Read Online Dirty Rotten Liar by Noire - Free Book Online Page B

longer.”
    The worried look on Selah’s face prompted the doctor to go into reassurance mode.
    â€œDon’t worry, Mrs. Dominion. Your husband is a very strong-willed man and his prognosis is excellent. We’ve conducted an extensive battery of tests on him, and after being conscious for just twenty-four short hours, he’s already alert and showing signs of a strong personality. Any residual effects from his brain injury will probably be short-term, and given enough time your husband could very well make a remarkable recovery. But don’t be surprised if his mood swings erratically or if he’s easily confused and forgets things. Brain trauma can have a really tough effect on a patient’s emotions.”
    Selah’s head was spinning as she was taken back to the waiting area to wait for Barron and Dane to arrive. And when they finally showed up she cautioned them and gave them the same run-down that the doctors had given her, and then she kissed and hugged them and escorted them down the long hallway to their father’s bedside.
    Selah couldn’t help feeling some kind of way inside. She was a realist from the streets of Brooklyn, and she knew her marriage wasn’t going to catch a brand-new spark just because Viceroy had come back from the dead. But for the sake of her kids Selah was glad her husband was back in the world, and no matter how low she had been creeping while he was knocked out, deep in her heart she was happy that Viceroy had pulled through too.
    But all those happy feelings went flying right out the window as soon as the three of them stepped inside his hospital room.
    Viceroy was sitting up in a plush leather recliner that had been brought down from the hospital’s executive suite. A copy of Forbes magazine was open on his lap, and the stock pages from the New York Times were folded up neatly at his feet.
    â€œAy, tell me something,” he barked, ignoring Selah and grilling his sons with ice chips in his eyes as they approached his bed. “Which one of y’all is the fuckin’ idiot and which one is the goddamn fool?”
    Selah’s smile hit the floor as she froze in her tracks.
    Barron and Dane shot each other a quick, puzzled glance and then Barron automatically stepped up to the plate.
    â€œIt’s good to see you too, Pop! Hey, we missed you, man!”
    â€œOh yeah?” Viceroy looked like a snake on a hunt as he nodded. “Well I missed you too. Matter fact, I missed you so much I checked up on your asses! Lemme ask y’all something.” He leaned forward in his chair like a predator who was about to pounce. “Did anything go down while I was knocked out that y’all wanna tell me about?”
    Barron glanced at Selah, then frowned and shook his head.
    â€œNope. No, sir. Not that I can think of, Pops. Everything’s been pretty chill, actually.”
    Viceroy leaned forward even more. “You sure about that? I mean, nobody got fucked up, ain’t nobody pregnant, nobody’s on drugs or in jail?”
    â€œNah, everybody’s pretty stable, Pops. Why? Everything is good with you, right?”
    â€œHell naw, everything ain’t good!” Viceroy exploded as he sat up straighter and tossed his magazine to the floor. “Matter fact, shit is wrong as all hell when I gotta find out from somebody outside my family that my own sons ”—he spit, and then turned his icy gaze on Selah—“and my own damn wife , are out there trying to steal my fuckin’ company away from me!”
    Selah backpedaled from the killer heat burning in her husband’s eyes as Barron held up his hands and tried to calm shit down.
    â€œWhoa, whoa, whoa ! Hold up, now! Nobody tried to steal nothing from you, Pops!” Barron glanced at Selah and Dane with a look of pure-dee panic on his face. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you got some bad info, man. Some real bad info!”
    Viceroy