Friday was finally here, and Raven was glad to know that this was the last day Porsha would step foot inside NVCC. She also couldn’t help thinking about all the money she would soon have, which was the reason she’d spent most of the morning searching online for lots that could house at least a seven-thousand-square-foot home. Many were located about a half hour from the church, and actually, she liked that idea. Right now, she lived only about fifteen minutes away, but she didn’t like the fact that some of her members knew exactly where she resided. None of them stopped over unless she’d asked them to do something church-related, but she also didn’t want them simply driving by whenever they wanted. Because who was to say that there wouldn’t come a time when she had certain visitors she didn’t want them to see? Some things just weren’t everyone else’s business, and she wanted to protect her privacy. It was the reason, too, that she was leaning more toward building a gated property, because that would ensure the best kind of seclusion.
As the morning continued, Raven became more and more excited because everything in her life was about to change for the better. She would actually be earning a minimum of one hundred thousand dollars per month. It was sort of hard to fathom, because she still remembered how thrilled she’d been when Pastor Black had hired her a long time ago and paid her just over seventy per year. But now she was on her way to earning what he did. In fact, if it hadn’t been for all the books he’d written and the millions of copies that had been sold, she would soon earn more than him. But that was okay, because Raven was doing fine where she was and she had no complaints.
She looked at her watch and wondered what time Porsha would be showing up with those documents and that cashier’s check. It was already half past eleven, and Raven hoped she wasn’t planning to wait until the end of the day. Especially since Raven wanted to deposit the money right away and then write checks to twelve other accounts. She’d purposely opened all of them at different banks, because even though it wasn’t common for anyone to withdraw twenty-five thousand dollars in cash at one time, Raven didn’t have a choice. D.C. had forced her into mob-like territory, and she had to see this thing to the finish. She would literally have to visit one bank after another…twelve…different…times. But the good news was that it would all be over very soon. Then, this morning, she’d also gone to the bank that John had transferred the five hundred thousand dollars to. She did trust John not to double-cross and steal from her, but to be safe, she’d withdrawn the money and split it equally into two new money market accounts.
Raven sat at her desk for another half hour but started to feel a bit nervous. Partly because she still hadn’t heard from Porsha, and partly because she hoped John had covered all of his tracks the way he’d told her. She certainly trusted his intelligence, but last night, when she’d gone over to sleep with him one last time—because he’d called, begging her like never before—he’d seemed more concerned about sex than he had about the money transfer. He’d also seemed a little nervous, and she hoped he wasn’t allowing fear to get the best of him. Because after all, before Raven had coaxed him into embezzling the money, John had been a straightlaced, by-the-book financial guy. He’d always followed the law and had never placed the church or Raven at any risk when it came to the federal government.
But maybe she was just paranoid, and John was fine. Still, she called his office to check on him. But he didn’t answer. So she left hers and walked down there to see him. When she looked through his doorway, though, she noticed that his lights weren’t even on. It was unusual for him not to be in yet, but maybe he had an outside appointment. So Raven went back to her office and closed the door.
But only five minutes after she sat down, Michelle hurried in. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Pastor, but Porsha and Dillon are here. They’re waiting to see you.”
“Together?”
“Yes.”
“Did they say why?”
“No.”
Raven tried to think fast, because she hadn’t planned on Dillon finding out about her conversation with Porsha. She also wouldn’t have expected Porsha to contact Dillon about anything. But all this showed was just how desperate Porsha was in terms of trying not to sign those documents and pay the money Raven was demanding.
Raven wasn’t afraid of them, though. “Send them in.”
When Michelle turned and left, Raven walked around to the front of her desk, sat on the edge of it, and folded her arms.
Finally, Porsha and Dillon entered.
“What’s with the sitting-on-the-desk thing?” Dillon said, shutting the door. “Some kind of power move?”
Raven hated Dillon, and she was irritated already. “What is it you want? Why are you here?”
He glared at her. “Well, first of all, Porsha’s not signing away her rights to anything or paying you any money.”
Raven smirked. “Really? Well, if she doesn’t then that porn video of yours will become the most-watched sensation on the Internet.”
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “And I’ll tell you something else. Not only will you never try to blackmail Porsha again, but you won’t be blackmailing anyone.”
Raven tightened her face. “Dillon, just get out, okay? And Porsha, I suggest you hand over my money and those documents.”
Porsha stared at her but never said a word.
Dillon pointed his finger at Raven. “I told you I wasn’t playing with you, and I meant that. You messed with me the whole time our divorce proceedings went on, but now it’s payback time.”
Porsha turned her head abruptly and looked at him. She acted as though Dillon was catching her off guard, too.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dillon,” Raven spat. “Whatever you say.”
Dillon smiled at her. “You think you’re the smartest person alive, when really you’re one of the stupidest women I’ve ever met. And because you were bold enough to steal all that money from my dad when you worked for him, I knew you would steal again if you had to. Especially if D.C. put some real pressure on you. And not thirty thousand dollars’ worth, either, but ten times more than that amount. I knew if he demanded that kind of money, you would find a way to steal it from your own church. But I also knew you would never do it yourself, because you didn’t want to go back to prison.”
Raven’s body went numb, and she had to hold on to the edge of her desk with both hands to steady herself.
Dillon smirked at her again. “Yeah, I’ll bet you’re taking me serious now, aren’t you?”
Raven looked at Porsha, wishing she would say something—anything—but she was as stunned as Raven.
“But just like D.C. put the pressure on you, he put even more pressure on that John character.”
“What are you talking about?” Raven asked, trying to make sense of what Dillon had done.
“You slept with him again last night, didn’t you?” Dillon asked, but his question sounded more like a statement.
Raven swallowed hard, trying to relax her breathing.
“Don’t even bother trying to answer that,” he said, “because I already know you did. And I have the video footage to prove it.”
Porsha covered her mouth with both hands.
Dillon walked closer to Raven, staring her down, but his cynical smile was gone. “So if you even think about leaking that video to anyone, I’ll be leaking yours…Pastor Raven.”
Raven couldn’t speak if she wanted to, so she just watched him turn and walk away.
“Baby, let’s go,” he told Porsha.
But before they could open the door to leave, a small group of men and women barged in. Raven didn’t even have to ask who they were, because she knew they were FBI agents. She knew John had betrayed her, and that life as she knew it was over. Worse, as Dillon and Porsha exited Raven’s office, Dillon glanced back at her. He never said a word, but the snide look on his face spoke volumes. It said everything.