“I am from Colombia,” she told him.

  Junior was immediately intrigued. Colombia had a reputation for having beautiful people and dangerous streets. It was one of the places Junior hadn’t traveled to. It was, however, now on his to-go list. He loved the idea of being with an exotic woman like Bella. He knew right then and there he wouldn’t let her get away that easily.

  “Wow. I’ve always wanted to visit Colombia,” Junior said honestly, smiling at Bella again.

  It ended up being the beginning of an hour-long conversation. Junior agreed to walk up the street and rebuy coffee for Bella. That first impromptu date led to their next meeting three days later. It was instant sexual attraction. They ended up at the Drake Hotel. Once inside the room, their attraction was animalistic. Junior hadn’t had sex in close to two months, and he damn near attacked Bella. He forced his mouth on top of Bella’s, and their tongues did a wicked dance with one another. Junior hoisted up her skirt and fingered her hot box. Bella gasped at his touch. They kissed passionately until they finally stumbled over to the bed. When Junior entered her, he let the worries of the world fall away from his mind. Bella took him to places he’d been dying to go for years. Something inside him sparked anew, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last time he saw Bella. Still, Junior fucked Bella like he might not ever see her again.

  In the months following their first date, Junior and Bella’s agreement became a two-sided sort of “friends with benefits” deal. Junior paid Bella’s living expenses and bought her expensive clothes. In return, she gave Junior the attention he craved, hot sex, and the satisfaction of knowing he was more powerful around Bella than anywhere else. Junior felt a sense of overwhelming power knowing he was spending his father’s money the way he wanted to spend it.

  Bella told Junior that she was a struggling part-time print-ad model, and that when she made it big, she’d pay him back every dime of the money he spent on her. It wouldn’t be a small feat, because Junior spared no expense on his new lover. Junior didn’t care about the money. The way he saw things, Bella helped him regain control of his own life, which he’d lost to his father’s demands over the years, and more importantly, Bella made him feel he was finally his father’s equal as the man of their family. It was a win-win situation for both of them. At least that was what Junior thought. He was happier than he’d been in a long while. But yet again, his happiness depended on the feelings of another person.

  “Where are you going?” Bella asked now, as she watched Junior climb out of the bed. She wasn’t expecting him to be able to move a muscle after their hot lovemaking session.

  Junior smiled. He loved that Bella made him feel wanted. That was a first for him. In the past, he had usually wanted to fuck and run from the women he was with. “I have to go back to Idlewild. My mother is expecting me at our family’s annual all-white affair this evening. If I don’t show up, inquiring minds will want to know what happened to me,” Junior explained, clearly disappointed. He walked back over and stroked Bella’s hair. “I wish I could stay with you forever,” he confessed.

  She pulled him back on top of her. “You can do whatever you want. C’mon, stay longer with me,” she said, her expression like that of a sad puppy dog.

  Junior smiled again. He had never felt so wanted in his entire life. Bella gave him purpose these days. “I wish I could stay longer. This happens to be one night I just can’t miss. It’ll be interesting, to say the least,” he said vaguely.

  Junior hadn’t been home since Desiree and Donna returned. He couldn’t lie to himself. He was anxious to see how things would play out. He also didn’t want to miss the occasion and allow all the Chicago and Idlewild elite who would be in attendance to think there was anything amiss in his family. Not yet at least. Over the years, Junior had been the Johnson kid who was the least interested in pretending the family was perfect.

  “What does that mean? You can’t miss it, because . . . ,” Bella said seriously, looking Junior in the eyes.

  He pushed himself up and grabbed the hotel robe from the end of the bed and wrapped his body with it. He walked over to the lounge chair and flopped down. “Look, Bella, I’ve never really told you everything about me. Of course, you know I’m a businessman, and I have sisters and parents, but my life . . . it’s . . . it’s complicated,” he said gravely, his eyes downcast.

  Bella had her head propped up on one hand, and her shapely body and perfect breasts were on display. “So tell me,” she urged. “Your family . . . they have a lot of money, no? What problems can that possibly be? In this country doesn’t money solve every problem?” She stared at Junior intently.

  Junior ran his hands over his shiny bald head. He didn’t know how much he should be telling his lover, but he knew he felt so close to Bella that he wanted to pour his heart out about his father, his mother, his sisters, the business dealings . . . everything.

  “My father runs his own investment company, Johnson Trading. He is an investment guru to the stars,” Junior replied hesitantly. “His father, my grandfather, made money by investing in Idlewild from the beginning. He was one of the people to open the first club in the resort community, the Point. After he made money from his own investments, he decided to expand by helping other people invest their own money. And then my father took over.” He shook his head, like he’d already said too much, especially given what he knew was going on with his father right now. “But there is like a lot more to his business dealings.”

  “Wow. He sounds like a powerful guy,” Bella replied, sitting up straighter in the bed. She seemed more interested now. “Big investment banker. Nothing like me. A struggling model,” she quipped, smiling, to lighten Junior’s changing mood. She quickly realized that she couldn’t seem too interested, or it might scare Junior out of talking about his father and his business dealings.

  “No. Not a banker. An investor. He’s like a fund manager. And believe me, you’re better off than he is on any day. Money isn’t everything,” Junior shot back.

  He exhaled, stood up, and slipped into his pants. He’d said too much. As he put on his clothing, he could feel the heat of Bella’s gaze on him. Junior needed to clear his head. He shook his head from side to side in an attempt to pull himself together. Then he turned toward Bella, wearing a fake smile.

  “I have to go. Are you all right for money? I have something for you,” Junior said all in one breath, his words rushed. He picked up his wallet from one of the nightstands. He began digging in his wallet for the gift he’d gotten Bella before they’d met up the night before. It was just like any other time. He wanted to give Bella anything she asked for, not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

  Bella sucked her teeth and rolled onto her back. “I don’t want to keep taking things from you, Ernest. I really like you, just for you,” Bella admonished.

  “It’s the least I can do,” Junior replied mindlessly. He immediately regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He could see the look on Bella’s face and could tell he’d said the wrong thing. “Bella, I didn’t mean it that way,” Junior said.

  But Bella had already hopped out of the bed and headed into the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her. Junior flinched at the sound. He felt hot all over with anxiety. He couldn’t afford for Bella to be mad at him now. She was his only outlet. His family hated him, but Bella couldn’t. That would be too much to bear.

  “Bella! Please don’t be mad. I’m sorry. You know that I really enjoy our time together. I didn’t mean it that way,” he called from the other side of the door.

  “I guess you can leave your payment on the nightstand, if that is what I mean to you. Like a prostitute!” Bella yelled back.

  “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean it that way. Please come out and speak to me. Please, I can’t have you mad at me too,” Junior pleaded, hammering his fist on the door.

  Bella slowly opened the door. They locked eyes.

  “I want to know everything about you, Ernest. Your life, your family, what has you so stressed out about your father. I will no longer sleep with a stranger,” Bella demanded, grabbing him roughly and forcing her tongue between his lips. After a long passionate kiss, they melted against one another. Junior’s heart was bursting in his chest. It was something he’d never experienced in his life. He knew then he might be in love, in real love.

  “I will tell you everything. Just don’t ever leave me,” he whispered desperately.

  “I won’t. I promise, I won’t,” Bella replied.

  Chapter 6

  Haunting Grounds

  Donna had spent her entire first night out of rehab alone at her parents’ condo. Everything inside the condo was different. Her parents had redecorated. Donna was sure that had been her mother’s doing. That she was trying to rid the place of Donna’s past drug use was probably what her mother had told herself while she had the condo totally made over. The unfamiliar surroundings had made Donna depressed. She didn’t know why she’d gone there to be alone when she knew that what she really craved was to be around her family, the old version of her family. The version of her family that had existed before her sister was banished from her home, sent away from them all.

  That night Donna had toyed with the idea of calling her sponsor from the rehab and speaking up about how desperately alone and abandoned she felt. How useless and neglected she felt because her sister Desiree was returning to reclaim her spot as the golden child. Donna had picked up her phone several times to call, but in the end, she’d decided against it. It would make her look weak, like she couldn’t handle being back in society without falling apart, she had reasoned. The loneliness had gotten to be too much to bear. Donna had decided she wouldn’t spend another night like that.

  The next night Donna pushed her way to the front of the line outside the Racine nightclub—one of her old haunts from her wild party scene days. It seemed like ages since she’d been at the club. She’d been gone for a little over nine months. Not even a whole year. But nine months away was like years in the party world. Things changed so fast, even the clothing trends. So now everything looked so different that Donna felt so out of place, like she was in a foreign land. But she was confident that the club bouncers would recognize her as the VIP that she once was and allow her to skip the long line that wrapped around the front of the building. Maybe confident was too strong a word to use, Donna decided. She was hopeful the bouncers would recognize.

  “Excuse me. Excuse me,” Donna huffed as she jostled her way through small and large clusters of bodies—different groups of friends huddled together, waiting to get inside. She surely wasn’t used to that. Waiting in line with the general public wasn’t something she had done back when she lived the fast life. She’d had money, influence, and popularity. She was so lost in thought, she ran right into someone.

  “Um, sorry . . . um, excuse . . . ,” Donna mumbled.

  “Hey, bitch! Watch where you’re going! There is a goddamned line, you know!” barked a girl with green hair, black lipstick, and safety pins for earrings, drawing angry murmurs from other impatient partygoers on the line.

  Donna ambled forward, stumbling a little bit. Her eyes were wide, like those of a lost puppy. She realized she had never visited the club unless she was high out of her mind. She had never known what the crowd was really like there. Being sober was definitely sobering. Donna wished she had something to take the edge off. She hung her head and walked faster through the crowd. Her mind raced. She realized that she’d never been to any of the clubs in Chicago sober. Everything had always been a blur, even the potential dangers out there. Being clean was opening her eyes to an entirely different world than the one she was used to.

  When she finally reached the front of the line, the giant, 350-pound bouncer at the door did not recognize her. He looked like a mountain compared to Donna. There was nothing small on the man at all. His arms looked like two tree trunks, and his neck like a thick side of beef. He was surely going to be an obstacle. Donna wasn’t used to obstacles. Things had generally come easy to her or had been given to her due to her family name, influence, and money.

  “Shit,” she mumbled, her pulse quickening, as she took a really good look at the bouncer. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number she’d been calling incessantly for the past twenty-four hours. Maybe he will answer this time. I hope he answers this time, she said to herself as she listened. But she got the same result she’d gotten all last night and today. No answer. Voicemail box full. Her shoulders slumped.

  “Hey! You! This look like a place for you to stand and make a call?” the bouncer barked. With his double chin and dark, hairy face and deep-set eyes, he resembled a grizzly bear. He was scary as hell.

  Donna blinked rapidly, her heart thundering in her chest. This was her chance. It was be brave now or never. She swallowed the lump that had formed at the back of her throat. A strong desire gave her imaginary courage and propelled her forward.

  “Um, do you know . . . ? Um, can you get Tommy for me? Can you tell him Don . . . um . . . Donna is outside to see him?” Donna stammered, her tongue seemingly not cooperating with her brain. Donna hated feeling like a scared little girl. Being sober fucking sucked. Had she been high, she would’ve had the confidence to march right up to that fucking monstrous bouncer and demand she be let into the club. She might have even been “drug courageous” enough to slap his ass. Not now. Donna had nothing in her system that could bring her old Donna back. She hated it.

  The bouncer scrunched his eyebrows and flexed his neck. He looked down at Donna like she was crazy. “I look like an errand boy to you? Get the hell out of the front of my line. You want to get inside to see Tommy, you get to the back of the line like everybody else,” the bouncer spat, dismissing her.

  Doesn’t he know who I am? I am Donna Johnson, the sister of Ernest Junior and the daughter of Ernest Johnson! Donna screamed inside her head. Her father and brother weren’t powerful names just in Chicago; they threw their weight around all over. She’d used her affiliation a million times to get what she wanted, but not tonight. The frustration felt like a large hand choking her neck. She could feel tears welling up at the backs of her eyes.

  Donna didn’t know what to say next. She stepped closer to the door, her teeth chattering because she was so angry. She tried to dial the number again, but her hands were trembling too badly. She needed a hit, a pill, anything to take the fucking edge off. Now that she was out of the safe environment of rehab, all her desire for drugs was back. The cravings had returned the minute she walked into her parents’ condo. That was the reason she’d come out tonight, to fight the urges. Yeah, right. Who was she fooling? She’d come out to see the person she’d longed for the entire time she was gone.

  “What? You can’t hear!” the bouncer barked, moving his mountainous body toward her menacingly. “I said this ain’t no place for you to be standing around to make no damn calls! Get your ass to the back of the line, or get the hell out of here!”

  The bass in his voice startled Donna, but she wasn’t giving up. She bit her bottom lip, swallowed hard, and stepped up again.

  “I really, really need to see Tommy. If you just give him the message, you’ll see that he’ll let me inside. Please, please, it’s an emergency,” Donna pleaded, clasping her hands together like she was about to pray. It wasn’t in her nature to beg or plead. All her life she’d generally gotten what she wanted, even on the party scene. And if she didn’t get her way, she was used to resorting to tantrums to turn the tables. However, she figured the temper tantrums she usually threw or the rude way she spoke to those who stood in her way wasn’t going to work with this guy. She tried something different.

  “Pretty please,” she added for good measure.

  It was clear to the bouncer that this little nuisance wasn’t going to give up. He didn’t have time to keep arguing with her either. The bouncer exhaled a windstorm of breath and rolled his beady eyes. “All right, all right. Just hold up, because I see you ain’t going to give up, and you are fucking up the order of my line here,” he muttered. He let three more people through the blue DO NOT CROSS barricade, and then he looked at Donna one more time and turned toward the nightclub doors. She stood trembling, the uncertainty killing her inside.

  “Aye, JoJo. Run inside and tell Tommy a little hot piece of ass is out here to see him. I’m not letting her inside unless he gives the okay. Names Dee, or some shit like that,” the bouncer yelled over his shoulder.

  Donna’s shoulders slumped with relief. Tommy was still hanging at his usual spot, which was good. The bouncer turned back toward Donna, his face twisted, as if he smelled something that stunk.

  “You must really need to see Tommy. Don’t look like his usual type. You look too clean for the likes of Tommy,” the bouncer commented, eyeing Donna up and down.

  She wasn’t wearing club clothes, so she assumed that was what the bouncer meant by Tommy’s “usual type.” Or did that mean Tommy had moved on without her? Donna’s mind raced a mile a minute.

  “I did you the favor. Now get out of the way. Stand to the side until I see if Tommy wants to be bothered with your ass,” the bouncer instructed, using his huge hands to push her aside. “Next!” he screamed, waving at the next three people in the line.

  The eager club-goers rushed toward Donna, causing her to stumble backward a few steps. The world really was so strange to her without drugs in her system. Donna didn’t know how she would survive without medicating herself. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she waited for her boyfriend, Tommy, either to come outside or give the beefy guard the word to let her inside.

  The last time she’d seen Tommy, he’d given her a fix in exchange for her American Express Black Card. All she remembered about that night was regaining consciousness in the back of an ambulance, surrounded by chaos and screaming EMTs. A day later, she was released from the hospital to the care of her parents, who drove her straight to the rehabilitation center. She was forcefully dragged inside, and after a lot of futile kicking, spitting, screaming, and crying, she was signed in involuntarily. Donna believed it was all her mother’s doing. At the rehab center, she was cut off from the world . . . and Tommy.