Chapter 20

The second Carmen’s heels touched down on Miami soil, all her senses came alive, and life was breathed back into her. Her plan for achieving her dream life wasn’t panning out how she thought it would, and constant thoughts of returning to Miami and starting over plagued her mind. However, with Benz reappearing and beckoning her back to her hometown, Carmen wondered if she’d still consider Miami her sanctuary.

Carmen dropped her dark sunglasses over her eyes. Carmen diverted her attention to the subject at hand: meeting up with the man who she watched have a hand in the drug world, the man she’d been a trophy girlfriend to and was then discarded and proved was replaceable.

The all-black tinted Lincoln that Benz had sent to pick Carmen up from the airport pulled up to a modest, average-sized two-family home. When the car stopped and the driver didn’t bother to speak, Carmen knew she had reached her destination. Her eyes met the driver’s in the rearview mirror, and she smirked. They never liked each other, and she knew he was happy to see her kicked to the curb by Benz, but now that Benz had beckoned her, she knew his insides boiled with rage.

Carmen stepped out of the car and strutted up the walkway. The closer she got to the front door, the more of the property and home she took in. So this is how he’s living now? Carmen laughed at the sight of his new home. Benz had definitely downgraded from living the life of the rich and famous to living the life of the average Joe, and Carmen would bet her two favorite handbags it was all for the comfort of her replacement.

Carmen rang the doorbell, and while she waited to be granted admission, she continued to observe her surroundings. “You’re not in Kansas anymore,” she told herself. The neighborhood was dry and appeared to be overly prim and proper. Carmen was sure each home she laid eyes on was occupied with homebound senior citizens or uptight middle-aged bores. As she was lost in her view of the neighborhood, the door opened, and two tall, stocky men filled the doorway.

“Come in, hold your arms out, and spread your legs,” the shorter of the two ordered.

Carmen found it amusing how each man she encountered had worked for her at some point in time and now could not give her a simple hello. Although it was humorous, she shook it off because she knew where she stood. The past was the past, and once placed behind you, it was nothing but a memory. She did what she was told, all while keeping a straight face. Renee always told her it was human nature for people to try to read you, so give them nothing to go off. She was glad that her shades hid her eyes. It was one less thing she had to worry about giving her away.

After being patted down, Carmen dropped her arms and was told by the short guard who searched her to follow him. Walking to the back of the house, Carmen bypassed warm-colored furniture and pictures of Benz and the woman he left her for. She had never seen her, but Carmen knew it was she. He had me come to the home he shares with this wench. He done lost his damn mind.

The squeaky sound of a door opening pulled Carmen out of her thoughts, and she entered the basement stairwell behind the guard. With her head held high, she walked down the stairs and tried to channel her inner Renee. She needed the business-savvy, tough girl to come through.

They reached a slim door at the bottom of the stairs. The guard opened the door and allowed Carmen to take the lead. Her eyes landed on Benz sitting comfortably on a couch with the remote control to the sixty-inch flat screen in his hand. He never looked Carmen’s way, even after hearing her enter. The short guard headed back to his post, and Carmen stood glaring at the man who had abandoned her. The anger she remembered taking her over when he kicked her out resurfaced. The Benz who left her looked stressed and scruffy. This Benz was a lot more put together, and that made her want to scream. He had moved on and appeared to be doing better. Benz glanced at her, then turned back toward the television.

Carmen chuckled. “This bastard,” she mumbled.

“Sit down,” he instructed.

Carmen looked around the room for a place to sit other than beside him. Her eyes fell on the loveseat across from where he sat, and she took a seat, her facial expression just as serious as it has been upstairs.

“Welcome. How was your flight?”

Silence.

“I know you don’t like flying coach, so I made sure to fly you first class. Did they have the champagne you like?”

Carmen took a page from Benz’s book and didn’t acknowledge him or his questions right away. Plus his questions were meaningless and a waste of time. Her darkened shades made it difficult for him to know where she looked.

“The last time I flew with that airline, they had no liquor. That shit irked me, so I made them reimburse me. Now whenever I fly with them, I have a stocked bar strictly for me.”

“What the fuck did you call me here for?” Carmen snapped.

Never while in a relationship with him had she spoken to him in that tone of voice. But looking at pictures of the woman who replaced her forced her to accept that she was a has-been. She felt irrelevant, and it burned her insides.

Benz laughed. “New York toughened you up,” he commented with his eyes still locked on the television. Minutes passed before he spoke again. “Shortly after I left you, I went legit and got married.”

Carmen’s eyelids blew up, and she fought the urge to rip her shades off her face. She maintained her composure. She had begged Benz to marry her when they were together, because she knew that with a ring, she would own half of everything he had. Her mouth was agape, but she slowly closed it, deciding not to mumble a peep.

“It didn’t take me long to figure out that going legit wasn’t for me, so I reverted to what I knew.”

Seconds passed, and the two sat in silence, Benz piecing together what he would reveal next.

“But my wife has no place in this life. She has no street smarts, no swag. She’s . . .” Benz struggled to find the proper word to describe her.

“Boring,” Carmen interjected.

Benz looked Carmen’s way and into the shades where he imagined her eyes would be. “Exactly.”

With the remote, he turned the TV off, and he leaned over. His hands folded while his elbows rested on his knees. “That’s where you come in. I love my wife to death. She is the innocence in my corrupted world, but she’s not enough. I need someone I can relate to. I need a mistress.”

Carmen jumped out of her seat and headed for the door. There was no way she would come second place to anyone.

Benz didn’t move. Instead, he called out for his tallest worker and waited for the fireworks to erupt.

Carmen flung the basement door open and was so enraged she didn’t see the guard standing in front of her, and she ran right into his chest. She stumbled backward, and her glasses crashed to the floor. The lenses popped out.

“What the fuck!”

The guard stood in front of her with his arms folded over his chest, blocking the exit.

“Sit down,” Benz demanded.

Carmen was so frustrated she wanted to throw herself on the floor and have a tantrum. She flashed back to when she felt defenseless against Renee. The first time they met, she had no choice but to take the disrespect. It was then that she wished she had Benz’s protection, but the thing she wanted was no longer on her side. Carmen felt backed in a corner, so she did all she could. She fought.

“Fuck you!” she barked. “You want me to play second fiddle! How about you go get some damn counseling to fix your marital problems, because I’m not your solution!” Carmen turned around and hoped the huge guard had disappeared, but still, he blocked the doorway. “Get the fuck out of my way!”

The goon laughed in her face. In his eyes, there was nothing more amusing than a woman throwing a fit. The laughter pushed Carmen over the edge, and with all her might, she pulled him toward her and kneed him in the groin. Instantly, he dropped to his knees and let out a roar.

Carmen stepped over the guard, but before she made it fully over to the other side, she heard Benz say, “That’s why I need you around. My wife would have never found her way out of an awkward situation. Instead, she would have been obedient and done as she was told. I need balance in my life.”

Carmen froze, gawking at the stairs that would lead her away from the nonsense.

“You owe me,” he said.

Carmen looked at him. “What?”

“You owe me. I put a lot into you, and you gave me nothing. Now it’s time for you to pay me back, and you will give me what’s due.”

Benz’s eyes were stationed on hers. She looked on the floor at the man curled up in the fetal position and moaning, then back up the flight of stairs. Even if she left, Benz would never leave her alone until he got what he wanted. Carmen took a deep breath and stepped over the guard and back into the basement.

He was right. She gave him nothing, not love, support, nothing. While they were together, all she did was take and act as the perfect trophy girlfriend. Once again, she looked back down at the goon and back up at Benz, a smile forming on her face. Nothing in life was free, so if Benz was going to put her back against the wall and force her to do something she didn’t want to do, then they were going to do it on her terms.

“Fine, but under one condition.”

Benz waited for her to continue.

“Give me control of your team.”