Cali’s eyes centered into the stall as she stood frozen. After a few moments of ruminating on Braye’s confession, her hand flew to her mouth to stifle the scream that was set to blare. Words had escaped her. The only sounds she heard was her elevated heart rate and drowned out music.
“Calia?” he called her name.
But Cali was speechless. Stunned to silence. She held her breath, hoping Braye would say it was a prank. Somehow, she wished that her mind was playing tricks on her and that she had traveled to the land of imagination.
“Calia?”
“Braye…” She gulped, trying to find her bearings. “Am I trippin’? You didn’t just say that, right?”
“No, you ain't trippin’.”
“I have to be.” She shook her head, pacing back and forth inside the small stall. “What you just said ain't real.”
“I did it for us.”
“Are you fucking stupid?” she gritted between clenched teeth. Cali’s reality was confirmed. His words had processed completely. Braye had done something preposterous. An act that she could never forgive.
“You said you wanted to be with me, so I made that shit happen.”
“By trying to kill my fucking husband? You think I wanted him dead, you got damn idiot?”
“No, but I wanted him gone for good. I knew your ass was cappin’ about wanting me. You had been taking your precious time leaving him, so I helped you get rid of him.”
“No, what you did was draw me closer to him,” she hissed. “Now look at your pathetic, stupid ass. You over there heartbroken while I’m basking in love.”
There was no more sparing Braye. Cali had to give it to him raw with no chaser. He would never hear another endearing word from her.
“Bitch, ain't shit blissful about that weak-ass marriage. You the one who said you weren’t happy with him. Don't try to put up this front now.”
What Braye wasn’t aware of was how he had pulled Cali and Rio closer. With Rio being on the verge of death, Braye was unknowingly able to eliminate himself. Life had a way of snatching the blinders off and that’s what happened to Cali. She was able to see how much love she and Rio possessed without her infidelity in the way.
“You're definitely going to jail!”
“Yeah, I doubt it. Me getting locked up would mean I would have to expose our affair. I know you ain't ready for that man to learn how much of a hoe you truly are.”
Cali covered her eyes, not realizing his exposure would mean hers too. Rio couldn’t find this out. None of it. She had to hide this part of her life from him since she didn’t know what he was capable of doing. Cheating and putting him in harm’s way would be an unforgivable offense. She would never be able to come back from that.
“Fuck you and never call my phone again!”
Cali ended the call and immediately dropped to the floor. Tears leaked from her eyes as she pondered the mess that surrounded her. Deceit, corruption, and attempted murder were chaos she wouldn’t be able to clean up. This kind of job would require more than an apology. Rio would want to see blood. Blood for blood was his motto. She would quickly transform from his doting wife to his number one enemy.
Cali wept for a few minutes until she remembered she was inside the bathroom at the lounge. She had taken too much time away and figured Rio would come looking for her. Escaping the stall, she walked over to the mirror and noticed her smeared eye liner. Swiftly, she grabbed a paper towel and cleaned her face up before exiting the bathroom.
Just like she figured, Rio was at the end of the hallway, waiting for her.
“You good?”
“No, I think that food at the restaurant messed with my stomach. Can we go home?”
He nodded, showing concern with his deep stare. “Yeah, I got you. Let’s go.”
Cali refused to carry on as if she didn’t learn her ex-lover tried to kill her husband. She wasn’t up for that kind of role playing and needed to go wallow in her regret to ever engage with Braye.
Seventeen
Noble studied every movement of Irish as she gasped at the Great White Shark that glided past them. Like a kid at an amusement park, she had been in awe ever since he brought her to Blue Depths. It was an underwater restaurant that was built off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. They were surrounded by a thick glass tunnel that showcased an in-depth view of the ocean and its aquatic animals. It was so exclusive that not everyone could patron the establishment. It was referral based which meant someone had to invite a person before they were able to attend.
“Okay, you got me with this. I have never seen anything like it,” Irish gushed, recording the fish that surrounded her.
