If the girl decided to tell Carlton everything, then he would lose his grandson, anyway. The irony of the situation didn’t miss him. Carlton had all but threatened him when he tried to talk him out of bringing the kids from the Bahamas to Miami. If only he had managed to get Carlton to leave her side and come back to the Bahamas with him and the boy.
He hadn’t wanted to leave her. The pain in Carlton’s face when the girl collapsed almost broke the elder Harrington’s heart. He never wanted to see that kind of pain on his grandson’s face. That was the real reason why he wanted the girl gone. The love Carlton felt for the girl was as real as the love that ended up killing his father. The elder Harrington wasn’t going to bury another person he loved if he could help it. The little black American girl surely couldn’t be worthy of such love.
Once she woke up, Latonya found her Peeping Tom from the hospital still watching her sleep. Carlton sat in the wing chair beside the bed. Warmth that she hadn’t expected came over her. Oddly, having him there made her feel secure. That confused her. The way he had treated her made him the last person she should feel safe around. She sighed, not wanting to waste time thinking about Carlton. The only important thing was finding a way to get her children and leave.
“Are you going to watch me sleep all the time?”
Carlton offered a wry grin. “She speaks.”
Sitting up in the bed and rubbing her eyes, she glared at him. “Why are you here? What is this sudden fascination with my sleep patterns?” She stopped for a moment, realizing that Carlton had always watched her sleep. She would often wake up to his intense gaze. Surely he wasn’t watching her for the same reasons as he had then? “You stayed in the hospital the entire time watching me. I’m out now. I’ve been given a clean bill of health. Why are you still doing it?”
He appeared thrown off guard by her question and paused for a moment before responding. “You scared me. Watching you sleep calms me. I can see that you’re safe and okay. I guess I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”
Even though she told herself that it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, why he watched her, she still found herself asking, “Why not?”
His eyes held her in an intense gaze and he responded, “I don’t know. In the hospital, I just didn’t want to leave your side because I didn’t want to lose you. Now I’m trying to figure out a way to get you to stay. I don’t want you to leave again.”
“You kicked me out, Carlton. I didn’t leave you.” Shaking her head incredulously, she continued, “And it took you three years to come find me. So pardon me if I don’t buy this song and dance you’re selling.”
“I went to your grandmother’s house a week after throwing you out. Little Carl had been asking for you and I took him to go see you.…I…” Carlton paused and took a shaky breath. “It was the same day you called Gran and told her that you wouldn’t be coming back.”
Latonya felt the blood freeze in her veins. The old bastard had lied to her. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Carlton everything that his grandfather had done to keep them apart. Carlton deserved to know the truth.
The fearful expression on the old man’s face crossed her mind and she paused. Suddenly, she realized that the fear had always been there masked in his hate. It was the fear, not the hate that caused the old man to threaten her and everyone she loved. She decided she would hold on to her information for the moment.
Neither the old man nor Carlton were important, anyway. The only important thing for Latonya was her children and getting them all out of Carlton’s house.
Shrugging with a nonchalance she didn’t feel, she stated, “Well, obviously I didn’t know at the time that my son was waiting for me at Gran’s house.”
Leaning forward in his chair, Carlton implored, “Why didn’t you come back once you found out that you were pregnant?”
The earnestness in his tone and the confused expression on Carlton’s face gave Latonya pause. It seemed as if he really was trying to figure out the past so that they could have some sort of future. The hard shell around her heart let her know there would be no future between her and Carlton. It didn’t matter that he had come looking for her. He shouldn’t have thrown her out in the first place.
“I knew that I was pregnant when I left. I knew a week before you kicked me out. I was waiting for the right time to tell you. When you came back from your business trip you were so cold and distant. I couldn’t find a moment special enough to share the news.”
His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged. “You knew that you were pregnant when you left here?”
“When you threw me out. Yes.”
Clenching his teeth, he bit out his words in a hiss. “How could you keep Terrence away from me like that?”
A short, sarcastic laugh fell from her mouth. The nerve of him! “How could you make me leave little Carl, make me choose between staying and fighting to be a part of his life and keeping my unborn child. No mother should have to make that kind of decision.”
“You could have given me time to calm down. My goodness! I saw you with him!” He leaped up from the chair and began to pace the room. “He had his hand on yours. You left the restaurant with your arms around him. Now you tell me that he was the one who financed your disappearance?”
Sucking her teeth, she folded her arms across her chest. “Right, right, and after being married to you for three years, I didn’t warrant any trust at all. You wouldn’t even listen to me. You just assumed that I was having an affair and you kicked me out.”
He stopped mid-pace and stared at her. His face fell and she saw his regret again. It confused her. She could count on one hand the amount of times she had actually seen Carlton Harrington III visibly show remorse for anything he’d done.
“I didn’t mean to get you upset. It’s just a lot to take in. I know that my actions made it hard for you to do things differently. But I guess I hoped that…I don’t know what I hoped back then. I just know that we have a chance to try to make things right now…if you’re willing?”
Latonya shook her head. There was no need to feed him false promises. Even though he realized that he was wrong, he still hadn’t apologized. She couldn’t stay with a man who couldn’t say he was sorry for breaking her heart and separating her from her child. As soon as she could, she was finding a place and she was taking her children with her. “I can’t stay here, Carlton. I want to be a part of our sons’ lives, but I cannot stay here.”
He sighed before sinking down in his chair. “Latonya, you just sat downstairs and told our son that you wouldn’t leave him again.”
Don’t worry. I have no plans to leave either of my sons! “I told him that I would never be far away. I intend to stay in Miami and I intend to be a part of my sons’ lives, but I will not remain here. As soon as I can I am finding my own place.” She didn’t think she could stay under the same roof with him as long as it would take for them to work out a suitable custody situation.
She also didn’t know for sure that he would keep the children in the United States if she left. Letting him know her plans to eventually leave was a huge risk on her part. Her heart stopped at the thought of what he could do if he wanted to stop her. He could easily take her children back to the Bahamas. She almost thought it better to lie and feed into his hopes for some sort of reconciliation until she found a way to steal the kids and hide away for good.
Even as she thought it she realized she couldn’t keep her sons away from their father. He loved them as much as she did. She had to find a way to get him to see that they could share custody and not be together as a couple.
Carlton felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest. He couldn’t lose her again. “Can’t we just try to live under the same roof for the moment, for the sake of the children?” He wasn’t fazed by the pleading sound in his voice. Even though he couldn’t bring himself to actually say it, he wanted Latonya to know that he was sorry.
“Were you thinking about the sake of the children when you kicked me out? Don’t try to run a head trip on me, Carlton. How can you really expect me to stay here after everything that has happened?”
He sighed. He didn’t want her to leave. He realized that he couldn’t force her to stay. She had to do what made her feel comfortable. He had to do what he knew he must. Even if she left, he planned to get his wife back. He would woo her until it became unmistakable that they belonged together. Working at her pace and taking her needs into consideration was all a part of accomplishing that. He knew what he had to do even though he didn’t want to do it. “Do what you feel you must, Latonya. The boys will miss you if you go.” I will miss you if you go. “But if you really must go, then go.”
She turned and dropped her arms to her side. “I’m not making any promises, Carlton. I can’t say with certainty that I will stay here. But I can say that I won’t leave my children.”
“Latonya, I have no idea what the future will bring. I know that we both need some time. However, there are two little boys involved and we don’t have the luxury of taking that time completely apart.” He placed his hands in his pockets. “We’re a family. And we should live under the same roof.”
“Fine, as long as we’re clear on boundaries.”
“Oh, I think we’re crystal clear.” He let out a sigh of relief, happy that she would be staying for now.
“Good. Well, I’m going to freshen up for dinner.” Getting up from bed, Latonya stood still for a moment.
“Fine. You’ll find all of your clothing in the walkin. We shipped your things from New Jersey. Your old clothing is still here, and I had Frances’s Boutique send over some of her latest designs in your size.” He hoped he hadn’t been too presumptuous. He figured she would need some clothes, even though he had no idea if she would want to stay.
