The bodyguard stumbled to his feet at the sight of his boss strolling into the spa. The expression of fear was obvious on his almond-colored face. Arturo raised his hand to tell the man to calm down. He took note of the receptionist placing a call at his presence.
“How long have you been waiting for my wife?” he whispered.
“A while. I can’t go back there to check,” the man explained.
Arturo dismissed him to approach the pretty girls behind the desk.
“Put the phone down, now.”
With shaking hands, she did as he’d ordered.
“Where’s my wife?” he requested to know. When they both exchanged looks, he slammed his hand down hard on the desk. “I’ll find her my damn self,” he said with a growl.
The shouts and screams as he examined every room did nothing to stop him. He kept searching until he found her, face down, on a massage table. He slowly entered the room as he scanned the area. He wiped his open palm across his face in frustration.
“Get out,” he yelled at the woman in the room with his wife. Not waiting until they were alone, he said, “Get your lying ass up, Latecia.”
“Baby! What you doing here? I—”
“I, I, I what?” he mocked in a high-pitched voice. “You think I’m a fool. I can see you just tossed your clothes in the corner and jumped on the fuckin’ table,” he roared. He was on her in a matter of three steps to snatch her off the table.
His hand fell away as he stepped back as if he had been burned. He went deathly still. She took in the man that she’d always described as a darker Benjamin Bratt. He was tall, with lean muscles, salt and peppered hair, a strong jawline, and tattoos.
“I tripped an—No, Arturo!” she shouted.
He raised his fist in the air then brought it to his mouth to bite down on his knuckles. He had never hit her, but he had come close that time.
“Did you fuck him?”
“You got to understand! I—”
“Did you fuck him? Yes, or fuckin’ no? That’s all I want to hear,” he spat.
“No! No, I didn’t.”
“I don’t believe you,” he said, shaking his head. He moved out of reach of her outstretched hands. “You’ve been coming here so you could sneak out to fuck that carrot top motherfucker,” he accused her.
“I swear to God,” she pleaded with her hands up in worship. “I…” she paused to lick her quivering lips. She knew the truth was worse than if she really had been fucking him. “I… He was my supplier. He was giving me meth,” she finished in a rush.
Not able to control himself, he marched over to her, took her by the neck, and pinned her to the wall. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Look me in the face.”
There was no way she couldn’t. He was so close; their noses were touching.
“You’re still using?”
He tightened his hand around her neck to encourage her to speak up.
At last, she let out a weak, yes. Arturo bit his bottom lip as he nodded. The silence between them could have been cut with a knife.
“And this…” He gestured with his hand to her black eye. “Why the smack?”
“I went there about Nakida,” she whispered.
Arturo released her. He tossed back his head to stare at the ceiling above while Spanish curses streamed from his lips.
“You know about that. How?”
Latecia considered lying. However, the cold look in his light brown eyes convinced her otherwise.
“He told me that he was going after his ex, and—”
“And you didn’t give two shits because it didn’t involve you. But look how the Saints have turned on you. What’s the history there? Why the bad blood?”
Forming a tight line, she clamped down on her mouth. Arturo wasn't having any of that. It felt as if her jaw was going to crack due to the force he was using to squeeze it in his hand. Switching, he took hold of her shoulder and began to shake the words loose.
“I… I was fucking him, alright!” she screamed, at last, causing him to still his attack. “She and I were friends, and I was married to Cedric! But I was fucking him.”
“Is that it? Is that all of it?”
“I thought it was funny when he used to get angry with her. Like it was our little secret why. He would snap on her ass; then we would sneak off to fuck while she was crying. Then, one day, he took it too far. I mean, he really beat her ass. He said she had brains like a rabbit and went into detail about how he was fucking me, and she didn’t even know it.”
“Get your shit,” he mumbled, backing away.
Latecia’s heart jerked at the look of disgust in his eyes. “I know it was wrong. I was young, and I did a lot of things. Please—”
Arturo covered his ears. “I don’t want to hear you. Understand? My ma’ma said you were a nasty bitch, but the pussy was good, and you sucked the brown off my dick. So, I didn’t listen. But the scales have fallen from my eyes. Pussy isn’t good enough,” he said, getting louder. “Please and sorry aren’t good enough, Latecia. Now, get your shit!” He pointed to the clothes piled in the corner.
Her moves were robotic while she redressed. Every time she stole a gaze at him, he was watching her intently. Her almond-shaped, brown eyes begged for him to speak to her. However, he remained like an emotionless slab of stone in his tailored black slacks and dress shirt. Yes, getting with him had been an upgrade, but that was before she had done the foolish thing of falling for him. The fact that she was getting too old to jump from man to man had been the cause of actually letting her guard down when it came to him. Maybe, he was right. That karma or the Saints were taking their pound of flesh in more than one way for all the crap she had done in the desire for more.
Warren led his men to the back door of the house he had been told to visit in his hunt for Major. He took a deep breath while he pushed a fresh clip into his gun, flipped off the safety, and after taking a deep breath, he put his shoulder to the door. He didn’t let the splintered wood from the frame distract him. His keen eyes scanned the room. His ears listened for any movement.
“Police,” he called out.
He wasn’t any law enforcement, nor did his ex-op status excuse his breaking-and-entering. He said it to keep people from firing or trying to protect themselves out of fear of a large, black man descending upon them. His men fanned out. In teams of two, the men paired off to search the house, only to come back to the back door a short time later.
“Nobody, but you need to see this,” one man reported.
Warren followed in step. He was lead to what looked to be a man cave that had been outfitted with a large screen TV and a wall full of various gaming systems and video games. Any other time, he would have been tempted to check out the large selection, but the destruction that had been taken to the room was causing a big problem. He walked over the broken lamp. He didn’t go too far into the room to keep his DNA from cross-contaminating anything. Instead, he leaned into the room. He focused on the smeared blood on the ground by the coffee table.
“That’s enough,” he stated with a jerk of his head to fall back and get out.
Back outside, he placed a call to Jakobe.
“Beatrice, you know where the office is,” he replied as he quickened his steps towards his office to take the call in private.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“His boy was taken. There were chaos and blood.”
“Shit!” Jakobe groaned. “Where’s the man at?”
“Seeing how I don’t have a low jack on him, I don’t know,” responded Warren sarcastically as he started up his car.
“Don’t fuck with me. I’m not up for it.”
“Hum, my little sister starting already?”
“It’s not her that I’m worried about,” grumbled Jakobe as he tossed himself into his chair. A heartbeat later, he was back on is feet to stroll over to the screens. He clicking them on, and he watched Nakida and Beatrice talking in colored HD.
“You’ll deal with your old man if something jumps off. Ok, listen. I’m here for you, girl. Now, you know how I said I tried to get that Irish meat, but failed? Well, there’s been many hoes that had a taste of the thunder that works here.” Bea put her open palm in Nakida’s face to stop her from talking. “I’m just bringing you to speed. I don’t see the sense in sugar-coating shit. They shot the porn movies on the floor under us so—”
“Hold up, the porn set is in this building?” Nakida was fuming.
“Hey, watch your ‘bitch’ face,” Bea said with a hiss. “Jakobe has cameras hidden everywhere and listening devices,” she warned.
“Bullshit.”
“This is what you’re going to do. When we walk into the office, play up the radio I have on my desk. Take it, and plug it in on the table that’s along the right wall—the one under that heavy glass mirror.” She chuckled to make others think they weren’t plotting.
Nakida laughed back while she waved her hand. “I can’t believe this shit.”
Entering the room, she began to praise the office space. Jakobe turned up the volume to listen in. His need to figure out what Nakida was up to was pissing him off. Suddenly, she focused on the wireless radio in the box on Beatrice’s desk. The presence of it didn’t bother him. That is until he noticed where she had chosen to set it up.
“Shit!” He sneered as he ran his hand through his hair.
The sound of her switching through the channels covered up their voices. All he could do was stand there and watch their mouths move. He was no lip reader. He glanced at the door. He debated on going in and moving it, but that might have tipped her off. Instead, he would let it go. At the end of the day, he’d have maintenance turn off the power to the outlet. Problem solved.
It took Nakida a few hours to get her anger under control. She knew he had his hand in the porn sector, but it was crazy for her not to have thought that he wouldn’t have tested out some of the product. She also knew he had picked up on her frustration the few times he had come to her office to check in on her. Each time, she had given him a fake smile with a quick response before she had sent him on his way. She had to remember that she wasn’t as pure as the driven snow either.
Yea, but your past lovers were just a floorway, the voice in her mind pointed out. She shook the thought off. She was a confident woman, right?
“So, this is where you’re hiding. What the hell are you doing up here?”
Nakida glanced up from the papers on her desk at the sound of the voice. She sat back in her chair slowly. Her eyes stared at the woman’s bare feet to continue up her tan legs, to her sheer cover up that showed the bathing suit that practically covered her shaved crotch and perky, fake breasts, to lock onto with her sparkling blue eyes. Nakida was woman enough to admit that the woman was painfully beautiful, which was how she knew she was. Her blue-black hair only served to make her eyes stand out even more in her perfectly sculpted face. Even though the woman was speaking to Bea, her gaze was locked on Nakida.
“I’m putting my degrees to work for a change,” Bea answered in a nasty tone.
It was obvious to Bea that Tiny didn’t stop by for a chat. The hoe was here to get a look at Nakida. No doubt the girls downstairs had heard that Jakobe’s girlfriend was there. While the others didn’t have the balls to confront Nakida, Tiny didn’t give a damn.
“Anyways…” Tiny smirked as she tossed her long hair over her shoulder, signaling that she was dismissing Nakida. “I’m on my way to Jakobe’s office. I wanted a… demonstration,” she finished. She had licked her lips before she walked out of the office.
Nakida tapped her finger on her desk. Bea shot her a look of warning.
“Is she one of them?”
Bea didn’t need Nakida to explain the question. Half of her wanted to talk her new boss off of the ledge that she was dancing very close to. Then again, a bigger part of her wanted to see sparks fly.
“Was my voice too low for you to hear me?”
“Slow your roll, now. I wasn’t the one that… Yes.” Bea sighed. “She’s one of the ones that had the meat.”
Nakida nodded her head in understanding. She glanced out of the large window to her left that overlooked the skyline. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet. Bea followed her with her eyes until she walked out of the office and down the hall. On a two count, she hopped up and ran around her desk, into the hallway. She noticed others in their cubical peeking out to see what was going to happen.
Jakobe grabbed his neck at the speed his head turned around when Nakida walked into his office.
“Sweetheart!” He smiled nervously.
He quickly sent up a prayer that the look in her eyes wasn’t a sign of what was to come. He had told Tiny that he would come to her, but instead, the trifling bitch decided to disobey for her own jealous motives.
Nakida took in the scene before her as she strolled further into the office. Jakobe sat in his chair. The woman that had just been in her office had her bathing suit bottom and sheer cover-up on the ground. She was laid back on top of his desk with her legs spread open, giving him a clear view of her hairless cunt. It didn’t matter that there was another man in the room with them.
“I came to tell you something, but this here is much more interesting,” Nakida stated, coming to stand next to him.
“Oh, she… she came to,” he stumbled, clearing his voice. “There was an issue with her stuff. So, she wanted me to have a look at it before filming,” he replied.
Nakida narrowed her eyes as if she was examining the woman’s cunt. “I see what the problem is,” she answered, straightening back up. “It looks like a hand grenade went off in it,” she said with a wrinkled-up face. “I know she’s a porn actress, but isn’t there money in the budget to tightening that shit up? Then again, doing that would make her seem as if she isn’t a gutter cunt when we all know she is.” She shrugged, dismissing the girl.
Jakobe’s blue eyes rapidly blinked before he realized his mouth was hanging wide open in shock. He fought back the urge to not only smile but to crush her in his embrace. She was the sexiest when she was deadly, lewd, and dangerous. He knew she could kick ass from the time he had to pull her off her sister. Even now, he was able to pick up on her subtle cues. The way she shifted her weight on her feet let him know he had better get out of the way if Tiny decided to get flip.
Tiny closed her legs and got to her feet.
Nakida turned her head to glare at the woman. “Oh, did you want to comment.”
The sound of her cold voice coupled with her expressionless face made Tiny tense up. She debated for a few heartbeats if she should try the black woman that was clearly challenging her and was ready to back it up. Her eyes darted to Jakobe who was focused on the woman that was said to be his girlfriend.
Tiny smirked. “I’ll assume I’m alright to film.” She collected her things off the ground, walked around the pair, and left.
“Nice to meet you.” The producer chuckled before he followed Tiny out.
“What was that?” Jakobe questioned, finally finding his voice. He cringed at the twisted smile Nakida had given him. He had never seen her this way. It excited and worried him at the same time.
“I was helping you by weighing in on the status of the pussy that was displayed so nicely on your desk.”
He opened his mouth to speak but paused at the sound of her phone. She read the message. A smile spread on her full, painted lips. Without a word, she turned to leave.
“Wait!” he said, his hand gripping her arm. “What’s that smile all about. Who just texted you?”
Nakida snatched her arm back. It was just her step-father letting her know that her car had been delivered to the garage downstairs, and the keys were in her office, but she wasn’t going to tell his ass that.
“Nakida. Don’t walk away from me,” he snarled. He began after her only for his phone to go off. “Fuck!” It was Warren. Fumbling with the phone, he angrily answered, “What!”
A few moments later, Jakobe felt his heart in his throat. He ran over to the screens.
“Nakida!” he shouted.
She was no longer in her office.
“Slow down. Where are we going?”
Nakida marched off the elevator into the parking garage. She had the car keys with a piece of paper that had a parking spot number written on it in her hand.
“I’m hungry. We’re just going to get some food,” she mumbled.
“Am I supposed to carry your ass on my back.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Bea. My dad sent a car for me to use. There it is.” She gestured with her head.
Bea scanned the parking lot. Their footsteps echoed loudly. It was quiet.
“How do you know that’s your car?” she questioned, still scanning the area. She pulled her purse close to her side.
“He texted me from his phone, and I recognize the car.”
Bea felt herself relax after hearing that only to scream at the sound of gunshots.
“Get down,” she yelled, but Nakida had already beaten her to the concrete.
The bullets rained down on them as they ducked behind some nearby cars. She pulled out her gun, but with the constant firing, they were stuck. It was only a matter of time before they were hit. Nakida glanced over to her car. They were only a few feet away from it.
Tapping Bea on her shoulder, she said, “Listen, we have to make it to my car.”
“Are you crazy? We can’t just drive out of here. There are at least eight of those fuckers. We ain’t bulletproof.”
“Shut the hell up, and let’s go,” yelled Nakida.
“No! No!”
Bea didn’t have a choice. She stood up and started to fire. Nakida’s arms pumped as she ran. She pushed the button on her key. In an instant, the truck opened. She slid behind the back of the door. Bea ducked back down when she saw that Nakida had made it. She could hear the gunmen yell as they began to maneuver towards the car. She leaned back just in time to see why Nakida had risked her life to run in the crossfire to get to her car. It was like watching a movie in slow motion. Nakida came back around the car, but she was prepared. Using the car as a stabilizer, she propped up the large, semi-automatic, Salient Arms International Tier 1 rifle. Setting her eye in the scope, she starting firing.
By the time that Bea had reached her side, she had already mowed down half of the men.
“Get in the car,” yelled Nakida over the gunfire.
No longer arguing, Bea got in.
“Move!”
Bea ducked down to let Nakida into the car.
“Turn on the car, roll down the window, and put your arm back to help with the kickback.”
Nakida leveled the gun on the door frame before she started back up with firing. Bea watched in amazement as the golden, hot shells fell to the floor of the car. It took her a second to realize that the car was also bulletproof. Like a sniper, Nakida shifted the gun and plucked off two more gunmen before a white SUV came rolling up. Nakida trained her eye on the tires before flattening one. That fact didn’t stop the men that ran to get inside. Dumping something, they peeled out.
Seeing movement down the row, Nakida popped off five shots.
“Stop fucking shooting! Put the gun down!” shouted Jakobe.
Even though she knew it was him, she didn’t care.
“Stand up,” she called out.
“No!”
Instead, he waved one of his men out first. He knew how she got when her adrenaline was high. When the man wasn’t shot on sight, he finally stood up. He narrowed his eyes at the large barrel that sparkled out of the car window. On his mad-dash down the stairwell, he hadn’t excepted to find Nakida engaged in a heated gunfight. Warren had called to warn him that his father’s men were on the move. One of the tails that had been watching out for their move was following them. Suddenly, Warren had shouted that the men were on the way to the office. He would have sworn his soul had left his body due to the fear he had experienced.
Retracting the gun, she got out of the car to face him.
“You look mad.”
Jakobe towered over her now. He shook his head slowly. How could he be mad? The woman that was quickly becoming his world was still alive. She had been able to protect herself when he couldn’t. She had been able to fight her way out of the shit that he had brought her into, which happened to be the same lifestyle she had been running from.
“Not mad, but I am confused. Where did all of this come from?”
Nakida was too mad to care about his feelings.
“They came from my father… Step-father,” she admitted.
She could see the clenching of his jaw. “You called him?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she challenged. “And I see now, that I was right in doing so.”
Her eyes darted behind him. “Oh, my God, Major!” she shouted, bringing attention to the body, that was in between the cars, a few feet away.
Their feelings were put on the back burner at the sight of a battered, barely breathing man on the ground.
“No one calls my ma,” commanded Jakobe.
It would be the death of him if he had to deal with the carnage that was brought down on their enemies if she knew. No, he needed to be there when she found out. He was strongly considering locking her in the room with Nakida so that he could have some piece.