Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
I t had been almost forty-eight hours since her encounter with Maximus, and Raven still felt numb. She’d known he was a horrible human being, but this? Claiming her kids as his own? He had crossed the line, and when she and Zion exposed him for the liar he was—because they would—she hoped Maximus rotted in hell.
She and Zion had arrived back in Chicago last night, and their first stop had been to pick up their babies. If Zion hadn’t vetoed the idea, Raven would’ve allowed the kids to sleep in bed with them even though she’d known it was a bad idea. After a few hours of just holding and loving on them, her anxiety had settled some.
Now they were in Zion’s truck heading to a private investigator’s office to get some help with Maximus. Raven wasn’t sure what the PI could do, but she was open to any help they could get to shut Maximus down.
After leaving the hospital the other day, the hours that followed had been a blur, at least for her. She’d been discombobulated, feeling as if she was walking on uneven ground. She hadn’t been able to eat or sleep. She still couldn’t wrap her brain around the fact that Maximus had somehow gotten his hands on a paternity test. Not one, but two tests with her babies’ names on them. There was no doubt in her mind they were fakes, but the documents had been enough to capture Christopher’s attention and give him pause.
The way he had looked at her after reading the information on Maximus’s phone kept playing through her mind. Raven had seen the questions in his gaze. Granted, he might not actually believe his grandson, but Maximus had presented Christopher with enough information to create doubt in her story.
Raven wasn’t sure what hurt the most, Maximus’s betrayal or the fact that Christopher might not believe her.
Definitely the latter. Maximus was a low-down jerk, and she wouldn’t put much past him. But Christopher was important to her. A friend she could call on for anything. Now she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t want to lose him, but if he believed his lying grandson over her, then she’d have no other choice but to move on.
She glanced in the backseat where the twins were napping and released a quiet sigh. They had the right idea. She leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes, allowing the smooth jazz playing through the speakers to calm her nerves. That with the smooth ride, the comfortable, soft as butter, leather seat, and the woodsy fragrance inside the truck, she could totally doze off.
If only .
She couldn’t shut her brain down long enough to stop thinking about the situation. A situation she was glad she wasn’t going through alone. What if Maximus had pulled this stunt before she’d found Zion? At least, with Zion around, they could prove to a court that he was indeed Andrew and Zanaya’s father. That was yet another reason why she was so grateful the stars had aligned, and she and Zion found their way back to each other. Thank God .
Zion was under the impression that Maximus probably hadn’t considered him being back in the picture. The guy could go to court if he wanted to, but now the truth would eventually come out.
There was no way Raven would’ve survived the last couple of days had it not been for him. He’d been livid after leaving the hospital, but he’d managed to keep his cool. He’d been her rock during a couple of crying spells, and it was because of him they’d managed to get her apartment all packed up. There’d been a lot to do in a short amount of time, but they’d got it all done.
Her man was definitely a keeper.
She opened her eyes and turned to look at him, surprised when their gazes met. He smiled, and she couldn’t help but smile back. In that moment, it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him she loved him, but the words didn’t come.
Soon. She’d tell him soon.
Splitting his attention between the highway and her, he reached over and linked his fingers with hers. A calmness seeped into her as they rode that way for several minutes without speaking, until she said, “I’m so glad you’re in my life.”
He brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Me too, baby. There’s no other place I’d rather be, and like I told you the other day, we’re going to get through this.”
“I know. We have the truth on our side.”
“True, and it wouldn’t take much to discredit Maximus’s claim, but I want to find out how he managed those paternity results. Even if he swabbed the babies without you knowing, his DNA and theirs wouldn’t give those results. Someone manipulated the tests. Which is why I’m getting Wiz involved.”
“That’s the P.I?”
“Yeah, his real name is Cameron Miller, and he’s the best of the best. He’s also one of the owners of Supreme Security-Chicago, and they have another office in Atlanta. He and his business partner, Malik Lewis, oversee the office that’s here in town. If anyone can get answers, it’s Wiz.”
Zion had told her a little about the guys who were former military but now owned a high-end personal security firm. They provided personal security to the rich and famous, as well as offered security for large events, and they even had a division that installed state-of-the-art alarm systems.
Raven straightened and glanced out the window as they entered a gorgeous neighborhood.
“I thought we were heading to his office. This looks like a residential neighborhood.”
It looked like a new community with houses so huge they were probably considered mansions. Most sat behind tall wrought-iron gates on massive lots, and each one was as stunning as the next. What she liked most was that they were all different and unique with lush landscaping surrounding them.
“Wiz wanted us to come to his home office since technically he’s off work today.”
“These homes look like something out of a magazine.”
“Yeah, he’s been living out here a couple of years now. He and Malik were some of the first to build homes in this area. I haven’t been to Malik’s house, but knowing him, it’s probably even bigger than Wiz’s.”
With it being a beautiful spring day and Sunday, there were quite a few people working in their yards, washing cars, and kids out riding their bikes. It was a perfect day for taking it easy, and after this meeting, Raven was going to try that.
“I have a question for you that Wiz is probably going to ask too.”
“And what’s that?”
“Besides you and the babies, do you have anything else that Maximus might want?”
Raven frowned as she tried to think of what she could possibly have that Maximus would want. When they’d dated, she’d always been concerned that he was out of her league. She’d been an administrative manager at his company, while he’d own that business and numerous others. The guy had more money, cars, houses, and a host of other stuff than he needed. While all she had was a meager savings and her SUV.
“Nothing I can think of. Why do you ask?”
“Because men like Maximus are typically driven by money, greed, and power. With money probably being at the top of the list in this case.”
Raven chuckled. “Well, he can’t be after me for that. Compared to him, I don’t have any.” She sobered. “I think it’s his pride. He’s not used to people saying no to him, especially women. I think this is his way of making my life a living hell because I bruised his ego by breaking up with him. He said as much the day I told him that our relationship wasn’t working for me. He looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Like he couldn’t fathom anyone breaking up with him. He said no one walks away from him, and if I did, it would be my loss.”
“What happened when you did walk away?”
She gave a slight shrug. “Not much. He let me go at first, then he started calling, asking if I’d like to go to lunch or dinner. Saying that he missed me. When that didn’t work, he sent gifts that I promptly sent back. Things with him didn’t start getting weird until he found out I was pregnant. We’d been broken up for at least six months at that point. He knew the babies weren’t his, but he started coming back around, acting as if they were.”
“What happened when he’d come around?”
“He’d want to do stuff for me. I’ll admit, the first few months of my pregnancy were hell. Sometimes I didn’t have the energy to tell him to get lost. I didn’t feel well, and I was getting my business up and going. It was just a tough time.
“Maximus would bring soup by, have groceries delivered, he even hired a cook for me at one point. That’s when I recognized he was trying to get back into my life.
“I told him I appreciated all he’d done for me, but it had to stop. We weren’t getting back together. Once I got past morning sickness, I threw myself into work. I wanted to stack as much money as I could before the babies were born. He didn’t come around as much but still sent gifts, which I sent back, but he eventually backed off… some.”
“What about when the babies were born?”
Raven glanced out the driver’s side window just as Zion pulled up to an iron gate. While she watched him punch in a code, she answered his question.
“He tried to come back around. He sent a ton of stuff for the babies, but I didn’t keep any of it. I knew how controlling he could be, and I didn’t want to give him a foothold into my life again.”
Zion nodded. “This stunt he’s trying to pull might be about hurt feelings and you pushing him out of your life, but…”
When he didn’t continue, Raven prompted, “But what?”
“But I don’t think that’s it. My gut tells me there’s something else at play. I just don’t know what. We’ll figure it out.”
Raven nodded and released a slow breath as Zion parked in the circular drive behind a truck even bigger than his. “I hope so,” she said. “Because I want Maximus out of my life once and for all.”