Pretty Dangerous Read online

  “I doubt Daddy sends much email.” MiMi puffed up and sat straight. “This is him. ‘If I wanted to type, then…”

  “I would have gone to secretarial school,” Roderick finished. They both dissolved into giggles. “

  “But give them credit, they’re both sharp when it comes to business decisions.” MiMi finished the last of her fish. The delicate flavor was a delight.

  “They might be old school when it comes to technology, but I listen when they give advice. They’re the reason we both live so well, right?” Roderick winked at her.

  “Since we were kids,” MiMi agreed. “Of course it helped that our grandmothers and fathers left them nice estates. But they built on what they got.”

  “Exactly.” Roderick became serious. “We both know people who pissed away assets on bad decisions, gambling, heavy drinking.”

  “Speaking of which, do you ever hear from Andre?” MiMi sipped water. “I heard he tried to get his life together. Y’all were tight in high school.”

  “Yeah, he took partying to the next level and it wasn’t a good thing. I haven’t heard from him in…” Roderick blew out air. “I want to say it’s been a good ten years. He didn’t make it to junior year at Hampton. I heard he was doing okay, but I don’t know.”

  “Hmm, hope so.” MiMi raised an eyebrow at him. “You were sweet on his sister for a minute.”

  “Whew, that’s ancient history. She’s married with three kids and living in San Jose, California,” Roderick replied.

  “Oh yeah? I notice you kept up with her marital status and whereabouts.” MiMi grinned when he groaned. “You know I’m kidding.”

  “Seriously though, that stupid move on our trip is not usual me. I don’t want to be like Andre. You know, the subject of a ‘Such a shame how his life went off the rails’ conversation over dinner.”

  “I understand,” MiMi said. Then she started when Roderick took her hand and gazed at her intently.

  Roderick stroked the back of MiMi’s ring finger. The he produce a deep blue velvet box from a pocket and pushed it across the table. “Open it.”

  MiMi felt a shiver of excitement. She caressed the silky smooth surface as she enjoyed the anticipation. Finally she opened it and gasped. A two carat round diamond ring set in platinum nestled in the silver satin interior. Roderick kissed her on the lips. Then he removed the ring and slipped it on her right ring finger.

  “I, I don’t know what to say,” MiMi murmured. The soft lighting combined with the exclusive ambiance maximized the romantic mood.

  Roderick folded her hand in both his larger ones. “I want only the best for you and Sage. I’m going to work hard, make a lot of money for both our tech challenged fathers…”

  “Please help the poor things,” MiMi broke in with a soft laugh.

  She held her breath when Roderick leaned even closer. The delicate scent of his cologne mixed with the warmth of his solid hands thrilled her. He brushed her lips with his, then gently nipped her bottom lip.

  “I didn’t start seeing you because of my parents, MiMi. I want to be with you. When I’m with you, it’s real,” Roderick said softly. Then he smiled teasingly. “Hey, I better stop before they put us out of here.”

  “No, don’t. Let them stare.” MiMi sighed. She swam happily in a haze of desire.

  “So the answer is…?” Roderick kissed her again and pulled away.

  “Yes, very much yes.” MiMi wrapped both arms around his neck.

  They kissed again, admired the way her new diamond caught the light and talked as if no one else existed in the world. Would they buy a new house or build? Live in town or move to a new development? Get married in Baton Rouge or on a beach in the Bahamas? So many delightful decisions. Finally they both wound down and simply gazed at each other.

  “I’m going to the men’s room. All that sweet tea is working on me. Be right back.” Roderick gave her cheek a gentle pinch and left.

  The waiter approached. “You need anything, ma’am?”

  MiMi let out a slow breath. “No, I’ve got it all right here.”

  The young man gave her a knowing smile. A few older couples at nearby tables had been sneaking looks at MiMi and Roderick. MiMi beamed back at them as she waved her hand showing off her ring. The finest man in the room only had eyes for her. The world could stare all night if they wanted to. Worries about investigations and FBI questions shrank to nothing. She and Roderick, along with their powerful families, would face down anything. MiMi laughed to herself with delight. Then she heard the buzzing sound in her small purse. She unzipped the soft pink leather clutch.

  “I hope everything is okay with Sage at Adrienne’s,” MiMi muttered as she pulled out the smart phone.

  Then she wore a big grin. Roderick’s cell number displayed along with his smiling face. She opened the text message and the attachment. MiMi sat frozen, watching the video that seemed to play in slow motion. Fifteen seconds later Roderick walked back to their table, turning heads and wearing his signature gorgeous smile. And hell broke loose.

  Chapter 9

  Sunday morning dawned, and MiMi dragged herself out of bed when Willa had shown up for support. Jazz stumbled in about an hour after Willa arrived, yawning and looking annoyed. Sage was still at Adrienne’s house, so thankfully MiMi could give in to self-pity.

  MiMi watched Willa move in and out of the kitchen. She straightened up the den. No doubt she’d been upstairs as well. Jazz treated the large mug of coffee she held like a long, lost lover. The oven bell pinged. Like a genie, Willa appeared and went straight for it.

  “As usual, Willa is playing the role of mama,” MiMi said with a sigh.

  “Humph, as usual, Willa is the control junkie ready to order you around,” Jazz retorted.

  “You know I can hear you, right?” Willa called without turning from serving up helpings onto plates.

  “Yeah, and you know I don’t care. Right?” Jazz shot back. She picked up the first section of the Sunday paper. “Let’s see if last night’s Rumble in the Restaurant made the news.”

  MiMi shrank into her French terry robe until the collar hid part of her face. “That’s not funny. Please tell me you don’t see my face in there.”

  Jazz turned a few pages. “Hey, nice action shot.”

  MiMi moaned and jumped to her feet. “We have to go over to my parents’ house.”

  “What in the world are you talking about?” Willa continued to put plates on a tray, along with two full coffee cups.

  “I have to steal the Sunday paper before they get home from church. They go at seven and they read the paper when they get home like clockwork.”

  “Seven? In the morning? Not even God gets up that early on Sundays,” Jazz joked. She raised the mug to her mouth with one hand while still reading the paper.

  Willa deftly spun around, grabbed MiMi by the arm. She pushed MiMi back to the kitchen island and onto a barstool. “Shut up. You’re gonna give her a seizure or something.”

  “Girl, I’m messin’ with you. I was talking about this picture of a kid on his bicycle. Keep your panties on,” Jazz said.

  “Thank you, Jesus.” MiMi slumped onto the counter top, her forehead on her folded arms. She was too relieved to be angry at Jazz’s bad attempt at humor.

  “Be grateful for sure, hitting Roderick over the head with a bottle of wine in a restaurant. Eat something, some protein. You’ll feel better.” Willa sat down. She ate a forkful of food.

  MiMi sniffed the air and moved to the breakfast table and sat next to Jazz. “What is that?”

  “Aunt Ametrine’s famous breakfast casserole. You’ve got layers of eggs, two kinds of cheese, sausage and a hint of sour cream. It should be three kinds of cheese, but I only had two. I figured you needed us fast so I didn’t stop at the store.” Willa spoke around chews. She drank orange juice.

  “She didn’t need me at this hour. Y’all need to remember my club closes at two in the morning.” Jazz yawned widely as if reminded she should be in bed. />
  “Yeah, right. You wanted to hear the details,” Willa shot back and continued eating.

  “Speaking of…” Jazz turned to MiMi. Her eyes lost the sleepy look. “Girl, you need to be thanking God and everybody else you didn’t end up in jail, let alone on the news. You hit the man over the head with a wine bottle? He could be in a coma.”

  MiMi sat up. “I didn’t hit him with a bottle! I threw my wine glass at him. It barely tapped him on the head.”

  Willa dabbed her mouth with a napkin. She spoke as if she hadn’t heard MiMi’s protest. “Y’all must not be familiar with the concept of keeping a low profile.”

  “And everybody says I get in trouble. Humph.” Jazz sipped more coffee.

  “Oh Lord, what if the FBI has been following me all this time? They already know about last night.” MiMi covered her face with both hands again.

  “Kill the drama, girl. I doubt the FBI thinks you’re that important,” Willa drawled.

  “I wanna see the video. C’mon, let’s have a show.” Jazz wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Here, she sent it to me. Got it on my tablet.” Willa grabbed her large leather purse and pulled out a tablet computer. She hit the play button on her app.

  “No, no, no.” MiMi covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. Still she could hear the groans and shrieks.

  “This girl is limber, and your man got skills. No wonder you stuck with him,” Jazz said, and let out a low whistle.

  At first sitting in the middle of the restaurant, MiMi didn’t quite make out what she was seeing. Then she recognized the naked male’s hip. Roderick’s strawberry shaped birthmark was visible as the camera angle caught him gleefully pleasuring a woman. Someone definitely not MiMi. Roderick kept up a steady stream of dirty talk. The woman screamed back, urging him to go faster and then to slow down. One minute and twenty-two seconds of sex tape.

  Willa tilted her head from side to side as she watched. “Wow.”

  MiMi grabbed the tablet and closed the app. “I should have thrown a bottle, no ten.”

  “Girl, I’m so, so sorry.” Willa shook her head slowly. She gave MiMi a look of pity. “Glad I never got video of Jack cheating. Shoot, I’d have a whole library.”

  “Oh please, it’s not like she was in love with frat boy. He’s a meal ticket.” Jazz got up and refilled her mug.

  “Real sensitive,” Willa scolded.

  “Okay, watch this. Tell her, MiMi.” Jazz started to sip coffee but froze. She gaped at MiMi. “Oh hell no. You actually fell for this jackass?”

  MiMi swiped a tear from her cheek. “For the first time since Jack, I felt like a man cared for me. It wasn’t the flowers or jewelry. He was so sweet with Sage. It was all the little things, like taking out the garbage and talking to the plumber who came to fix a pipe. And I thought, you know, for once maybe my parents were right.”

  “You could see y’all as a family,” Willa said, her tone full of understanding.

  “Yeah,” MiMi whispered. “I feel like a prize dumb ass fool.”

  “This video could have been taken long before you guys started dating. Some heffa is just mad because he picked you,” Willa offered. She glanced at Jazz for support.

  “It’s date stamped,” Jazz said, pointing to the tablet.

  “Oh, I missed that,” Willa murmured.

  “No wonder with all that action,” Jazz blurted out. She shrugged when Willa hissed at her.

  “Her name is Yvette. She’s a lawyer he met at a Chamber of Commerce conference in New Orleans.” MiMi sniffed into a paper napkin. “He told me about it, the conference I mean.”

  “You know her?” Willa said.

  “No, she sent me texts to gloat. The conference was only a couple of weeks before we went to the DR.”

  “To top it off, she’s wearing an ankle bracelet in the video, the same one he gave me.” MiMi lifted her right leg. The eighteen karat gold sparkled in the sunlight coming through her breakfast area’s bay window. Two bezel set diamonds on either side shined even brighter.

  “And you still have it on? Humph.” Jazz sat down.

  MiMi let out an angry yelp and tried to yank the chain off. She only succeeded in scratching her ankle. “I’m going to get this crap off me.”

  “Hold on! I didn’t say break it,” Jazz protested. She put her mug down with a thump and grabbed MiMi by the arm.

  Willa grabbed MiMi’s other arm “No need to rip off a leg over the guy.”

  “Okay, okay. But I’m taking it off.” MiMi huffed a few times. Then she opened the lobster claw clasp, removed the bracelet and threw it across the room.

  Jazz followed quickly to pick it up. “Don’t be wasteful. You could probably sell this to one of those online auction sites and make some bucks.”

  “Jazz, you might want to be helpful here,” Willa snapped.

  “Hmm.” Jazz was too busy examining the gold links to reply.

  Willa rolled her eyes and turned her attention to MiMi again. “All I’m saying is talk to him and…”

  “I did. Roderick started out apologizing. Then he got mad at me.” MiMi snatched up a fresh table napkin and sniffed into it.

  “Excuse me?” Willa blinked at her.

  “Oh yes, he said I made a scene over nothing, and it’s not like I’m a saint. He goes, ‘We both know how this will end. We’ll do what our parents want because it makes financial sense.’ He told me to quit being a whiny little spoiled rich bitch. I’d get the best of everything. He’d get the instant family he needs. He even said I could have a lover every once in a while.” MiMi grew sober as she recounted his reaction. Roderick’s words fell over her like a bucket of ice water. The charmer had vanished, replaced by a calculating snake.

  “At least he told you the real deal. How much is he worth again?” Jazz seemed reluctant to let go of the gold bracelet.

  Willa reached out a hand, palm up. “Hand it over.”

  “Hey, if she’s just going to throw it away… Fine.” Jazz heaved a sigh as she dropped it in Willa’s hand and sat down. “I could rock that with gold leggings, a black t-shirt and six inch gold and black pumps.”

  “I’m going to make you a cup of Blue Mountain coffee. I brought some just for you.” Willa gave MiMi a brief shoulder rub. “You really out to eat though, MiMi. You’re right about the casserole. It may be too rich on a delicate stomach.”

  “Uh-huh.” MiMi stared out the window.

  “I’ll fix you two slices of toast and one scrambled egg, no butter.” Willa spoke with her head in MiMi’s stainless steel refrigerator.

  “Yeah, right. You do that,” Jazz replied loudly. Then she looked at MiMi as Willa got busy. “See what I mean? She likes to control everybody.”

  The doorbell of her front door rang just as MiMi started to reply. Instead she padded off with the napkin still clutched in one hand. When she parted the curtains and saw Adrienne holding Sage, MiMi hastily wiped her cheeks dry and raked fingers through her hair. She opened the door wearing a sunny smile; at least she hoped it was anyway.

  “Good morning, sis! Hey mommy’s little honey bunny.” MiMi took Sage when the toddler grinned at her.

  “Sis?” Adrienne wrinkled her nose. She studied MiMi with a critical eye as if noting every detail of her appearance. “Looks like you had an eventful night.”

  “No,” MiMi said too sharply. Then she forced a light laugh when Adrienne’s gaze sharpened to a laser point. “Nothing more exciting than dinner and a little conversation.”

  “I assume Roderick is still here.” Adrienne looked around the house as if she expected him to walk out naked.

  “Of course not. Was mommy’s sweet girl good?” MiMi kissed Sage’s soft face and inhaled the welcome smell of baby lotion.

  Adrienne closed and locked the front door before following MiMi to the kitchen. “I know Roderick’s reputation, and I know you. I doubt you two spent last night discussing philosophy or current events. Besides, I see his SUV.”

  “That’s Willa’s SUV. She and
Jazz dropped by to have breakfast with me.” MiMi didn’t look at her older sister.

  “On a Sunday, after your date. That’s strange.”

  “It’s kind of a girlfriend tradition we have.” MiMi walked fast ahead of her to cut off more questions. “Hey everybody, this is my sister Adrienne. That’s Jazz and Willa is the cook.”

  Jazz gave Adrienne a quick head to toe scan. “Mornin’.”

  “So nice to meet you. Join us for breakfast.” Willa put the plate of toast and eggs down into the oven

  “We’ve eaten, but what exactly is this dish?” Adrienne looked at the stoneware dish on the counter top.

  “This is an egg, sausage, cheese and sour cream casserole. Oh, and I have toast to go with it.” Willa smiled at her. “Sunday morning comfort food.”

  “Ah.” Adrienne eyed it for a few seconds longer before she put on a smile. She placed the bag holding Sage’s things down on the floor. “I finally meet the famous Willa Crown and her sister. MiMi talks about you a lot.”

  “Not exactly famous.” Willa’s smile tightened.

  “The news made it seem like you practically cracked the case on who killed poor Jack. Then you and MiMi became friends. Very progressive. I suppose sharing so much forged a bond.” Adrienne nodded as she spoke, a sincere expression stamped on her almost too pretty face.

  “Humph.” Jazz studied her, head to one side.

  “There’s no reason why we can’t be friends. MiMi and I want our children to have a relationship since they’re siblings.” Willa’s voice dripped ice water.

  “Of course,” Adrienne said smoothly. She turned and kissed Sage’s forehead. “I’m going to miss my little girl so much. Call if she starts fussing for me or Brayden. He’s the perfect big brother.”

  “Sage has a big sister and a big brother to keep her company. She’ll be just fine,” Jazz said.

  Adrienne spun to face Jazz for the first time. “I’m surrounded by celebrities. You’re a dancer at a gentlemen’s club.”

  “Yes, pole dancing in teeny weeny costumes.” Jazz stood up and took a bow. “Damn good at it, too.”

  “Obviously since you now own it. Congratulations. I read how the city tried to shut it down. Well, I think we need more small businesses owned by women of color,” Adrienne said with enthusiasm.