His Substitute Wife... My Sister Book One Read online

  Chapter 24

  What Charisse didn’t know about sexual attraction, Kimberly definitely schooled her and all the side effects the books or movies never talked about, Kimberly knew about.

  “And most likely,” she assured Charisse. “This attraction isn’t toward Parker, it’s probably just a thing you’re going through. As Onyx Heart would say, ‘you’re realizing your feminine power’.”

  “Who is Onyx Heart?”

  “Don’t worry and just hope you never have to meet that insufferable woman,” Kimberly said stiffly and then her mood went light again. “You were hungry after all.”

  They’d stopped at a Chinese restaurant and decided to have lunch together. Kimberly had texted Parker’s phone to make sure he wouldn’t get worried again.

  “I guess I was,” Charisse said looking at her empty plate.

  The baby who was sitting between them made a strange happy gurgling noise as she tried to gnaw down some sweet and sour chicken. She had Jaelen’s cruel eyes, but there was nothing threatening about the little girl and Charisse couldn’t stop watching as the child tackled the meat in her own happy world.

  How could one seem so happy at that age? Had she been like that?

  It was difficult to remember if she had ever been happy just by herself. She remembered feeling happy when her father had been around, but that was about it.

  “Jessica!” Kimberly said in exasperation, trying to clean the child up and running out of napkins.

  Without thinking Kimberly got up and went up to the counter to get more napkins. At the same time Charisse picked up some dirty napkins that had fallen on the floor and rose up just inches from the child.

  Jessica leaned forward and touched Charisse’s cheeks with a sticky hand on both sides of Charisse’s face. The baby smiled the most beautiful smile and then leaned up and kissed Charisse right on the nose with the sweet and sour sauce all over her lips.

  “JESSICA!” Kimberly cried afraid for her child, but Charisse didn’t move away because she knew she would have scared the child if she panicked.

  Calmly, Charisse said, not taking her eyes away from Jessica who giggled, “It’s alright.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Kimberly said frantically, unsure what to do.

  “She didn’t hurt me. I’m fine. It’s just sauce.” Carefully, she unstuck the child’s hands from her cheeks and leaned away.

  “But Jaelen said you had a severe touch phobia.”

  Charisse looked at Jessica, who was trying to lick the sauce off one hand, while Kimberly was still trying to wipe the other hand off. “I guess I’ve outgrown it.” She started to reach for the child to touch her soft hair, but then stopped her hand and looked over at Kimberly. “Can I?”

  Kimberly nodded. “It’s okay.”

  Gently as if she were touching a balloon about to pop, Charisse rested her palm on Jessica’s head. The child was still busy licking the sweet sauce off her hands not paying attention to what Charisse was doing. Charisse moved her hand down to Jessica’s cheek and savored the smooth skin of youth.

  “It’s flawless,” Charisse said amazed.

  “How does it feel?” Kimberly asked.

  “Like sunshine. She’s warm and… it doesn’t burn.” A sob caught in her throat and it was hard to fight the tears.

  Kimberly couldn’t stop her tears either.

  Jessica didn’t think anything about it as she picked up another piece of chicken and hungrily bit into it. “Momma! She nice lady!” She pointed to Charisse. “She my friend.” The child reached over and placed her sticky on top of Charisse’s hand. “My friend, Momma.”

  Kimberly tenderly removed Jessica’s hand and smiled warmly. “She’s a nice lady, but you can’t go around touching everyone.”

  Charisse did a self-check, but she didn’t feel the anxiety that would often overwhelm her in the past. “It’s really alright, Kimberly. I’m fine.”

  The manager at the restaurant must have seen the mess the baby was making and came out to their table with a handful of handy-wipes.

  “Thank you,” Kimberly said to him and handed Charisse some. “You have sauce all over your face and nose. And I must look a mess too with all this crying.”

  Charisse reached over to get the handy-wipes, but she reached a little further and held Kimberly’s hands. “Thank you, Kimberly.”

  Their eyes locked and a new understanding came over Charisse. She felt more human than she had ever felt in her whole life and looking over at Kimberly was like waking up to a new day.

  Getting up from her chair, Kimberly came over and Charisse stood up already knowing what Kimberly was coming to do and really wanting to experience it. They embraced in a hug. It was then Charisse felt overwhelmed with emotions and succumbed to the deep wail of relief that seemed to come from her soul.

  So many years of keeping her emotions in check; She had a lot of making up to do.

  ***

  When Parker arrived home, Rochelle informed him Charisse was sleeping. He had emailed the company’s email knowing she’d check it when she arrived home and let her know that she could take the rest of the day off.

  “How did the visit go?” Rochelle inquired.

  “Fine. Just a regular check up. Nothing serious,” he said.

  She handed him an envelope.

  Opening it, he saw that it was the final bill for her services. “You’re leaving us?”

  “Yes, Mr. Mills. Her doctor informed me today that after next month, my services would be no longer needed. I just thought you wanted to be paid up before I make my last day.”

  “But why are you giving the bill to me? Shouldn’t it go to her account?”

  “I would, but according to the bank, the account that it’s usually charged to has been closed.”

  He frowned. “Closed?”

  “Yes, so I was instructed by the care facility to turn the bill into you because you signed for all the arrangements.”

  “It’s no problem. I’ll take care of it. Thank you Rochelle.” He went up to his office and opened the door, but he didn’t move a muscle as he looked into the blackest eyes he’d ever seen.

  Onyx Heart stood in the middle of the room not at all happy about waiting and she made sure she gave him the full volume of her hatred for waiting. Of course this meant she looked killing mad.

  “Bout damn time, Parker Sean Mills. I should kick your fucking ass for making me wait!” she sneered viciously.

  Parker gripped the doorknob especially tight. Never being one to run away from a fight, he didn’t want to move from his post, but he knew a lot about Onyx Heart and she had no qualms in kicking ass before taking names if it was her desire and there was not one thing he could do about it.

  Only standing 5’4”, but with her leather three-inch heels, she gained height and that still didn’t make her any less dangerous. According to Jaelen the woman could do a better round house in heels that without then slit you from groin to vocal in two seconds flat.

  Her body had been deigned a lethal weapon by the federal government and she didn’t even try to look less dangerous. Matter of fact, she got off on the fact that she could scare the piss out of the biggest man.

  “No one informed me of your presence and with all that’s been going on, I really had forgotten about your visit and for that I apologize,” he said.

  He didn’t relax until she turned away briskly walking over to his desk and sitting on the edge. Reluctantly he closed the door giving them privacy, but not really wanting to be alone with her.

  “Jaelen said you’re not an ass like him, but you can be very sarcastic. From what I’ve seen around here you’re too damn generous to a wife that would fuck shit before she fucked you and you’re stupid to sleep with her sister to replace what you’re not getting at home.” She took out a nail file. “But you didn’t pay for my opinion did you, Mr. Parker Mills. Did you?”

  This was more rhetorical than anything because she didn’t wait for him to answer. “I’ve come for
my check.”

  “Paying you means that you have the information I want?” he asked impressed she had gotten the information so quickly.

  “I have some of the information that you asked for. But I don’t know if you have the balls to want to know this bunch of disgusting baloney. I haven’t had my stomach turned so bad until I had a look at what the wolf dog did to my cousin’s face.”

  Mandingo Heart had been attacked by a pack of trained killer dogs in his effort to protect another cousin and for that, half of his face had been almost ripped off. He didn’t go out much and stayed with Onyx’s brother, Lethal, running the massive house/warehouse that was also headquarters for Lethal’s business as well.

  “I would like to know some information before I– “

  She cut him off. “Do you know your wife keeps a memory chest in a space under the floorboards by your bed? She has pictures and memorabilia from her little sister’s room. It’s covered by floorboards and the bitch put a pillow under the board so it would squeak to reveal its location.”

  That information alone was worth her exorbitant price. That had been the memory box that he had taken from Charisse’s room that Chyna had said she had thrown away and he had thought he looked everywhere and found nothing. Pulling out his checkbook he wrote the check for her services. “Do you often break into people’s homes and go through their things?”

  “Yes,” she said as if this was obviously.

  Handing her the check, he asked tightly, “And the rest of the information?”

  “Like I said I have only some information.” She snatched the check, verified the total and then placed it on the inside pocket of her black Trench coat

  “You can tell me some now,” he implored.

  Onyx pulled the check out and held it up to the light. “This won’t bounce?”

  “I’ve only bounced one check in my life, lady,” he said with immense irritation.

  “And that’s all that needs to be done to mistrust anything you write. I know the damn story. Your wife’s lover stole money from you.” She put the check back inside her pocket and moved around the desk to sit in the chair.

  Parker was perturbed that she knew his business and it wasn’t business he wanted people to know about. “Start from the beginning. Give me info I don’t know.” He shifted his weight uncomfortably, feeling Onyx may have done her job a little too well.

  “Jonas Sheridan, against his family’s wishes, married Cassandra. His controlling domineering mother immediately disinherited him from the family owned restaurant, but I guess Cassandra in her own domineering and controlling way convinced him they could survive without the money or his mother.” Onyx smirked. “Love can make you do the stupidest things.”

  “Can we leave out the opinions?”

  “You’ll get them whether you like it or not, Parker Mills,” she sneered. “Now sit your ass down and listen.”

  Reluctantly, he did giving her his most disconcerted look, but Onyx could care less.

  “After giving birth to twins they moved into the projects on the west side of Detroit, which are now beautiful condominiums. The only resident I could find from all this mess was a very helpful one. Laurie Bell. She knew a lot of things that even the police report couldn’t tell me.”

  He hadn’t heard that name in a very long time and had thought Joanie’s mother was dead along with the majority of her brothers who had died either on the streets or from gang related mess. “Joanie Bell’s mother?”

  “Unfortunately I caught her dying from lung cancer, but she was very delighted to get a lot of things off her chest. According to her, things she hadn’t spoken about in decades that she needed to get a clean conscious of before dying. Do you know Joanie hasn’t spoken to her mother in over fifteen years?”

  “No, I didn’t. I thought she was dead.”

  “According to doctors she won’t live through the night.” Onyx continued with the past. “Laurie said for a while she tried to be friends with Cassandra since they both sat home all day taking care of the kids, but it was difficult to watch how Cassandra treated Jonas. To his face, she verbally wiped his face in shit, but behind his back she was pledging undying love and gratefulness for being married to the best man ever. Laurie would sometimes tell Cassandra how to treat a man, but Cassandra would turn that evil tongue on her. Joanie became instant best friends with the twins and even though Laurie soon started breaking the strings from their friendship, she didn’t’ stop her daughter from spending time with the girls and Cassandra didn’t mind either.” Onyx took a pause and then announce. “Charisse was a mistake. Bet you didn’t know that.”

  He shook his head amazed at the wealth of information she provided.

  “I pulled Cassandra’s hospital records from the Detroit Health Department since the Plymouth General Hospital has been gone for over thirty years. She tried to abort the fetus twice, but was unsuccessful according to her gynecologist reports. The first one at three months was with drugs and the second at six was with an attempted partial birth abortion, but almost killed Cassandra, which is why they stopped. Laurie said, happened to be over as Jonas and Cassandra realized the child was still alive. Cassandra wanted a third try, but for the first time, the fool put his foot put down and grew a damn backbone.” Onyx took out a small notepad and flipped a couple of pages. “If the child won’t die from the abortions, then obviously God has plans for her, were his words.”

  His heart swell with pride. He’d said almost the exact thing to Charisse.

  Onyx put the writing pad away. “Laurie said Jonas seemed to find some kind of mental strengths as Charisse grew up and their arguments grew worse and worse. By then Laurie said she’d either hear them through the paper thin walls of their apartment or Joanie would come back home and update her mother.”

  “No one thought to tell social services?”

  “On what? Fighting parents? Jonas made sure Cassandra never hurt a hair on Charisse’s head and Laurie said it was the jealousy of seeing Jonas love Charisse that usually brought on the horrible arguments. Two years before Jonas’ death, Laurie’s husband died and after her sorrow and mourning period, Cassandra came to her and asked her how was she surviving without a man taking care of her. By then, Laurie was living off the life insurance policy, but selling products like Avon and Amway to make extra money. She tried to convince Cassandra to sell things with her, but Cassandra was more interested in the life insurance, even though Cassandra did start selling products. A month before Jonas death, mail from the Sheridan’s came to the Bell’s home and Laurie said she accidentally opened it to find a life insurance policy taken out by Cassandra. Although I highly doubt she made a mistake. Laurie Bell was a nosey woman.”

  “Her daughter is just like her, including a horrible chain smoker,” Parker noted the resemblance and wondered why Joanie was on the outs with her mother, but decided not to ask Onyx because he wouldn’t doubt she’d charge him another grand for that information which he suspected she already knew. Jaelen had told him, if he kept his mouth closed around Onyx, she could actually volunteer information because she just liked hearing herself talk sometimes.

  Onyx continued. “Laurie decided to see if Jonas knew about the policy and gave the mail to him apologizing for making a mistake in opening it. The look on his face, according to her, was shock and from that, Laurie heard their fights get worse day after day.” She took her writing pad out again to relate to her notes. “The insurance company filed a fraud report after his death because of Laurie’s claim to them only after Carolyn wanted to contest Jonas’ will, which was encouraged by Jonas’ mother. I knew Carolyn couldn’t afford the policy by herself and she prayed on his mother’s sympathies to help her pay for the policy, but I don’t think Jonas’ Mother knew of Carolyn’s real intentions or the truth and she didn’t say anything to her son because he refused to speak with her as long as she had disagreements about who he married. I’m assuming she did this to help her son. Several neighbors heard the morning of Jonas
death one gunshot, but no police or ambulance was called to the scene. Although there was a nine-one-one call, but since it was a third party who only thought they heard something it was entered as a low priority and then erased out of the system after three hours since there were no calls about it from a first person party.”

  “Laurie went over there to make sure everything was okay. But Cassandra wouldn’t allow her to come in and Laurie noted that Jonas’ car was still parked outside. Cassandra said Jonas wasn’t feeling well and stayed at home in the family room. Laurie had never heard of Jonas ever being so sick he stayed at home from work, but she couldn’t convince the police enough to change the priority.”

  Onyx flipped the page. “When Joanie came home from school, she said the twins had heard the gunshot come from the family room where their father slept early that morning, but Cassandra told them all to leave their father alone and go to school. Then Joanie said that when they all came back home, Cassandra told her to go home, while she spoke to her children alone.”

  “After an hour, Laurie said the twins came over and the girls whispered about a secret their mother told them. Laurie then heard Joanie say ‘let’s get Charisse to do it.’ Cheyenne replied, ‘but we’ll have to do it fast. You’ll convince her, Chyna.’”

  She stood up and looked very bothered. It was a mixture between disgust and anger. “The events were put together from Jonas’ medical records, the police report, the morgue report and what Laurie reported to the insurance company. The night before, Jonas swallowed a bottle of pills. It was his second time trying to kill himself, but it was another deep sleep. Yet in the morning according to the autopsy, he tried to put a bullet in his head. The sleeping pills slowed the blood loss and Jonas spent the morning dying slowly. In the police report Cassandra told officers, Jonas ordered her not to bother him and that she thought the gun went off by mistake again and when she tried to come in there he told her to leave him the hell alone, which she said she did.”

  “Wait!” Parker said. “How can it be possible or believable? He shot himself in the head.”