The Iron Tiara




Another three weeks passed during which time Nadine was married in a quiet and simple ceremony. Christy begged her to let the children and Nana come stay with her and Anthony while the couple enjoyed a quick honeymoon, but as much as Nadine wanted to give Christy that time with her sons, they had opted to use the time for their move instead.

She'd been moping around the house when Anthony convinced her to take a ride with him to Alexander's condominium. X had finally received some background on Litzy and to provide a distraction for Christy, Anthony persuaded her to ride along.

“What do you need to pick up?” she asked, but her tone told him she didn’t really care.

“Paperwork,” he answered, knowing she wouldn’t pry further.

They parked their Harley next to Alexander's and strode hand in hand to the stairwell, choosing exercise over the elevator to his fourth-floor condo. Once inside, Christy stepped out onto the balcony and leaned on the railing. The ocean breeze felt good on her warm skin and she thought about how dishonest she'd been with Anthony. Maybe it was time for her to end this charade. Maybe it was time for them to have a child, to have a legal and binding marriage that would be recognized as such by the state of Florida. She had no right to be doing what she was doing behind his back. Yes, I do, her conscience chided. I should have some say-so in my own life. And if he knew my reason behind it, he would be thanking me.

She turned around and watched the man she was so in love with take a brown envelope from Alexander. Anthony didn't open it but tucked it inside his leather jacket. A sharp rap at the door startled all three of them.

Christy opened the glass slider and listened as two men identified themselves as police officers. After ascertaining who Alexander was, Christy heard the shorter of the two men say, "Alexander David Wright, you are under arrest for murder."

Alexander didn't resist as the other man spun him around and placed him in handcuffs.

"You will be extradited back to Pennsylvania where you will be tried in a court of law. You have the right to remain silent..."





Chapter Forty-Three





Naples, Florida 1979





After dropping a shaken Christy at the house, Anthony drove to the police station where Alexander was to be held before he was extradited to Pennsylvania. He was only given five minutes to speak with X.

On his way home, Anthony pondered all that X had shared from behind the glass divider at the police station. Alexander told Anthony about his side trip last year to take Nisha to dinner and how he did it only to prove to himself that he wasn't interested in her. He explained about the delay in his return home due to his own stupidity over the switchblade. He told Anthony how he'd called Nisha to get him out of jail, but when she refused, he contacted someone from her law firm instead. He shared a few details about how he later discovered a man who'd been stalking her.

"So, are you sleeping with my sister?" Anthony asked, his jaw tense.

"No," Alexander told him. "Do I want to? I'd be lying, Bear, if I didn't tell you I have feelings for her."

Alexander noticed a tic in Anthony's jaw. He was angry.

"She should've come to me!" Anthony barked into the telephone from behind the glass partition.

"Nisha wasn't going to anybody for help, which is why I took matters into my own hands," X told him. “She thought she could handle it herself.”

"So, is that where you've been going? Your occasional long weekends away have been with my sister?" Anthony glared at him.

"Yes, and before you ask again, nothing, not one thing, has happened between us. And I won't lie to you, Bear. I plan on changing that."

"And how are you going to do that from behind bars?" Anthony snapped. When X didn't answer, Anthony asked him, "So, did you do it?"

Alexander would never answer the question out loud. He scratched the right side of his nose.

Anthony recognized the code and nodded in understanding.

Just then, a guard appeared behind X and announced that the visit was over. Alexander asked the guard for one more minute. The man nodded and stood behind X, his arms crossed as he waited.

"That name. The name you call Christy," X began.

"Owani?" Anthony asked him.

"Yeah, that name. What does it mean, Bear?"

Anthony told him the meaning of the name that Nisha had made up so many years earlier and watched as Alexander broke into a wide grin. Before hanging up the phone he told Anthony, "I'll be in touch."

Later, Anthony pulled into his driveway and noticed that Christy's car was gone. Not unusual, but she hadn't mentioned she was going anywhere. He went inside and called his sister. After spending an hour on the phone with Nisha and getting filled in on the situation between her and X and X's murder rap, he hung up and headed for the kitchen. He made himself a sandwich and carried it back to his office. He'd not had a chance to look through the envelope that X had handed off to him earlier that day. The one with the background information on Litzy. He started to open it and thought he should page Christy first. It was getting dark and he wanted to know when to expect her home. He dialed her pager and after hanging up the phone took a bite of his sandwich. He was chewing when he heard beeping. He wandered through the house until he found it. Christy's pager was sitting on their dresser. But that wasn't what caught his eye. It was lying on top of a handwritten note. He immediately recognized her feminine handwriting.



* * *



Anthony, I'm sorry. I need some space. Don't look for me because you won't find me. And don't worry about me because you must know by now that I can take care of myself. I love you, Anthony. I just don't know if I belong with you. —Christy



* * *



He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. Christy had left him. And he didn't know why. What? What was it that she couldn't do anymore? Was she secretly harboring resentment or hatred about his criminal endeavors, especially the one aimed at her dealership? Was she holding on to some bitterness from his offer to protect her and how she'd slipped into the wrong hands, not once, but twice under his watch? He certainly couldn't blame her for that, but he thought things were good between them. They were actively trying to have a baby. She agreed to marry him after she conceived. Why would she do that if she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with him?

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