With that she stepped back. Devin felt the rush of the wind in his face as the door slammed shut. Stunned, he stood there for a minute before he pounded the door with his fist.

“Cassie, talk to me. What’s wrong?” he shouted through the door. “Are you not well? What happened?”

There was no answer. The feeling of dread that had overshadowed him earlier now multiplied a hundred-fold. Confusion and despair assailed him as he continued knocking her door.

“Cassie, talk to me please. Why are you doing this? What have I done?” he asked. “Cassie, I love you, baby. Please talk to me.”

Devin rested his forehead on the door, a sob escaping his throat. She was at the door, he could feel her. Why was she not opening it? Why did she say that she never wanted to see him again? It didn’t make sense.

“Please talk to me, baby. I can’t live without you. Please.”

The door suddenly burst open throwing Devin off his feet that he almost fell face down. He straightened himself and stepped into the house, following after an obviously angry woman. When they reached the living room, she twirled to face him, he eyes wet from shed tears.

“How dare you utter those words when we both know they are lies?” she spat. “The only reason I let you in is because I know you won’t go away and I don’t want my neighbors calling the police. I can’t deal with that right now.”

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked, reaching for her, but she sidestepped him. “You’re scaring me.”

“Scare you?” she laughed dryly.

“What aren’t you telling?”

Cassie sighed, he face hardening and her eyes looking at him with something akin to despair. “You wanna know what’s wrong? You. That’s what’s wrong, Devin.”

Now he heard the crack in her voice. Her eyes were now glassy and her lips trembled. This worried him even more. He saw her anguish but she would not allow him to come near her so he coult take her in his arms. He so wanted to wipe away the pain from her eyes.

“What do you mean, Cassie. I don’t understand.”

She angrily brushed at her cheeks where the tears were streaming down. “I will make it clear for you Devin. You won, now go collect you billion dollars from your friends.” She clapped. “Hooray, you got the black girl in bed. You won your billion dollar bet. I am so, so grateful that I was worth more than a thousand bucks>’

The blood drained from his head as the blood rushing through his veins deafened him. “Cassie, it’s not like that,” he said, rushing to clarify.

“I feel so much better now that I am a high class prostitute. I can tell my new clients that I am worth a billion dollars, no less.”

“Cassie!”

“Don’t Cassie me,” she said, her tone sardonic as she pointed a finger to his nose. “I should get that billion dollars, don’t you think? I mean, what am I worth if I don’t at least get a cut of the wager? Don’t look so shocked Devin, you made me into a piece of meat for sale!”

“It’s not like that,” he pleaded. “Please let me explain.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” she shrieked. “Now you know what the matter is, now get out.”

“Cassie, I called off the bet when I …”

“Get out!” she shouted, not listening to him. “Get the hell out of my house … out of my life and stay away from me!”

When he wouldn’t move, she pushed him. He staggered a few feet and started coming back towards her, adamant that he would explain the situation. But a vase sailed through the air and crashed on the wall. Devin ducked. Cassie was screaming for him to leave, her voice now completely hysterical. He understand what she was felling, the heartbreak evident in her actions … in her eyes.

Another object was hurled in his direction and she ducked away and made a mad dash to the door, he paused when he reached.

“We will talk when you calm down.”

He slipped through and closed the door in time to miss another object crashing against it. Devin ran down the driveway and slipped into his car, his mind racing. There was only one person who could have told Cassie about the bet and that was Carter. If he lost Cassie forever, he was going to kill Carter … there was no doubt in his mind about that.

Chapter 16

Frantically he dialed Carter’s number. There was no answer. Devin disengaged the hands free feature in his car and made his way to Barry’s house, while on his way, he called Troy and asked him to meet him at Barry’s.

No matter what happened, he would not lose Cassie. The pain caused by a stupid bet had to be remedied. Devin seethed at the vindictiveness of Carter. He knew exactly why he told Cassie and Devin would not allow him to get away with it. Carter was going to wish he hadn’t messed with him.