Page 48 of Mr. Blackwood

“Don’t do anything stupid. I’d hate to see you get hurt behind a personal vendetta,” I warned.

“Is that a threat, Ms. Valentine? Or have you learned something about him that you’re hiding?” Mike asked.

I glared at him, but I remained silent. Jabari was capable of destroying this man if he wanted to, and while I framed it like my concern was for Mike, it was genuinely for Jabari. I didn’t want him to do another thing he would later regret. I kicked myself for giving a damn about a man who clearly didn’t give a damn about me.

I watched as Mike Sullivan got up from the table and walked out of the coffee shop without so much as a backward glance or thank you.

***

I left the meeting shortly after Mike did, and I headed straight to Courtney’s place. I had called Shana on the way and asked her to meet us there.

After we were armed with a good bottle of wine and some cheesecake, I told them everything that happened from my first meeting with Mike Sullivan to my last one, and everything in between that entailed Jabari Blackwood.

“He’s trying to destroy my business. That bastard is ruining my career and reputation, and I won’t let him. I promise y’all that I won’t go down without a fight!” I fussed.

“I get that you don’t want to let go of your business, and you’re right; that’s not fair. But can we be honest here? He’s doing the same thing, sis. He’s fighting his battle with the weapons he has. He’s not letting you destroy his life either,” Courtney pointed out.

I dropped my face in my hands. “It’s not fair though. This isn’t fair.”

“You need to come clean with him about your original intentions, Cami,” Shana advised.

“You also need to share with him the recording of this conversation you made of you and Mike,” Courtney chimed in.

“He won’t believe me. He’s so angry at me that I can’t get close to him now. The man won’t even give me the time of day.”

“Can you blame him? You played with his heart to get a story, Cami.”

“But I didn’t,” I denied.

“But you did. The only thing that changed was that you caught feelings for him. Had it not been for that, you would have run with your story, Cami,” Shana declared.

“Where’s the lie?” Courtney asked with a tiny shrug before she poured all of us another glass of wine.

“It doesn’t matter anymore anyway. He wants nothing else to do with me. I wish that I could at least get him to ease up on the restrictions he’s placed on my name that kept people from signing a lease with me or doing interviews for my magazine,” I lamented.

“Call daddy.”

I shook my head emphatically. “I won’t,” I replied, slicing another piece of strawberry turtle cheesecake for my dining pleasure.

I knew that I would have to work extra hard over the next few days to burn off the calories. I had eaten three slices already and had two glasses of wine.

“Why not? What do you have to lose?” Courtney whined.

“My dignity,” I answered.

“You’re being stubborn.”

“No, I’m not. You and I both know that he’s never been there when we’ve needed him.”

“People change, Cami. They mature and grow, and it’s a wonderful thing—so is forgiveness.”

“Oh, and I guess you’ve forgiven them?” I crossed my arms.

Shana licked the back of her spoon and looked back and forth between us as though she were at Wimbledon watching one of the Williams sisters.

“I’m working on it,” Courtney confessed.

“Nothing beats a failure but a try. At least you can say you gave it your all,” Shana declared.