Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A nxiety crept through Raven as Zion drove them to Wiz’s home. Part of it had to do with the fact that she was riding in a vehicle after being in a scary accident, and the other part was this mess with Maximus.
She stiffened, gripping the center console and her door handle when the car to their right seemed to get too close for comfort. Deep down, she knew they were in their lane, but everything had her jumpy.
Zion touched her hand that was on the console, and she startled, her head jerking toward him. Worry showed in his eyes as he linked his fingers with hers.
“Relax, baby. I got you,” he said, and as if those few words were a magical elixir, some of the tension left her body.
“I’m sorry. Riding in a vehicle, even one as big as this one, is freaking me out, and I don’t know how to push the fear away.”
“I know, and I should’ve thought about that before agreeing to meet with Wiz. Just hang on a few more minutes.” He brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist, causing a delicious shiver to skate over her skin. “We’re almost there.”
“Okay,” she said and eased her hand from his. She ran her hand down the thigh of her jeans, and her gaze zoned in on her engagement ring.
Engaged.
She was engaged and suddenly she was giddy inside. Holding her hand out in front of her, she marveled at how good of a job Zion had done in picking the ring. It was perfect, and she had never owned something so elegant. The pear-shaped diamond in the middle glittered under the sunlight that was filtering through the sunroof, and the small diamonds along the side of the band enhanced its beauty.
“You sure you like it?” Zion asked. “We can go together and find you a different one if you prefer.”
“Are you kidding? No way, I love this one. It’s perfect, and I can’t believe we’re engaged to be married.”
He chuckled. “Yep, you just let me know when you want to make it official, and I’ll be there.”
“Well, I know it will be very soon. I also know I don’t want anything big. Just our family and closest friends.”
Saying that aloud made Raven realize she didn’t have many of each. Most of the people in attendance would be Zion’s family and friends, but that was okay. As long as she was marrying the man of her dreams, she didn’t care who was in attendance.
A short while later, Zion was driving his truck up Wiz’s circular drive. While they were getting dressed earlier, Zion had caught her up with the conversation he’d had with Wiz the day before. Raven was glad they were able to prove Maximus’s paternity tests were fake, but it was disturbing knowing he had disappeared. She wanted him to pay for the mental anguish he had caused, and she wanted him to face his grandfather with the truth.
She still hadn’t talked to Christopher, but if Wiz and his team still hadn’t found Maximus, Christopher would be hearing from her sooner rather than later.
By the time they parked and climbed out of the truck, Wiz had opened the front door.
“Come on in you two. You just missed Olivia. She had to run to the kids’ school to drop off money for an upcoming field trip, but she told me to tell you guys hi. She’s planning to have you over for dinner sometime soon.”
“Sounds great to me, and be sure to tell her we said hello,” Raven said.
“Will do.” He closed and locked the door, and extended his hand to the hallway that would take them to his office. “Thanks for coming on such short notice, but I thought having a face-to-face would be the best way to cover these new developments.”
They had just passed the living room when a piercing whistle bounced off the walls of the foyer.
Raven and Zion pulled up short and turned to find Wiz grinning.
“I see congratulations are in order.” He nodded to Raven’s left hand that was at her side.
How the heck had he noticed her ring so quickly?
She grinned and held out her hand to him, giving him a better view of the stunning jewelry.
Wiz gently gripped the tips of her fingers and stared down at the ring. “It’s gorgeous, just like you,” he said and kissed her cheek.
“ Maaaan ,” Zion growled playfully. “No one kisses those cheeks except for me. You got that?”
Raven swatted at him and laughed. “Stop.”
Zion chuckled along with Wiz and accepted a man hug from his friend who congratulated them both on their engagement. When they finally reached Wiz’s office, he directed them to a leather sofa against the back wall of the large room.
Raven had barely taken three steps before she stopped in her tracks. On the huge television hanging on a nearby wall was Christopher, and she gasped.
What the…
“Christopher?” she said, mostly to herself, but Wiz chuckled beside her.
“At first glance, most people assume that’s just a television, but I also use it as a computer monitor for video conferencing,” he explained.
“Good morning, Raven, Zion,” Christopher said, and rocked back in the tall-back, leather desk chair. She could tell he was in his home office by all the dark, rich wood surrounding him. He had one of the most impressive offices she’d ever seen in a house. Well, that was until she walked into Wiz’s space. Both were very different but no less magnificent.
Christopher’s space reminded her of old money, and she remembered it smelled of rich leather. It was warm and inviting and very masculine. The huge mahogany desk sat in front of wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-floor bookshelves that not only held books but also awards and other personal items. Instead of a sofa in his sitting area, he had four comfortable upholstered chairs that surrounded a small round table in the center.
It was such a comfortable space, and it was her favorite room in his house.
As for Wiz’s office, it was more tech focused and divided into dedicated spaces. His desk was modern and L-shaped with a worktable behind it. It held several computer monitors, a charging station, and a host of other tech gadgets. There was also a sitting area that looked like a small living room with a view of a man-made lake through the double glass doors.
“You two go ahead and have a seat on the sofa,” Wiz said.
As they sat, Raven’s gaze went back to the huge television. It was so good to see Christopher despite how they left things at the hospital. He looked great and healthy.
“What’s going on?” Zion asked Wiz.
“Well, I think you should know Christopher was the other person having Maximus investigated.”
Raven’s head snapped to Christopher. “Really? Does that mean you believed me?”
“Of course,” Christopher said simply. “I had already been suspicious of some of Maximus’s behavior of late, but after the altercation at the hospital, I got even more suspicious.”
“Why?” Zion asked and stretched his arm on the back of the sofa behind Raven. If she wasn’t mistaken, he had moved closer to her, which she loved. Feeling his heat surrounding her always made her feel less alone and protected.
When she glanced over her shoulder at him, his attention was on Christopher. There was doubt in his eyes as if he wasn’t ready to believe anything the old man had to say.
Raven couldn’t much blame him. Her G-Pop gave no indication that he had believed her that day in the hospital. Still, she knew him. Just because he hadn’t said much before they left, didn’t mean he hadn’t believed her.
She should’ve thought about that then but had been too deep into her feelings at the time. Christopher was always slow to speak. He was watchful, and he didn’t take anything at face value. Which was probably why he was so successful.
“Before I answer that question, Zion, let me back up a minute. For about four or five months and maybe even longer, Maximus had been seeing a paralegal who worked at my attorney’s firm. I have no problem with him dating whoever he wants to date, but not when it affects me personally.
“My attorney, Kevin, who’s also a long-time friend got wind of the relationship when he returned to the office one evening and found Maximus there. My grandson was there flirting with the paralegal. Kevin has known Maximus since my grandson was a kid. It wasn’t a big deal to find him there, that is until he realized Maximus wasn’t there to see him. He was there to take the paralegal to dinner.”
Raven wondered what this had to do with anything, but she remained quiet knowing he’d get to the point soon.
“Kevin didn’t think much of it until weeks later when his assistant, someone he trusts with his life, said someone had gotten into unauthorized files. I have no idea how she knew something was wrong, but they did their own internal investigation and found it was the paralegal Maximus had been dating. One of the files she got access to was mine.”
They all listened intently as he explained that, though the paralegal had been employed there for years, some employees are not allowed access to certain files. They go into the position knowing that, and it’s against company rules for them to have access.
“Anyway, when questioned,” Christopher continued, “she made some excuse of why she’d needed the files, and whatever her reason was, it hadn’t been good enough for Kevin. He fired her. That’s when he told me about the breach, which was how he referred to the situation. He assured me they had it under control. From what they could tell, nothing had been taken or photocopied.
“I have used this firm for over fifty years and have never had an issue, and I trust Kevin completely. But after you two left the hospital that day, something was niggling at me besides the obvious. Of course, I was shocked a child who I helped raise would go to such extremes to claim two babies as his own when he knew he wasn’t the father.”
“You knew he was lying,” Raven said as a statement more than a question.
Christopher’s brows pinched together. “Of course I knew. You said Zion was the father. Besides, Andrew looks like him,” he said as if she should’ve known he believed her. “I was stunned by everything that came out in that conversation, and you guys left before I could get my thoughts together. Or come to terms with what I had just learned. I questioned Maximus more, listened to him lie to me, and couldn’t stop wondering why he’d gone to such extremes to prove the babies were his.
“I hired a PI who I use on occasion for business dealings, and I figured Zion would be doing something similar on your end.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Raven asked, trying to hide the hurt she’d felt but failing.
“I wanted to have answers before I talked to you. I assumed you knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t take anything at face value when it comes to Maximus. I love him, but I don’t trust him.”
“What did your P.I find?” Zion asked before Raven could form the words.
“Long story short, Maximus, with the help of the paralegal he’d been dating, discovered I had changed my will and was no longer leaving a plot of land to him. Seventy acres of land that Maximus thought he’d get. Land that he has determined has oil on it.”
“What does that have to do with me or the babies?” Raven asked.
“You were added to my will months after I met you. As for the twins, when I die, that land Maximus wants goes to Andrew and Zanaya. I updated my will shortly after they were born.”
Raven gasped and her hand flew to her chest. “Oh my God, Christopher. I can’t believe you did that.”
He waved her off as if it were no big deal. When in fact, seventy acres was a huge deal, especially if Maximus was right in thinking it had oil on it. That meant it was worth an unbelievable amount of money—multi-millions of dollars.
Not that Raven would ever give him a pass, but it was no wonder Maximus went through such extremes. He saw the perfect opportunity to still get the land he wanted by using her babies. She couldn’t believe his audacity, but Zion had been right. He’d said men like Maximus were driven by money, greed, and power.
“When you introduced me to those little ones and told me they would grow up knowing me as their great-grandfather, that meant more to me than you’ll ever know. Especially since you were no longer with Maximus and there was no chance of you officially becoming my granddaughter.
“I’ve worked hard to build a legacy, a legacy I’m proud of, and I want to share it with people I love, and that includes you and the twins.
“You and those kids have brought so much joy into my life. It started with meeting you and enjoying the times we spent together when you’d come by, play cards, have dinner with an old man, and even show concern about my health. That was more than most people did, and I came to see you as my granddaughter. So of course, the three of you will always be considered a part of my family even when I’m long gone.”
Raven swiped at the tears that she hadn’t realized had fallen. Knowing that she brought as much joy and light into his life as he’d brought into hers meant everything. “Christopher, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I’m just sorry my asshole of a grandson put you through so much. I promise you that you’ll never have to deal with him again.”
“Do you know where Maximus is?” Zion asked.
“I do. My PI found him early this morning holding up in our family’s cabin about an hour outside of Houston. The authorities should be paying him a visit right about…” He glanced at the expensive platinum watch on his wrist. “Now,” he said when he looked up.
“When I heard what Wiz had discovered regarding the paternity tests, I was disgusted. I knew then I had to step in and handle my grandson in a way he could understand—threaten to cut him completely out of my will. That’s how I’ll be controlling him, even after I’m long gone. In the meantime, he’s going to pay one way or another for his role in the fake paternity tests.”
“Thank you,” Raven and Zion said at the same time, then turned to each other and smiled.
For the next few minutes, they talked about other things like Raven’s accident the night before, and she assured Christopher that she and the babies were fine.
“By the way, you look good, G-Pop. Are you ever going to tell me why you were in the hospital?” Raven asked just before Wiz got ready to disconnect the call, and Christopher grinned and shook his head.
“Little girl, you are a pain in the ass. I told you why I was there.”
Raven’s heart squeezed, and she laughed as tears filled her eyes again. She quickly blinked them away, but he made her want to cry. Little girl was a term of endearment where he was concerned, and it felt good to hear him call her that again.
“If you don’t want everyone else to know, you can just call me directly and tell me,” she said.
He waved her off. “At my age, it’s always something. I don’t care if the guys know, but I do plan to call you later this evening. But since you’re so nosy, I’ll tell you now why I was in the hospital. I really was there to have tests run. For days, I couldn’t keep down any food. I was nauseous, and off and on I’d have abdominal and lower back pain. When I went to see my doctor, he had me admitted for tests. They discovered a kidney stone, and before your nosy ass asks, I passed it and I’m fine.”
Raven burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. He sounded like his old self, and she was so happy that he was going to be fine.
“I’m glad you’re okay, and don’t forget to call me later. I have something to tell you.”
Her heart squeezed at the loving way he looked at her through the screen.
“I will, and I apologize to you and Zion for what Maximus put you through. You won’t have any more problems from him. I’ll keep him in line.”
After the meeting, by the time they climbed into Zion’s truck, Raven felt dazed. So many emotions were swirling inside of her and her mind and body couldn’t seem to decide which one to settle on.
In one sense, she was thrilled Christopher was still in her life and that there was a good chance Maximus would get jail time. On the other hand, it was disturbing to know she’d dated a man who was capable of the low-down dirty crap that he had pulled.
“It’s over,” Zion said as he brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek, and she turned to face him. “Maximus is out of our lives, our babies are safe, and you and I can move on with our lives together.”
Raven grinned and ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she leaned across the center console. She cupped her man’s face between her hands and touched her lips to his, kissing him with all the love she felt inside. When the kiss ended, she sat back in her seat and pointed for him to start the engine.
“Let’s get out of here. We have a wedding to plan!”