Love, Honor, and Betray by Roby, Lawson (ebook reader ink txt) 📕

tell you what. I’m going to end this call with you and send you something. Then, I’ll call you back,” he said and hungup.

Charlotte waited for a couple of minutes and then heard a text message coming through. “Oh, God, no,” she said after openingit. The text contained a photo of her, lying naked across the bed at that motel she’d gone to with Tom. Her eyes were closed,so he must have taken it when she’d been asleep.

This couldn’t be. Not now. Not when all she’d done was sleep with this man one time.

Her phone rang again. This time when she pushed the button to answer it, she didn’t say anything.

“So as you can see,” Tom said, “I’m not playing with you.”

“What do you want from me?” she yelled.

“You. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“But I already told you the other day that I can’t do that.”

“You can, and you will.”

“Please. I’m begging you.”

“Was I that bad in bed?”

Charlotte pretended she didn’t hear him.

“Of course, I wasn’t,” he said. “Remember, you told me how great I was.”

Charlotte cringed, and a sharp pain shot through her heart. “I was drunk.”

“Drunk. Sober. Makes no difference. Not to me, anyway.”

“I can pay you,” she pleaded.

“And I already told you I don’t want that. This thing here is about so much more than a few dollars and cents.”

“But I’m not talking about that kind of money. I’m talking about a lot of it.”

“No. What I want is for you to meet me at our friendly little motel on Saturday.”

“That’s only two days away. And what am I supposed to tell my husband?”

“Tell him whatever you want. Just make sure you’re there at six o’clock.”

“That’s too late.”

“Well, we could meet earlier in broad daylight, if you prefer that.”

Charlotte felt like she was suffocating.

“Look, I’m not going to argue with you about this. Either meet me on Saturday or tell your husband to expect a copy of thatphoto I just sent you. I do have his cell phone number. Or have you forgotten that?”

Charlotte knew there was no way out of this and hung up the phone. She tried figuring other options, but in the end she knewshe had to do what this man demanded. She had no choice but to drive over to Chicago on Saturday to have sex with him, just one day before Valentine’s Day, and she could barely fathom the thought of it. Shecould hardly stand the idea of being forced to sleep with a total stranger and then betraying Curtis all over again. She hatedherself more than ever.

Chapter 32

Curtis strapped the seat belt across his body and backed out of Aunt Emma’s driveway. He’d just dropped the little one offfor the day and was still in awe of how well things were going between him and Charlotte. She even seemed a bit more tolerantof Curtina, strangely enough, and all he could hope was that it would continue. He prayed her tolerance would soon becometotal acceptance and ultimately a normal mother-daughter relationship. He knew this would probably be a long time off, butCharlotte’s new attitude was very encouraging. He also knew this total change was a result of Matthew’s hostage situation.Curtis would never have wished such a dangerous experience on his son, but he was glad it had made Charlotte think. The wholescenario had truly opened her eyes, and life was better for all of them.

Curtis was glad about something else, too: that he hadn’t slept with Sharon. He had certainly come close, that much he couldn’tdeny, but what mattered was that he’d walked away with no regret. Sure, he’d been at­tracted to her and had gotten himself caught up in the idea of sleeping with her, but that was already in the past. It had been overbefore it ever got started, and he was at peace about it. So at peace he picked up his phone to call her. He could easilynever speak to her again, but he wanted to tell her where things stood with them. He wanted her to know that his coming tovisit her never should have happened, and that this would be his last time speaking to her by phone.

But before he could dial her number, Raven called him.

“Hey, Raven,” he said.

“Hey, Pastor. I tried you at home, but your housekeeper said you were already headed to the church.”

“I am. Wanted to get in early this morning.”

“Oh. Well, anyway, the reason I’m calling you is because I won’t be in today. My car won’t start, and I’m having it towedto the dealership.”

“I was really hoping you’d be at our monthly budget meeting.”

“I know. But when I called the service department a few minutes ago, they said all their loaners were either gone alreadyor had been promised to other people who have repair appointments.”

“Well, if you want, I can swing by and pick you up.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not. I should be there in about twenty minutes.”

“I really appreciate this.”

“See you soon,” Curtis said and then dialed Sharon.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Now that I’m talking to you, I couldn’t be better.”

“Well, that’s sort of why I’m calling. Look, I never should have started calling you, and I definitely shouldn’t have cometo your home. It was wrong, and I apologize. But this will be my last time phoning you.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that. I’m not upset about it, though, because whether you think so or not, you will call me again. It might not be tomorrow or even next week, but you’ll contact me sooner or later.”

“No. I won’t.”

“But you wanted me too badly the other day not to. I saw the look in your eyes, and had your phone not vibrated with thattext message from your son, you would have stayed. You would have made love to me, Curtis, and you know it.”

“But things are different now.”

“Is that right?”

“It is.”

She chuckled like she didn’t believe him. “Whatever you say. Nonetheless, I’ll be waiting on you for however long it takes.You and I have this thing between us.