Mister Moneybags(65)

Her face was covered in tears. “I love you so much, Dex.”

The need to feel her mouth on mine was unbearable. “I really need to kiss you right now.”

“Kiss me. Please…kiss me,” she breathed.

And so I did. With the same intensity with which she’d begged for it, I kissed her harder and with more passion than I ever had before. If it was wrong, I didn’t want it to be right. Like Jelani said, ignorance was bliss. My compromise was that I wouldn’t sleep with her, but I was going to damn well kiss her. Maybe it would have seemed more salacious if we hadn’t done it countless times before. But it felt so natural, so familiar. Like breathing. If I was going to hell for continuing to do what felt natural, then so be it.

In fact, I’d turn myself in.





I hated that Bianca had to leave.

The next afternoon, she’d flown out for an assignment down in Virginia. I’d lightly suggested that she reschedule the interview, but Bianca had said she needed to work to make the time pass or she’d go crazy. I could understand that, but I hated that she would be sitting in a hotel room hundreds of miles away for two nights, thinking the worst was going to happen. Not to mention that two nights away from her seemed like an eternity. And while we spoke on the phone every morning and evening, I felt her slipping away from me again. Physical distance made her overthink things. Her voice was sad when I called to check in on her that afternoon.

“How did your interview go? Did you get everything you needed?” I asked.

“I think so.” She sighed. “To be honest, I don’t have any idea. Thankfully, I grabbed my recorder at the last minute before I left—something I never really use—because I’m pretty sure everything he said went in one ear and out the other.”

“It’s to be expected. You’re under a lot of stress.”

“You want to know something funny?”

“I could use funny right about now, yes.” I leaned back into my office chair.

“I woke up in the middle of the night with a mini panic attack. I couldn’t fall back asleep right away, so I got out my Baoding balls while my mind was racing over everything from the last week.”

“I might have laid in bed last night playing with my own stress balls and thinking of you, too. Let me ask you, have you ever tried inserting them and wiggling around? I think that might go a long way toward stress reduction.”

I heard the smile in her voice. “You’re such a pervert. And I wasn’t done with my story, you know.”

“Go on. I’m curious to see if your ball massage session finished off as well as mine did.”

“Anyway,” she continued, “I massaged my stress balls for a while and still couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to turn on the television. Take a guess what was on at three in the morning?”

“What?”

“Cleopatra.”

As insane as the entire situation was, I was glad the two of us could still laugh at our own expense. Although Bianca’s voice was more serious when she spoke next. “My sister went to the lab you set up for us today.”

“Oh yeah? How’d everything go?” I’d arranged for my father to go to the same chain lab facility in Florida the day he got back from his vacation. Bianca and her sister only had to give their case number when they went in for a quick swab. I didn’t want either one of them to have to go through explaining everything at the lab.

“Brian went with her, and my mom took the kids so they could have a night alone.”

“That’s good,” I said.

“It’s the least my mother can do.”

“Did you make an appointment yet?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. Three o’clock.” I heard the dread in her voice.

I’d been tossing around bringing up something that was on my mind for the last two days, but now that her appointment was tomorrow, we didn’t have much time left…

“What time does your flight land tonight?”

“A few minutes after eight, I think.”

“I’ll pick you up at the airport.”

“Are you sure? I can just grab an Uber.”

“I’m sure. I miss you. And I want to talk to you before tomorrow anyway.”

“Oh God. The last few times you had something to talk to me about, you admitted you were Jay, told me my mother was a cheater, and then told me we could be siblings. I’m not sure I want to have any more talks with you.” She was teasing. Well, sort of.

“I have no more bad news. I promise.”

“Then why did you sound so serious?”

“I just think we should talk. In person. Tonight.”

“Dexter Truitt. I’m going to get kicked off the plane for screaming at the top of my lungs and chiming my balls if you don’t tell me what’s on your mind right now. I can’t travel home wondering what you’re going to spring on me next.”

Shit. I should’ve just told her that I’d missed her and left it at that.

“I just want to talk about you getting your DNA test done.”

“What about my test?”

She wasn’t going to stop until I said what was on my mind. I’d be making her head spin whether I told her or not. “I’ve been thinking…what if you didn’t get the test done?”