“For what?”
“Lying about who you were and what you had done.”
It all made sense now. For some reason, I could see Naijhel doing that to protect me.
“I don’t believe this.”
“The pictures are right here, Del. Don’t be a fool.”
“You mean the way that I was for you?” I asked spitefully. I pivoted on the ball of my feet and headed back toward the stairwell.
Clayton caught up with me and grabbed my elbow. “I promise that he doesn’t care about you. Can’t you see? Naijhel’s not who you think he is, and he’s only using you. He’s a dangerous man, Del. He’s in the mafia, and I’d hate to see you get hurt.”
My legs threatened to give way, and my heart snagged in my chest, but I stayed strong.
“You need to leave before I have you physically removed,” I warned.
Clayton released me and walked away.
I stood in that spot for several minutes, processing what he said. There was no way it could be true. I mean, I could see Naijhel going after him for lying to him, especially knowing what he had gone through with his father and now his mother. But the mafia? Using me to get back at Clayton?
That couldn’t be true, could it?
“Delaney, are you okay?” Chase asked, passing me on his way to somewhere else.
“Oh, yes, I’m fine. I was just lost in thought.”
“You look like you saw a ghost. Can I get you anything?” he asked.
“No. I’m fine. I’m just heading back upstairs to my office,” I stated numbly as I walked away.
How would I get through the rest of my day?
17
DELANEY
Itried to work through the rest of my day and push Clayton’s visit out of my head. But the harder that I worked, the more mistakes I made. The more I ignored the things that he told me, the more I saw those pictures of Naijhel with that baby in his arms.
Maybe things had been misconstrued, but I somehow doubted it. Clayton had nothing to lose by telling me those things, and he also had nothing to gain. It wouldn’t surprise me if he just wanted us broken up because he didn’t want to see either of us happy, but he shouldn’t even care about that.
I knew that Naijhel had to work today, so I shut my computer down and let Yogi know that I was leaving early. I told her that I had a migraine, and I wasn’t feeling well. I asked her to have Damaris handle any emergencies that arose.
I did not have the mental capacity or the bandwidth to handle anything today, no matter how urgent it might be.
The drive from the museum to his law office took twenty minutes.
Naijhel was a name partner at the esteemed law firm of Gates, King, and Yancey Family Law, LLC. I pulled up to the sleek chrome building and parked. I sat in the car for fiveminutes, trying to gather the courage to walk in that building and confront that man.
“Lord, please give me the strength to have the conversations I have run from in the past. Bless me with clarity to discern the truth from what my heart wants to believe. You know that whenever challenging times arose in the past with Clayton, I often ducked my head in the sand. I was as much to blame for my heart getting broken as he was. Please give me strength to not be a fool again.”
After I prayed, I looked in the mirror and reapplied my makeup before I exited my vehicle. I strode into the building with my high heels clicking loudly on the white marble floor with its gray and gold veins.
“Hello. Welcome to Gates, King, and Yancey Family Law, LLC. How may I assist you?” the receptionist greeted.
“Yes, I’m here to see Naijhel King.”
“Do you have an appointment, ma’am?”
