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

said. “It’s so good seeing you awake and doing so much better.”

“It really is, Curtis,” Phillip added. “God is so good.”

“That He is,” Curtis agreed.

“We were all praying for you, Dad,” Matthew said. “And I can’t wait for you to come home.”

“Neither can I, son. And where’s my little Curtina?”

“At Aunt Emma’s,” Matthew told him.

“Oh. I know she’s too young to come inside this part of the hospital, but you make sure you give her a kiss and a big hugfor me.”

“I will,” Matthew said. “I’ll go see her later on.”

Charlotte had wanted to say a few things to Curtis herself. She’d wanted to apologize, embrace him, and tell him she lovedhim. But she could already tell he didn’t want to hear it. She knew because he’d acknowl­edged and conversed with everyonein the room except her.

“Well, Daddy, you really do need to get your rest. So, Phillip and I are going to head back home to shower and change. We’llbe back by early evening, though, if not before.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” he said. “Ninety miles is a long way to travel back and forth when you’re doing it morethan once a day.”

“Now, you know that’s not a problem,” Phillip assured him.

“Daddy, please,” Alicia said, dismissing her father’s comment.

“Well, before you go, baby girl, I do want to talk to you about something.”

What he really meant, Charlotte thought, was that he wanted to speak to Alicia alone, and Charlotte wished she knew what about.Although, chances were he was going to tell her everything about Tom and Michael. He and Alicia had an exceptional father-daughterbond, so if Curtis was going to confide this kind of personal business to anyone, it would definitely be her. He was goingto bare every fiber of his being, and make Charlotte seem like the worst stepmother alive. He would say whatever he wanted,and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.

*  *  *

“Close the door,” Curtis said when Matthew, Phillip, and Charlotte had gone. “And look in my closet to see if my clothingis in there.”

Alicia did what he asked and pulled out a large white plastic bag and looked inside it. “Yeah, your suit and shirt are here,but they must have had to cut it off of you when they brought you in because everything is basi­cally in shreds.”

“Is my BlackBerry in there?”

Alicia searched around and found it. “Yep.”

“I know this is going to be a little awkward for you, but I need you to pull up five photos of Charlotte and then send themto both your phone and my e-mail address. That way, I’ll have copies saved in two other places.” Alicia looked at him strangely,and he wondered why. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, actually, Daddy, I already know about these. I mean, I didn’t know there were five of them, but I did see the one thatwas sent to Matthew.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No. And he was pretty upset, too. He also told me about his drive over to that motel in Wisconsin.”

Curtis closed his eyes, still not able to comprehend what that must have been like for Matthew, but tried to keep his mindon the matter at hand.

“Then, as soon as you leave here,” Curtis said, “I want you to call an attorney by the name of Richard Cacciatore. He’s locatedin downtown Chicago, and I just spoke to him not very long ago. Anyway, let him know that I’m in the hospital, and that Ineed him to draw up both a financial power of attorney document and a health-care one so that I can switch all power of attorneyrights over to you. You’ll then need to find a local notary who will come here to witness my signature. I also want to changemy will and make you executor, but we’ll worry about that later.”

“But why? Especially, since the doctor has pretty much said you’re going to be fine.”

“I need you to do this now, so that you’ll be able to move all my money over to brand-new accounts within the next day ortwo. Then, I want you to call Solomon Foley at State Farm to tell him that I need to change the beneficiary designations onall my life insurance policies.”

Alicia looked puzzled.

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry for having to involve you in all of this, but I really need you to do this for me.”

“So you’re not going to leave Charlotte anything?”

“Come on, now. Of course I am. She’s a tramp, but she is the mother of my son. I’ll leave her enough so she can continue livingthe exact same way she has been, and then she’ll get the rest of what she deserves in the divorce settlement.”

Alicia looked confused again. “Are you sure about this, Daddy? I mean, I’m angry with Charlotte, too, but do you really wantto divorce her?”

“I do. I won’t do it right away because of Matthew, but I am divorcing her.”

“Okay, then. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“I appreciate that,” he said, and then something dawned on him. Charlotte was money-hungry, money-minded, and as selfish asthey came, so knowing her, she might be thinking of doing the same thing. Cleaning out bank accounts and opening separateeverything. Which was the reason he had to stop her cold in her tracks—the reason he told Alicia to tell Charlotte he neededto see her. Now.

Chapter 47

You asked for me?” Charlotte said, hoping Curtis had decided to give their marriage another chance. Praying he was willingto overlook their dark past and ready to celebrate their upcoming future together.

“I did. Please shut the door.”

Charlotte closed it and walked over to the side of the bed. “I have so much to say to you,” she started. “So much to apologizefor. So much to make up for. But first we have to get you well again and then bring you home.”

“Are you finished?” he asked.

Charlotte didn’t like the tone of his voice or the detached look on his face. He glared at her like they were lifelong enemies,and she knew this wasn’t good.

“Well, are you?” he asked again.

“I guess,” she