Baron kept a straight face. He could not believe that, as an attorney, he had been that dumb to share the information with her.

"I never said any such thing."

Aniyah laughed. "I know all about you and her. What would my other sisters think of you if they knew you caused our parents' deaths?"

"From my understanding, your father had a heart attack," he informed her.

"Because of you, a.s.shole. He saw the picture of you making out with her."

Baron couldn't believe what he had heard. He had deleted the email.

"How in the h.e.l.l do you know about the picture?"

"Because I sent it to him." She laughed.

"How did you do it?" he yelled. "I never slept with Noelle. We only had a quick kiss. Whose body did you attach to her face?"

"This body, the one you really made out with." Aniyah pranced around the room. "I have a copy of the picture."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I want all that's coming to me, and that includes you."

The music continued to play. Aniyah began to dance, shaking her body. She came closer to him. Grabbing him by the hands, she placed his arms around her back.

Aniyah reached up and hugged him around the neck. Baron was hypnotized by her dark eyes. She kissed him, forcing her tongue into his mouth. He submitted, as she knew he eventually would.

Baron spread her legs apart and entered her. Aniyah moaned from the force of his manhood. He smothered his lips on her neck, sniffing her natural body scent. Together they cried in ecstasy. As much as he enjoyed her, he had to find a way out of this one. His cell phone rang.

It must be Noelle, he thought. Noelle l.u.s.ted for him too, but his heart would forever belong to Tessa. No woman could ever satisfy his hunger for her, not even her daughter. In his mind he whispered: "Forgive me, Tessa."

Aniyah finally felt secure that she had Baron where she wanted him. She stepped back and let him take a shower.

Baron freshened up and came out of the bathroom tying a knot in his tie.

Aniyah held up her digital camera and snapped a photo of him. He furiously grabbed the camera from her.

"Give that back to me," she said as she wrestled to take the camera from him but did not succeed.

Baron walked away and reviewed the photos in hopes that he would find the image of him and Noelle. Instead, he discovered the photo Aniyah took of the two of them in a s.e.xual position. He pulled the SD memory card out of the camera and broke it in half.

"Go ahead and tear the d.a.m.n thing up. I still have the picture of you and my half-a.s.s sister safely put away. And it d.a.m.n sure isn't in this apartment."

Baron put the broken pieces of the SD memory card into his pocket. "Goodbye, Aniyah."

"See you at the reading of the will. We can have it all."

"You're not coming to the funeral?" he asked as he walked to the door.

"Right, the funeral. I'll be around." She smirked.

"Well, if you come, just stay far away from me."

Baron left.

Aniyah turned the music up loud. She celebrated. "These people with money are dumber than I thought. Next fight to win is with them b.i.t.c.hes; oops, my half-a.s.s sisters." She giggled.

Chapter 8.

The speed limit wasn't an option for Baron as he drove on the highway to his office. Keeping his eyes on the traffic, he reached for his cell phone and clicked on the voice activation to make calls.

Milandra would be his first call. Baron knew that she was basically a female version of her father when it came to business. Everything had to be in order.

Milandra picked up and scolded him: "Mr. Chavis, why haven't you answered my calls?"

"I took a sleeping pill to get some rest last night. It must have been pretty strong or I was just plain tired. Overslept, what can I say?" he lied.

"I want my parents' funeral to be carried out with dignity," she demanded.

"Arrangements will be finalized today. Your father kept everything in writing."

"Yes, I a.s.sumed you have his will. He always said you kept good files of all his legal matters."

"Yes, everything is in order. We'll have the reading of his will as soon as you say so."

Baron, distracted by a driver in a red car who tried to cut in front of him, blew his horn.

Milandra heard the loud noise through the cell phone.

"Mr. Chavis, call me when you get to your office. You'll have a wreck trying to drive and speak on the phone at the same time."

In the room with Milandra was Kenley. She hollered, "Before you hang up, ask him about what I heard on the news."

"I will not. I won't entertain garbage," Milandra said as she put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone, moving away from her sister.

Baron had heard Kenley clearly. "What's on the news, Milandra, that I should know about?"

"You know how the media can get. They're asking, where the fourth daughter is?"

For a moment Baron lost control, almost swerving into another car. He pressed down on his brakes and regained control, wondering how the media had gotten wind of Aniyah. He prayed that she had not turned the photo that she was blackmailing him with over to the media.

"Stay away from the television and newspapers. I'll investigate any gossip."

"That's what I told my sisters. It's trash talk to destroy our family's good name."

"Exactly," he agreed, relieved Milandra didn't buy into the gossip.

"Call me as soon as you get things in order."

Milandra hung up.

Baron pulled into his parking spot at his office. Several reporters awaited him.

"d.a.m.n!" He panicked.

They shouted, "Mr. Chavis, do you have any idea what happened at the Houston Estate? Is there a fourth daughter born out of wedlock? If it is, who is she? Who's the mother? Will his oldest daughters take over running the company?"

Cameras flashed at him. "I'm not answering any questions at this time. Please, do not bother Mr. Houston's daughters. They're in mourning for their parents." He said no more and entered the office building.

Sara greeted him. "h.e.l.lo, Mr. Chavis, you've had lots of calls concerning the Houston family.

"Hold all my calls. I need to focus on making final arrangements for the Houstons."

One thing Rupert loved about Baron was that he knew how to run his law firm.

Baron settled at his desk and went straight into work mode. He was searching among the stack of files on his desk labeled "Rupert Houston" when the ring of his cell phone alarmed him.

Looking at the number, he saw Noelle was trying to reach him. Baron decided to answer her to avoid having to delete another message from the numerous messages she had left on his voicemail.

"h.e.l.lo, Elle."

"Baron, where have you been? I've been ringing and ringing you. Why are you ignoring me?" she asked frantically.

"I don't mean to ignore you, but work must be done."

She wept, "I need you so much now. I don't know if I can handle all this."

"Elle, lean on your sisters for strength," he said abruptly.

Noelle was startled. "It's like all of a sudden you don't want to be bothered."

"I do. But right now it's best we stay away from each other. With the media and all, we don't want to be in the spotlight. You know Milandra would be furious with us."

Noelle couldn't help but agree. Her sister would attack her. She would say she wasn't loyal to the family. Also, Noelle knew her sister would be hurt on a personal level.

Milandra never dated. She waited for Rupert to match her up with a perfect gentleman. After all, she honored her father.

Noelle was in the same position as her sister. She also had waited on her father to match her up with a perfect gentleman. She remembered asking him once, "Father, have you found a suitable gentleman for me? I would love to have a companion."

Rupert had sternly replied, "There's no one in the United States I see fit for you. I'm searching out of the country for a suitable gentleman. It's a matter of time. Be patient, my dear." He smiled. "Run along. Tomorrow I'll bring you home a special gift."

As always, he lavished her with jewelry, but that did not fill the void she felt for a man. Seeing Baron over and over at the estate made her heart begin to ponder over him. She flirted with him when her father wasn't around. She figured that her flirtation had paid off when Baron secretly asked her out for coffee.

"Talk to you later" Baron said, but there was no response from Noelle. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I apologize; I was lost in my thoughts. What did you say?"

"I must go now."

"Okay, but call me as soon as you can," she humbly submitted.

The attorney banged his fists on the desk. His involvement with Noelle was supposed to be to get back at her father. Now Rupert was dead and he was stuck with Noelle clinging to him from mere kisses that she had planted on his face. He giggled for a moment. "d.a.m.n, if I gave her s.e.x she would turn into a stalker."

Aniyah added to the flames burning in his life. He labeled her psychotic-nothing like her sweet mother. He should have seen it coming-the wet bikini she was wearing when she had greeted him at the door, and the full gla.s.s of rum with no Coca-Cola in it. Just like a mouse, he went for the cheese. She looked good but tasting her had become damaging to his life. He blocked out his thoughts of his personal life and went on to find the Houstons' file.

On his desk, below other cases, he pulled out a file labeled: "Rupert Houston Estate." He pulled out Rupert's wishes in the event of his death.

After several calls, it was not long before the Houstons' funeral arrangements were finalized.

The last two pages in the file were the will. He looked over it, studying the name Aniyah, as one of Rupert's daughter.

Rupert demanded him not to file the will, but that was a request that Baron had disobeyed.

Baron recalled the day that Rupert had come to him.

"Baron, this is my new will. Don't file it, you hear me?" Rupert insisted as he handed him a sealed envelope.

"Why would you hand me a will that you don't want to be filed?"

Rupert stared at him. "Follow orders, don't question me."

"You're mighty cranky. What's got you so uptight?"

Rupert decided to let him in on his secret. "I told you years ago that Tessa up and left her job with us, but that wasn't true. She was pregnant."

"Pregnant!"

The child should have been mine, Baron thought.

"Yes, the baby she had is no baby anymore. She's a beautiful, grown girl, but on the wild side. She thinks I'm going to leave her something in my will. That's a joke." He chuckled.

"She's your daughter, too. Why wouldn't you leave her something? You owe that much to her and Tessa."

"Baron, be quiet and stay in your place. She's right outside in your lobby. I'm warning you, don't say a word about what I'm doing," he ordered him.

Rupert went out the door and asked Aniyah to come into the office. She strutted in and posed in front of the desk. Her dress fit every curve of her body.

"This here is my daughter, Aniyah," Rupert introduced.

"Nice meeting you. You're your mother all over. Beautiful," Baron said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it.