His Betrayal Her Lies (5 page)

“Hello, sweetie. Are you busy?”

A huge smile crossed Taylor’s face. Ari’s
deep, sexy voice could make a nun blush. Twirling her fingers into
the phone cord, she spun around in her chair to face the window.
“Naw, baby, I’m free for you. Missing you though.”

Libby came busting into Taylor’s office,
waving a white envelope. Taylor held up one finger to signal Libby
to give her a moment.

“Miss you too, baby. I’ve been on this flight
assignment for a week now but I’ll be home in a few days, sweetie,
and I want to do something special for you.”

“Okay. I can’t wait to see you. And
Ari …”

“Yeah, baby.”

“Be safe.”

Ari coughed.

“Are you sick?” asked Taylor.

“Naw, baby. I love you and I’ll try to call
you tonight.”

“I love you too, Ari, and take care of
yourself.”

“I will, baby. Bye.”

Taylor hung up and wondered to herself why
Ari sounded different.
Why was he whispering?

Libby, who hadn’t left the room while the
couple finished their conversation, waved her hands in front of
Taylor’s face. “Hello. Earth to Tay.”

Taylor swatted at Libby’s hand and
laughed.

Libby took a seat in one of the chairs in
front of Taylor’s desk. “What’s up, girl? Who was that? The
cheater?”

Taylor frowned. “I know how you feel about
Ari but he is my husband. It’s been a year since I found out about
this woman and their child. I’m still trying to deal with all of
this. Keeping Ari from finding out that I know about it is hard.
You don’t know how many times I just wanted to tell him I know and
ask for an explanation. But I just can’t approach him with this
yet.” She ran her hand through her hair, pulling one of the curls
and releasing it to let it coil back into shape. “I miss him. He’s
never at home, thanks to this new airline company he works for.
It’s just so hard right now.” She looked across the desk.

Libby’s face told her that she regretted what
she had said. “I’m sorry, Tay. I guess it never crossed my mind how
difficult this must be for you. Let’s drop this subject for now.”
She rubbed her hands together like she had something she couldn’t
wait to tell. “This letter,” just came in the mail today,” she
said, handing the envelope to Taylor.

Taylor leaned back in her swivel chair. In a
flash, her memory rewound to the anonymous envelope that had
changed her life forever. She shook the thought out of her mind.
“What is it?” she asked, reaching for the envelope.

Libby smiled. “It’s your invitation to this
year’s Magazine Conference for Young Entrepreneurs.”

“Oh no, Libby. I’m not going to that
conference,” Taylor said, handing the envelope back.

“Why not?”

Taylor rolled her eyes heavenward. “I don’t
do well at that type of social gathering. I don’t know anyone in
the magazine world. We just got our company up and running. They’re
going to be asking me questions for which I don’t have the
answers.”

“Oh, jeez, Tay, you are over-thinking this
whole thing. It could be great exposure for the company. We can get
Dynasty Magazine recognized by people across the world.” She spread
her hands in a huge arc as she made her point. “There are going to
be all types of people there, from journalists to reporters to
other young CEOs.”

As the CEO of Dynasty Magazine, Taylor knew
she would have to be the spokesman for the company. She just hadn’t
thought that she’d have to step up to the plate this soon. She put
Libby on the spot. “Why can’t you go?”

Libby didn’t cave in. “The person whose name
is on the invitation is the only one who can attend.”

In their twenty-seven years, Taylor had
prayed that one day they would be able to self-start their own
magazine company. Now their prayers were answered. Libby was the
chief financial officer. Pam was the director of advertising, and
Toni, at twenty-five, was the editor-in-chief for the magazine.
Taylor knew the company needed the exposure to boost sales.

“Alright, alright. I’ll go.” She turned to
the computer and pulled up her Outlook calendar. “When is it?”

“It’s … um … just give me a
sec …” Libby removed the gold embossed paper from the
envelope. “It’s tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.”

Taylor’s face dropped. “No way, not that
soon. I’m going to be a nervous wreck.”

“You’ll be fine. Just talk about our mission
and how much we want to help report true and accurate information
about the community.”

“Easy for you to say!”

“Oh, you will be great, Tay.”

Taylor blinked hard, eyes itchy and red
because her contacts were dry. She reached in her desk drawer for
her small bottle of rewetting solution, held her head back, and
squirted two drops in each eye. “You’re right,” she said, head
still tilted. “I can do this. They had better watch out for Dynasty
Magazine.”

Libby stuck her fist out, and Taylor pounded
it once with her own. They walked out of Taylor’s office, ready to
tackle their weekly meeting.

* * *

Adrianne stood before Ari, twisting from side
to side. They were together often when he was out of town. This was
the only way to see his daughter and keep his secret from Taylor
and all their families and friends.

“Daddy, come on. I’m ready
now.
” She
stuck out her itty bitty bottom lip.

“Hey, baby doll,” he said, picking her up.
“Do you need to use the bathroom? Daddy was on a very important
phone call.”

At 8:00 a.m., she had looked sound asleep, so
he had snuck into the bathroom and phoned Taylor. Five minutes into
the conversation, his pint-sized angel had walked in on him. He
coughed to drown out her tiny voice and prayed that Taylor hadn’t
heard her. Luckily, the faint sound of the “Happy Feet” DVD that
was still running in the other room had coaxed Adrianne away long
enough for him to wrap up his call with Taylor. Ari had started the
DVD before he retreated to the bathroom to entertain Adrianne in
case she woke up.

“No, Daddy. I want you to come and play with
me.” Ari kissed her chubby cheek and put her down. Her light-up
sneakers flashed wildly as she hopped on one foot and then the
other. “I need you to play Barbie doll house with me.”

“Okay, pumpkin. In a minute.”

Crinkling her miniature nose, she protested,
“No Daddy, now.”

Ari looked at his child and blew her a kiss.
She squealed in delight. It still electrified him every time he
looked in her face and saw his own hazel eyes and mocha skin. The
curly hair was definitely her mother’s.

“Let’s eat breakfast first then we can play.”
Adrianne hopped over to the small cart in the corner of the room on
one foot and lifted the silver top exposing the blueberry pancakes.
“Yes.” She shouted. Room service had delivered the mouthwatering
breakfast right before Ari had tiptoed out of the room to call
Taylor. After, breakfast Ari took Adrianne into the bathroom to
wash the syrup off her hands and mouth. “Can we play now daddy?”
She asked looking up at Ari smiling brightly revealing all her
white teeth.

“Sure, baby. Which doll is daddy playing with
today?”

Adrianne tapped her tiny index finger on her
lips. “Ummm … you are going to be Tara.” She ran off into the
living area as Ari followed behind her. Fatherhood was greater than
Ari could ever have imagined. He loved playing with his daughter.
Her imagination intrigued him. Ever the one to take the lead,
Adrianne orchestrated their play. “Okay,” she said, “let’s get Tara
in the house so she can start dinner.”

Friction built up on Ari’s pant legs and they
clung to his socks as he scuffed on his knees across the carpet to
grab the blonde-headed doll off the floor, then crawled over to the
little doll house on the table.

“Okay, Daddy, I’m going to give the baby a
bath.” Adrianne started washing the smaller Barbie doll with an
imaginary wash cloth.

Ari heard nails tapping at the door.

Adrianne was already running to the door.
“Who is it?” she asked, standing on tiptoes as if there were any
possibility of her getting eye-level with the peephole.

“It’s your mother, sweetie,” replied the
voice in the hall.

Adrianne reached up and grabbed the knob with
both hands, trying to twist it open. Ari walked over to help
her.

Ari’s trips usually lasted anywhere from a
couple days to a week. The only drawback with bringing his daughter
with him was that Maci insisted on coming along. “That’s too long
to be away from my daughter,” she said. She and Adrianne never flew
with Ari, and he always booked Maci a separate room across the hall
or next door. He figured if he kept Maci happy, she would keep her
mouth closed and his life could remain drama free.

Adrianne jumped into her mother’s arms as
soon as Ari opened the door. “Hey Momma, Daddy and I were playing
Barbie doll house, and he let me put on my sparkly shoes and eat
blueberry pancakes, bacon, and eggs.” She didn’t come up for air
until she had spit out the last word. She pumped her small fist in
the air.

“That’s good, baby.” Maci kissed Adrianne and
put her down. She ran back to her play area, curls bouncing around
her shoulders.

Maci walked to the couch. “Good morning,
Ari.”

He looked up at Maci’s see-through top, her
black bra showing. A short mini skirt completed the ensemble. Maci
was a beautiful woman, half Italian and half black, petite, and he
was still sexually attracted to her. But he knew he had to stop
sleeping with her because it was sending the wrong message.

He tore his eyes away and said flippantly,
“Good
afternoon
, Maci.”

She looked over at the clock on the
nightstand. “Oh my, I slept until noon? Why didn’t you come and
wake me up so I could eat breakfast with you guys?”

Ari stood, put an index finger to his lip,
and pointed to the other side of the room. He didn’t want his
daughter to hear their conversation. Maci followed him. They stood
at the foot of the bed.

Facing Maci, Ari massaged the back of his
neck before speaking. “Look, Maci,” he said under his breath, “you
know Adrianne is here in San Francisco with me so I can spend time
with her. I only agreed to let you come along because you insisted.
But whatever I do with her, it will be just her and me. I don’t
want you to eat with us. I don’t want you to play with us. I’m
tired of telling you this every time we go out of town.”

Lips pierced together in unconcealed
disapproval, Maci took a step back. “Ari, you don’t have to talk to
me like I’m an idiot.” She glanced back to be sure Adrianne wasn’t
privy to what was being said. “I know these trips are for you and
Adrianne to spend time together. I also know the only reason you
take her on your work trips is because you don’t want your wife,
Taylor,” to know you have a child.” She didn’t hide the contempt in
her voice when she talked about Taylor.

Ari’s jaw dropped. “How the hell did you know
about my wife?”

He had never told Maci that he was married
but she knew and even knew his wife’s name. He had sold her short,
naïvely thinking that she wouldn’t soon guess why he only spent
time with them out of town.

Maci sat down on the king-sized bed, letting
her skirt rise to her mid-thigh. “Ari, everyone who lives in
Chicago knows Mayor Briggs and his family. I’ve seen Taylor at town
hall press conferences with her father. I found out that she was
engaged to you when I saw a picture of the happy couple in the
papers. I believe
The Red Eye
carried the biggest
article.”

“Well, since you know so much, Maci, then let
me be honest. Yes, you are right. My wife doesn’t know about
Adrianne and I plan to keep it that way.”

Maci merely smirked.

“Daddy, you like this dress on Barbie?”
Adrianne asked from her spot at the table.

“Hold it up. Let daddy see.”

She held out her palm and paraded Barbie
across it to model her dress.

“Oh yeah, I like that one.”

Maci tapped his chest to get his attention.
“See, here’s the part I don’t get. I don’t know why you want to
keep our daughter a secret. Why can’t you tell your wife about
us?”

“What do you mean tell her about
us
?”

“Adrianne and I are a package deal.” She
looked at Ari smugly, as if she had him just where she wanted him.
“If you tell her about Adrianne, then naturally she’ll want to know
about her mother.”

Ari had thought about telling Taylor about
Adrianne numerous times, but he never thought he would have to tell
her about Maci and how they met. He was tired of sneaking around to
see his daughter. He wanted Adrianne to be able to come to his home
and eat a family dinner with him and Taylor. He wanted his daughter
to know his wife as her stepmother.
Damn, this situation is
fucked up.

In a low growl, he said to Maci, “I’ll tell
Taylor when I get ready.”

Maci scowled at him.

He put some distance between them, walking
toward the window. Ari scanned the scenery, counting the cars on
the trolleys going up and down the hill. Damn if he was going to
let Maci think she had the upper hand. He refused to be bullied and
blackmailed.

“I guess it’s good that you know about her,”
he said as he went back to where Maci sat. Leaning down so that
their faces were mere inches apart, he told her, “this will also be
your last trip with me and my daughter. I don’t need you here to
chaperon us.” The voice was whisper soft, but the tone was hard and
final.

Maci reared back on her elbows. After giving
him a dismissive stare, she got up. Absorbed with her dolls,
Adrianne didn’t pay much attention when Maci said she was going
back to her room. Maci kissed the tot on the top of her head and
stepped into the hallway and across to her room.