Submitting To The White Billionaire (BWWM Interracial Romance) (6 page)

“So is this what your conversation on the phone was about last night?” I pried.

She gave a slow nod, “Yes, I gave Marcus $5k to be quiet and now he’s trying to blackmail me for more.”

“Hold on, you did what?!”

A rage that I didn’t know that I had bubbled up, and I became extremely pissed. How could she do such a stupid thing? I backed away from her and stood to my feet.

“Seriously? You gave him $5k of my money? Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked.

“
I didn’t know what to do,” she said in her defense.

“
You could have come to me! Now you’ve given him my money, and I’m sure that will probably fund more drug selling. That directly implicates me. You have possibly ruined everything that my family and I have worked for. Can you imagine how bad this looks? Giving a known drug dealer $5k? I could do time for that.”

“
I’m so sorry,” she said, “I wasn’t thinking like that. I just wanted to give him the money so that he would go away for good.”

“
Right except now he isn’t gone for good. Now that you’ve given in to him, he has us by the fucking balls!”

“
It will be fine,” she said.

“
It could have been fine. It could have been fine if you would have come to me in the beginning. Now it’s not fine, it’s so far from fine that I’m ready to completely flip my lid.”

She grabbed her legs tighter and inched away from me as if I was going to get violent with her.
  I felt bad for scaring her because I would never do something like that, but I wasn’t in the mood to comfort her either. I couldn’t look at her anymore, she was not who I thought she was.

“
I don’t know if I can trust you anymore,” I said.

Her bottom lip trembled, and a fresh set of tears spilled from her eyes. I wanted to hug her, but all I could hear was my father in my head. He may have been right about everything after all. I was sure that I would be hearing from him soon because this had become my family’s problem.

“Kyle-“

“
No,” I said cutting her off, “You need to leave.”

She shook her head quickly, “Please just listen.”

“Now really isn’t a good time to speak to me because I’m finding it hard to be rational. I need you to leave my house. I have a lot of damage control to do because of you. Get your things and go.”

Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and she rose from the bed. I quickly put on my clothes and left the apartment. I couldn’t bear to watch her gather her things to leave my loft. I wanted her to stay, but I was so angry with her. I knew that she was from the poor part of Chicago and that she’d had a rough life, but I never thought that she would have been caught up in drugs and gangs.
  She’d never lied to me about her background, but she never volunteered the information either.

I told her that I understood why she didn’t tell me, but I wasn’t quite there yet. I wanted to understand why she kept it from me, and I was willing to work through it. But the last straw was when her actions began to threaten the livelihood of my family. I didn’t agree with a lot of things that my father did but on that point I agreed with him. I couldn’t have someone in my life that made poor decisions.

Her giving her ex my money completely threw me off guard. I overheard her the previous night, but I didn’t want to believe that she was doing something like that. I hoped like hell that the press wouldn’t figure out that she’d given him that money. If they did, they would be all over the story and create connections where there aren’t any. Would not surprise me if they implied I was funding all the drug dealers in Chicago.

I walked to my car and decided to take a drive alone lake shore. I needed some downtime on the beach alone before I was ready to fully face the day. I should have been moving forward with my business venture but instead I was going to have to spend the day cleaning up the mess.

My phone rang continuously, and I saw that it was my father. I groaned and hit ignore. I would deal with him after I had my morning coffee and not a moment before.

I did not want to lose Camille but it would be very hard for me to trust her after this. I needed to think of a plan.

#Chapter8

“
It’s funny how we sometimes want comfort from the person that’s caused us pain.”

Camille

To say that my heart was hurting would have been a severe understatement.

The shit had finally hit the fan, and I didn’t come out unscathed. All I could think was that it was way too early for this. My tears flowed over my cheeks as I drove aimlessly around the city. I contemplated driving back to my apartment in South Holland, but I knew that being alone wouldn’t have been good for me. I’d spent far too many days and nights crying in that apartment over my dating and financial woes.

I called the first person who popped into my head, and that was Sandy. She was a little surprised to hear me burst into tears once she picked up the phone, and she told me to come over. She was working the night shift so I’d gotten lucky because I needed to speak to her. I didn’t want to go back into the same area as Marcus, but I hoped that no one spotted me. I didn’t want to see him, and he probably couldn’t wait to rub everything in my face.

My phone had already been called a few times and it was reporters asking for an official statement from me. They wanted to know if there was any truth to what had been alleged in the papers. I refused to answer any of their questions and hung up. I probably wouldn’t take any more calls for the rest of the day. I didn’t need any bad news, and I definitely didn’t need anyone prying into my business.

I arrived at her house shortly, and she greeted me with a big hug at the door. I seemed to be leaning on my friends a lot lately. The truth was that I really needed them.

“Girl what the hell is going on? People are talking, and I saw the paper,” she said as she plopped down on her couch.

I sighed and left my bags at the door and joined her, “I don’t even know where to begin.”

“The beginning,” she said. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you because the media has been trolling and wanting me to tell them info about you. They even offered me money, but there’s no way in hell that I would sell you out like that.”

“
I’m happy that you feel that way, and honestly I’ve never thought that you would. Thank you for being a real friend.”

“
So what in the hell is going on?”

“
Marcus is what’s going on,” I said.

“
What do you mean?”

I started from the beginning and told her about my interactions with Marcus over the last few days, and she stared at me the entire time with an open mouth.

“He put his damned hands on you?” She yelled, “What did Kyle say about that?”

“
I haven’t told Kyle,” I said.

“
So let me guess, that’s why you’re here instead of with your man?” She asked without a hint of sympathy in her voice.

I didn’t realize how bitchy I was feeling until I imagined me slapping the condescending look off of her face. Just as quickly as I thought about it, I felt bad. She’d opened the doors of her home to me, and I was imagining hurting her. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“Yes that’s why I’m here,” I said through gritted teeth.

“
I would have never allowed Marcus to come between me and my rich man. He’s a fucking peon, and you’re about to be royalty. Why didn’t you go straight to him and tell him? Money rules everything; I bet he could have put an end to all of it immediately. Kyle is like a giant and Marcus is an ant,” she ranted.

I stared at her as she went on about what a stupid decision I made. I wanted to be upset with her,
 but she was absolutely right. I should have known better, and I should have trusted Kyle with my past and with the things that were going on with me. It was unrealistic to think that I could keep it from him. I’d possibly put an end to what truly mattered most to me. He’d become my companion in every sense of the word and now I wasn’t sure if he was done with me or not. I wanted to call him, but I wasn’t going to ask him to make a decision when he was so upset. It wouldn’t turn out in my favor.

“
I already know that you’re right,” I said in frustration.

She took a moment to end her scolding and took a real look at me.

“You know that I’m just trying to keep it real with you,” she said, “I wouldn’t be your friend if I didn’t tell you the truth.

“
I already know the truth. I know it better than anyone, I’m the one that got put out today,” I said as my tears pricked my eyes again.

I took a moment to calm myself and to put a halt to my tears. I wondered if it was such a good idea to come and speak with her. She wasn’t being very helpful at the moment. I didn’t want her to be a parent; I wanted her to be my friend.

“I’m sorry, I know that it’s not what you want to hear right now but someone has to tell you. I would hate to see you give up such a good thing over bullshit. Leave the ghetto shit here and don’t let it leak into your new life.”

“
OKAY SANDY,” I yelled.

“
No need to get pissy with me,” she rolled her eyes, “So do you think Marcus told?”

“
Of course I think he told,” I said.

She shook her head, “I always knew that he was evil, but this is just beyond evil. The fact that he would do something like that to
 
you
 shows just how crazy he really is. He is off of his rocker, and everyone around here has been talking about it.”

“
What do you mean?” I asked.

“
People are really starting to become scared of him and you know how that goes. Someone is going to silence him soon. He lives too close to where he does dirt to act so crazy,” she disclosed.

“
There was a time where I wouldn’t have wished anything bad on him but now I just don’t know anymore. He’s pushed me to a place where I really don’t care.”

“
I don’t blame you.”

“
I think he’s completely ruined my relationship,” I said.

“
Kyle didn’t ask for the ring back and so he’s probably thinking things over. When men are finished with you, they love to ask for their ring back.”

“
I really hope you’re right,” I yawned.

“
I’m always right,” she grinned, “Now take your ass in the room and get some rest. I’ll wake you after I’ve made lunch. I’ll also bring your bags.”

I rose to my feet, “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re my girl, even when you’re hardheaded.”

I laughed sleepily and walked back to the room. She and I spent the day together, and she didn’t mention how crazy she thought that I was for the rest of the day. I was happy that she was able to pick up on my mood and leave it alone. I didn’t think that I could take much more of her unasked for advice. I watched the clock because I couldn’t wait for her shift to start at 7pm. It was her house, but I wanted the peace and quiet. I wanted to be able to cry without her coming in trying to make me feel better. I could have done it at home, but it would have felt so much lonelier.

“Alright Cam, I’m about to get out of here for work. Don’t sit up all night crying, I know how you are. You’re way too cute for those puffy ass eyes that you rock after a long night of tears.”

I smacked my lips, “Bye Sandy, I’ll see you in the morning.”

She gave me a big hug and left the house. I went straight towards her freezer and grabbed a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar. I couldn’t wait to tear into it and so I was halfway finished with it before I reached the guestroom. I sat on the edge of the bed and finished it as I enjoyed the silence. After I threw it away I crawled in the bed and cried. I was able to release everything that I’d been feeling over the last few days into the pillows.

I thought that I would drift off to sleep, but I was up for hours thinking about my future that was up in the air. Kyle had every right to longer want me, but I wouldn’t be able to walk out of his life without trying to get him back. I just hoped that what I had to say would be enough to keep us together. I was finally experiencing the love that I’d always wanted, and I ruined it with my lack of trust. I was bringing back old habits into my new relationship, and it put everything in jeopardy. Kyle took my past so much better than I’d expected, and he was willing to still be with me. What he didn’t appreciate was that I’d given money to Marcus. The feelings of guilt plagued and tormented me all night.

When I wasn’t feeling guilty, I was feeling angry. I wanted to confront Marcus, but it would only make him happy to see me so miserable. He’d shown me exactly how much he truly cared about me. I didn’t buy into the idea that a woman sold me out, he probably put someone up to it. I was willing to bet that it was his child’s mother. Charity was a vindictive hood rat that chased after cheese. She was attracted to shiny objects, and when a man flashed his cash or gold in front of her, he could do whatever he wanted. I couldn’t stand her.