Chapter 17
DELANEY
Itried to work through the rest of my day and push Clayton’s visit out of my head. But the harder that I worked, the more mistakes I made. The more I ignored the things that he told me, the more I saw those pictures of Naijhel with that baby in his arms.
Maybe things had been misconstrued, but I somehow doubted it. Clayton had nothing to lose by telling me those things, and he also had nothing to gain. It wouldn’t surprise me if he just wanted us broken up because he didn’t want to see either of us happy, but he shouldn’t even care about that.
I knew that Naijhel had to work today, so I shut my computer down and let Yogi know that I was leaving early. I told her that I had a migraine, and I wasn’t feeling well. I asked her to have Damaris handle any emergencies that arose.
I did not have the mental capacity or the bandwidth to handle anything today, no matter how urgent it might be.
The drive from the museum to his law office took twenty minutes.
Naijhel was a name partner at the esteemed law firm of Gates, King, and Yancey Family Law, LLC. I pulled up to the sleek chrome building and parked. I sat in the car for five minutes, trying to gather the courage to walk in that building and confront that man.
“Lord, please give me the strength to have the conversations I have run from in the past. Bless me with clarity to discern the truth from what my heart wants to believe. You know that whenever challenging times arose in the past with Clayton, I often ducked my head in the sand. I was as much to blame for my heart getting broken as he was. Please give me strength to not be a fool again.”
After I prayed, I looked in the mirror and reapplied my makeup before I exited my vehicle. I strode into the building with my high heels clicking loudly on the white marble floor with its gray and gold veins.
“Hello. Welcome to Gates, King, and Yancey Family Law, LLC. How may I assist you?” the receptionist greeted.
“Yes, I’m here to see Naijhel King.”
“Do you have an appointment, ma’am?”
“I do not. Please let Mr. King know that Delaney is here.”
“I’m afraid that I cannot disturb him. He’s in a meeting at the moment.”
I pressed a firm smile to my lips as the woman turned back to her computer, dismissing me.
I reached down and toggled her mouse, gaining her attention. Her eyes widened, and her face turned red.
“Excuse you,” she quipped.
“Yes, excuse me. Please don’t ever be that rude to anyone who walks through those doors again. You could be costing this company a client or hundreds of thousands of dollars. You have no idea who you are turning away. Now call Naijhel and tell him that his girlfriend is out here waiting for him.”
Her eyes widened even further, and her cheeks grew even redder if possible. “Yes, ma’am. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know who you were.”
“It shouldn’t matter. You should treat everyone the same; is that understood?” I was on one, thanks to the information that Clayton had shared. I wouldn’t normally be this bold or rude.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I knew that it wasn’t my firm, but I didn’t give a shit. I was upset at the way that she had treated me and could possibly treat others.
“Mr. King, yes, I know you asked for no interruptions, but there’s a . . . I’m sorry, what was your name again, Miss?”
“His girlfriend.”
“Right.” She bobbed her head and cleared her throat. “Your girlfriend is out here.”
She listened and looked up at me. “Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”
She ended the call. “He says come up. He is on the fifteenth floor. He will have someone waiting to escort you to his office when you arrive.”
“Thank you,” I replied briskly and whipped around.
I headed for the elevator and jabbed the button repeatedly. Unfortunately, I still had to wait for a few minutes. When a car finally arrived, I stepped inside and pressed the button for the fifteenth floor. I slumped against the back wall trying to figure out how to deal with this.
I didn’t want to lose Naijhel, but there were some things that I wouldn’t accept. When I stepped off the elevator, a young man in a gray suit, who looked to still be in high school, waited for me.
“Ms. Synclair, this way, please.”
I followed him down the hall to a large corner office. He rapped one time, and then I heard Naijhel call out, “Come in.”
I stepped inside and took in the gold and mahogany décor. He had two large floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on Downtown Cherokee Springs.
My man looked so good in a charcoal suit with a dove gray shirt and a charcoal and baby blue tie. He looked good enough for me to drop to my knees under his desk and suck him off, or maybe he could bend me over his desk and take me from behind. But I wasn’t here for that.
“Baby, I didn’t expect you today. I was in the middle of an important meeting, but I never mind making time for you. What’s going on? Is everything okay?” he asked, walking up to me and reaching out to me with one arm.
I stepped back a couple of steps.
“Did you visit Clayton?”
“What are you talking about?” He rolled his shoulders back, his posture became firm, and there was a hard set to his jaw. I knew I had pissed him off mentioning my ex.
“Answer me. Did you visit him in his home?”
He cleared his throat and gripped his cane so tightly that his hand turned red, but he remained silent as his eyes tightened at the corner. That was all the answer that I needed.
“What sort of monster sneaks into a man’s house when he’s not home and threatens the life of his child?”
“I never threatened that baby’s life, Del.”
“You left the Black Dahlia at both his child’s crib and his woman’s bed. I know what that stands for, Naijhel. Please don’t insult my intelligence. That’s offensive.”
“The things that I’m dealing with Clayton about are between Clayton and me. I’m a grown ass man, Del, and I don’t tell you how to handle your business. I don’t need you to tell me how to handle mine. You have nothing to say about that.”
“When it’s about me, I do.”
“I’m going to go to war for you every chance that I have.”
“It was never about me, Naijhel. It was always about you being played for the fool because he manipulated you into doing what he wanted you to do. You’ve been using me to get back at Clayton, and if that’s not cruel, then I don’t know what is.”
“You’ve got this all wrong. He came running to you to tell his little sob story, and you fell for it hook, line, and sinker like you have every story he’s ever told you in the past.”
“That’s not fair, Naijhel. Please tell me something for me to hold onto right now, because I don’t have anything else to go on other than those goddamn pictures that he showed me!” I snapped.
“At what point are you going to trust me and let that nigga go?” he bellowed.
“I let him go! In fact, I was going on with my life and healing before you came along and interrupted me. I never asked you to step into my life. If I recall correctly, I begged you to stay away from me. Well, I’m not begging you this time; I’m demanding that you stay the hell away from me!”
I turned to walk away, but like Clayton had earlier, Naijhel gripped my shoulder and pulled me back. He held me against his body, and I felt the warmth of his touch and the comfort of his arms as I usually did. It would be so easy to sink into them, but there was too much that I didn’t understand.
“You don’t know what you’re saying, Del. I would never use you for revenge, because I care about you. In fact, I love you.”
I tightened my shoulders, sniffed, and held my head up high.
But I still couldn’t bring myself to turn around and look in his eyes.
“It’s awfully convenient that you can find it in you to say it now.
I spoke those words to you weeks ago, and you never acknowledged them or repeated them. I’m good on your love, Naijhel.”
“You’re making a mistake, Del.”
“No, I’m not. The only mistake that I made was trusting you. I could never be involved with a criminal, someone who’s part of the mafia. Looking over my shoulder and worrying about every little thing is not the type of life I want to live. I knew you were too damn good, too damn good to be true.”
“Delaney, you’re emotional and upset, but all of this can be explained.”
“Even if it could, I cannot ignore what I saw on those pictures.”
“Those pictures were exactly what they were. I would do it a thousand times over again to get one message out: I don’t play about you.
You’re everything that I need, baby, and so much more.
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have handled it the way that I did, especially without consulting you, but I am who I am.
I’ve never lied about that, and I can’t change who I am.
You said that you loved me, Del, then show me. Accept me for the man I am.”
“Do I even know that man?” I whimpered.
“You know me, baby. You know my heart and everything else that matters. Don’t let him take that from you.”
I wanted to just accept his words, but it was so hard. I needed to clear my mind to make sure that I wasn’t repeating the mistakes of my past. It wasn’t that I believed Clayton, but I didn’t want to be a fool for Naijhel either.
I whirled around and stared at him. “This isn’t the end, but I need some time, Naijhel. Time to think without anyone in my ear,” I spoke quietly.
Someone knocked at his door, and then they opened it without bothering to wait.
“Hey, Naijhel . . . oh, I didn’t realize you had company. Hello, ma’am.”
Naijhel nodded. “Michael, this is my girlfriend, Delaney Synclair. Del, this is one of the other partners, Michael Gates.”
“Mr. Gates, it is a pleasure meeting you.”
“And you as well, Ms. Synclair. Naijhel, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have a situation.”
“I was just leaving. You can have Naijhel all to yourself.”
I fled the office before Naijhel could speak another word. I didn’t breathe a breath of relief until I was in my car, driving away. I knew that I couldn’t stay at home tonight, because he would show up. Of that, I had no doubt. I would need to hide out at Aria’s place until I cleared my mind.