The Object of His Obsession (The Alexanders Book 4) (9 page)

Heshan dropped his head.
How had Tyson found out? “Look, man, I don’t know what happened
between them, okay. I only know what I heard.”

“And what did you hear,
exactly?”

“Tyson, come on, man. I
don’t want to be involved in this. I don’t know what happened and I
think it’s best if I just stayed out of it.”

Tyson took a few steps
closer to him. “What did you hear, Heshan?”

Heshan sighed and shook
his head. “Man—”

“It’s like that, Heshan?”
Tyson asked with raised brows. “That’s how you’re going to play
me?”

Heshan placed his hands
behind his head and threaded his fingers. Gosh, he didn’t want to
do this. Not now. Not ever. But Tyson was not only his cousin, but
his friend and he couldn’t leave him hanging. “Alright, but I’m not
sure what happened, okay. I need to make that clear to you. I just
overheard Lalita telling my mother that Gabrielle and Dilvan may
have been together when they were in Chicago...she said the baby
might not be yours. There. I said it. It’s probably not true
because I can’t see Gabrielle doing that...”

“And what about your
psychopathic brother? Can you see him doing that?”

“Tyson, look...you know
Dilvan has issues.”

“It’s cool...no need to
explain,” Tyson said calmly. Eerily. “I’m going to handle
everything.”

“Tyson...”

“It’s cool, Heshan. Oh, and
thanks for having my back by the way,” he said, sarcastically. “You
sure know how to be a real friend, don’t you?” He then walked away,
heading back for the house.

Henry, Carmen and Destiny
were upstairs in a guest bedroom. Tamera had retreated to the other
guest bedroom where she had been staying.

Gabrielle was sitting on
the bed in the master bedroom, holding her stomach, feeling the
Braxton-Hicks contractions squeeze and release. Squeeze and
release. Her doctor had told her that the contractions were fine.
Said they were giving the baby a gentle hug, then releasing,
basically, preparing the body for the real contractions that were
soon to come. She rubbed her belly more, took long breaths in and
out, then saw Tyson walk in the room.

“Tyson, can you sit down
with me for a minute?”

“No,” he said, not even
looking at her. “I’m going to get some fresh air. I need time to
think.”

“About what,
Tyson?”

He hadn’t responded. He
took his running shoes from the closet.

“Tyson, why are
you—”

“I’m out,” he said,
slamming the door behind him.

Tears crawled from
Gabrielle’s eyes, down her face. Something was wrong with her
husband. He’d been fine all day and then, tonight, he changed. At
dinner, she noticed he was quiet, not himself. Why was he distant
and reticent? Was he nervous about the baby shower? About the baby?
Was he having second thoughts about being a father? How could he be
having second thoughts when all he could talk about was how excited
he was to have a son? He wanted this baby more than
anything.

Gabrielle dabbed her eyes,
took her cell phone and called him. She listened to the rings, but
when voicemail picked up, she set the phone back on the nightstand
and dried her eyes, hoping that he would call her back.

* * *

Tyson hadn’t even left the
house yet. He was sitting in his jeep when Gabrielle’s call came
through. He was too angry to answer. Too angry to talk to her. Evil
thoughts ran through his head. Through his blood. Could Gabrielle
really do something like this to him? Did she really cheat on him,
especially knowing the turmoil that his ex, Desiree, had put him
through?

And then there was Dilvan.
Tyson could only see red when Dilvan crossed his mind. All he
wanted to do was run back in the house, grab his gun and pay Dilvan
a visit. But they had family in town and now was not the time to
cause a bunch of chaos. And what he heard from Heshan was a partial
story (one that hurt, but still, partial) and what if Gabrielle’s
baby was his and not Dilvan’s? What good would he accomplish by
putting a bullet in Dilvan’s skull? Then again, Dilvan deserved a
bullet in his skull, but if he killed the man, how would he see his
son grow up from behind bars? Then again, what if it wasn’t his
son?

Too confused to do
anything else, Tyson drove to a bar. He drank vodka, hoping that it
would ease the pain he felt in his heart, but it only distorted his
thinking. Only made him want to go to Dilvan’s place and obliterate
him. Drinking hard liquor didn’t make him a stumbling drunk. It
made him mean, dangerously mean, and that’s why he avoided drinking
in excess. Tonight, though, he didn’t care. He’d drink all he
wanted. He’d lost everything he loved. Was his woman really his
woman? Was his baby really his baby? If a man had to question those
things, then maybe he wasn’t with the right woman,
right?

Chapter 13

The Baby Shower

The baby shower was
planned for two o’clock. Gabrielle’s father, along with Carmen and
Destiny had already left for Padma’s place. Tamera stayed behind to
assist Gabrielle, waiting for her to get dressed. The only problem
was, Gabrielle hadn’t come out of the bedroom or showed any
indication that she was preparing for the baby shower and it was
already 1:30 p.m.

Tamera knocked on the
door. “Gabrielle, are you ready?”

“No,” she
responded.

“Sweetie, it’s
one-thirty.”

“I’m not going,” Gabrielle
said sadly.

“What?” Tamera asked,
frowning. She opened the door and proceeded into the room, watching
Gabrielle sitting on the bed. “What do you mean you’re not going?
This is
your
baby
shower.”

“I’m not going,
Tamera.”

“Gabrielle, what’s going
on? We had a wonderful evening yesterday, found you the perfect
outfit, Tyson cooked da bomb dinner and we had a good time, right?
What changed?”

Gabrielle shrugged with
tears in her eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Are you not feeling
well?”

“I just don’t want to
go.”

“Come on, Gabrielle.
Obviously something happened. What is it? Did you and Tyson get
into a fight or something?”

Gabrielle dabbed her eyes.
“Tyson had been acting weird at dinner, then last night, he told me
he needed time to think. He left and didn’t bother coming home last
night.”

Brows furrowed, Tamera
asked, “He didn’t come home last night?”

“No.”

That doesn’t sound like my
brother
, Tamera thought.

Just then, Tamera heard
commotion at the front door. “Maybe that’s him,” she said standing.
She peeped out of the bedroom door to see if it was actually him.
It was, but he looked rough, like he was recovering from a
hangover. His eyes were bloodshot and his facial hair was sprouting
out of his face.

“Tyson, where have you
been,” Tamera asked. “The baby shower is—”

“I need you to leave,
Tamera.”

Tamera frowned when she
smelled the slightest hint of alcohol on his breath. “Tyson have
you been drinking?”

“Leave, Tamera!” he
demanded. She couldn’t recall an instance when Tyson had ever
yelled at her before, other people, yes, but not her.

“Tyson, I’m worried about
you—”

“I had three drinks,” he
said. “Three, and that was last night. Now leave. I need to talk to
Gabrielle in private.”

Tamera threw her hands up
in the air and said, “Fine.” He seemed like he was sober. He wasn’t
slurring his words or stumbling. He didn’t look well but he
certainly wasn’t drunk. “I’m going to Padma’s for the baby shower.
Hope you guys decide to show up.” Tamera snatched her purse from
the coffee table and left out of the front door.

Tyson didn’t see Henry’s
car, so he assumed he, and Gabrielle’s sisters, had already left
for Padma’s place. He was there alone with Gabrielle now. He walked
to the bedroom where he knew Gabrielle would be and said, “I want
to ask you something, Gabrielle?”

“No. I need to ask you
something,” she said fighting back tears. She took a good, hard
look at him, noticing he was scruffy. His eyes were heavy. He
looked tired. Had he even slept at all? “Where were you last night,
Tyson?”

“Where I was last night is
irrelevant.”

“No it’s not. You’re my
husband and you didn’t come home—”

“Oh...
now
I’m your husband!” he roared.
Then something in him broke. Shattered. He knew it was his heart.
“Was I your husband when you were with Dilvan in
Chicago?”

“What?” she asked, tears
spilling out of her eyes, one hand resting on her stomach. “Tyson,
what are you talking about?”

He figured it would help
if he asked the question a bit slower.
“Was...I...your...husband...when...you...were...with...Dil...van...in
Chicago?”

“I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”

Tyson frowned and glared
at her. “You know, I never took you for a liar.”

“A liar? I’m not lying
about anything. I have no reason to lie, and what exactly is it
that you’re implying?”

“Is the baby even mine,
Gabrielle?”

A hurt look of confusion
took over her face as more tears spilled out of Gabrielle’s eyes.
“Tyson, of course the baby is yours. Do you think that something
happened between me and Dilvan because I would never—”

“I trusted you. I never
thought you would do this to me. I never thought you could hurt me
like this,” he said, pacing the floor.

“Tyson, please listen to
me. I didn’t sleep with Dilvan. I don’t even know why you’re saying
these things to me. And of course or baby is yours.”

“Stop lying to
me!”

“I’m not lying,” she said
tearfully. “I would never cheat on you, Tyson.”

“Then I’m going to ask you
one question, Gabrielle. One question, and you better not lie to
me. When you went to Chicago, were you ever alone with
Dilvan?”

“Yes, but—”

“That’s all I needed to
know,” he said, interrupting her and not giving her any time to
explain. “You’re no different than Desiree. I can’t believe I
actually thought I could have a future with you.”

“Tyson, please listen to
me. I never cheated on you,” Gabrielle cried, feeling the
Braxton-Hicks contractions intensify.

“I thought you really loved
me, too.”

“I do love you,
Tyson.”

“Yeah. Sure you do.” Tyson
walked away from her and out of the room. He came back soon after
though and said, “I should’ve taken care of Dilvan a long time
ago.” He walked over to the dresser, took a case from the drawer,
unlocked it and removed a gun. He stuffed it in the back of his
jeans.

“Oh my gosh, Tyson. What
are you doing? Don’t do this.”

“Too late. Just like our
marriage, Gabrielle, it’s already over and done with.” He rushed
out of the bedroom in a hurry and slammed the front door so hard,
he almost tore it away from the hinges.

Gabrielle cried harder.
Tyson was going on a rampage, accusing her of things she hadn’t
done and he was on his way to Dilvan’s house with a gun. Would he
really kill him? Was he capable of doing such a thing?

Gabrielle didn’t care much
for Dilvan, but she didn’t want him to die, nor did she want Tyson
in prison for the rest of his life. How would he see his son grow
up if he was locked up?

Her nerves were out of
control. With shaky, fidgety hands, she took her cell phone from
the nightstand and called Padma.

“Everybody’s here except
for you and Tyson, honey. Are y’all on the way?”

“No, Padma,” Gabrielle
cried. “Tyson has gone berserk...I don’t know what’s gotten into
him, but he’s on the way to Dilvan’s house with a gun!”

“What?” Padma asked,
realizing that it was all crashing down. She tried her best to keep
the rumors and Lalita’s confession at bay, but somehow it had
gotten out.

“He thinks I had an affair
with Dilvan and he’s heading there with a gun. I don’t know what’s
wrong with him, Padma. I tried to tell him that I didn’t cheat on
him and he wouldn’t listen to me,” Gabrielle said through tears.
“He wouldn’t listen.”

“Okay. Calm down,
Gabrielle. I’m heading to Dilvan’s house now. I’ll send Tamera back
over there with you, okay.”

“Okay, Padma.” Gabrielle
sniffled. She hung up the phone and rubbed her stomach, praying
that Tyson got some of his common sense back.

Chapter 14

The baby shower was over
before it had a chance to begin.

Padma rounded up Heshan,
Prasad and Lalita, told them what happened, then after they all
jumped in her SUV, she floored it to Dilvan’s house. Dilvan brought
her much heartache over the years, but she still didn’t want to see
her son dead. She wanted to see him get help. He could thrive and
be a responsible, productive, sane member of society, but not
without the proper treatment.