Best Kept Secrets by Shelly Ellis

Author:Shelly Ellis [Ellis, Shelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-07-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

PAULETTE

Paulette lowered her head and adjusted her dark-tinted sunglasses as she stepped onto the sidewalk.

“Excuse me,” she murmured to the three young men who stood in front of her, blocking her path. One lounged back against the wrought-iron fence in front of the apartment complex. The other two stood in front of him, barking with laughter. As they fell silent and stepped aside to let Paulette pass, she felt their dark gazes on her like groping fingers. Their eyes landed on her pretty face, which was now stony and withdrawn, her Chanel handbag, her plump rear end, and finally the Manolo Blahnik pumps she wore.

“Damn, ma!” one of the young men shouted, pushing back the brim of his cap as he licked his lips and leered at Paulette. “Who you rollin’ with that got you ballin’ like that?”

She didn’t answer him. Instead she pulled the upturned collar of her blazer tighter around her face and made a quick dash to the courtyard leading to the apartment building where Marques lived. The sooner she got in there, the sooner she could leave.

“And get the hell out of here,” she mumbled to herself as she climbed the short flight of concrete stairs and glanced at the metal plaque near the door. She pressed the buzzer next to Marques’s apartment number and took a deep breath, feeling almost queasy with unease.

She didn’t know why he had asked her to come here today for the exchange. For the past few weeks, she had been surreptitiously giving him envelopes of money for “The Marques Effect” at the gym. She’d hand it off to him near the locker rooms or as she passed him in the parking lot. But this morning, he had called her and told her to come to his home instead.

Situation’s changed. Bring it to my house, he had texted her before sending her the address.

The instant she read those words, she wanted to shout in frustration. It was bad enough that he was blackmailing her into giving him money—now she had to come to his home?

“Just tell Tony the truth,” a voice in her head had urged. “Just tell him the truth and end all this.”

But what would her husband think about her if she told him about that part of her past? Antonio had a well-defined idea of who his wife was. What if she told him that image wasn’t true? They were already fighting. Would this just make things worse?

No, she would continue to give Marques money until her relationship with Antonio got on better footing. She didn’t want this secret, and now the bribery, to be the two things to push her marriage over the edge.

Paulette pressed the intercom button again when no one answered.

“Yeah? Who is it?” a bass voice finally boomed through the dented metal speaker.

“Who else would it be, Marques? Buzz me in!”

She heard him chuckle. It was followed by a buzzing sound, then a click, as the building’s front door unlocked. Paulette took another fortifying breath, pushed the door open, and stepped inside the lobby.

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