How Deep Is Your Love 3 Read online

  “Keep staring at me like that, Denzel, and I’m gonna think you just might want something,” she winked.

  “Ew,” Brianna gagged. “I promise, he wants no part of that.” Gabrielle looked between the two of them.

  “So, you watch him fuck Charm, then wait your turn?” Gabrielle asked her. Brianna stood to deck her in the mouth, but Denzel grabbed her hand.

  “Sit down,” he ordered. Brianna knew it wasn’t the time to start a scene, so she dropped back into her seat.

  “Cut it out or you can leave,” Denzel said to Gabrielle. She submitted quickly and returned to what she was doing.

  “Why did you even tell her to come up?” Brianna whispered. Denzel shrugged. He actually didn’t know why he told Gabrielle to come up but he knew she was having trouble sleeping to begin with.

  “Whatever then,” Brianna sighed. “We need to talk about how the hell Charm got booked for shooting Terrell. It doesn’t even make sense! She was there!”

  “They are sticking to the story that she hired someone to do it. And if they had anything on me, I’d be right in that cell with her,” Denzel shook his head.

  “Wait, what happened to Charm?” Gabrielle asked. She turned around with a plate in her hand for Denzel. She placed it in front of him before sitting down.

  “Charm got arrested,” Brianna said.

  “Oh my God, for what?”

  “The shooting that happened with her husband.” Gabrielle gasped. She rubbed Denzel’s back.

  “I’m sorry about that. I know you really liked her. But you shouldn’t be giving yourself to anyone that tried to kill their husband! What if she was planning to do the same to you?”

  “She didn’t try and kill him!” Denzel snapped. He pushed his plate away his appetite gone.

  “I mean, if she was arrested, then she’s guilty,” Gabrielle said, shocked he was taking up for her.

  “I suggest you shut your mouth about something you don’t know about,” Brianna warned Gabrielle. She noticed immediately that Denzel was breathing heavier. If Gabrielle kept pushing, Denzel was sure to blow up on the both of them. Gabrielle noticed how Denzel was heating up. She shut her mouth immediately.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just concerned about you.”

  “Concerned about me?” He mocked. “Don’t try and sell me that bullshit.”

  “But if she tried to kill-”

  “I’ll take my chances!” Denzel shouted at her. “Because if you think about it, between you and her, you’re the one who’s the real fucking killer. So if you don’t want me to knock your teeth down your fucking throat, you won’t-”

  “Denzel!” Brianna gasped. She hurriedly pulled him out of Gabrielle’s face. Even though she hated the broad, Brianna did have her morals.

  “Brie!” Denzel lifted his hand, trying to get out of her grip but Brianna held on. She dragged him away from the kitchen and to his bedroom.

  “Please stop,” Brianna begged. Denzel was shaking with his anger, trying to stop himself from doing something he would regret.

  “You are not your father, Denzel. However angry you may get, you need to realize that. And I know you’re upset over Charm right now, but I’m not gonna let that control your anger. We both know you could never live with yourself if you actually put your hands on her. So saying it is just as worse!” Brianna placed her hand against his chest where his heart lie so she could coaxed him to calm down.

  “How can you say I’m not my father, when you see how I get?”

  “Because your father didn’t give a shit. And I know you feel terrible.” Denzel nodded.

  “Take a few moments by yourself. Whatever she did to you, let it go for now. Then when you’re ready, come back out, so we can talk about how we’re gonna get your woman out of jail.”

  “She’s not my woman,” Denzel said, shaking his head.

  “That may be true, but that clearly didn’t stop her from being in love with you. And I have an inkling that you love her too.” Denzel looked at his best friend.

  “You were against this,” he said. “What changed?”

  “I wasn’t against you and Charm exploring each other. I was against moving too fast seeing how delicate both your situations are. But then I just realized that sometimes real love doesn’t have a time stamp. Spending that day with her when we went to the spa, opened up my eyes to a lot of things. Most of all, she makes you happy.” Brianna patted his shoulder before leaving him in the room alone so he could get his wits about him.

  Denzel took a deep breath. Brianna was right. No matter how angry he just was, if he’d ever put his hands on Gabrielle he would hate himself. And just replaying it in his head, the way he threatened her wasn’t something he would ever pride himself in. He was pissed Gabrielle aborted, that was for sure, but with the way he’d just blown up on a woman and threatened to punch her teeth down her throat, he didn’t deserve to be a father. Not if his anger was going to continue to progress. Maybe he couldn’t handle having kids if he was going to struggle with his anger.

  Grunting, he shook his head and left the room. Back in the kitchen, Brianna and Gabrielle were around the table.

  “For someone he dated for ten years, you suck at knowing when to not push his buttons,” Brianna was saying.

  “Like I said, I’m just concerned about him, that’s all.”

  “Honey, you should have been giving him all that energy while you two were still together. So chill with all that. If you knew Denzel, you’d know he doesn’t like being reminded of shit that gets him pissed and he definitely doesn’t like that overbearing shit. And I know you want a second chance, honey, but take it from me; you ain’t getting one.”

  Denzel cleared his throat as he walked to the table. The women looked at him, but only Brianna smiled. Gabrielle looked as if she wanted to burst into tears. Denzel flopped down in the chair next to her.

  “Sorry for that,” he mumbled to her.

  “I forgive you,” She responded. Denzel just looked away from her. He really needed to focus on Charm being in jail right now. He couldn’t believe she was spending a night in a cell. And all he wanted to do was get her out of there.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Brianna said. “So let’s talk about it. What do they even have against her?”

  “The gun,” Denzel shook his head. “The gun that shot Terrell was in her car. But Charm isn’t stupid. If she knew the gun was in her car, she wouldn’t have willingly let the cops look in there. Warrant or not, she would have fought it. Not to mention, that she spent every minute of her time with either me, you, or Jason. We never left her alone, because we were all worried about her. Do we really think she had time to contact a damn hitman to kill Terrell?”

  “That’s true, but-” Gabrielle cut Brianna off.

  “She still could have found time to contact someone,” Gabrielle spoke.

  “I don’t think so,” Brianna said. “Weren’t you fucking her brains out by then, Denzel?” fighting his anger again, Denzel had to smile at how Brianna was trying to defer the conversation from putting the blame on Charm.

  “I was fucking her brains out,” Denzel said. “Plus, I took her to the gun range so she could let her anger out. Seeing the gun she nearly pissed herself. Even though she got courage enough to fire the gun, she also wasn’t attached to it. So I doubt she’d purchase one of her own.”

  “Wait, did the cops even say who the gun was registered to? That could be the piece to the puzzle. All I know is if that gun actually fired the bullet that nearly killed Terrell, but it ended up in Charm’s car, then she’s being framed.”

  “By the person that actually shot him,” Denzel said. Gabrielle slowly began to back away from the table, afraid that Denzel and Brianna were onto her. Her heart began to pick up its pace as panic set in. She could not get caught. She refused to get caught.

  “My bet is on Destiny,” Brianna said.

  “Of course, it’s her,” Denzel said. “But she pushed everything onto Charm,
so there’s no proof of what she’s done. And it’s complete bullshit.” Gabrielle slowly inched back towards the table. Even though she and Destiny had plotted together, Gabrielle wasn’t about to throw herself under the bus to protect Destiny. She was just going to have to look out for herself.

  “Who’s Destiny?” Gabrielle asked, acting like she was clueless.

  “Terrell’s side chick,” Brianna answered. “She has it out for Charm. But she’s pregnant by Terrell.”

  “If she’s pregnant by him, why would she attempt to shoot him?” Denzel and Brianna looked at each other. That was a good question. Gabrielle shook her head, feeling dumb for even asking it. But she thought of a quick save.

  “What if she wasn’t aiming for Terrell?” Gabrielle asked. All eyes went to her. “She could have been aiming for Charm and hit Terrell by accident.”

  “We… Hadn’t thought about that,” Denzel said. Gabrielle shrugged.

  “It’s a possibility. If she’s the only one who would have been firing shots then maybe she just missed. And if you insist that Charm is innocent, then I would start exploring Destiny’s role in this.”

  “True,” Brianna said. She looked Gabrielle up and down. Something about her saying that rubbed Brianna the wrong way. No one could have just easily guessed that Charm was the target, and the shooter just missed, and shot Terrell. It was unsettling. But she left it alone.

  “Look, we don’t know what time Charm is going to be in to see the judge tomorrow, so we need to get some sleep and be at the courthouse at 9 sharp. If we stay all day, we’re bound to find out the time of the hearing.” Denzel nodded and rubbed his eyes.

  “That sounds like a plan. Go crash on my bed I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “You sure?” Brianna asked. “I can just go home.”

  “Don’t be silly. Go on.” Brianna stood from her chair and kissed Denzel on the cheek on the way out of the kitchen.

  “Thought we’d get to be alone, so we could talk,” Gabrielle said, once Brianna was out of the kitchen.

  “We are alone,” Denzel said.

  “I mean completely.”

  “Listen. I get you keep having these dreams. And I know it’s hard for you to be unattached from me. I mean, I’m supposed to be pissed at you and I keep inviting you into my home. It’s natural that we struggle with our separation. But I need you to be honest with me and tell me what the hell you want from me. I know you’re using the dreams to get close to me.”

  “I’m not using the dreams to get close to you. I actually am struggling with sleeping. But yes, I’m sort of struggling to let you go.”

  “Why? Before we broke up, you spent more than a week away from me. No phone calls, no nothing.”

  “But then I knew I could always come back and I’d have you.”

  “I know you want something,” Denzel said. “So what is it?”

  “I made a mistake,” Gabrielle admitted. “And I want to undo it.” Denzel crossed his arms and looked at her.

  “I want to have your baby.”

  “If you think I’m ever gonna consider having sex with you again, you got another thing coming,” Denzel scoffed.

  “It doesn’t have to be frequent! Only when I’m ovulating!”

  “Yeah… No.” Denzel stood. “I am getting pretty tired, so I’m gonna hit the sack.”

  “Can’t I stay tonight?” Gabrielle asked.

  “No.” Denzel walked towards his front door and held it open. She looked like she was on the verge of begging him to stay, but instead, she held her head down and left his loft. Closing the door behind her, Denzel leaned against the locked door for a moment taking a few deep breaths. He had an ex that wouldn’t let him go. And a woman who was in jail for a crime that she didn’t commit that he loved. Talk about deep shit.

  Chapter Three

  Destiny sat next to Terrell’s hospital bed with a smile on her face. Charm was gone. With that evidence of the gun, Destiny knew Charm wasn’t escaping this one easily. But right now, Destiny had Terrell all to herself. She scooted closer to his bed and ran her fingers across his face. His eyes slowly fluttered open. He groaned as he woke up and the pain of his injuries hit him.

  “Need some meds?” Destiny asked him. Terrell shook his head. If he stopped depending on the damn drugs, then he would be able to get home sooner. Plus, he didn’t want to get hooked on the narcotics.

  “What time is it?” He asked.

  “Almost 7am. You slept all night, finally.” Terrell tried to take a deep breath, but he didn’t fully breathe in.

  “Get the doctor. We need to talk about when I can fucking leave. I’m tired of this place.” Destiny nodded, before getting up to leave the room. The doctor was usually nearby, but Destiny looked up and down the hall, and he was nowhere to be found. She went up to a nurse’s station.

  “Hey, I’m looking for Dr. Murphy, Terrell’s doctor.” She nodded and looked down the hall.

  “He’s meeting with some detectives. He’ll be back soon. Does Terrell need anything?” The nurse stood ready to head to Terrell’s room. But Destiny was stuck on the fact that the doctor was meeting with detectives. What exactly were they talking about? The nurse left Destiny standing there, to go to Terrell’s room. Destiny searched the hall until she saw the doctor emerge from an office with the two detectives that were on Terrell’s case. She thought they were just going to leave, but they were headed directly towards Terrell’s room.

  “What’s going on?” Destiny asked, intercepting them.

  “We’re gonna have a chat with Mr. Robinson,” the detective said. He didn’t give Destiny another answer, he simply just pushed by her into the room. The nurse was helping Terrell sit up while giving her a box of apple juice.

  “Isn’t it a little early for visitors?” Terrell asked, dryly.

  “Yes, I’m sure it is, but this is important.”

  “What do you need?”

  “Are you positive that you saw no one suspicious the day of the shooting?” Detective Joe asked.

  “I told you from day one,” Terrell said. “I didn’t see anyone suspicious, it was a normal morning. Busy like any other day.” Joe looked at Destiny.

  “And what was Charm doing with the gun when you saw her with it?” Joe asked. He knew it was Destiny who’d given him the tip in the first place.

  “She was wiping it clean in her car, then I saw her leave it in there, and go about her day.” Terrell snapped his head in Destiny’s direction.

  “What gun?” He asked.

  “We found the gun that shot you in Charm’s vehicle. We’ve come to tell you that we have her in custody, and she’s going to see the judge around 11 this morning. As the victim, we needed to see if you were strong enough to attend the hearing or if you had any extra information.” Terrell blinked rapidly. Charm? His wife, in jail?

  “Wait, wait, wait, you arrested my wife?! She was there when the shots were fired!” Terrell yelled. He began coughing immediately afterwards, before spitting up mucus. The nurse took the kidney basin from him to go and clean it.

  “We strongly believe she hired someone to pull the trigger for her,” Joe answered. “What do you know about the man she’s been seeing?”

  “Well, he obviously didn’t pull the trigger either, he was there when it happened! And if she hired someone to kill me, why the fuck would she be in possession of the gun?! Huh? Did you check the registration?” Both detectives were quiet.

  “I can’t fucking believe this!” Terrell was heated. Picturing Charm in a jail cell, set his body on fire. He didn’t need his wife in that kind of mix up.

  “Alright, no more questioning. Terrell is still very sick and he can’t take too much excitement right now,” Dr. Murphy spoke up.

  “Listen,” Detective Joe said. “I know it’s hard, but all the evidence points to Charm. And she’s going to get booked for this crime. Your wife tried to kill you, and Destiny witnessed her with the gun. Face those facts.” With a grim face, Joe turned and left the room w
ith the other detective in tow. Terrell brought angry eyes to Destiny.

  “When did you see her with the gun?” Terrell asked. “Because Charm has been nowhere near us! She won’t come to see me, and I know for damn sure, she won’t be at the house with you there. So where the fuck did you see her cleaning a fucking gun off?!”

  “Terrell, you need to relax,” Destiny said.

  “Don’t tell me to-” Terrell began coughing again.

  “Alright, enough of this conversation,” Dr. Murphy ordered. He pressed the button on Terrell’s bed to put it back in a reclined position.

  “I’m gonna have to give you a sedative, if you don’t calm down,” The doctor said.

  “I’m calm!” Terrell snapped. “Give me my phone, Destiny,” He ordered. Destiny retrieved his phone from the table and handed it to him. He searched through his contacts, his chest slowly heaving up and down. When he found what he was looking for he pressed the call button.

  “Hey, James,” Terrell spoke, when the man answered the phone.

  “This must be important. It’s early as fuck.”

  “I need you,” Terrell said, urgently.

  “What’s the problem?” James asked, concerned.

  “It’s Charm. She’s been set up. She’s in jail right now. Apparently, she’s seeing a judge at 11 this morning. But I know she didn’t ask for a lawyer, so she’s going to get a public defender. I need you to do whatever you have to do to make sure she gets offered bail. Whatever the amount is for the bail, I can pay it and get her out. I just need you to work your magic.”

  “Oh fuck,” James said. “I’m on it. I’ll get dressed and go downtown right now. I’ll keep you updated. Don’t worry, Terrell, you know I’ll get her out.”

  “Thanks, James.” Terrell hung up the phone and was finally able to relax. Destiny was staring at him with her mouth open.

  “Who was that?!” Destiny asked.

  “James Owens. We went to college together, and he’s the best damn lawyer I know. With him onboard, those prosecutors don’t stand a chance trying to send Charm to prison.” Destiny didn’t know what to say. She was beyond flabbergasted. And just when she thought she had Charm out of the picture, she was rearing to come back again. Destiny placed her fingers on her temple as she tried not to lose it.