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Sin No More

Chapter One

Charlotte couldn't imagine life being any better than it was currently. She and Curtis were closer than they'd ever been and, best of all, they hadn't heard from Tabitha. Not once. Which was a wonderful surprise because Charlotte had been sure Tabitha was going to become the intrusion of a lifetime. Especially since she'd called the day the baby was born and tried to get Curtis to come see it. Or actually, come see her, because whether Curtis wanted to admit it or not, Charlotte knew Tabitha still wanted him. She knew because she'd never heard of any mistress who didn't have high hopes that the man she was sleeping with would somehow miraculously leave his wife for her. She knew because to be honest, she'd felt the same way herself when Curtis had still been married to Tanya. Her desire had been as wrong as wrong could be, however, she had still wanted what she wanted and hadn't cared a whole lot about who might be hurt in the end.

But right now, none of that mattered. What mattered was that she and Curtis had just finished making exceptional love to each other and they were lying in bed, snuggled closely, enjoying a beautiful moment.

"Woman, what in the world are you trying to do to me?" Curtis asked, breathing more easily than he had been five minutes ago.

Charlotte chuckled. "Are you saying you can't handle it?"

"Me? The Curtis Black? Not able to handle my wife when it comes to making love? Please."

"Well, that's what it sounds like."

"As Matthew would say, 'Girl, don't get it twisted.'"

They both laughed.

"You're right," she said. "That'sexactly what he would say. Although now he doesn't have much of anything to say at all."

"I know. He's been on the quiet side ever since we told him the truth but I still say we did the right thing. He needed to know that I'm not his biological father."

Charlotte heard what Curtis was saying but if she'd had it her way, she would have left well enough alone and worried about telling Matthew the truth at a later date. When Marissa had died, she'd begun feeling as though it wasn't a good idea to keep secrets of any kind from anyone, including Matthew. She'd kept secrets most of her adult life and far too many people had been hurt because of them, so she'd decided she didn't want Matthew learning about his paternity from anyone other than Curtis and her.

But now he was basically moping around the house, not saying any more than he had to to either of them, and Charlotte was starting to regret telling him anything. She'd wanted him to know the truth but she hadn't wanted him to feel the amount of pain she could tell he was feeling and she certainly hadn't wanted to create any tension or distance.

"He'll be okay," Curtis finally said. "It's just that this is all very new to him and it's going to take some getting used to."

"I guess. But I hope he's okay sooner rather than later."

"He will be. He'll be fine."

Charlotte nestled closer to Curtis and laid her head on his chest but as soon as she did, the phone rang.

"Who could that be?" she said. "It has to be at least eleven o'clock."

"Something must be wrong," Curtis added.

Charlotte picked up the cordless from the nightstand and sighed deeply. It was Tabitha.

"Hello?"

"Could I speak to Curtis, please?"

"Tabitha, do you realize what time it is?"

"No, and to be honest, I really don't care."

Charlotte sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"You don't care?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?"

"I don't believe you. You're actually calling here this late at night to speak to my husband, and you've got the nerve to be getting smart with me? You've got to be kidding."

"Look, Charlotte, will you just get over yourself and put Curtis on the phone? I need to discuss something with him about Curtina."

The whole idea of the name Curtina was enough to make Charlotte cringe. She was annoyed by the fact that Tabitha had chosen to give the baby a name as close to Curtis as she could. Not to mention, Curtina had to be the ugliest name she'd ever heard.

"First of all," Charlotte began, "you've been told more than once not to call this house and not to contact Curtis in any way, so why can't you just leave us alone? Why can't you just move on and forget about him?"

"Because whether you want to accept it or not, Curtis and I have a baby together. We have a gorgeous little daughter and you're just upset because you don't have any children with him. I mean, I know you claimed Matthew was his and then you lied and schemed about Marissa for as long as you could, but in the end, neither of those children was his."

Charlotte felt her breathing accelerate a few notches and was thankful she wasn't in the same room with Tabitha. If she had been, she would have beaten her unmercifully. She would have done whatever necessary to make sure Tabitha never bothered her and Curtis ever again.

"Will you just put him on the phone?!" she yelled.

"No. And the only way you'll speak to my husband is over my dead body."

"Oh, and you think that can't be arranged?"

"Are you threatening my life?"

"Give me the phone," Curtis interrupted, and reached for it.

But Charlotte snatched it away from him, turned on the lamp, and stood up.

"You look here, you crazy heifer," Charlotte said matter-of-factly. "Just because you were stupid enough to mess around with a married man, stupid enough to get pregnant by him, and then stupid enough to think he was going to leave me once that baby was born, well, that's simply not my fault. You hear me?"