“It matters, Mari. You need to call him because…”
“I’m not doing that.”
“He took advantage of you. He fucking recorded you. That’s a crime. Even if you don’t talk to him about it, you need to talk to someone. This needs to be handled legally. You didn’t know…”
“I knew…” Samari said quietly. It was so weak and low Sheree almost missed it.
“You said you didn’t?—”
“I didn’t know he’d recorded me that night, but I knew the video existed.”
“What?” Sheree questioned, confused.
“He used my phone. I found the video in my deleted files a week after it happened. I was clearing photos from my phone after he ended things and deleted some by mistake. I went to add them back to my gallery and found the video.”
He’d deleted the violation but most phones kept deleted items thirty days after removal. She didn’t need to speak that thought out loud.
“I tried to watch it, to see what happened, but…” Samari closed her eyes again. “I couldn’t, so I permanently deleted the file and pretended it didn’t exist. I knew back then and didn’t do anything about it, so I can’t now.”
“That’s bullshit. Wrong is wrong, Mari, and that muthafucker was wrong.”
“I just need this to go away and I need you to let me not think about it for a minute.”
“Mari—”
“I know what I want isn’t going to happen, but right now, that’s what I need.”
Sheree nodded, hugged her girl tightly, and eased out of the bed. It pained her to leave Samari alone to deal with the betrayal. Cantor was waiting in the hallway with concern etched on his face.
He loved Samari like a sister. She was his wife’s best friend and his daughter’s godmother, but more than that, this situation hurt the person he loved most, his wife. If for no other reason than his need to right the wrongs in her life, he felt helpless. Cantor was pissed that this had happened to Mari, but also helpless because his wife was upset and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do.
“She okay?” Cantor locked his arms around his wife when she walked straight to him.
“No and I’m pissed because what the fuck is wrong with people?”
“There are a lot of answers to that question but none are going to make you feel any better, Ree. People are just fucked up.” He kissed the top of her head.
“Yeah…” She sighed then frowned when someone rang their doorbell. She glanced at her husband who returned a visual confirmation that he wasn’t expecting anyone so he had no idea who could be at their door.
Together they made their way downstairs, and while Cantor pulled up the camera to see who was at their home unannounced, Sheree remained a foot behind him until he sighed and turned, exposing the visual from their doorbell camera to his wife. As soon as she had the door open, Sheree was torn. She saw the concern all over Asao. Could damn near feel his emotions because they mirrored her own. Both cared about Samari, and because she loved her, Sheree was faced with a tough decision.
“She here?” Asao asked, looking past Sheree briefly before his eyes dropped to her face.
“Yes, but…”
“Nah, fuck whatever you’re about to say. I need to see her.”
“It has to be Samari’s decision.”
When Cantor moved so his wife’s back was protectively at his chest, Asao’s narrowed eyes landed on him. He respected Cantor’s position. He was protecting the woman he loved but doing so meant preventing Asao from doing the same. His stance was firm when he repeated his previous sentence.
“I need to see her.”
Sheree searched his face for a minute before she sighed. “If you’re here to make it worse, you might as well leave now.”
“You know why I’m here and it damn sure isn’t for that,” he said, looking Sheree right in the eyes before he addressed her husband. “If that was your wife, would I be able to stop you?”
When Asao noticed the tension in Cantor’s jaw increase, he had his answer.
