man who sent me five different naked photos of you andthen called me to gloat about it.”

Charlotte slowly dropped down into the chair, and tears slid down her face. She was speechless and knew there was no sensetrying to defend herself.

“Why don’t you take a look,” he yelled. “Take a look at all of them. The three with just you lying across the bed asleep andlooking like some filthy prostitute and then the other two with both of you.”

“He’s been blackmailing me,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m sure he has, but did he make you go to that club, get drunk, and then drive to some cheap motel with him?”

“I told you, I was confused. I was still hurt over all those years you slept with Tabitha. I was hurt over