Diamond Revelation (19 page)

He took the pink book and opened it. The first page had Nina Beaubien next to dates and the year, all written in Nina's beautiful cursive writing.

“Turn to the page where the ribbon is. What you need to read is on that page.”

Germain sat on the edge of the desk and began reading Nina's detailed account of Topaz having a baby in Europe. He looked at the date.
I kept Baby Doll for her while she was over there having some other man's baby.

“Where did you get this?” Germain demanded.

“From a bookcase in Nina and Kyle's house.”

Kyle…my best friend is in on this too?
“Why should I believe you? You could have made all of this up.” Germain handed the journal back to Sabre.

“You know I didn't make it up.” Sabre wrote her cell phone number on the back of her appointment card. “Here.”

Germain looked at Sabre, but he didn't take the card. “What's that?”

“My cell phone number so you can call me if you need to talk,” Sabre replied coolly. “And I know you're gonna want to talk after you read that journal.”

She left the book and the card with her phone number on the examination table.

J
ade hummed softly as she headed to The Diamond's kitchen to make sure everything she ordered for Sean's birthday weekend was included in the boxes of supplies traveling to Santa Barbara. All of the Black Friends, as Sabre called them, would be attending the party that included a day of sailing on the Rosses' new yacht christened
The Jade
by Sean. A ninety footer, it was very light, airy, and high-tech with blond hardwood and jade and black marble running throughout.

Her favorite chef was coming along to prepare all the food. They had worked on the menu together and planned some delicious meals for the weekend. She spotted a couple of cases of Cristal that had been purchased for the yacht.

Topaz
. Jade smiled as she thought about her crazy girlfriend, who had exposed her to some of the finer things of life.

“Looks like everything is here, fellas. See you in Santa Barbara.” Jade went by the high-rise condo in the Marina where Sean was waiting for her.

“Hey, birthday boy.” Jade paused to look at Sean, who was staring out of the window. She could tell his mind was someplace else. “Ready to go?”

“E is on the way.”

Jade kissed him. “Good. We're going to have so much fun.” The house phone rang and she picked it up. It was the concierge informing them that the Johnsons were waiting downstairs.

“Howdy do, black people. I do believe I've been given the privilege of driving the mister and the mizzus up to Santa Barbara this here afternoon.” Eric had gotten a chauffeur's cap from somewhere, and he tipped it to Keisha. “How you doin' on this here fine afternoon, pretty lady?”

Everyone laughed at Eric's impersonation of Morgan Freeman in
Driving Miss Daisy
.

“You don't have the good sense the Lord gave you, do you?” Keisha shook her head and laughed.

“He just got hit in the head with one too many basketballs,” Sean explained as Eric headed for the San Diego Freeway.

“Hi, Uncle Sean. Hi, Aunty Jade.” Eric and Keisha's ten-year-old daughter, Kendra, popped up in the rear of Eric's Suburban. “I wanted to surprise you, but it was getting really hot under that blanket.”

“You surprised us.” All of a sudden, Jade had an attitude.

“Kendra's plans for the weekend fell through at the last minute, so we had no choice but to bring her along,” Keisha explained quickly.

“That's fine with me.” Sean turned to smile at Kendra. “We'll just put her to work in the galley or else she walks the plank.” Sean gave her his best pirate imitation, and Kendra giggled.

“Daddy, do you hear Uncle Sean trying to put me to work in the kitchen?” Kendra flipped through the pages of one of her teen fashion magazines. Kendra inherited her father's height and her mother's curves. She was tall without being awkward, so there was a lot of talk about Kendra pursuing a career in modeling.

Jade looked out the window at the landscape and tried to convince herself that Kendra's presence would not make a difference one way or the other on Sean's party, but no matter how much she tried to convince herself, she couldn't. She focused on Sean, who had said very little to her since they left the Marina. Jade wondered if he shared her concern over Kendra's presence, but she knew something other than Kendra was occupying her husband's mind and had been since the night of Topaz's party.

Kyle was silent as he carried their bags out to the Escalade. Moments later, Nina fastened Niki in her car seat and Kyle headed out of Malibu.

“I really don't want to go,” Kyle said, breaking the silence. “I'm not up for a party.”

“I'm not either, but we can't miss your brother's birthday. Jade put a lot of work into this. You'll feel better once you get around the fellas.”

“I hope so,” Kyle agreed, but his face showed he wasn't convinced.

Topaz paced back and forth in the living room, trying her best to remain calm. Germain should have been home hours ago. Now they were going to be extremely late for Sean's birthday party. She tried Germain's cell phone again, but there was still no answer, and he had not returned any of her previous calls; she couldn't help worrying. It was so unlike him not to return her calls or for them to go without speaking the entire day. Somehow, they weathered the storm of publicity from her release party only to arrive here…Germain's behavior was totally out of character and Topaz had no idea why. She was trying to think of someone else to call who could tell her of his whereabouts when his black 911 Porsche zipped into the driveway.

“Germain, where have you been?” Topaz was practically in tears. “I was worried sick.”

“Working.” He avoided her hug and gave her a lifeless peck on the cheek.

“Your office has been closed for hours and you didn't answer your cell phone.”

“Look, I'm here now so don't get all dramatic on me because we're a little late for
your friend,
Sean's, birthday bash.”

Topaz followed Germain upstairs to their bedroom. Chris and Baby Doll were away at sleepovers, and she had given the staff the weekend off since they were going to be away. “My
friend
Sean? I thought he was our friend.”

Germain, who was busy changing his clothes, didn't acknowledge her comment.

“I know the invitation stressed we be on time, but I don't care about that. I was just concerned about you, baby.”

Germain was on his way down the stairs when he stopped to turn around and look at his wife. “You were concerned about me? Now that's a novel concept.”

“Germain, you know how much I love you,” Topaz wailed.

“So you've said. You just have the funniest ways of showing it.” Germain got into the limo first with no regard for Topaz, who slid in after him. He always held the door open for her and allowed her to enter first, but she pushed the incident out of her mind. She watched him toss ice cubes in a glass, pour in Tanqueray with tonic, drink it down, and quickly prepare another. They were both silent as the limo headed toward Santa Barbara in the congested Friday evening traffic. Something was definitely bothering Germain, but she was too afraid to ask what.

Up at the ranch, all of the other Black Friends had arrived on time. Nina noticed that the group was unusually quiet while Kyle became overly friendly with a bottle of flavored rum. Now that the truth about Niki was somewhat out, his mind was plagued with thoughts that he had previously not allowed himself to think.

What if someone tries to take Niki from me and Nina? What if Topaz tells Germain the truth and he wants to raise her since Niki is Topaz's biological daughter? And what about Sean? He's Niki's biological father. What would he think?
Kyle looked at Sean and went for another drink.
Well, I don't care what anyone thinks. No one's taking my little girl away from me.

Meanwhile, Jade was growing angrier by the minute. “We should all be on the yacht right now having dinner under the stars.”

“We'll get there, sweetie.” Keisha looked up from the movie she was watching with Kendra and Niki and smiled.

“Why is it that every other event that I've planned for my friends has gone beautifully, but when I try to do something for my husband nobody cares?” Jade ranted.

Nina pulled herself away from watching Kyle toss down shots of Bacardi and stood by her sister-in-law. “What are you over here fussing about now, girlfriend?” Nina smiled, trying to lighten things up.

“Topaz always has to be late so she can make some big, grand entrance. Tonight isn't about her, it's a birthday party for my husband. Now it's ruined because she's late. Can't she be on time for something just once?” Jade was so angry she could spit knives. “The invitation stressed the importance of being on time because we were having dinner on the yacht, but she doesn't care. I'm paying for a crew with nothing to do as long as we're sitting in this damn house. We should have just left her ass, but no, Sean wanted to wait. Topaz doesn't care about anyone but herself.”

“Maybe something happened. I hope there wasn't an accident or anything. It is Friday night. You know how bad traffic can be on a Friday night.” Nina looked concerned.

“I know what happened. Her divaness is running late as usual. Does she think we're her lowly subjects and all we have to do is sit around and wait for her to show up and say, ‘I'm here. Now the party can start.'” Jade mimicked Topaz perfectly.

Nina tried not to laugh, but Keisha snickered, and the two of them were practically on the floor laughing.

“That is so Topaz.” Keisha laughed.

“Yeah, Jade,” Nina agreed. “You did that perfectly.”

“I'm glad you two think this is funny because I sure don't.” Jade looked at Sean, who was abnormally quiet for the guest of honor. “And you should be happy. It's your birthday. All this damn work I did.” Sean had tried to talk his wife out of giving him a party, but she refused. She thought a weekend on the yacht would do all of the friends some good.

Sean walked outside onto the deck overlooking the water. Lights flickered in the dark against the horizon. It was unusually warm for November. It would have been a perfect night for sailing, but Sean still didn't care. He had done his best to forget that one night of passion with Topaz, but ever since the release party, he couldn't get that night off his mind. He was an NBA legend so he was quite familiar with tabloids. He knew firsthand that where there was that much smoke, there was always fire. He stared into the black mass of water replaying thoughts that had clouded his mind for days.
Did Topaz get pregnant that night? Is Niki my child? Why would Topaz keep everything a secret from me? What will Jade do if it's true? And my marriage? Jade will definitely try to kill me, but if Niki is my daughter, I do have a right to know.

It was just about midnight when Topaz and Germain finally arrived at the ranch. They had ridden in silence the entire way, both of them drinking on empty stomachs, and now they were drunk.

“Hey, everybody. I'm here. Now the party can start.” Topaz managed to give them a dazzling smile. “Sorry we're late.”

“Sure you are.” Jade didn't return Topaz's smile as she emptied the last of a bottle of champagne into her glass.

“We really are sorry, but something came up,” Topaz explained, although Germain never gave her an explanation of his whereabouts.

“It seems like things are always coming up with you, Topaz,” Jade fired back. “You never think of anyone but yourself.”

Keisha looked at Jade, and Jade looked away. “Don't look at me like that, Keisha. Topaz is
your
best friend. She could piss and call it ginger ale and you'd believe her.”

“Baby, it's okay. I'm sure Topaz and Germain have a good reason for being late.” Sean tried to soothe his wife. “Don't say things you'll regret later, baby, because you're angry. We'll take the yacht out first thing in the morning.”

“What are you now, Secretary of Defense? You haven't said one damn thing to me all day, but as soon as Topaz walks in the door you jump to her defense. She doesn't need you to rescue her, Sean. She has her own husband for that.” Jade was definitely not interested in calming down. She was even angrier now that Topaz, who looked absolutely gorgeous in skinny jeans and a halter, had arrived.

Nina eyed Topaz carefully. She knew the moment the Gradneys entered the room that something was definitely wrong between them. She got up from her seat and walked over to Topaz, who totally ignored Jade and her rude outburst.

“Hey, cuz. I'm really glad you guys made it. It definitely wouldn't have been a party without you.” Nina tried to hug Germain, but he pulled away from her and went to the bar where Keisha was preparing plates of food. The chef had assembled a wonderful dinner despite the change of plans.

“Here, sweetie, have a little something to eat.” Keisha handed Germain a plate, but the alcohol in his system caused him to accidentally knock it out of her hands. It crashed to the floor and shattered into pieces.

Jade sucked her teeth, went into the kitchen, and returned with a small broom and dustpan and angrily swept up the food and fragments of the broken dish. “I know, you're sorry. You already ruined my party. Now you can just finish things off by breaking up all of my damn dishes.”

Topaz stepped in front of Jade. “I already apologized for us being late. You should have gone without us if it meant so much to you to be out on that damn yacht. But if you talk to my man like that again, I will kick your ass all over this house.”

Nina closed her eyes and silently prayed. She was hoping they could avoid an altercation between Topaz and Jade, who insisted on being a bitch.

“We would have gone without you, but your friend Sean wanted you at the party so we had to wait for the superstar.” Jade was livid.

“That figures.” Germain finally spoke for the first time since they left Pacific Palisades. “After all, he is her baby's daddy.” They were all silent, stunned by his words. “What? Y'all didn't know?”

After several moments, Sean jumped to his feet. “What the hell are you talking about, man?”

“Yeah.” Jade folded her arms and focused on Germain as he stood in front of Sean.

“I'm talking about how you had sex with my wife before we remarried. I wasn't back with Topaz then, so I can't say anything about who she was dating, but Sean was married to you at the time, Jade.”

“That's not true.” Topaz was trying to remain controlled and together.

“You had sex with Topaz?” Jade asked Sean. She did her best to get in his face, despite the fact that he was over six feet and towered over her.

“It's not what you think,” Sean replied.

“Did you have sex with
her
?” Jade pointed a finger at Topaz. “Just answer the damn question, man. It requires a yes or no answer.”