Imani narrowed her eyes. She had a feeling their business deal had something to do with her. “What was it?”
Garrett wouldn’t look at her. “You and I have a problem, and I’m taking care of it.”
He wasn’t going to answer, so Imani turned to Raymond. “What business transaction?”
He made the motion of zipping his lips and throwing away the key.
Imani screamed at Garrett, “What!”
The determined look on her face signaled that she wasn’t going to let it go. Exasperated, Garrett answered. “If fifty million will get Raymond out of our lives for good, then it’s worth it.”
Imani smacked her hand on her forehead as she started to hyperventilate. “Fif-fifty million dollars?” She could barely speak. “For what?”
Garrett didn’t want to answer, but at this point, he had no choice. “So, that he won’t come in-between our family.”
She was incredulous. “You still think this baby is his?” Disgusted, Imani pushed Garrett away from her. “I never slept with Raymond. There is zero chance in hell that my baby is his!” She spun around to Raymond who stood watching amused. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as disgusting as you. You were going to take his money and walk away knowing the truth? How could you?”
Raymond clapped his hands. “Doesn’t matter. The ink is dry on the paperwork, and the money was transferred today.”
After watching the interaction between Imani and Raymond, at that moment, Garrett knew she was telling the truth, and he had made the biggest mistake of his life. There was no way to measure the relief he’d felt when he heard her say those words in front of Raymond—or the shame.
When she quieted down, Garrett apologized. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
Purely disgusted, Imani snapped. “I don’t know what dysfunctional planet you and Raymond were born, but someone should nuke it!” Her pain was unmistakable as she looked at him. “You throw money around like its water. It won’t fix everything. It can’t get us out of this building, and I can never be bought!”
It had taken Garrett a while, but he finally realized the truth in her words. Imani was worth more than him and Raymond combined. With a renewed sense of purpose, he was determined to make sure Imani was safe. He whispered. “I’ll get you out of here. I promise.”
Raymond murmured, “You should stop making promises you can’t keep.”
Garrett had had enough. It should have been Raymond who fell down that hole instead of Seth. He planned to take care of that problem right now. However, Imani touched his arm to prevent him from making good on his earlier threat.
She looked at each man but focused her anger on Raymond. “You’re such a low-life, low-down dirty snake, but Garrett is still your brother for God’s sake! What the hell is wrong with you? We might not make it out of this building alive, and the only thing you can do is continue to try to hurt him? Haven’t you done enough damage?”
Raymond wiped the water from his face. “Technically, we’re not blood brothers just foster brothers. I think that entitles me to a bit of leeway, and to call him a bastard or two every now and again.”
Imani’s eyes grew wide. “Foster? What do you mean?”
This time Garrett refused to acknowledge her question. He couldn’t deal with those deeply probing questions right now, not with everything else.
Apparently, that wasn’t a problem for Raymond. “You mean to tell me, he never told you? I would have thought Garrett would be singing from the rooftops that we weren’t actually related.”
Garrett roared at Raymond. “You narcissistic bastard! You were my brother in every way that counted. I would have done anything for you!” He hissed. “You! You’re the one who ruined our brotherhood.”
Raymond jumped in Garrett’s face. “You made promises back then you couldn’t keep, and you’re making promises now that you can’t keep!”
Anthony had been silently watching the exchange but decided this was an excellent opportunity to step in. “Siblings can suck, and this one takes dysfunction to its highest heights. I get it. Here’s my problem. I don’t want to die in this building because you two can’t stop arguing. The both of you can stay here and continue the hate fest if you want, but I think Mrs. Hadley and I want to get the hell out of here.”
The building chose that moment to rumble, tremble, then shake. It was as if a Boeing 747 was landing right on top of them.
Garrett saw it happening before it actually occurred. He dove for Imani and somehow managed to maneuver them underneath a café table next to a restaurant.
She screamed as brick, metal, and debris rained down all around them.
Chapter 25
What felt like an eternity had only been a few seconds. After Garrett and Imani had emerged from underneath the table, nothing looked as it did just a few minutes earlier. It was hard to believe moments before they had been standing next to a fountain. It was gone, smashed completely. The marble floors were no longer visible, covered by parts of the fourteenth floor. Dust, smoke, and fire were everywhere. Trying to maneuver through what could be a scene in a movie had just been made even more challenging.
Garrett called out. “Anthony! Raymond!” There was no response. He pressed his lips together as he barked orders to Imani. “Stay here.” Everything was so unstable. He had no idea what movement could cause what to collapse.
Cautiously, he stepped around all the debris. “Ray!”
A muffled noise
