Ready for Love (8 page)

Maritza stared at his hand for a second and wanted to scream at the top of her lungs,
Rapist! Low-down dirty pimp disguised as a businessman!
But instead she took a calming breath and ignored the hand in front of her.

“You really don’t know me that well, Herbert, if you think for one minute I would shake your hand.” Her ice smile firmly in place, she turned to Terrill. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

When she got back to Terrill’s Maybach and got in she found that Terrill wasn’t that far behind her. He got in just after she did.

“What was that about, Maritza? I only introduced you because I thought the connection with the other large record company in town would be good for New Images by Keys and Morales. I didn’t know you knew him already. But that still doesn’t explain why you clearly dislike him so much that you don’t even want his business. That doesn’t seem like you at all.”

“Trust me when I say that
dislike
is too mild a word to describe what I feel for that man. And know that I will never work for him or deal with him in any capacity.”

“What happened? Did you date him in the past or something? Did the relationship end badly?”

“I don’t want to talk about this now, Terrill. I can’t talk about it. I don’t know if I will ever be able to talk about it. So I’m asking you to just leave it.” She wrapped her arms around herself and cursed the weak and pathetic picture she must have represented.

“That’s fine for now. I don’t want to upset you any more than you are. But eventually I need to know, Maritza. Because if he did anything to harm you, I will have to hurt him.” Terrill’s normally upbeat personality and smiling face turned dark and bleak.

“It was years ago. Let’s just leave the past in the past.” She took a deep breath and put on her game face. “So remember, we are going to have our secret between us but with friends and family it will be the same as always. I can’t stand you.” She wrapped her arms around him, relishing the comfort of his strength and letting it make her feel safe if only for a few minutes. After seeing Herbert, she needed to feel Terrill’s strength and warmth.

She kissed him deeply, taking in all the comfort she could gather.

Their tongues twirled around in each other’s mouths until she got lost in the delight of it all. The thing that was developing between her and Terrill was clean and fresh and sweet. She didn’t want anything from her past sullying it, especially not Herbert Jackson.

When she finally managed to pull away from the intoxicating kiss, she smiled. She was going to hold on to this small piece of joy and keep it away from everything and everyone else for as long as she could.

After her meeting with Da Stunnas and the A&R people at Terrill’s record company, Maritza wanted to hurt someone. The last thing she wanted to do was to stop by Terrill’s office and take it out on him, even though she was more than a little irritated with him for having such idiots on his payroll. But she had made up her mind that any disagreements or arguments between her and Terrill would be for show, to keep everyone unaware of how things had changed between them.

Since Penny was still in New Jersey, Maritza decided to give her a call in order to complain about Terrill, his employees and the crappy meeting. It would even help to keep Penny thinking that nothing had changed.

As soon as Penny picked up the phone, Maritza started. “You need to get back here before I kill your boy.”

“Well, hello to you, too, chica.”

She could feel Penny’s smile from across the airwaves and it was already doing wonders to help her mood.

“When are you coming back? Because if your boy doesn’t stay away from me, I’m going to have to cut him.” Maritza giggled in her head because even though that’s how she would have complained to Penny about Terrill in the past, it sounded a little over the top to her ears now.

“Now, now, Maritza, you don’t have to resort to violence. I’ll be back soon. There have been some recent events that might keep me here a little longer. My mother was attacked and I’m going to hang around just a tad bit longer to make sure the person responsible is caught.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your mom. Dang, you just lost your grandmother and now this. Well, I guess I can deal with
el stupido
a little while longer. Business is going well, with the exception of our silent partner
el stupido
feeling like your absence suddenly grants him a voice.”

Penny laughed. “I’m sure he’s only trying to help. You should cut him some slack.”

“Oh, I’ll cut him all right. Don’t give me any ideas.” Maritza couldn’t hold her laughter in on that one.

“Girl, stop. Hey, listen, I’ve been thinking since I’ve been out here in Jersey. We should think about expanding and opening up an office in NYC. We need an East Coast presence for New Images by Keys and Morales.”

Maritza let the idea marinate for a half a second before deciding that she absolutely loved it. There were even more high-profile clients to get in New York and it was time for them to spread their wings and expand.

“We should look into it,” Maritza said, getting more excited by the minute.

“Yeah, I’m thinking I’ll start running the cost and risk factors when I get back. How did the meeting with Da Stunnas go today?”

“Oh, yeah! You reminded me why I called you. Terrill makes me sick. I prepared the perfect image package for Da Stunnas, and his A&R idiots are going to ruin everything I’m trying to accomplish. You know how I work. I know what’s best when it comes to these things. That’s why they pay me, you know…hold on, Penny.” Maritza clicked over.

“Maritza Morales.”

“Hi, Maritza. This is Andrew. Did I catch you at a bad time? I wanted to go over some of the plans you sent me.”

“No, this isn’t a bad time. I was just talking to my business partner. Hold on, let me tell her I’ll call her back.” She clicked back over to Penny. “I’ve got to take this call, chica. Listen, take as much time as you need in Jersey. I have things here. Just call your boy and remind him of the
silent
in silent partner. Smooches.”

“All right, later, chica.”

Maritza smiled when she clicked back over. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as hard as she thought to keep up appearances and make everyone think that she and Terrill still didn’t get along.

“You know I’m not there to protect you, so I don’t know why you’re getting Maritza started?”

Terrill chuckled at the way Penny answered the phone. He knew she had a special ringtone for him, Run DMC’s “Together Forever,” and between that and caller ID she always knew when he was calling.

“How did I know she would have called you complaining already? All I did was make a few tiny suggestions and she blew up. You would have thought I’d asked her for blood or her firstborn. I don’t know how you put up with her.” Terrill laughed again. Maritza had blown up at his suggestions and then he’d quelled her with more sweet lovemaking. “So when will you be back here? And should I start looking for a place for Carla in the wonderful condo area where I have my mother?”

“Ha, ha, ha. Please do not bring up my mother. I don’t know what is getting into that woman. Anyway, someone attacked her the other day—”

“Oh my God. Is she okay? Do you need me to come back out there?”

“No, I don’t need you to come back out here. But thanks for offering.” Penny paused and he could tell she was really shaken up. “Carla’s banged up pretty bad. But she’s out of the hospital now. Do you believe she won’t tell who did it to her? But Jason and I came up with the person we think is responsible. And my father thinks it’s the same person. Do you remember that lowlife she used to mess with, C-Money?”

“Okay, slow down, Penny. You have dropped too many things in one breath for me to just let go without at least a
say what?
But I’m going to start with the most shocking one. Jason? As in Jason Hightower? Y’all playing Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew over there?” Terrill started laughing again. If Jason and Penny were on speaking terms and trying to solve crimes, then maybe there was still hope for them. “Or is there something else you want to share?”

“Yes, Jason Hightower. He is a cop, you know. And he’s been working the case and offering his help and protection. Because Carla won’t just come clean and tell us who—”

Terrill cut her off, full of glee. “So have you talked with him about what happened in the past? Is that why he’s offering his help? I knew he’d under—”

She sighed and cut him right back off. “I haven’t told him anything. I don’t plan on telling him any—” She stopped midsentence and cleared her throat. “I’ve gotta go, Terrill. Jason’s here. I’ll call you later.”

She just smooth hung up on me and she’s going to leave me hanging like that? I can’t believe her.
He waited and waited, and when she didn’t call him back in an hour, he called her back.

“Yes?” Penny answered her phone in her business voice and he knew that she knew it was him calling.

Jason must still be around.

“Girl, you know you can’t just leave a brother hanging like that.” Terrill tried not to laugh but did it anyway.

“Right, you’ll have to deal with my partner on this. I’m out of town due to a death in the family. Please call the office during business hours and someone will be able to respond to your inquiry.”

Terrill really busted a gut then. “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow and by then I want
full
disclosure.”

“Right. Call during business hours. Goodbye.” Penny hung up very quickly and all he could do was laugh. Yes, he had to find out what was going on with those two. And he might not be able to wait until the next day.

He decided to ring up Maritza instead.

“So I’m working your nerves, babe?”

She laughed that cute sexy laugh of hers. “You know I had to keep up appearances, especially with our Penny. She would sniff us out right away if we changed up in the slightest way. And then there is the fact that after meeting with your A&R people I really wanted to strangle you—and them.”

He laughed even though he still wasn’t sure why they had to be such a big secret.

Second Interlude
Ready, Willing and Able…

“D
a—mn! I knew we were about to hear a story. But this is beyond crazy! How in the world did you get Terrill to agree to keep you all’s relationship a secret for so long? I can’t believe none of us even knew it. I just
knew
I was going to have to fight you for Lawrence when we first met, and it turns out you weren’t even checking for Lawrence at all.” Minerva Hightower was sitting next to Carla, snacking on popcorn as if they were watching a movie or something instead of listening to the story of how Maritza found the man of her dreams and lost him.

“Girl, Terrill is good for keeping secrets, just ask Brat, oops…I mean Penny. He kept her secret for years and that was some old craziness right there if I ever saw it. I would have dimed her out years ago if I knew and I’m her mother.” Carla chomped on the popcorn.

“That’s right, he lied for Penny to Jason about cheating on Jason. Penny wanted Jason to believe she had cheated with Terrill and that the baby she miscarried was Terrill’s and not Jason’s.” Samantha Hightower plopped down on the sofa and grabbed some popcorn.

“Umm…hello…I’m right here and I certainly don’t appreciate y’all recounting my business like it’s some soap opera.” Penny rolled her eyes at her in-laws and glared at her mother.

“
Your
business? What about all of y’all in my house giving me the third degree and trying to get all into what happened between Terrill and me?” Maritza shook her head at the lot of them and almost laughed at the Hightower women and Carla until she remembered her own family was there listening to the tale as well.

Her mother, father and brothers were seated in the other chairs and love seat in the room. She glanced at each one and each one was giving her their unique personalized versions of the I’m-so-disappointed-in-you-Maritza stare.

Just what she needed…

Not!

“Do you love him,
niña bonita?
” Her father was never one to beat around the bush.

“I knew I should have jumped in and helped Jason and the other Hightowers pull Andrew’s thug posse off of Terrill. Terrill is a good guy. I knew it had to be something more behind this.” Louis had a gleam of mischief in his eyes as he stood up, paced the room and shook his head.

Maritza sucked her teeth because she knew her most irritating brother was trying to find a way to irritate her even more. He was just never going to get over the fact that she had been born and knocked him out of his baby of the family position.

“Papi asked you a question, sis.” Manuel Jr. sat with his arms folded in front of him right next to their parents. He was the typical oldest child. Manuel Jr. had a butter-pecan complexion and he and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could probably pass for twins.

“And after you answer Papi’s question you can let me know why you never told me that scumbag Herbert Jackson was back in town and if he had anything to do with messing things up between you and Terrill.” Victor was giving her his intense cop stare as if he were trying to read her mind or figure out the past and what she refused to tell him.

Maritza let out a loud scream before glaring at her brother. Everyone in the loft stopped their side conversations and chattering and all eyes were on her again.

Just want she needed…

Not!

Her jaw clenched and she took a deep breath. She glared at Victor one more time so that he understood that if he mentioned one more thing or tried to question her again about what had gone down between her and Herbert Jackson, he would no longer have a sister. Victor had promised to stop questioning her about it, but he always found a way to bring it back up. This time she was holding him to his promise. The last thing she needed was for her other brothers and her father to hear what that scumbag did to her. And none of the Hightowers could know because she never ever wanted Terrill to find out!

Terrill…

She felt a sharp pain through her chest that felt worse than anything she had ever experienced.

A tear trailed down her face and she wiped it away.

What had she done to her Terrill?

Her love…

She turned to her father. “I love him, Papi. But it’s too late for us now. I messed up and I just have to live with it.” She turned to Victor. “I don’t want to talk about Herbert Jackson. Ever! I’ve told you this over and over, Victor. Please, Victor, you are my brother and I love you. I just want to leave it in the past.”

Victor’s face went through a range of emotions and he shook his head. “I’m sorry, sis. I can’t leave it alone anymore. I never could. You know that. I need to know what that scumbag did to you and if he has anything to do with this. And if I can’t find out from you then I will find out from Terrill.” Victor started walking toward the door.

Maritza looked after him in shock with her mouth open. Her mouth fell open even more when Louis and Manuel got up and followed Victor. But when her father got up and followed her brothers, a helpless squeak came out.

They can’t!
She wanted to scream.
Terrill can’t find out!

She thought about running after them and begging them not to go and almost did when she felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder.

“It’s time for everything to come out in the open, baby girl. You can’t keep holding on to secrets and carrying shame for things that you shouldn’t be ashamed of.” Sharon Morales wrapped her arms around Maritza.

Maritza leaned into her mother. She only needed to hear the soothing sound of her mother’s voice to know that her mother already knew about what Herbert did to her. She’d always thought that Victor knew and just wanted to have her confirm it. He couldn’t keep anything from their mother.

He always was a mama’s boy!
Maritza had to laugh to keep from crying at that point.

And if Mom knows then for damn sure Papi knows. Because Mom and Papi don’t keep anything from each other, especially when it comes to us kids.
That thought sent a cold chill through her.

She let out a soft sigh. Hell, maybe it was time to just let everyone know. She wasn’t ashamed of it.

Was she?

But somehow she had become a victim of the secret just as sure as she had been a victim back then.

“Umm…did they just leave for Terrill’s mansion? Brat, I thought we were staying with Terrill at his big mansion. No offense.” Carla shrugged. “But I don’t want to stay here in this loft if I can be staying in a mansion. I mean it’s cute and all…but…they’re not taking our places at the mansion, are they?”

Maritza shook her head and laughed. Yep, she was definitely laughing to keep from crying. And it probably sounded more like hysteria than laughter. But that was all she could do at the moment.

Celia Hightower came over and placed her arms around Maritza, too. Both Celia and her mother led her over to the sofa and sat down with her, each patting her back and trying to calm her down.

“This chick done lost her mind! I told ya men will drive a chick crazy every time! Why you think I’m so crazy?” Carla grabbed some more popcorn. “Well, if we gotta stay here in this small loft, then at least you can make it entertaining and finish telling us the story. How long was you doing the bump and grind with Terrill? And were you getting your swerve on with this Herbert person and the white rapper dude and Terrill all at the same time? Gu-rl! I knew you was a wild one. I peeped that about you early on!”

“Mommy, stop harassing Maritza.” Penny hissed between clinched teeth.

“You guys were broken up by the time you announced your engagement on Valentine’s Day. That’s why when I saw you kissing—” Aisha Hightower, the newlywed wife of Patrick Hightower, shut her own mouth before Maritza could glare at her. She should have known that Aisha wouldn’t be able to keep what she’d seen a secret.

“That’s what I’m talking about, get to the good stuff!” Carla said.

“Girl, you might as well finish spilling. You know once your brothers get over to Terrill’s he’s gonna tell them his side if he isn’t already telling Lawrence and the rest of them…” Minerva’s expression read as if she really was trying to be helpful instead of just being nosy.

Maritza knew better, but Minerva was right. She might as well tell the rest. “Okay, I managed to get Terrill to agree to having a secret affair. And we pretty much had all of y’all fooled that we hated each other…”

“Child, please, you two weren’t fooling a soul. We all saw the attraction between you and thought you needed to get a room years ago. We just didn’t know you were already getting a room.” Celia Hightower shook her head and laughed.

“I know that’s right, Celia, you tell her. She wasn’t fooling nobody! And she sure wasn’t fooling me.” Carla added her two cents.

“Me neither. I could tell from the moment I first saw you and Terrill together that he was the one. I even told your father he was the one. That’s why I was so shocked when you announced you were going to marry this Speed-Lo person.” Sharon Morales wasn’t one to be outdone by the other two older women in the room when it came to the
who-knows-Maritza-best
contest.

Maritza laughed and it sounded a little less hysterical this time. “Okay. So we had been lovers for a little over a year…”

“I can’t believe you and Maritza have been kicking it since Big Mama passed away. That is one hell of a secret…” Jason just shook his head as he looked at Terrill.

Terrill held the newly refreshed ice pack up against his eye and leaned his head back. He’d gone through several ice packs as he told his tale and he expected to go through even more before the night was over. He had barely scratched the surface of his years-long, on-again off-again affair with Maritza.

He sat up and stared at his best friend, glad that they had finally worked past the misunderstandings and were friends again. If he could have the woman of his dreams, too, everything would be perfect in his world.

But Maritza was actually going to marry another man! How in the hell had things gone so incredibly wrong? Better yet, how could he fix them and make them right again?

The doorbell rang and soon his butler was leading four more men to the entertainment room in his mansion. The Morales brothers were there along with Maritza’s father.

After a round of everyone shaking hands and giving each other pounds, Maritza’s brother Manuel spoke up. “We heard from Maritza that you had just cause to want to break up the engagement party today.”

“Well, maybe ‘just cause’ is putting it too strongly, but let’s just say we understand better now why you did what you did.” Louis folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall. “Seriously, I don’t know what my sister is thinking sometimes.”

“If we had understood better back at the restaurant, then maybe you wouldn’t be nursing that black eye right now.” Victor shook his head. “You know I wanted to have your back in there, man. I know you’ve looked out for my sister when you could. And now I know why. Right now though, I just want to find out what, if anything, Herbert Jackson has to do with any of this.”

“Victor, maybe now is not the time…” Maritza’s father started.

Terrill stilled. He had always suspected that something bad had gone down between Maritza and Herbert. And now he could see that all of the Morales men knew or suspected something as well and they were all just looking for one good excuse to go and hunt Herbert down like the dog he was.

Terrill cleared his thought. “I was just filling everyone in on what went down with me and Maritza and why I had to—why I
have to
stop her from marrying another man…” He let out a hiss of breath.

“It’s not her fault. We both made mistakes. I shouldn’t have gone along with her desire to keep our relationship a secret for so long. If I hadn’t done that, then the majority of the things that went wrong between us might never have happened.”

Terrill couldn’t let Maritza take all the blame. He knew how much her family’s opinion meant to her and he would never knowingly do anything to put that in jeopardy.

“Yes, both of y’all can take the blame for that foolishness. But I blame you the most, Terrill.” Patrick Hightower, the man of few words, decided to chime in and offer his fifty cents.

“How you gonna blame him? They’re both adults. It takes two people to start a relationship and two people to mess one up.” Jason defended Terrill and it made Terrill feel good to know that he had his best friend back and Jason would even defend him against one of his older brothers if it came down to it.

“He shouldn’t have even let her set the ground rules like that. He should have manned up and told her that he wasn’t keeping the relationship a secret and she would just have to deal with it.” Patrick shrugged.

“I agree, big brother, he should have laid down the law. That’s what I did,” Lawrence Hightower added.

“Me too. I just told Aisha straight up the first time I met her that she was going to be my love.” Patrick was clearly starting to feel himself.

Louis Morales let out a gut busting laugh. “Excuse me, but have any of you met my little sister? She grew up the only girl with three older brothers and this man for a father.” He pointed at Manuel Sr. for emphasis. “And she gave as good as she got and none of us could ever get away with telling her what to do. She’s so hardheaded and stubborn—”

“And laying down the law wouldn’t have worked because she would have told him exactly what he could do with that law.” Manuel Jr. cut Louis off, laughing the entire time. “And my little sister has a mouth like our mother. Trust me, he didn’t want to take that route. Maybe he shouldn’t have let things go on so long without getting her to admit how she felt about him and making her go public with the relationship. But he wasn’t going to make Maritza Morales do anything she didn’t want to do.” The look Manuel gave Terrill then made it clear that he better not ever try to
make
Maritza do anything, either.