Chris hesitated for a moment with his hands still balled up into fists, and then the maddened rage slowly ebbed out of his face before he turned away from them.

He entered his car angrily and drove recklessly towards his front gate, which slid open, and as he drove through, Effe saw a feminine figure running towards the car from the front door of the elegant house.

Evidently, Elaine was back and was going to do her best to win back the love and trust of her man. Effe stood up slowly, Steve forgotten for the moment, and watched the gate sliding back to block her view.

She sighed when her mother came towards her and draped an arm across her shoulders.

“Let him be, love,” Ivy said gently. “You simply cannot have it both ways. You have to learn to accept his hatred and live with it. I know this is hard on you, especially hearing about what happened to his parents. It hit me pretty badly too, and I do feel a lot of remorse for that history of my life. But, for now, we need to concentrate on your father and do everything we can to save him.”

Effe nodded, but suddenly the prospect of being in direct line of Chris’ rage was very disturbing indeed. She had not expected that. All her life, she had adapted to situations, especially those involving men. She had never felt that overwhelming craving and helplessness her friends and other women had felt in the silliness of what they called love. She had never felt the pain of heartbreak or the anguish of having to please any man. Men dotted on her, and she had always been the one to choose and decide who shared her life. All men had been expendable because, to her, all they ever wanted was her body and the sexual gratification it would give them.

They wanted her as a trophy, a beautiful ‘object’ to own and flaunt, and that simple fact, as she had grown up knowing, had made her heart untouchable. Steve had been a part of their lives for a while because her mother liked him, and somehow, he had seemed a bit different. Agreeing to a relationship with him had taken some time. Eventually, she had aligned herself to the need of a husband to provide grandchildren for her parents. So she had acquiesced to his love bids but on her terms.

They would marry and have sex and children when she decided the time was finally right.

And then Chris Bawa had come along.

The plan had been to soften him up and make him like and trust her. But, for some strange reason, Effe had felt a real affection for Sisi, and it had changed rapidly to love. That had been the first complication; the thought of Sisi finding out Effe lied had suddenly been scary for her.

She had pretended when she was in Chris’ company, and she had not found the role hard to play because the life of her father had been at stake.

Because of what was facing them, and the need to achieve their goals, she had allowed Chris to kiss her, something she normally hated to do, even with Steve. Of course, Steve had been livid when he saw it, but his anger meant nothing to Effe.

She had always been in control of their relationship.

But, as she was finding out very quickly, it had been suicidal to allow Chris to kiss her. His lips had scorched her, and although she was angry at herself, she could not shake off those electrifying moments when his lips found hers, when his tongue rolled around hers, and how she had, in the end, responded to him.

She had had a few kisses growing up, but no one had ever kissed her as passionately as Chris Bawa had. His passion and his raw enigmatic power had made it hard to remain unaffected.

It had never been hard to make people forgive her for transgressions. Men were always in a hurry to make amends where she was concerned, even when she was at fault, and somehow she had grown used to that.

But, as she was quickly finding out, Chris Bawa was not like any ordinary man. He hated with the same passion that he loved, and having found her way into his bad books, he was going to make sure she stayed there.

The prospect was suddenly unpleasant for her, and she only hoped they could set her father free so that she would never set eyes on Chris Bawa again.

Effe stared unseeingly as the agents helped Steve to his feet and half-carried him to the operation van.

She allowed her mother to lead her to the van, but she could still see the eyes of that man, and the expression on his face.

Somehow, it left a sour taste in her mouth.

***

Chris brought the car to a halt and looked at Elaine’s forlorn figure. She was wearing a dress she knew he liked. It was a short, silky, golden dress with fringed edges on the hem and below the bust. It always emphasized her amazing body and made him desire her.

She stood in the wash of his headlights unblinkingly, and he could see – even from that distance – that her eyes were wet with tears.

When he opened the door and got out, she rushed to him, and the dam broke as she ran. She clashed into him, weeping uncontrollably, and wrapped her arms around his waist as she pressed her hot face to his chest.

She tried to speak, but she was in too much agony, and her voice trailed off in the shattering power of her tears. Still holding him, she slid slowly down his figure until she was kneeling, and her arms were wrapped tightly around his knees with her face pressed against the top of his thighs.

Chris tried to move, but she did not loosen her grip on him as her tears wet the trousers.

“It’s all right, Elly,” he said softly. “It’s all right. Come, get up and let’s go inside.”

She still would not budge, and finally, Chris bent and held her hands and firmly broke her grip even though she struggled furiously. He pried her arms loose, held her forearms, and pulled her up to her feet.

Her face was torn, broken into lines of terror. She had the expression of a woman who had seen hell and found it living within her chest.

“I’m so sorry, Chris,” she hissed in abject agony. “Please, forgive me!”

“Let’s go inside, Elly,” he said softly.

“You won’t even look at me,” she whispered, terrified. “I’m standing right in front of you, Chris, my love! Please, look at me! Beat me up, insult me, drag me on the floor if you must, if you want to… but, please, for the love of God, look at me!”

Chris Bawa turned his head, and his eyes fell on the metal case that contained documents relating to the Ken Kokou case. His jawline tightened, and he turned away from Elaine abruptly and walked briskly towards the beautiful porch.

Elaine Boateng cleaned tears off her cheek, but more poured. She could barely breathe as her fear crystallized. She opened the door of the car, leaned in and picked the metal case, then she hurried inside.

He was sitting in one of the settees when she entered. His long legs were splayed, and his hands were lying limply on either side of his thighs. His calm composure, his handsome face, and his near god-like appearance brought a lump of pain to her throat as the truth stared her in the face.

She loved this man… God, how she loved and adored him!

In truth, she did not know just how much she loved him and just how much she wanted him until now. Theirs had been a happy union based on commitment and genuine emotional feelings. He had proposed, and she had accepted with glee because she had known that decision had not come easily to him, and that commitment meant he would be with her, and for her, for eternity!

Fresh tears came to her eyes as she dropped the metal case on a low table and walked on unsteady legs to his side. Again, she knelt between his parted knees and looked at him with remorse.

“You don’t deserve this, Chris, my darling,” she said painfully. “I should have told you, but I was so scared of losing you! I’m so sorry!”

He leaned forward suddenly, and his voice oozed with pain when he spoke.

“Yes, you should have told me the truth, Elly. I would’ve given you the money to pay off that bastard! Finding you like that killed my soul!”

She bowed her head and covered her face with her hands.

“Oh, I didn’t want you to find me like that, Chrissy!” she whispered tremulously. “Being in the States was a bad time in my life. I was lost in the world and lived only for the thrill of the moment, nothing was taboo. I did drugs and a whole lot of bad things. And yes, I did porn. One day, I got fed up with it all, Chrissy. You might say the craziness just got ripped right out of me. I saw myself for what I had become, and what the future held for me if I didn’t stop that way of life. I needed a new beginning, so I just upped and left the States, came back home, started a new life! But then, the past caught up with me at a time I least expected. I was scared of losing you, Chrissy. To me, acting in the movie was just a sacrifice to ensure we lived together in happiness, my love.”

Chris leaned forward with pain on his face and looked at her.

“Elly, dear, I’m not judging or blaming you, no, far from that. Yes, it is hurting me because I do love you. But we all make mistakes, and we all deserve second chances. Jesus, that was your past, and I never judge people by what happened in their past! The fact that I’m a famous lawyer with a level of respect, and this thing coming out could harm my career, well, it doesn’t bother me, not the least. The fear that Sisi might one day find out, that it would be used as a tag to harm her, well, it is something we could always address when and if it happened. This situation wouldn’t have happened if you had told me about your debt. I would have paid back Big Mac’s money! Everything would have remained in your past, and we could have gone on with our lives!”

“Chrissy, don’t do this to me!” she groaned in anguish and held out her hands to him. “Please, we can move from this! I saw your face, your pain, your heartbreak… and I cannot do this to you ever again! My love, I won’t harm you again! Please, I beg of you!”

“You cheated on me, Elly, and that’s what this is about!” he said, his expression tortured. “You cheated on me with three men at the same time! I look at you, and that image just jumps at me! You didn’t have to do that, no!”

“It was nothing, Chrissy!” she screamed and tugged at her hair desperately. “It didn’t touch me, my love! My body and mind were dead at that moment because it was just a chore to go through! It was just a payment of a debt, and nothing else, Chrissy, my darling. Please, it was not important, and it didn’t mean a thing to me!”

“It is very important, and it meant everything to me! Everything!” Chris thundered and got to his feet. “I was hurt when I kissed that damn snake, Effe, because I knew I was hurting you by not coming clean with you! I couldn’t take it, and I decided to tell you about it, and break off connections with her! But you? Damn it, Elly! That sight of you with those bloody bastards killed my very soul! Don’t say it was nothing! It is everything! Every-bloody-thing!”

A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss, A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss.  A ChrisEffe Bliss, A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss, A Lawyer For The Devil . A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss,  A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss.  A ChrisEffe Bliss, A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss,  A Lawyer For The Devil. A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss, A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss. A ChrisEffe Bliss,  A Lawyer For The Devil, A ChrisEffe Bliss