Bad Girls Finish First

Also by Shelia Dansby Harvey

 

 

ILLEGAL AFFAIRS

Bad Girls Finish First

SHELIA DANSBY HARVEY

Kensington Publishing Corp.

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

Table of Contents

1

R
everend David Capps stood at the curb of the airport passenger arrival section watching for his ride. Mid-January snow flurries whipped at the tail of his leather trench coat. All the other passengers stood inside the airport, but David, his six-foot-four frame unbowed by the Austin wind, was invigorated by the cold. David spotted a Mercedes S500 coming his way and began waving. The driver rolled up and popped the trunk so that David could store his overnight bag.

When David got in, Senator Michael Joseph asked, “Why were you waving so hard, man? There's no way I could miss you—big black man dressed all in black.” He eyed David from head to toe. “With those sunglasses on, I might have mistaken you for a baller, but overlook you? Couldn't happen.”

“It's good to see you too, Michael,” David said. He sat back and made a show of adjusting his Armani sunglasses. “And in case you haven't noticed, it may be snowing, but the sun is out.” He turned to Michael. “You're looking good for an old man.”

That was an understatement. Michael was so handsome that at every age marker he'd hit—twenty-five, thirty, forty—women eyed him and thought:
that man can't possibly get any sexier.
But he could and did, and now, as he approached fifty, Michael looked better than ever. He was a fine wine, a black Sean Connery.

“An old man, huh? Watch out, David, you'll be forty before you know it.” Michael got on the freeway and headed toward downtown Austin. “Then you'll finally be a grown man, qualified to hang out with other grown men, like me,” he quipped.

David rubbed one hand across his clean-shaven head.
So far, so good,
he thought. He'd wondered whether he and Michael would be able to pick up their natural banter. So much had changed in both their lives since they last spent time together.

As though he read David's mind, Michael said, “Seriously, it's good to see you, David. I appreciate your coming over to help me. Now that New Word is the biggest black church in the state, I thought you might not be able to spare the time.”

“This is a big decision you're about to make and I'm humbled that you asked for my input. I don't care how big my church gets—you ever need my help, you've got it.” David removed his sunglasses. “And by the way, New Word is the biggest black church in the Southwest, not just Texas.”

They both laughed. Michael turned up the music and they rode in companionable silence until David broached the subject of the big change in Michael's life.

“So, I'm finally going to get to meet Raven,” David said.

“You've met her once before, remember?”

David remembered. Back when Michael and Raven's affair was the worst-kept secret in Texas, David had crossed paths with the couple in Houston's airport. It had been an awkward meeting. David had been embarrassed for Michael and moved on as quickly as he could, but not so quickly that he didn't get a good look at Raven. She had worn jeans, stiletto boots, and a form-fitting sleeveless sweater. She might have been fully clothed, but Raven's hips and her butt, hugged by skintight denim, got David's attention the way a bare-breasted woman swinging on a pole entranced other men. From their short encounter he knew one thing: Raven's aura—the way she looked, talked, and moved—was enough to make any man leave his wife's bed for hers, for a little while at least. She was tall and chocolaty with full lips and a stunning figure. David knew so many fine women—black churches were overrun with them—that he wasn't easily impressed. But when he'd met Raven, David understood why Michael was so hot for her. What he couldn't comprehend was why Michael left his wife to marry Raven.

“Look, I know you don't approve,” Michael began haltingly, but David cut him off.

“It's not my place to pass judgment on how you live your life. True enough, I wish you had given your marriage to Grace a second chance, but it was none of my business.” David could see the state capitol in the distance. “This is the prettiest city in the state,” he commented.

“I thought that's what you holy men did,” Michael said half-jokingly, “sit around and tell other people when they've crossed the line.”

David shook his head. “Nah, we're on the outside looking in. I never forget that. Besides, if I wanted to place blame for what happened between you and Grace, I could start with myself.”

Michael looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

David exhaled. “You know how we used to do when you were with Grace. Go out for a drink every now and then, do a little harmless flirting.” He looked at the University of Texas tower as they passed it. “At least I thought it was harmless at the time.

“You know my feelings about sin, Michael. It's what all of us, as imperfect beings, do. Hell, if fornication were an unforgivable sin, I'd be on a fast track to hell. All we can do is try every day to be a little better than we were the day before, and try not to hurt others.” David looked straight ahead, but in his mind's eye he saw Michael's ex-wife, Grace, crying as she asked him to pray for her family. “Adultery is one of those sins that destroys lives. It can rip a soul as deeply as murder or suicide.” David's distress over his possible role in the demise of Michael's first marriage clouded his face. “I had a responsibility to tell you that and I didn't do it. Instead, I ran with you and looked the other way.”

“You wouldn't have been saying anything I didn't already know,” Michael replied. He paused, then asked, “So you've never done it—never committed adultery?”

“No, and I never will,” David replied. He sounded self-righteous to his own ears, so he quipped, “There are enough single women out there to help me avoid the temptation.”

“Whatever I did, it was my choice, not yours,” Michael said. “We shared a few laughs with women, but that's all. When I cheated, I always flew solo.” He glanced at David as he exited the freeway. “And for the record, it would have taken God himself to stop me from getting to Raven.”

The men were silent as they separately recollected their history. Back in the day Michael and David had been yin and yang, two sides of the same lucky coin. David was as black as they come—about a quarter past midnight. He wore a neat goatee and clothed his muscular body in clingy sweaters and expensive suits.

Michael was David's exact opposite—the slim, light-skinned pretty boy. Despite having done his share of carousing, Michael had the twinkling eyes of a choirboy. Michael's eyes, along with his white-bright smile, made women say yes to him when their minds were set to tell him no. While Michael conquered women with his innocent eyes, David's weapon of choice was his voice, which was wickedly deep and smooth. Women who ran into them were snared, if not by Michael's compelling wholesomeness, then by David's urbane thug appeal.

“We wasn't nothing nice,” Michael finally said.

“Amen to that.”

As two doormen approached Michael's car, David looked up at the ornate stone building.

“Impressive, isn't it?” Michael commented. “This used to be a bank building, the finest one in Austin. Raven and I live in a four-thousand-square-foot condo on the top floor. It cost me an arm and a leg, but my baby said she's always wanted to live like a city woman.”

“Since when did you become such a big spender?” David asked, humor alive in his eyes. “You used to watch a dollar like it was going to get up and run if you took your eyes off it.”

Michael pushed the elevator button. “Grace was pretty basic, but Raven's got classic taste. Classic equals expensive, so she keeps me in a perpetual state of sticker shock.” He smiled at David. “But I've got the money, and making Raven happy is definitely worth the price. When you get to know her, you'll see,” Michael said as he put his key into the door.

The men found Raven shuttling between the kitchen and the dining room, placing china on the table.

“Smells good in here,” David said as he took off his jacket and looked around at the ultramodern, expensive furnishings. “Where are Chris and Evan? Are they having dinner with us?” Christopher and Evan were Michael's sons from his marriage to Grace.

“No. Chris has his own place and Evan's spending the night with him. As for the smell, my woman knows her way around a kitchen,” Michael said proudly. “We could hit every top restaurant in this city and I guarantee we wouldn't get a better meal. Not even close.”

David looked toward the dining room, saw that Raven wasn't within earshot and joked, “I don't know, if she can't outcook Grace, you may need to rethink this trophy wife thing.”

“What are you guys laughing about?” Raven asked as she walked into the room to greet David. He expected a social hug, maybe even a handshake from Raven, since they really didn't know each other, but she extended her arms to him and pulled him close the way one would an old friend.

“David's questioning your cooking skills, and I don't blame him. Look at you! You don't look like you've been anywhere near pots and pans.”

Raven wore a navy pantsuit with a low-cut jacket and a sheer baby-blue camisole beneath. Her hair hung straight down her back and her only makeup was mascara and lipstick.

“Well, I have been in the kitchen, and David, you're just about to find out how good I can be.”

“Oh, yeah, what should I expect?”

Raven could cook just about anything, and tonight she'd decided to go Creole. “Chicken and sausage gumbo, shrimp étoufée, and fried catfish.” Raven stood in front of David with her arms crossed and a fake smile on her face. She had the idea that he was testing her, measuring her against Grace to make sure she was good enough for Michael.

David ate himself silly. He'd already polished off a slice of sweet potato pie and was considering sampling the bread pudding with bourbon sauce when Raven suggested they move to the great room. “I'll be there in a second,” she said.

When Raven joined the men, she was carrying a tray with coffee, and one heaping serving of bread pudding. As she leaned forward to pour David's coffee and place the dessert in front of him, Raven said, “I could tell you wanted to try this. Go ahead, no harm in indulging yourself once in a while.” She smiled at David and tossed her long hair out of her face. Since she was thirteen, the hair toss had been Raven's main man-manipulation tool, and it hadn't failed her yet. Her dark-brown hair was shiny and straight with subtle henna streaks. When Raven used her French-tipped nails to throw her hair back, it really was a thing to see. David couldn't help but stare, and Michael, who watched his wife so much he sometimes felt like a stalker, noticed.

Raven poured coffee for Michael and herself. She got a snifter of cognac for each of them, and then sat down next to Michael.
She's practically in his lap
, David thought.

“So tell me what you think, David. Can you imagine me, skinny little Mike Joseph from the south side of Dallas, in the governor's mansion?” Michael asked.

“I thought your talk about running for governor was a trick to lure me here for dinner,” David said lightly. Years of listening to people's problems had turned him into an irrepressible jokester. “I didn't think you were for real.”

“I don't know why you're surprised. You and I have talked about me doing something like this before. I like the Senate but I'm ready to try something different.”

David ate a spoonful of bread pudding and washed it down with a sip of cognac. “This is sublime,” he said to Raven. David's voice was so warm and rich that Raven imagined hot chocolate.

“I'm thinking about running for state treasurer first,” Michael continued, “to build some statewide name recognition for my—”

“And I told him to think bigger,” Raven interjected. “Michael should run for governor, and he doesn't need to wade through all that other crap before he does it.”

“There is such a thing as working your way to the top,” David tactfully said.

Raven, her elbows on her knees, clasped her hands and leaned forward. “That's just what Michael and I are about to do. I mean no offense, but being governor of Texas isn't the top, it's just a stepping-stone to better things for us. As for working our way there, President Bush didn't do that, so why should we?”

“That's where we are,” Michael said, summing things up. “I'm inclined to take time to raise my name recognition in the state by running for another office, but Raven sees that as a waste of time. What do you think?”

David looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, “That you'll make a great governor, and you're ready right now.” He spread his legs and held his drink with both hands. “Problem is, the state might not be ready for you. Political insiders from Austin to Washington DC know and respect you, but the average Joe in Brownsville or Amarillo hasn't ever heard of Michael Joseph.”

Before he could continue, Raven dismissed David's opinion with a wave of her hand. “My husband has more than fifteen years in the Senate, and during that time he's made a name for himself. He's ready.”

“Raven, I already know how you feel. We need to hear David out.” Michael nodded for David to continue.

“But I'm not finished,” Raven said, and kept right on.

When she paused, David said, “I'm not questioning Michael's credentials, but I'm not the only one who gets to vote.” David had been looking at Raven, and now he turned to Michael. “What's your gut telling you?”

“I'm still up in the air.”

“Let's just suppose that Michael runs for governor,” Raven forged ahead. “What's the first thing he would need to do?”