Nakida listened closely to every word Jakobe said. She might have been moving throughout the room, to the closet and bathroom while she moved the things that came over from his house. But make no mistake; she heard it all. She wished that the phone conversation was on speaker which would have allowed her to get the entire story. Even still, she could hear Jakobe putting extra security measures at his office. The electronic keypad that let the workers onto his floors in the building was reactivated, and the codes were changed. Then, from what she could hear, he started to ask questions about his family members. She was able to get that the man and woman, Forrester and Olivia, that she’d met last night at the Gala had boarded a plane with their sons’ families, to go back to some place in Ireland, in hopes of staying safe. She could tell that he was doubtful, though, that they would be able not to be affected, even at that distance.
She stood in the closet to listen. The fact that those people had to actually leave, and still were going to have danger to deal with being millions of miles away, made her rethink her plan. She played the advice that Niamh had given her about Jakobe. There was no doubt that he was a dangerous and capable man. However, so was she. Yes, it was a life that she didn’t really want to return to. She had been trying to deny it for years, but she loved that man that was currently calling in orders. She wanted him. Therefore, her past was damned. She didn’t take any issues in giving up and altering the life that she had created as Nakida if that meant being with him.
“Did you pass out in there, Niki?”
She had been so caught up in her own thoughts, she hadn’t noticed that the talking had stopped.
“I was just being nosy,” she admitted, sheepishly.
Jakobe raised his eyebrow at her comment. He tossed his cell on the table next to him and wiggled his finger for her to come.
“Instead of you doing that, why don’t you sit and eat. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“Ok. So, what’s your next move? Are we going to just hide out?”
“No.”
“That means I can go back to work then?”
Kobe sighed. She had been pushing for that ever since they had gotten up.
“Yes, with a new assistant.” He held up his hand to keep her from talking. “Don’t start. Your old assistant was too busy trying to fuck me and any other man that looked her way, so there’s no love lost. This person is hard working and can keep you safe. I’m clearing an office for you in my building, so until then, you can go back to your old place of work,” he explained.
He stared at her while she chewed silently.
“Deal,” she responded, at last. “Business as usual, huh?”
“Yes.”
“How long will this all take? Dealing with your dad, I mean.”
Jakobe shrugged. “Hopefully not long.”
“Are you actually going to kill him?” she questioned doubtfully.
“There’s no love there, Nakida. He’s nothing but another asshole that’s stepped out of line,” he answered, calmly.
Pushing the plate away, she rubbed the crumbs from her hands.
“If that’s the case, then tell me why he’s doing this?”
Jakobe tapped his finger on his leg as he considered how to answer her questions. He didn’t want to tell her too much, and he damn sure didn’t want her to hear of her mother’s involvement.
“My father, well Faolan, because Cabhan is the only man I consider to hold that title, is the kinda man that doesn’t like to be embarrassed or lose,” he began.
“Wait. So, he’s pissed ‘cause your mom cheated on him, and that’s why he hates you?” she guessed.
Jakobe pinned her with a narrowed gaze. “I hate when you do that shit. Stop trying to figure it out, and let me talk,” he said with a growl.
Laughing, she tossed up her hands. “Go on.”
“No, my ma never cheated on him. She happily put up with his shit. She didn’t have a choice, seeing as he brought her over here from Ireland. One day, something happened, and he practically stomped her into the ground. He knocked out her teeth and broke her ribs and arm. When I tried to step in, he broke my nose.”
“My God! How old were you?” She gasped.
“Thirteen.”
He could see her make the connection.
“That’s why I didn’t see you again after your party.”
Although he knew that that wasn’t the real reason why, he still nodded in agreeance.
“Why the hell didn’t my mom do something about that? They were all friends. She could have helped you guys out?” She frowned.
“Maybe she didn’t know,” he suggested. Another lie.
“So, what happened?” Nakida pressed.
“When he went to the bathroom, she and I hauled ass. We got in the car, but her arm was broken. I pulled her into the passenger seat, and I drove. I’ll never forget how scared I was. Blood was pouring out of her face, and when she passed out, I thought she was dead. I pulled off to the side of the road, but she wasn’t responding. I drove to a payphone and called Cabhan. He came and got us, and that’s it,” he finished in a whisper.
The silence in the room stretched out while Nakida did her best to stop the vivid images in her head that his retelling of the past had conjured up. Yeah, a man that would do that to his own wife and child was cold blooded enough to kill them. She understood now. Faolan was the type of man that saw people as possessions, not loved ones. He was a collector that expected for those in his life to cater to his will and desires. A man like that wouldn’t think twice about tossing any person that didn’t please him. Of course, she could excuse Faolan’s cold-heartedness as being a byproduct of the criminal world, but she knew that wasn’t true. Many times, her step-father would come home after torturing someone and sit at the table to listen to her day or lay in bed with her to watch a movie with her. He always told her that his business was what he did, but it wasn’t who he was.
“Faolan is doing this because he can’t stand the fact that you all got away. Because you all dared to leave him,” she stated as a fact.
Jakobe smiled. She got it.
“After all these years. Shit, Niamh isn't even worried about his ass. He needs to let it go,” she said with a hiss.
“You would think so. It's a shame of it all. To know that someone in your circle married your wife and raised your child. If my ma and I had become nothing, he would have something to brag about, but that’s not the case. I know some people that tease his ass about it.” He chuckled, wickedly.
“Enough about that. What’s up with your mom and Cadhan?” she inquired, waving her hand and leaning forward, eager to get the gossip.
Jakobe laughed. “What about it, nosy?”
“Does he know about her and Major?”
“Yes.”
Nakida’s mouth hung open at the revelation.
“I’ve warned you about doing that,” he teased as he gripped his cock.
“Seriously! Wow! He’s a good-looking man. Why would she—”
“She’s very respectful about it, and he’s ok with it. For now.”
“Hold up. What do mean, for now?” she pressed.
“Gosh, woman, you’re nosy,” he teased.
Getting to his feet, he walked over to her. He pulled her to her feet. His lips covered hers in a slow kiss.
“Why don’t you take this off?” he asked as he began to work her skirt up her legs.
“Oh, no,” she replied, pushing his hand away. “You promised I could go with you to my office when you went to see if Major was there.”
She chuckled at the pout that he gave her. Getting serious, she asked, “Don’t want to ask me anything?”
“No.”
Nakida’s eyes widened slightly at his quick reply.
“You don’t want to know anything about me or my past, or how I learned how to shoot? Nothing?”
Jakobe’s eyes met hers, finally. “I don’t give a damn about who you were, what you did, or why you left home. The girl you were, Laila, was the girl that gave me my first wet dream at thirteen. She was a person of fantasy. Now…” he paused. This time, he ignored her protest to place his hand under her skirt. He cupped her pussy and marveled at the heat that radiated from it. “My reality is Nakida. That’s all I need to know. I’m in love with you.”
“And what you’re rubbing,” she teased, her voice turning husky.
“Oh, don’t get me started on this.” He moaned, rolling his blue eyes. “I’ll never come up for air if I get started on it.”
It was her turn to moan when he lowered his head. She was so sure he was going to kiss her. Instead, he licked her lips. “Sweet, but I’ve tasted sweeter,” he whispered.
She didn’t have to say anything. He felt the tremor of her pussy tightening in the palm of his hand. Forgetting her request to go to work, she grabbed his stiff cock and squeezed hard.
“Nope,” he snapped, backing away. “You said you didn’t have time for it, so you have to wait.” He shrugged.
Nakida rushed him from behind, pushing him forward. Jakobe tossed back his head in laughter. He swung her in front of him.
“Don’t worry. I’ll have you screaming soon enough while I’m hitting this bumper tonight,” he teased, grabbing a hand full of her ass.
“That’s what you think?”
“You don’t want to challenge me. You know you’ll lose.”
“We’ll see, baby. We… shall… see,” she replied slowly.
With determination, Nakida left him in the hall. Jakobe narrowed his gaze at the sway of her hips. He bit his bottom lip and readjusted his hard on. He loved the way she gave just as good as he did. She was his equal, in every way. He would do his best to make her break under pressure. However, he was no fool, either. Challenge be damned. He wasn’t going to close his eyes without spending some time between her chocolate, thick thighs.
Jakobe made sure to keep his hands in his pants to still the urge to touch Nakida when they arrived at her office forty-five minutes later. He mentally checked off her co-workers as they passed in the halls to see if there were any new faces. He paused to engage with one of the men in the hallway, questioning if he had seen the boss man that morning. He smiled warmly when the answer was no. He strolled into her opened door, to find the two people that he knew had been awaiting their arrival.
“Sweetheart, this is your new assistant, Diamond.” He frowned with a tilted head. “That name isn’t a good one, is it?” he questioned.
Nakida examined the ebony goddess in front of her. It was obvious that the woman was fit due to the cuts that she had in her defined arms. She raised an eyebrow at the gold, dainty earring that looked like the rings that could be seen in the nose of a bull. The woman gave off an earthy vibe. However, the way that she moved across the room made Nakida reconsider. The sensual power within her, from the smirk on her full lips, to the way that she glided gave Nakida the image of a sex kitten in her tight, teal pencil skirt and chocolate-colored, button-up shirt.
“No, I’m trading in that name for something a bit more subtle. I’m thinking Beatrice.”
“Beatrice! Hum, whatever you say. I can’t keep up with these different names,” he said, closing the space between him and the tall black man that was sitting in the corner.
Nakida broke eye contact with her new assistant to glance over at the strange man.
“That’s my brother,” explained Bea.
“Oh, really?” questioned Nakida, sizing the woman up. “I’m trying to figure out why he picked you for the job?”
“That’s because I’m a double threat. I hold two doctorates degrees. I speak seven languages fluently. Plus, I hold three black belts and have massive weapon training. Needless to say, I can do it all,” answered Bea.”
“Wow, with a resume like that, I feel bad putting you in this position.” Nakida smirked.
Sighing, she replied, “I’m doing this for Kobe.”
“Oh, Kobe is it. You two on a nickname basis. You two got it like that?” Nakida huffed.
“You want to know how I know him?”
“That would be nice,” replied Nakida with a tight smile.
“I star in his porn flicks.”
Nakida’s eyes blinked so rapidly at Bea’s confession that she was sure she saw the blinds within her office move from the wind they’d kicked up.
“Excuse me?”
“I like sex, and I like big dicks.” Bea shrugged. She froze under the stony glare that Nakida gave her. “Not Jakobe’s, though. Not that I didn’t try. I had thought he wasn’t into the blackberry, but I see I was wrong?” she finished as she scanned Nakida.
“He likes it. You just didn’t have the sweet juice. Shit, I was about to punch you in the throat,” grumbled Nakida. She was not ashamed to let her jealousy show.
Bea’s roaring laughter shook the room as she shook her head in shock at the shade the shorter woman was giving her.
“Ugh, maybe you shouldn’t have asked her to keep an eye on your girlfriend. You know she got a couple of screws loose,” warned Warren.
Jakobe looked over at the two women chatting like old friends. “I know I might have opened a Pandora’s Box by putting them together, but I needed someone I could trust.”
“Humm, we’ll see,” commented Warren with a wave of his hand. Getting back on task, he said, “I haven’t been able to find anyone that saw Major since the party. I think they might have gotten him on his way back to his house.”
Jakobe could feel Nakida’s eyes burning into his forehead. He had to do something about her being so damn nosy. The woman could hear a mouse piss on cotton; she was listening so hard.
“Are you sure that they took—”
“I’m sure,” answered Jakobe, cutting him off. He raised his hand to stop Warren from asking why. “He and my ma have been…”
“They’re fuckin’!” Bea gasped. She wasn’t trying to play off the fact she was eavesdropping. She could see the silver fillings in both of the men’s mouths with the intensity of her stare.
“Thank you, Dia… Beatrice.” Jakobe grunted. “Anyway, if I knew, others did too.”
Warren nodded. He wasn’t surprised about those two fucking. He always found Niamh and Cabhan’s marriage to appear to be more of friendship. It didn’t seem to have a passion, or spark to speak of. Jakobe’s mother was wild, loud, and blazed like fire, and although Cabhan could be ruthless, he wasn’t by nature. He just never saw the man as being strong enough to satisfy or keep a woman like Niamh engaged long enough.
“So what?” inquired Warren.
Nakida’s mind began to wander while she listened to Jakobe order the man to pay a visit to the man that lived across the street from her house. She packed up the boxes of things that she needed to move over to the makeshift office that Jakobe was creating for her. She had been warned before, but now she had a clearer perspective of the danger that they were all in. Jakobe’s father was determined to gut Jakobe’s heart by touching those that he had loved before he delivered the final blow. She knew how this worked. It was one of the reasons why she’d left the old life that her thirsty ass mother was so focused on entertaining for money and expensive things. She knew it was only a matter of time before she got put on the list.
She slammed the file cabinet hard in her mounting anger of the situation. She didn’t give a damn who this man was. There was no way he was going to hurt the miracle that was growing inside of her, nor was she going to make herself sick from the stress that this bullshit was stirring up. If she lost the baby, the asshole would still have won. She should be celebrating, not packing up her damn office to hide because of a punk ass that’s mad that his hand had gotten slapped years ago. She bit down on her bottom lip. With her mind made up, she tossed the files into the boxes. She had something for this motherfucker, Foalan.
Jakobe snapped his head around. He remained silent for a few minutes while he studied the change in Nakida.
“Is there something wrong?” he questioned, cautiously.
“No, honey.”
The coldness in her brown eyes told him otherwise.
“I just realized how dangerous things are, with Major being missing and all,” she replied.
“I agree. That’s why you’re going to let me handle it,” he pressed, narrowing his blue gaze.
“Of course, honey. I can see that you have it all under control.” She smiled.
“That was sarcasm if you didn’t know,” pointed out Warren as they watched Nakida and Bea leave the office.
“No shit, Sherlock,” Jakobe said with a growl, picking up the boxes.
“I need to use the bathroom,” Nakida informed over her shoulder before she made a hard left to disappear behind the door.
“What? I don’t have to wipe her ass. Let her use the damn bathroom.”
She heard Bea chuckle to Jakobe before the door closed. With a smile, she was happy that her new assistant had a mind of her own. If she had been bullied into tagging along, she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish her task. Jogging into the last stall, the same stall she stood in a few weeks ago when she found out she was pregnant, she pulled out her cell to place the call. She wasn’t surprised that the receiver picked up after the second ring. She was sure that the man thought he must have been dreaming for her to be calling. It had been over a year since their last call.
“Laila!”
“Hi, Papi. How are you?”
“Never mind that. Are you ok?” asked the man on the other side of the phone in a deep breathless tone.
“Why you ask?”
“You’re calling, so I figured there must be something? Is it something your ma ‘ma done?”
“Oh.” Nakida sighed. She didn’t want to seem cold by going straight into her request, but she knew that she was pressed for time.
“No, nothing about her, this time. Why you asked?”
There was a slight pause from her step-father before he answered. “Nothing, Nina.”
Not picking up on his odd tone, she went on. “I’m in trouble, Papi. I’m sorry to be calling you like this, but I don’t know what to do. I’m pregnant and—”
“I’ll kill the fucker. You don’t need to worry about it, Nina. I—”
“No! No, listen,” she begged. Quickly, she peeked out of the stall. “I’m making this call in secret.”
“Why you—”
“I’m gonna hang up if you don’t let me talk,” she said with a hiss.
“Si, si… Okay.”
“My boyfriend… My baby’s daddy is in trouble. A man is trying to kill him. The man has already taken my boss, which is also his friend. There’s more to the story, but I can’t tell it right now ‘cause I don’t want him to know that I’m getting involved to put this shit to bed. We already had a shootout at his house, so it’s only a matter of time before I’m—”
“Shut up! Don’t speak it,” Arturo demanded.
She listened to him let out a stream of curses and threats in Spanish before he spoke again.
“Papi will take care of it. Who’s this cunt that I’m gutting?”
“Faolan. His name is Faolan. I don’t have a clue who he is other than I’m…get this… I’m dating his son, Jakobe.”
Her eyes narrowed at the loud smash that reached her ears through the phone.
“Papi, is everyth—”
“Faolan… Faolan… And you’ve got Jakobe’s baby. Is that what you’re telling me? Is that what you just fuckin’ said?” he interrogated.
“Yes. Do you know—”
“Have you talked to your mother?”
The fact that her step-father was talking faster which made his words harder to understand, with his thick accent, meant he was angry.
“No… Why you—”
“Nina, you know that I’ve always loved you, right? You know I’ve always treated you like my own? Fuck! I treated you better than my own kids! And you Mother, too.”
“Yea, Arturo. Papi, what’s going on? What does—”
“I’m happy you called me, Nina. I’m sending some things over from the warehouse that I want you to use. If one of those green niggers come at you, you do what I taught you. Fuck me!” he screamed as more stuff smashed in the background. “Where you gonna be?”
“I... I’ll text you the address,” stuttered Nakida.
“Do that. I’m going to cut the cancer from the root and take everything with it.”
Nakida stared wide-eyed at her phone. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She was regretting calling her stepfather.
“Jesus, please,” she began as she wobbled out the bathroom. She let out a loud squeal at the sight of Bea. She had stopped looking out when her stepfather went crazy over hearing who was involved.
“What happened?” questioned Jakobe, bursting into the bathroom.
“Nothing, I scared her when she stepped out,” replied Bea, recovering first.
“I can believe that,” mumbled Jakobe. “Let’s go,” he commanded, stepping out and holding the door open for them to leave.
“That scream almost made me piss my pants. Give me a second,” grumbled Bea.
Nakida stood in the hallway with Jakobe while they waited. She could barely keep up with the words that were coming out of his mouth as she did her best to hide the fear within her.
I should have listened. Stupid, stupid, stupid! the voice in her mind shouted.
“Stop that, please.”
Nakida stumbled with her cell to quiet the text tone.
Who were U talking to?
She knew who was texting. Nakida closed her eyes as she hoped that Bea would keep her mouth close.
Nakida: My stepdad.
Bea: Why? Why!!!!!!
Nakida: You know him?
Bea: Duh, bitch. I ain’t gonna say nothing. If Kobe finds out, I don’t know a damned thing. Not my ass.
Nakida’s head snapped up when the bathroom door swung open a second later. Her gaze darted over to find Jakobe glaring at her. He lowered his gaze to hide his thoughts. He had already figured that she was wasn’t using the bathroom, which was why he had sent Beatrice in after her. She looked like she was going to chew her bottom lip off. He had learned from dealing with his ma that she would hang herself soon enough.
Bea eyed him fearfully when he started to whistle a tune.