Twists and Curves - A Sexy BWWM Interracial BBW Romance Novella from Steam Books (Romantica) (9 page)

She set the flowers down on the coffee table and sat on the couch. Shane did the same. For a moment, both were quiet, awkward silence settling on the room. Then, Shane spoke.

“I don’t really know where to begin,” he confessed. “On the way here, I was trying to think of the best way to apologize, but I don’t really know what to apologize for. All I know is that I ended up hurting you somehow and I’m sorry.”

She could not help but give a slight smile at his sincerity. 

“I guess I owe you an explanation,” he went on. “Eight years ago, I met Isabelle and I guess you could say I fell in love with her. We were only together a short time, though, just a few months. I never thought we’d have a kid.” He paused. “By the time I found out, she and I were no longer together, but she was sure the child was mine and I believed her.”

Yolanda nodded, remembering the picture of the child she had seen on television, who undeniably looked like him.

“I offered to marry her, but she refused. She said she was no longer in love with me and that the best thing I could do for her was to walk out of her life. And so I did. I’ve continued to provide for her, though. Isabelle got married two years ago and her husband seems to treat Christina well, so there aren’t problems, or at least I thought there wouldn’t be. Ever since I became popular, one of the things I always hoped for was for her to be kept out of the spotlight, not because I didn’t recognize her but because I wanted a normal, fun childhood for her. I guess that’s gone now.”

Yolanda touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It kinda is,” she told him, deciding to be honest with him just as he had been honest with her. “You see, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you.”

She went on to tell him about Roy Carmichael, about how he had been the one behind her rumored affair, how he had hurt her family, how he had hurt Shane. At the end of it all, Shane gave her a look of disbelief, and of anger.

“So he did all that?”

She nodded. “I’m afraid so. I tried not to get you involved but I guess I failed.”

“Was that why you were trying to stay away from me?”

She nodded.

“None of this is your fault, Yolanda.” He squeezed her hand. “He’s a bastard, a beast. How can he call himself a man if he can’t handle defeat and if he gets innocent people involved? How can he hurt a woman like you like that?”

“I know,” she said. “He’s a despicable monster.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do to stop him?”

She looked at him. “At first, I thought there was nothing I could do. The gap between us is so great, after all. But just last night, I started thinking and maybe I’m not as helpless as I thought.”

“You’ve got a plan?”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve got a plan, alright. It’s time for Roy Carmichael to pay for his crimes.”

~ ~ ~

On Friday morning, Yolanda gave Roy Carmichael a call.

“Yolanda Gray. How wonderful it is to hear from you. Are you still with that country singer? You shouldn’t trust him, you know.”

Yolanda was tempted to tell him that she would trust Shane over the likes of him anytime, but simply smirked. 

“So what can I do for you? Or perhaps I should ask what you’d like to do for me?”

“I actually called to invite you to tonight’s show. I know it’s short notice but I hope you can make it.”

There was a pause on the other end. “You’re inviting me to be your guest?”

“That’s right. That’s what you wanted in the first place, after all. Am I right?”

He said nothing, his silence letting her know he was contemplating her offer. 

“Of course, if you can’t come, I’ll have to call someone…”

“I’ll be there,” he said suddenly. 

She grinned triumphantly. “That’s good.”

“I look forward to seeing you, Yolanda.”

“Same here,” she said before hanging up. That last bit was not a lie. She was looking forward to seeing him, not because she really wanted to see him for his sake, but because she had some things she had to say to him.

She grinned.

With luck, before the day was over, Roy Carmichael would be out of her life for good.

~ ~ ~

“It’s a good thing you could come, Mr. Carmichael,” Yolanda greeted Roy as he arrived a few minutes before the show.

Yolanda was dressed much flashier than usual. Her attire for the show was usually very professional, almost business-like, but she glammed it up considerably for the big day. She had dangling earrings, light eyeliner and red lipstick. She also had a flowing purple dress that draped over and accentuated her generous curves, and a neckline that plunged just short of showing lots of cleavage—but she wore a couple of long gold necklaces that draped downward between her breasts, daring any man who saw her not to follow the necklaces down with their eyes.

She reached out to shame Carmichael’s hand.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said, taking her hand and, instead of shaking it, brought it to his lips. As he let it go, his eyes raked over her, making her feel as if he could see through the purple dress, though she managed not to shudder in disgust.

Focus, Yolanda.

“I would like to have a few words with you before the show. Please follow me.”

She walked towards her dressing room, him following at her heels.  Once there, she closed the door and sat on a chair, crossing her legs. She gestured for him to have a seat, as well.

“Actually, what I want to talk to you about has nothing to do with tonight’s show,” she said smoothly. 

“Really? And what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“I was wondering if we could start over,” Yolanda’s voice grew more sultry. “You have to admit, we got off on the wrong foot, after all.”

Carmichael was transfixed. “That we did.”

“I still can’t believe you did that to the chocolates.”

“You mean put laxatives in them? A stroke of genius, don’t you think?”

“Indeed.” Yolanda chuckled. “Did you inject them yourself?”

“I did.”

Yolanda nodded. “Wow. I guess I should be glad you didn’t poison me.”

He grinned. “I considered putting sedatives instead and having you abducted, but then I did want you to come to me of your own will.”

“Ah.”

“And now you have.”

Yolanda answered, “Yes, I have. I realized how powerful you are. You could dominate and manipulate anyone, what chance did I have to resist you? And to think all I would have to do, was to give myself to you like the prize that I am, to let you have your way with me.”

Carmichael had the most intense look of self-satisfaction on his face. “I’m glad you came to your senses.”

Yolanda smiled. “I must admit you are a very persistent man. It’s quite charming in a way.”

“One cannot achieve success if one does not persist.”

“Have you always been this persistent with women?”

“I have,” he admitted. “Though I have to say, you have been the greatest challenge so far.”

“Really? And here I thought Melanie Birch was the greatest challenge.”

He frowned. “I don’t remember any woman with that name.”

Yolanda elaborated, “Like I said, I realized that you had conquered many others: competitors, business partners, women, and that nobody becomes as successful as you without making a few enemies.”

Carmichael’s brow furrowed as he saw where this was going.

Yolanda continued, “You forget I’m a journalist, I love investigating. And so I did. I investigated and met with some of your prior conquests, including a Ms. Birch. She agrees that you were quite persistent with her, too. She must have turned you down so many times you lost your patience and finally raped her.”

He was clearly flustered, though he tried to hold on to his composure. “I did no such thing.”

“You drugged her, tied her to a bed in a hotel room.”

He shook his head.

“And you raped her.”

“It wasn’t rape. Melanie Birch was willing.”

Yolanda grinned. “I thought you didn’t know Melanie Birch.”

She got up and walked towards the door.

He got up, as well. “Wait, what is the meaning of this?”

“Oh, right, you’re not very smart, are you?” Yolanda said, turning around. “After all, the only reason you managed to get to the top is by bribing people and scaring them.”

“That is not true.”

“Let me spell the situation out for you, Mr. Carmichael.” She walked back towards him with a hand on her hip. “You are not going to bother me anymore.”

He just looked at her, still confused.

“From this moment on, you’re going to leave me alone, me and everyone I love. That includes Shane McFiggins.”

He snorted. “That boy can’t handle a woman like you, Yolanda.” He took a step closer to her and took a strand of her hair between his fingers. “He can’t give you all the things I can.”

She slapped his hand away. “You won’t lay a finger on me anymore. If you do, I’ll go to Maximilian Shaw and tell him everything I’ve found out about your company, including how you schemed your way to the top.”

“Maximilian Shaw?” His face grew pale at the mention of his business rival.

“The two of you have been at each other’s throats for years, right? I’m sure with the information I give him, he’ll be able to take you down.”

Roy just gritted his teeth. 

“Oh, and whether or not you try to bother me from now on, I’ll be circulating the news about Melanie Birch and all those women you took against their will,” Yolanda added, enjoying the look on Roy’s face. “And unlike you, my stories are based on hard facts.”

“You’ll never be able to prove anything.”

She took out the small recorder in her pocket. “Well, I can prove you know Melanie Birch at least. You did mention her name a while ago.”

He clenched his fists. “Your stepbrother will never get his job back and your stepsister will lose her scholarship for good.”

“That’s fine.” Yolanda crossed her arms over her chest calmly. “I already got my stepbrother a new job and my stepsister a new scholarship. It turns out they both have really good qualifications.”

“You bitch,” he spat out at her. “You goddamned fat black bitch!”

She just grinned. “It seems you chose the wrong fat, black bitch to mess with.”

With those words, she turned on her heel.

“Oh, and by the way,” she added, stopping just before the dinner. “You’re still a guest on the show, only it’s not my show anymore. It’s Ms. Lambert’s. She’s a little tougher than me. But she recently got a tan. Who knows? The two of you might hit it off and then you’d end up being her fourth husband.”

Still grinning, she walked out of the room, feeling better than she ever had in a long while.

She had executed her plan perfectly and now, Roy Carmichael was not her problem anymore.

The nightmare was over.

~ ~ ~

“You should have seen the look on his face,” Yolanda told Shane an hour later as the two of them sat on her couch, celebrating with wine and cake. “He reminded me of a kid who had been caught trying to scoop out the goldfish.”

“Or trying to steal from the cookie jar,” Shane said.

“He looked helpless and ridiculous.”

“Which serves him just right.” Shane placed his arm around Yolanda and drew her closer to him. “Are you happy now?”

Yolanda nodded, placing her hand over one of his. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I doubt that. You were the one who thought about the whole plan and gathered all the information you needed.”

“But you were the one who gave me the strength to do all of it,” she told him, squeezing his hand. “You were the one who made me realize what I should have known all along – that I should never have just taken all that bullshit he was dishing out.”

“I’m sure you would have realized it sooner or later.” He stroked her cheek. “At any rate, I’m glad that you’re happy now.”

Yolanda nodded.

“Are you sure you want to quit being a talk show host, though?” he asked. “You made that big decision pretty suddenly, you know.”

“I just listened to the voice inside my heart like you told me to,” she said. “Being a talk show host is fun and all, but I think I’d really rather be a reporter.”

“Well, you’re a great reporter.”

Yolanda smiled. “Now we’re both doing what we love.”

Shane, too, smiled. Then, he leaned forward to claim her lips in a kiss, one that started out gently but quickly escalated into one filled with so much passion that when it was over, Yolanda felt feverish and dizzy, but at the same time, truly filled with joy.

The nightmare, with all its twists and curves, was over, and she had a feeling that a wonderful dream was just about to begin.