“Levi is in a federal prison in Indiana, but he really wants to see you. His attorney is in the process of appealing his conviction, and because those detectives went into his home without a proper warrant and basically found nothing, he has a pretty good chance of getting out.”

“Even after all the millions of dollars that were found in offshore accounts? And the testimonies that were given by narcotics officers and a ton of other people Levi had been paying off for years?”

“Yeah, but the good news is that Levi has also cooperated with the authorities in a number of ways, including his providing proof of the person who really owned the drug manufacturing location. And the list basically goes on and on.”

Alicia was stunned by what she was hearing. “I guess I don’t know what to say.”

“I know it sounds far-fetched but none of those testimonies or anything else matters if the police entered Levi’s home improperly and his attorney can get him a new trial and prove he wasn’t the ringleader. If so, Levi could be cleared on a technicality.”

“Still, why does he want to see me?”

“He just does. He talks about you all the time, and I would be happy to take you to visit him.”

“I can’t. I just got married again, and there’s no way I can ever have any contact with him. But please give him my best, and tell him that I wish him well.”

“Will you at least take some time to think about it?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, all I could do was try. Levi will definitely be disappointed, but I’ll relay your message to him.”

“I really appreciate it, and again, I’m really sorry.”

“You take care.”

Alicia set the phone down and tried to calm her nerves. She wasn’t sure why she was reliving and remembering all the feelings she’d once had for Levi, but she was and she didn’t like it. Why did he have to try to contact her now? It was bad enough that she hadn’t been able to resist his advances when she was married to Phillip and now here he was causing the same problem again through some friend of his. She hadn’t even heard his actual voice, but just knowing he wanted to see her made her uneasy. Not because she thought he would do harm to her but because she knew, without even hearing him say it, that he still cared about her. She knew he was still in love with her.

But she wasn’t in love with him. Not anymore. She loved her husband, JT. She loved him and no one else, and she was going to pretend she’d never gotten some anonymous e-mail or made a phone call to anyone named Darrell.

She would go on with the rest of her day, business as usual.

JT drove his black BMW M6 convertible into the driveway and heard his BlackBerry ringing. He smirked when he saw it was Carmen.

“So, I guess you’ve finally come to your senses,” he said, waiting for the garage door to open.

“Actually, I was giving you one last chance to come to yours,” Carmen shot back.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what I said. I’m giving you one last chance to acknowledge all that I’ve sacrificed and how long I’ve waited to be Mrs. JT Valentine. How long I’ve waited to be the one and only woman in your life and the first lady of your congregation. I’ve earned all of those privileges and then some, fair and square, and I want what I have coming to me.”

JT laughed out loud and wasn’t sure how she expected him to respond to such nonsense.

“Oh, so now you think I’m funny?” she said. “You think this is some sort of game I’m playing with you?”

“Look, Carmen, what we had was good, but since you’ve decided that you no longer want our relationship to continue, let’s just move on. Let’s end this thing peacefully so we can both get on with our lives.”

“I hate the day I ever laid eyes on you,” she said, sniffling, “and this isn’t the end, JT. This isn’t the end and that’s a promise you can count on.”

JT opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, she hung up on him.

He took a deep breath and maneuvered his car inside the garage. Women was all he could think, and he wished Carmen had stayed on the phone long enough for him to tell her to never dial his phone number again. She knew she wasn’t supposed to call his cell phone anyway, unless there was some sort of dire emergency. But he’d been willing to let it pass, just this once, if she was calling to apologize and tell him she’d made a terrible mistake when it came to cutting things off with him. For as long as he’d been seeing both Carmen and Diana, the rule had always been that they would arrange their next meeting days and times while they were with him, so that actual phone conversations were never necessary. Then, if for some reason he did need to talk to them, he would do the calling-which wasn’t a problem because Carmen was single and could take calls from anyone, and Diana always kept her phone on silent when her husband was around. Their system had always worked fine, but apparently Carmen had forgotten the guidelines and needed to be reminded of them.

JT shook his head out of sheer annoyance, parked his car, and went inside the house. Alicia was removing a pan of dinner rolls from the oven, and JT went over and pulled her into his arms.

“So, how’d your afternoon go?” he said, kissing her.

“Good. How about yours? Did you enjoy your lunch?”

“I did. And after that I ran by the church to do a little work.”

“Well, everything should be done in maybe twenty minutes or so.”

“You know, I’m actually glad you decided you’d rather cook than go out this evening because I really do enjoy being right here at home with you.”

“Me too. You know I love going out, but sometimes there’s nothing better than having a nice quiet dinner with no interruptions.”

He kissed her again and then said, “I think I’m going to head upstairs to change and get washed up.”

“Okay. See ya when you come back down,” she said, and he left the kitchen.

Alicia really was the perfect wife for him, and it was for that very reason that he sometimes regretted the way he was sleeping around on her and the way he lied to cover it up. He frequently told himself that he’d mainly married her because of what he’d thought being in the Black family could mean for his long-term career in ministry, but he couldn’t deny his feelings for her and how they seemed to grow stronger with each passing day. As a matter of fact, he was glad his affair with Carmen was over because now he’d be able to spend more time with Alicia, and he wouldn’t have to lie about where he was every Monday afternoon, his day off, or on some of the other days in the week. He’d still have to sneak out to be with Diana, but at least he no longer had to juggle two steady mistresses and a wife all at the same time. When his first wife had passed, he’d been able to see Diana and Carmen without much pressure at all, especially since neither of them knew about the other. But ever since marrying Alicia, he’d begun feeling the stress and strain of sleeping with three women on a regular basis-not physically, because he always had the kind of bodily strength he needed to keep up with all of them, but mentally the whole scenario was starting to wear on him. Actually, Carmen was the reason he’d started feeling this way, what with all her demands and possessive behavior, and he wasn’t sure why she couldn’t leave well enough alone. Why she couldn’t just appreciate their situation for what it was. He wasn’t sure why she couldn’t accept reality: She wasn’t his wife; she was his fling on the side. She was a woman no one could ever know about, not under any circumstances, and it was as simple as that. Yes, the more JT thought about it, he was glad to be rid of Carmen for good.

When he stepped inside the bedroom, he slipped out of his clothing and then went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. Normally, he never had sex with another woman and then came home without showering, but since Carmen had basically kicked him out of her apartment, he hadn’t had time to do so. Thankfully, he’d convinced her years before that he preferred a woman’s natural, God-given scent and that he didn’t like smelling a lot of perfume when he was making love. Of course, that couldn’t have been further from the truth, but it guaranteed his never having to come home with any fragrances that might have caused his first wife, Michelle, and now Alicia, to become suspicious.