Inner Circle (17 page)

“Why does Drew-Drew get to stay up until nine? It’s not fair,” Dominic whined. “Dominic, when you turn seven, I’ll move your bed time up to nine as well, but as long as you’re five, you’ll go to bed at eight o’clock just like Drew did when he was your age.”

“I want to go bed at ten hundred o’clock,” Donatello protested.

“Wow, that’s really late!” Callie laughed as she made her way to the door of their bedroom. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Mom!” they said in unison.

Callie closed the door, then walked across the hallway to her oldest son’s room. Peeking her head in, she watched for a moment as Drew Jr. played soccer on his Xbox. Although he had his father’s name, he looked more like her.

“Twenty more minutes on the game, then wash up for bed, okay?”

“But, Mom, I still have a whole hour before it’s time for me to go to sleep.”

“I realize that. Yet didn’t we just discuss appropriate bedtime behaviors?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know . . . do something constructive like read a book before bed. But, Mom,
Oliver Twist
is so boring!” he complained.

“It’s a classic! Now,
haga como su dicho,
” Callie instructed.

“Sí, Mamá.”

Callie blew him a kiss, then closed the door to his room. She stood in the hallway for a moment contemplating her next move. The cherry hardwood floor was cold to her freshly French manicured feet. Her heart pounded as she neared the door to her private meditation room. The last forty-eight hours had been a blur as she struggled with the decision she’d made.

She went inside the room making sure to lock the door behind her. An array of torn and scattered pictures of Carmen Garza covered the light lilac plush carpeted floor—a reminder of the fit of rage she was in just days before. Her stomach soured as she could still see the images of Carmen’s and Drew’s naked bodies entangled in passion in those hateful pictures. Hot tears showered her face as she thought about all the years she’d put into her marriage only for Drew to continue to take advantage of her in this way. Three kids, two teams, and four moves later, she still couldn’t believe he had the audacity to cheat on her. She knew it wasn’t about her looks, because just like most of the women he cheated
with, Callie was a former beauty queen whose parents had pretty much promised her to Drew’s family upon conception and the realization that they were, in fact, having a girl. Although arranged marriages weren’t exactly common in Brazil, there was often an understood oath among families of status that if the gender and ages allowed, the families would try to make it happen. Callie and Drew were no exception.

She placed her hands on her belly and took a deep breath. Her eyes glanced toward the positive pregnancy test that lay tossed in the corner near her prayer chair. Although she tried to pray her negative, vengeful thoughts away, she knew that with her heart being broken like it was, her words were falling on deaf ears where God was concerned. Repentance would have to be her saving grace because her actions were about to be catastrophic.

She picked up the pregnancy test and placed her free hand over her mouth.

She remembered staring at it and the pictures of Carmen and Drew for hours before her emotions finally took over. Regardless of Eve’s discovery of a loophole in her prenup with Drew, she knew that in order for him to change and stop cheating on her, she’d need to do something drastic, something she knew would definitely hurt him as much as he’d hurt her.

“My God, what have I done?” she whispered, burying her face in her hands. As her body slid to the floor, the guilt of her actions enveloped her. She couldn’t believe she’d allowed things to go that far. The memory of what she’d done haunted her, even though she tried desperately to go on as if nothing had happened.

As she pulled herself off the floor and made her way to the door, she realized that even though only she and God knew what had actually transpired, eventually the truth would come out. She took another deep breath, then placed the pictures of Carmen and Drew, along with the pregnancy test, in the nearby desk drawer. Although she wasn’t a fan of secrets, she knew that until she could sort through the details of just how she was going to tell Drew about her vengeful actions, this would be one secret that would definitely be well kept.

14

Eve
and Chase worked their way around the room, talking and laughing with some of basketball’s elite. Even though they hadn’t been at the party long, Eve knew Chase had practice early the next morning due to playoffs, so their time at the party would definitely be limited.

Her eyes circled the room as she noticed all of the women from the association having a good time with their husbands. She smiled as she thought about the work the ladies had put into getting the association off the ground. Although it took effort for the women to relinquish control of things, such as bank statements, their husband’s schedules, known mistresses, their own personal indiscretions, past affairs, private savings and stashes, and so on, once they saw how the information would work to their benefit, they were better able to trust Eve in supplying them with the proper insurance they’d need should their marriages fail.

She had her legal team of advisors combing through everyone’s prenup looking for anything that could protect them in the event of a problem. She felt good about her progress and felt the bond between all of the ladies growing stronger and stronger with each passing
week. They’d even started having weekly meetings just to check in and update each other on their goings-on. And for the first time in her life, Eve actually felt secure in her female friendships.

Even Jai, who had been the most resistant to the requests of the group, started coming around. Jai was adamant about her marriage being one of sincere trust and genuine love, and she didn’t agree that the women needed to plot and plan ways for them to come out financially ahead in case of divorce. Eve reminded Jai that her confidence came from the security of knowing that she had initiated her own prenup, especially since the bulk of her and her husband Tony’s wealth rested in her hands. Eve also convinced Jai that although her marriage seemed picture-perfect, The Wives Association was not just about plotting and protecting, but that it was also about sisterhood and support. And since Jai was an expert entrepreneur and was in the strongest position to support the association financially, she could really help the ladies perfect their investments by teaching them how to become financially independent, ensuring them the same level of confidence she had.

“Hey, now, there’s the birthday boy,” Jai said as Sean finally made his way to where the couples were.

“It’s about damn time,” Jackie joined in, taking a swig of her beer. “How in the hell are you going to show up to your own damn party an hour late? Where have you been?” she joked.

Eve smiled, placing her hand on Jackie’s shoulder before removing the beer from her grasp.

“I know you didn’t just take my goddamn beer away,” Jackie snapped.

Eve ignored her question and shifted her attention to Sean. “Happy birthday, Sean! How does it feel to be the big 3-0?”

“To be honest, it feels pretty good. What’s weird is being thought of as a vet now in the league.”

“Well, no matter how grown you get, you’ll always be my baby,” Tami doted while kissing Sean on the cheek.

“Thanks, Ma,” he replied with a smile. “Y’all having a good time?”

The group all chimed in with praises for the exceptional food and décor.

“I can’t take any credit for this. All this is compliments of my lovely wife, Amber.”

“Well, Amber, you did a great job. The place looks great,” Ray said, taking a handful of rosemary chicken wings from a passing server.

Sean slipped his arm around Amber’s waist and kissed her on the cheek. “That’s my girl,” he said, smiling before kissing her again.

Eve made note of the time and wondered where Callie and Drew were. All the other couples had long since arrived, and Eve was beginning to wonder about her friend. As the couples continued in their small talk, Eve excused herself for a moment to check around the house with hopes that she’d just missed Callie and Drew in the crowd. When she didn’t see them, she returned to where Chase was standing.

“You okay, babe?” Chase asked, noticing the look of concern on Eve’s face.

“Yeah, just wondering where Callie and Drew are is all.”

“Who knows. Maybe one of the kids got sick. I mean, with three kids, they definitely have their hands full,” Chase offered as an excuse.

Eve nodded her head. Chase had a point. She was so busy thinking about the incident with Carmen that she hadn’t even thought about Callie’s children.

“Fellas, join me for a drink, would you?” Sean insisted as he led a group of men to his man cave.

“You mind?” Chase whispered to Eve.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing. I know how you feel about Sean.”

“I ain’t trippin’. Besides, that was college. I’m not the kind of dude that holds a grudge. That’s some bitch shit. No offense.”

“So, you’re calling me a bitch?” Eve asked slyly.

“Babe, no, I—” Chase tried to explain.

“I’m kidding, Chase. I know what you meant. I’m just glad you’re being such a good sport about this.”

“Hey, what a man won’t do for a game of pool and a sixty-dollar cigar.”

Eve kissed Chase on the cheek, then watched as he followed the other men down the hallway. She waited until they had disappeared before turning to the other ladies.

“Has anyone heard from Callie?” Eve asked.

They all shook their heads no.

“She’s probably somewhere trying to keep tabs on that cheating-ass husband of hers,” Jackie responded. “You know word on the street is that Drew was the one getting it in with ole’ girl!”

“Who?” Jai asked, puzzled by the accusation.

“That damned Tresses model that got attacked not long ago,” Jackie reminded the ladies. “You know I was the one who broke that story. Callie’s ass better be glad we’re cool and that she’s a part of this association or else I would have let that shit leak. Because that little tidbit of information would have taken my exclusive from good to fucking-award-winning.”

Eve gave Amber a hard look. She didn’t realize that Jackie had, in fact, broken the story on Carmen days ago, and now she wondered why Jackie didn’t confide what she knew about the situation to the association.

“You mean to tell me you knew about Drew and Carmen and didn’t tell us?”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Association or not, the story hadn’t broken, which means I couldn’t say anything to anyone. I can’t reveal my sources, and you know that.”

“That story ran almost a week ago. You could’ve told us about Drew so that we could’ve warned Callie.”

“Warn her? Callie fucking knew Drew was cheating on her. Hell, she told us that shit, remember?”

“You don’t think Callie had something to do with Carmen’s attack, do you?” Jai asked.

“That’s ridiculous. Callie wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Amber said.

“Shiiiiiiiit, it’s those quiet ones you gotta watch. Besides, as fine as Drew’s ass is, I’d fuck a bitch up too if I found out he was sleeping around with some random-ass hair model,” Jackie said.

“You see, this is exactly how rumors get started. Callie is one of us, so let’s not stir up any gossip about one of our own. It’s about facts and factors, ladies, and from where I’m standing, all of this chitchat is neither.”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I do know that when the bitch your man is fucking suddenly gets attacked and you don’t answer your phone for a week, the FACT of the matter is you look GUILTY as hell,” Jackie claimed.

Everyone except Eve laughed. She had noticed a familiar face walking through the door and wasn’t happy about it. Her disapproving expression must have been obvious as Eve noticed the other ladies looking in the same direction. She knew from the tears welling up in Amber’s eyes that she could now see what Eve had.

“Oh, no, the fuck she didn’t,” Jackie said, placing her newly copped beer down.

The ladies stood frozen as they watched Sa’Myra charge through the door like she owned the place.

“What is
she
doing here?” Jai asked, shocked that Sa’Myra had the audacity to show up at Amber and Sean’s house. “And how did she get through security? You
did
take her off your frequent visitors’ list, didn’t you?”

Eve watched as Amber’s face went from chocolate to ghostly white. “Amber, you did take her name off the list?”

Amber shook her head no.

“Fuck it, let’s go! I’ll beat this ballsy bitch’s ass for you,” Jackie said while taking a long, deep swig of her beer.

“You can’t fight her here,” Eve protested.

“The hell you say!”

“I can’t breathe,” Amber wheezed.

“You don’t need air in order to beat that ass. Besides, girl, I got you,” Jackie insisted.

“Amber, calm down. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation as to why she’s here.” Eve struggled to believe her own words.

“I swear, hoes be winning!” Jackie shouted loudly.