Night of Seduction (29 page)

“Stop it! Both
of you! Stop it!
”
Miriam yelled to no avail.
“
Two grown ass men rolling around in the dirt like
children.
”
Miriam mumbled as she stomped to the
side of the house, pulled out the water hose, and turned it on them
full blast. It took her a moment to get the pressure high enough to
get their attention. But when she did, she pointed the hose
directly into Eric
’
s face. When the
struggle between the two stopped she yelled at her son.
“
Apparently you need to be cooled off!
”
She said
as she lowered the hose.

Ty began to laugh. It had been many years
since Miriam had had to pull them apart with the water hose. On the
other hand, Eric did not find anything amusing about the situation
and stood up just as angry as he was before. When Ty realized this,
he stood and approached Eric, who roughly pushed him away.

Holding his
hands up in a surrender posture, Ty spoke.
“
Man, I know how
angry you are. But if we handle this right, we can get Latoya out
of our lives for good.
”

“At
Siri
’
s expense. What is that? She did
nothing
—
nothing but made love to me. And this is how she
is rewarded. No, I don
’
t think
so.
”

“Eric,
”
Ty calmly approached him.
“
Have I ever steered you wrong?
”
The look on
Eric
’
s face made him smile.
“
Okay, that one time,
but
—
have I ever not had your back?
”
Eric
didn
’
t reply, but he knew Ty was always there for him and
Jason.
“
Man, this is a way to get Latoya out of
Jason
’
s life, your life, and my life.
”
He
stepped closer.
“
I just need you to
listen and follow my instructions and I promise
you
—
I promise you man,
”
he placed his hand
on his chest,
“
I will protect Siri
with my life.
”

Eric paced
around in a circle in the yard
—
furious. He wanted to
hit something, anything to release the anger. Wet from head to toe,
he simply sat on the ground. Ty joined him, as did Miriam.
“
I know what I
’
m about to propose
might seem a little risky to Siri, but it
’
s a chance we
have to take so this family can live without a person trying to
destroy them for money.
”

Miriam sat on
the ground beside Eric. The world known jazz singer whose home was
in Paris was visiting her sons when she discovered they had both
recently met the loves of their lives. Nothing could please her
more, then to have both of her sons married and happy. It seemed
her oldest son Jason, had won his battle for love and was about to
marry TeKaya Kendrick, a beautiful, young photographer from
Virginia. However, her son Eric was not as successful with
TeKaya
’
s older sister, who seemed to have captured his
heart. Whatever was happening was hurting her son deeply and
whoever was responsible would pay dearly
—
she would make
sure of that.
“
Eric, whatever we
have to do, we will make this right.
”

Eric shook his
head.
“
If this gets out, she won
’
t survive the
humiliation, Mother. Her reason for not giving into her feelings is
because of the media surrounding me. There is no making it right.
Her privacy is going to be violated and she will relive the
nightmare of her divorce
—
all because of
me.
”
He stood up, held out his hand to help his mother up,
and then reached out for Ty. Just as he stood, Eric kicked
Ty
’
s legs out from under him, which sent him back to the
muddy ground. Eric stood over him with his arms folded across his
chest.
“
Did you look at it?
”

Ty, now quite
pissed, looked up at Eric.
“
No.
”

“If you
didn
’
t look at it, how in the hell did you know what was on
it?
”

“Look,
I
’
m not fighting with you anymore. Hell,
I
’
m giving you a go on this.
”

“Don
’
t curse in my
presence,
”
Miriam scolded.

“I
’
m sorry
Mother
”
Ty said, then looked back at Eric.
“
I allowed you to do what you just did because I understand
why you are upset. But don
’
t let that go to your
head. The next time you swing at me, it
’
s going to be
on.
”

A few moments
passed, before Eric extended his hand again. Ty gave him a look of
warning, then took his hand. Once he was standing they both wiped
down their clothes.
“
Let
’
s go set this trap to
get rid of this woman once and for all,
”
Ty said as they
all walked back into the house.

Eric and
Latoya

T
he reality of the day
began to take a toll on Eric. Friday, he was on top of the world
and just as quickly, that world came crushing down. Nothing, not
his family, his niece nor his music ever put him on a high the way
Siri did; more so Friday night than the other times they were
together. There was something about that night that took his
feelings for her to an entirely different level. And now, the one
thing she feared most was materializing and it would be his fault.
There was a soft knock on the door as he sat in his solarium. This
was the place where he went to think or work out problems.
“
Yes,
”
he replied to the knock.

Kerri Kendrick,
Siri
’
and TeKaya
’
s mother slowly
opened the door, then looked around. Eric was sitting on the
loveseat of a beautifully crafted wicker furniture set, surrounded
by plants of all kinds and a beautiful pond.
“
May I come
in Eric?
”

Smiling at the
woman who gave birth to Siri, he nodded his head.
“
Of course you may.
”

“Oh
my,
”
she exclaimed as she ventured further into the
room.
“
This is lovely. How many different plants do you
have in here?
”

Eric looked
around the room he sometimes took for granted.
“
At least
fifty. Half of them are from different places around the world.
Something about their beauty captures me and I end up bringing them
home,
”
he smiled.

“You like
beautiful things.
”
It was a statement more than a
question.

He softly
raised his eyebrow and smiled.
“
I
do.
”

She walked
over, stood in front of him, and asked,
“
Is it my
Siri
’
s physical beauty or inner beauty that has you in a
freefall?
”

For a moment,
he did not reply. Then he pointed to the single chair in front of
him indicating she should take a seat, then sat forward as if he
was about to reveal a deep secret.
“
Both,
”
he replied with a knowing
smile.
“
I
’
m in love with your
daughter.
”

“I
know,
”
she smiled warmly.
“
And she is in love
with you, but she doesn
’
t know it
yet.
”
Taking his hands in hers, she looked into his eyes. It
was so understandable how her daughter could fall in love with this
quiet, sensual man.
“
The Siri we have with
us now is very different from the Siri of
before.
”
She shook her head back and forth searching for
the right words.
“
The love of another
man took her from us. I
’
m hoping your love
will bring her back.
”

How was he
going to tell this woman, who was looking at him with so much hope
and trust, that he might be the cause of more devastating hurt to
her daughter? How was he supposed to protect her from her biggest
fear when just being around him could be harmful? The more he
thought about why Siri left this morning, the more he understood.
The first time they were to step out as a couple, frenzy would
begin with the media. They would want to know all about the woman
who had captured the heart of the elusive Silk Davies. The way they
were known to dig. He was certain that the incident in Richmond
would come out, and so was Siri. That
’
s why she walked
away. But it may have been too late.
“
I
’
m afraid I
will be the cause of more humiliation for her.
”

“Because you
made love to my daughter and someone is greedy enough to try to
exploit that moment. No, I think the responsibility for that
humiliation belongs in the hands of the person destroying something
so beautiful and private for personal gain. You
shouldn
’
t carry that guilt.
”
She sat back.
“
However, Siri is not going to see it that way. The first
thing she will think about is losing her teaching position. What
she hasn
’
t realized yet, is that she has outgrown that
phase of her life. She
’
s trying to recapture
the past, and frankly, it can
’
t be done. But she
has to come to that realization on her own. Now as for you, here is
my advice. Don
’
t run away. Give her
room to grow and find out what she wants for herself. Once she
figures that out, she will be knocking at your door. Whatever you
do, don
’
t give up on her.
”

His heart
stopped racing, his mind cleared and the anger of before
dissipated.
“
You are an amazing
woman. Here I thought my mother was the only one that could ease my
fears.
”
He smiled.
“
I want you to know, I
will protect Siri no matter what it costs. I will not allow this to
be used against her in any way.
”
He stood and so did
she.
“
I have to speak with Ty. Would you like to come along
and see a grown man grovel?
”

♫

Pay day, what a
sweet, sweet moment, was all Latoya could think about since eight
this morning. She was now free of the brat and was 1.5 million
dollars richer. Signing the papers giving custody of Sierra to
Jason, was the cake, but what she had in store for Eric was the
icing. The agreement was simple. She was to sign over custody,
receive a cashier
’
s check and the deed
to the house once Jason had an opportunity to move his things. The
packers were scheduled to be there by five that evening to begin
the process. A week from Monday, the entire situation would be
over. Jason certainly did not waste any time closing her out of his
life. Latoya thought as she held the check in her hand. Four years
of her life, giving birth to his child and living with him, and it
only took him twenty-four hours to end it.

Well,
unfortunately, for the Davies, she wasn
’
t through with
them yet. Now, Eric would have to get down on his knees and
apologize to her for the humiliation of turning her down. She
looked at her reflection in the mirror,
“
That
’
s
right
—
no one turns me down without living to regret
it.
”
Even with the bruise on her face, courtesy of TeKaya,
Jason
’
s new girl, she still looked good and was 1.5 million
dollars richer.

It
wasn
’
t enough. Eric would also have to pay, and double the
amount she had received from Jason, to keep her from exposing the
little love video. She picked up her cell phone and dialed Roy, the
investigator. But his voicemail picked up. She left him a
message.
“
Roy this is Latoya Wright. I want to complete
that transaction today. Return this call within the hour or the
deal is off.
”
She hung up the telephone.
“
That should get him moving.
”