Wives and Champions (20 page)

“
Listen, Melanie…I said I
was sorry.”

“
Dimitrius, I need you to
talk to me.”

Dimitrius frowned. “Maybe this was a
bad idea.”

“
A bad idea? Communicating
with your wife is a bad idea?”

Instead of answering her, Dimitrius
got up from the bed, walked to the bathroom and slammed the door
closed. That’s when Melanie had enough.

“
I can’t do this. I can’t,”
she said through tears, turning on the lamp next to the bed. She
walked to her dresser and removed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
She quickly dressed, then stepped into a pair of sandals at the
same time Dimitrius emerged from the bathroom.

“
What are you
doing?”

“
I’m leaving. I can’t do
this Dimitrius. I don’t like this tension between us. I
can’t.”

He rushed to get close to her. “Stop.
Just stop.”

“
No. I think this is best.
I can’t get through to you.”

Dimitrius wrapped his arms around her.
“Don’t go.”

“
Dimitrius, just let me go,
okay. You don’t want to talk to me, anyway. Why should I
stay?”

“
Because I need you to.
Please.”

“
Dimitrius, just let me
go.”

He loosened his grip on her and when
she looked up at him, she was met by his sad eyes.

“
Can you sit down with me?”
he requested.

“
What’s wrong with you,
Dimitrius?”

“
Just sit down with me,
okay?”

“
Okay,” Melanie said,
following him to the chairs in front of a wall of
windows.

Melanie sat down and watched
him.

“
I’m sorry, Melanie.
But…ah…there are some things I haven’t told you because I’m not
ready to face them. Um, first and foremost, I don’t want to hurt
you and I’m sorry you feel like you have to leave. You, and my
daughter, mean the world to me.”

“
Just tell me what’s
wrong.”

“
I trust you, Melanie, but
I struggle with trust issues and it’s way deeper than my ex. Before
my mother died, she told me I couldn’t trust anyone….said loyalty
was dead.”

“
Why would she say that to
you?”

“
Because I overheard her
and my father arguing about my father’s infidelity one night, and
recently, it has come to light that I have half brothers and
sisters living in Wilmington.”

A look of concern washed over her
face. “Dimitrius, what—”

“
My father was supposed to
be
the
man
, a role model and an upstanding
citizen. For the most part, he was. Then I found out what he was
doing to mom. I never said anything to Dante and Des about it. I
kept it all to myself. Now, this guy–his name is Harding
Champion–says he’s our half-brother. We met him at a bar to talk
and he looks just like us, Melanie.”

“
Wow.”

“
I shouldn’t have let it
get to me like this. I try to keep so much of this to myself, but
now it’s affecting us and I don’t want my issues to destroy us. I
do trust you. I don’t trust your ex, but I trust you. I love you
and Grace and I’m truly sorry.”

Melanie stood up from her chair. She
straddled him, wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her chin
on top of his shoulder. “Thank you for telling me this. I had no
idea you were keeping this all in. I’m sorry.”

Dimitrius closed his eyes, relished in
the warmth of her against him. Comforting him.

“
Any time you need to talk,
you can talk to me, you know. I know you’re close with your
brothers, but I want to be there for you, too.”

“
I know,
sweetheart.”

Melanie lifted her head to look at
him.

Dimitrius continued, “I just want to
be a good man for you and I’m not used to being vulnerable. I don’t
like being vulnerable. It’s so much easier to be strong and guarded
and—”

“
And, I love that about
you. I do. It’s one of those attributes that makes you an amazing,
intelligent man. But even the President of the United States has to
vent to someone. I know you’re strong, but trust me when I say that
I will not see your vulnerability as a weakness because you’re not
weak. You’re a Champion,
my
champion, and I love you.”

“
I love you, too,
Melanie.”

Melanie pressed her lips against his,
then hugged him tight.

“
Thank you for being the
best wife a man could ever ask for.”

Melanie smiled.

“
Thank you for being the
best husband a woman could ever want. Now, do I have to draw up a
contract about you tempering your anger, being vulnerable with me,
trusting me and not screaming at me?” she asked amused, looking at
him.

“
Baby, the only screams in
this house will be the ones that’ll leave your lips while I’m
making love to you. Starting right now,” he said, standing with her
holding on to him, her legs wrapped around his waist as he walked
slowly towards the bed.

“
I missed you,” he said,
right before he took her mouth with a hungry urge that made his
body shiver.

Moments later, she felt him strong and
on top of her tugging at the jeans she’d just slipped into moments
ago. Now it was time for her to slip right back out of them because
days had gone by since they’d made love and that was a problem,
especially for a couple who could hardly keep their hands off of
each other.

And they made love uncontrollably,
desperate for each other’s affection. Melanie’s heart raced when
she became fully aware of his presence filling her over and over
again, then moving synonymous as one – husband and wife, making
love in the center of their bed.

Melanie opened her eyes to look at
him. Something about seeing his face – his determination to please
her – made more sensations rip through her. And when the last
emotions burned through her veins, her body shuddered beneath him.
And he erupted, the weight of him collapsing on top of
her.

For a while, they lay quietly catching
breaths until Dimitrius said, “I have a suggestion.”

“
What’s that?” Melanie
said, panting.

“
If we’re going to make
love like that after an argument, maybe we should fight more
often.”

Melanie smiled through heavy
panting.

“
I’m giving you notice that
I’m picking a fight with you at some point tomorrow,” he
said.

Melanie laughed. “You better
not.”

Dimitrius pulled her into his arms.
Still panting, skin clammy, chests rising and falling, they
struggled to get their breaths back to normal.

Halfway there, Melanie said, “So what
are you going to do about your half-brother?”

“
Don’t know yet, baby.
Dante is running a background check on him right now. It’s just
difficult knowing my father did this to my mother, and because of
it, I have siblings I don’t even know.”

“
Siblings?” Melanie asked,
emphasizing the plurality of the word.

“
Yes. According to Harding,
there are three more of them. Harding has a brother and two
sisters.”

“
That’s crazy,” Melanie
said. “Do you think you would want to get to know them?”

“
I would. I can’t be mad at
them for something my father did, now can I?”

“
Well, you could, but I’m
glad you’re not. Besides, I think that once you get acquainted with
them, it’ll help to ease the betrayal you feel as a result of your
father’s actions. And who knows…you may even learn to love
them.”

“
Yeah. Maybe.”

“
Anyway, go to sleep. You
have work in the morning.”

“
So do you,” Dimitrius
said. While Melanie didn’t work outside of the home, she did a lot
when it came to raising their daughter.

“
Yeah. I do.”

“
Oh, I almost forgot…I have
something for you.” Dimitrius pulled open the top drawer of his
nightstand and removed a box. He clicked on his bedside lamp and
handed it to her.

Melanie sat up. Smiling, she asked,
“What’s this?”

“
Open it and find
out.”

She opened the box to find a silver
necklace with a heart-shaped pendant. The words ‘With My All’
followed by his initials, ‘D.C.’ were inscribed on it.

“
This is a necklace you’ll
never have to take off. One that has meaning, and every day you see
it, touch it, I want you to think about the man who loves you,
who’s not perfect, but who’s learning how to love you more and more
every day.”

Melanie smiled. “It’s beautiful. Thank
you, Dimitrius.”

“
You’re
welcome.”

“
Can you put it on for
me?”

“
Sure,” he said, taking the
necklace and securing it around her neck. Then he pulled her into
his arms, closing his eyes, satisfied.

Melanie smiled, fiddled with the heart
of her new necklace – a token of Dimitrius’ love for
her.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Dante settled into the presidential
suite of a hotel in downtown Jacksonville, Florida a few hours ago.
After taking a two-hour nap, he checked his phone, saw a missed
call from Tennyson and another from Dimitrius.

He stretched tall, rubbed his eyes and
stood up, walking over to the windows, squinting while his eyes
adjusted to the bright sunlight. And when he could open them all
the way, he took in the beauty of the St. John’s River below,
seeing boats going to and fro, leaving white trails of disrupted
water. To say the city was beautiful was an understatement. It was
an amazing location with a nice city vibe and he looked forward to
experiencing it with his wife during the week. But first he had
some arrangements to make.

Looking at his cell, he found his
mother-in-law’s number in his contacts and sent her a
text:

Dante
: if you
get this, call me. Don’t tell Emily.

He smiled, waited and a few minutes
later, he saw Antoinette’s name flash on the display of his
cell.

“
Hi,
Antoinette.”

“
Hi, Dante. How are
you?”

“
I’m doing well. How are
you?”

“
Good. I have to tell you,
it’s been wonderful spending time with my grandson. He’s just
adorable.”

Dante smirked. “I know he’s a
handful.”

“
He is. Emily tells me he
gets that from you.”

Dante chuckled. “Unfortunately, she’s
right? Where is Emily, by the way?”

“
She took Ezra out to let
him burn off some energy.”

“
Perfect. Listen, I need a
favor from you?”

“
Okay.”

“
First, had you planned on
cooking dinner tonight?” Dante asked.

“
No. We usually go out on
Tuesday nights. Why?”

“
Well, I’m
here.”

“
Here in
Jacksonville?”

“
Yes, but don’t mention it
to Emily. I want it to be a surprise.”

“
Oh. Okay. That’ll be nice.
I know she’ll be glad to see you.”

Dante rubbed his
mustache.
I hope so.
“I don’t know if Emily told you about—”

“
The baby? Yes!
Congratulations. I’m so happy. Ezra’s finally getting a
playmate.”

“
Yes, but Emily wasn’t too
thrilled about it.”

“
Don’t worry, Dante. She’ll
come around.”

“
You seem sure about
that.”

“
I am. Mothers know best.
And Emily’s struggling with what every career woman struggles with.
All she needs to know is that you understand what she’s going
through.”

“
I do—”

“
And I’m not talking about
understanding by throwing money her way. Hiring this person and
that person. She needs you, Dante.”

“
You’re right,” Dante told
her. “Listen, how about we do this. There’s a nice steakhouse right
on the river—”

“
You’re not talking about
Jack City Steakhouse are you?”

“
Yes. That’s the
one.”

“
Oh, then start looking for
someplace else to eat. Trying to get a reservation at a place like
Jack City is like pulling teeth. George has been trying for
weeks.”

“
Antoinette, no worries. I
got the reservation already.”

“
You did?”

“
I did. Need you to get
everybody there by 6:30 p.m. The reservation is under your
husband’s name.”

“
Okay. I can get them
there, but what do I tell Emily when she asks why we’re going to a
fancy restaurant. She’ll know something’s up.”

“
I doubt if she will. Just
tell her you wanted to take her someplace nice since she’s been
under so much stress.”