Creed 2: Black Widow

by Phoenix Daniels

  Bella forced her eyes open and grabbed the body wash from the corner of the tub. She was gonna wash her ass and get the hell out of the tub. It was bad enough that the man was stalking her dreams. Bella wasn’t about to let him haunt her while she was wide awake.

  As if she actually had a choice.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  BLACK WIDOW

  She was sitting across the street from Arcadia, watching expensive limousines, Town Cars, and SUV’s arrive one by one. She was definitely in the right place. The client’s intel was on point. Because the only way a billionaire, a senator, the lieutenant governor, and the mayor would show up for some beat cop’s birthday party was if she was fucking the governor. The guest list was indeed impressive, but the most shocking of arrivals was that of Luca and Francis Savelli.

  What the hell were the Sicilians doing at this chick’s party? Their presence could be problematic. Both men arrived heavily guarded. And, surprisingly, both had a black woman on their arm. Hell, if Sloane knew that either one of them was down with the swirl, she would have thrown her horse in that race a long time ago. Well, it wasn’t too late. Sloane hadn’t met a man that she couldn’t have. Once she finished the job that she’d been paid to do, she would seriously consider arranging a couple of chance meetings with Francis Savelli. There was an air of power that swarmed around him. He was irresistibly handsome, and Lord, could he fill out a suit. Francis was definitely Sloane’s type.

  Sloane Vidal was the product of a black pimp and a French whore. But it didn’t go in the order that most expected. Her black mother, Aubree Le Gall, was one of Cannes most notorious souteneurs. Without discrimination, she sold men, women, and children. Sadly, she wasn’t even above selling her own daughter. But Sloane didn’t have time to shed a tear for her horrible childhood. She had a job to do, and failure was not an option. She’d never missed a target and she wasn’t about to start with Rosemary Creed.

  After an hour of watching the entrance, Sloane came to the conclusion that her target was going to be a no-show. So, she’d have to use the same method of interrogation on the governor’s girl that she had used on the driver and the press secretary.

  Rosemary had eluded her in Louisiana, but a source revealed that she could be found in Chicago. Sloane would bet money that she ran straight to her heavily guarded husband. Getting to the governor’s wife wasn’t going to be easy, but Sloane had five million reasons to get the job done. She flipped the visor and checked her lipstick in the mirror. She blew herself a quick kiss, hopped out of the car, and headed toward the fancy restaurant.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  TAYLOR

  Taylor smiled because of the way Victor looked at her. No matter what, he always made her feel beautiful. It was way beyond telling her how special he thought she was. Every time he looked at her, he expressed an appreciation and a longing for her. To Taylor, it was like no other feeling in the world. No man had ever come even close to making her as happy as Victor did.

  If she were smart, Taylor would have kept her eyes on her beautiful man, but she ruined the moment by looking behind him.

  “Ugh!” Taylor grunted.

  Victor frowned curiously. “What is it, babe?” he asked.

  “Ruth Buchanan,” Taylor muttered under her breath.

  Victor chuckled and kissed Taylor’s forehead. “Behave,” he warned playfully.

  Taylor would behave. After all, Carl and Ruth Buchanan were invited guests; Invited by Victor, but invited none the less.

  “Smile, sweetheart,” Victor whispered as he turned in the lieutenant governor’s direction.

  For Victor, Taylor would play the game. She did her very best to make her smile appear sincere. And it was hard. She couldn’t stand Ruth. The woman was a snob, and Taylor would bet a finger that she was racist as well. When Victor first introduced Taylor to lieutenant governor and his wife, Ruth’s greeting was less than enthusiastic. It was as if she’d been forced to say hello against her will. Since that moment, it was Taylor who had to be forced against her will to speak.

  “Taylor, you’re as beautiful as ever,” Carl greeted with a smile.

  Taylor held her hand out to shake his hand, but instead of shaking it, Carl placed her hand to his lips. The look of disgust on Ruth’s pasty face was almost worth the wet spot that he had left on her hand.

  “Thank you, Carl. It’s nice to see you. I’m glad you could make it,” Taylor replied, wiping her hand on Victor’s pants leg.

  She would smile and be polite, but she had no absolutely no intention of being the first to speak. His stank-ass wife would have to humble herself enough to greet the little people.

  For seconds, there was an awkward silence. Victor and Carl seemed to notice that neither woman was going to speak. Victor placed his hand in the small of Taylor’s back and chuckled softly. Admittedly, Taylor was proud when Victor didn’t try to fill the silence by speaking to Ruth. No matter what, the man had her back.

  Carl cleared his throat nervously and asked. “Well, are you ready for Monday’s press conference?”

  “Hmm, let’s see. Am I ready to be crucified for trying to fix the state’s budget deficit by placing a bullshit tax on shit that people are addicted to? Yeah, sure, I’m stoked,” Victor scoffed.

  “What lies are you gentlemen over here telling in this corner?”

  The voice came from behind. Ruth’s dead eyes awakened instantly. As a matter of fact, they even sparkled a bit. Taylor turned, sure that she already knew who was putting a rose to Ruth’s saggy cheeks. It was Jack Storm, of course. His good looks could wake the dead. Hence, Ruth Buchanan.

  “Jack Storm,” Victor greeted with a smile. “How the hell are you?”

  The two shook hands.

  “I can’t complain. Taylor, you look amazing. I see that you’re still slummin’ with politicians.”

  “Says the slimy one percenter,” Victor scoffed.

  Jack released a hearty laugh and rebutted with, “I see you managed to squeeze your way into the percentile.”

  “Lies!” Victor blurted. “Jack, you know Carl and Ruth, don’t you?”

  “I do. Carl, Ruth, hello.”

  Before Carl could return the salutation, Ruth stepped forward with a big smile and placed her hand on Jack’s arm. “Jack, it is so good to see you again,” Ruth crooned.

  She was rubbing Jack’s arm as if he belonged to her. Taylor couldn’t believe Ruth’s inappropriate behavior, and right in front of her husband. Carl’s face turned beet red with embarrassment.

  Jack’s smile fell. He looked down at Ruth’s hand on his arm and frowned. At that very moment, Taylor wished that she was a mind reader. But, in true Jack Storm fashion, she didn’t need the special power. Because Jack never held back.

  “Why, Ruth? Why is it so good to see me? Do I owe you money?”

  Taylor fought back a giggle. The woman couldn’t so much as say hello to her, but she was all over Jack.

  Ruth laughed nervously, but she didn’t remove her hand from Jack’s arm. Unfortunately for Ruth, Jack’s wife, Victoria Storm, walked up. The look on her face expressed that she would be very happy to remove the woman’s hand from her husband.

  “Hello, Victoria,” Ruth greeted in weirdly high pitch.

  “Ruth, take your hand off my husband,” Victoria uttered without even looking in her direction.

  Even though her tone lacked any emotion, Ruth somehow knew that she meant business. Obviously, embarrassed, Ruth slid her hand off of Jack’s arm and moved closer to her husband.

  “Hello, Carl,” Victoria greeted.

  “Mrs. Storm,” the lieutenant governor returned.

  It was funny to see how people behaved around the Storms. They were Victor’s largest contributors, and the Buchanan’s acted accordingly. Little did they know that Jack wasn’t the type of person to hold his money over their heads. But Victor wasn’t about to tell them that. He’d once mentioned to Taylor that he enjoyed watching Carl and his wife squirm in Jack’s presence.<
br />
  Victoria turned to Taylor with open arms. “Happy birthday, baybee!” she squealed as she pulled Taylor into a hug.

  “Thanks, Vic,” Taylor grunted through the bear hug.

  Victoria stepped back and turned to Victor. “Ello, guv-nah,” she said in a really bad British accent.

  “Victoria,” Victor returned, “As lovely as ever, you are.”

  “Well, thank you, Victor. You ain’t too bad on the eyes yourself,” Victoria replied with a wink.

  “Stop flirting before you get a spanking,” Jack threatened.

  Victoria laughed. She waved off Jack’s fake jealousy and grabbed Taylor’s hand. “Will you gentlemen, please excuse us? I need to borrow the birthday girl for a minute.”

  Victor nodded and lifted his glass to those sexy lips. Taylor suddenly couldn’t wait for her birthday party to be over so she could spend some naked time with her man. However, that would have to wait, she thought, as Victoria led her away.

  “Stay out of trouble!” Jack shouted at their backs.

  Victoria giggled but kept walking.

  “Where are we going?” Taylor asked.

  “To our table. I’ve assembled the girls to talk about our spa day.”

  “Spa day?”

  “Yes, tomorrow. It’s been a trying year for all of us, and we need to de-stress. So, we’re gonna get pampered. I’m treating you and your friends.”

  “Oh, shit, Vic. That is so sweet. My friends, huh?”

  Victoria turned to Taylor with narrowed eyes. “Most of your friends,” Victoria corrected.

  “Nope. Too late. You said my friends.”

  Victoria rolled her eyes.

  “Vic, neither you nor Bella ever told me why you don’t get along. What happened between you two?”

  Victoria’s steps halted. She turned to Taylor. She was seemingly having a debate within about whether or not to share her business with Taylor. “Donatella,” Victoria said softly.

  “Donatella? Bella’s sister? What about her?”

  “We had a thing,” Victoria shrugged.

  “Whaaaat?” Taylor exclaimed. “You and Donna?”

  “Keep your voice down,” Victoria blurted in a hushed tone. “Yes. We were together for a few months.”

  Taylor was stunned. She knew that Victoria went both ways, but she’d had no idea that Donatella was into women too.

  “What happened? And what does that have to do with you and Bella?” Taylor asked.

  “Well, long story short, I told Donna from the very beginning that I wasn’t looking for anything serious, but she got in her feelings. When she started getting possessive, I broke it off.”

  Taylor frowned. “You broke her heart,” she whispered.

  It was Victoria’s turn to frown. “Tay, she knew from the get-go that women were only a thing for me and that if I were to settle down, it would be with a man. She knew that. And besides, she ain’t gay either. She’s bisexual too. And she told me she wanted the same thing. But, then, she changed the game on me. So, I told her that we couldn’t see each other anymore. From what I heard, Bella blames me, saying that I’m the reason that Donna transferred to narcotics and why she stays away for so long.”

  “So, Bella hates you because you broke her sister’s heart? But why do you hate Bella?”

  “She tried to come at me in the bathroom at work.”

  Taylor recoiled in shock. She couldn’t believe what Victoria was telling her. “At work?” Taylor gasped.

  “Yep.”

  Taylor shook her head. This shit was unreal. Neither one of them ever so much as mentioned anything about a fist fight.

  “Damn. With the two of you being black belts, I’ll bet that would have been one hell of a fight,” Taylor mused.

  “It ended before it started. Lieutenant Barnes came in.”

  “Oh, my God, Vic. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Why would I go around telling folks that? Besides, Donatella and I were so long ago. Why did she wait so long to say something?”

  Victoria started to walk on, but Taylor grabbed her by the wrist. “Vic, you’ve moved on. Donna has moved on. She’s been with her man for four years now. So, why can’t you and Bella move on?”

  Victoria’s eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe what just came out of Taylor’s mouth.

  “Because she came at me at my job!” Victoria spat. “She’s lucky she was able to walk out of that bathroom on her own. Look, Tay, Donatella is a grown-ass woman, and she made a grown-ass decision to get involved with me. Bella didn’t have shit to do with what went on between her sister and me. Besides, Donna had been trying to get into narcotics long before she started fucking with me.”

  “That’s exactly why you don’t shit where you eat,” Taylor reprimanded.

  “I know that now, Taylor,” Victoria huffed.

  Taylor sighed and released Victoria’s wrist. It was clear that there wasn’t going to be a resolution to the dissonance between Victoria and Bella. And, as long as they weren’t throwing blows, Taylor wasn’t gonna get involved. But, Bella was her friend, and Victoria was her friend too. So, they would have to learn to coexist. Taylor definitely wasn’t looking forward to telling either of them that they were both bridesmaids in her wedding.

  That is as soon as Victor divorced his legally dead wife.

  Taylor would hold on to that little piece of disastrous information for as long as she could. Victoria continued on to her table and Taylor followed.

  “She’s coming to the spa day,” Taylor muttered at Victoria’s back.

  “Whatever,” Victoria grumbled without looking back. “Come on here, girl. We got plans to make.”

  As instructed, Taylor followed Victoria to the table. Most of the ladies had already assembled. All, except Bella. She’d called Taylor earlier and told her that she would be arriving late. Bella was up to her eyeballs in murders. So, Taylor would be happy if she were able to make it at all.

  “Hey, birthday girl! Great party!” Nicole shouted.

  Taylor smiled at her big sister. She was clearly drunk. And Taylor wasn’t mad because Nicole was the worst of control freaks. Everything with her was about decorum, and Taylor was happy to see her finally let down her hair.

  Taylor walked over to her big sister and hugged her. “Are you having fun?” Taylor whispered.

  “A ball!” Nicole shrieked.

  “Where’s Jeffrey?”

  “Girl, I don’t know” Nicole responded with a giggle. “I wasn’t lookin’ for his ass. You lookin’ for his ass?”

  Jeffrey Morgan, the water commissioner, was Nicole’s fiancé. He was an overly ambitious politician and definitely not Taylor’s favorite person. To Taylor, he lacked sincerity. There was no smoking gun, but something told her that his intentions where her sister was concerned weren’t the best. But, for now, Taylor would have to rely on him to ensure that her intoxicated sibling got home safely.

  “Jeffrey… humph!” Nicole scoffed.

  Taylor squinted, studying her sister. She didn’t seem right. There was something about her behavior. Something much more than just simply being drunk.

  “You okay, Nic?”

  “I’m goooood,” Nicole sang. “I’m having a ball.”

  Taylor looked around the room for Jeffrey, but she didn’t see him. “Well, don’t forget that your mother and father are here. So, don’t have too much fun.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll be good,” Nicole assured.

  Taylor kissed her sister’s cheek and sat her down in a chair next to hers.

  “She ain’t feeling no pain,” Maria chimed.

  Maria Mendez was Taylor’s partner before Taylor got benched.

  “I know right.” Taylor giggled under her breath.

  “You ready for some fireworks?” Maria asked.

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “Look,” Maria prompted, pointing her chin somewhere behind Taylor.

  Taylor turned to see what Maria was referencing.

&nb
sp; Fireworks indeed.

  Bella entered the restaurant on Dean’s arm. Maria, along with the entire world knew that Bella and Victoria didn’t get along, but what she didn’t know was that there was a shitload of sexual tension between Bella and Victor’s little brother, Lucas, who was now blocking Bella and Dean’s path. Taylor stood to get a better view.

  Lucas was donning a scowl, and Dean a smirk. Taylor laughed a bit on the inside when Dean kissed Bella’s forehead and walked in the direction of the men’s room, leaving her alone with Lucas. It was clear that Bella’s plan to discourage Lucas’ advances hadn’t worked when Lucas grabbed Bella’s face and ran his thumb across her cheek.

  Taylor could have enjoyed watching her friend squirm a little longer, but the presence of a woman standing, just a few feet away, diverted her attention. She was tall, pretty, and well-dressed. But, for some reason, she seemed to be captivated by Taylor and her small group of friends.

  Taylor smiled at the woman and looked around to see who she was with. She appeared to be alone. Taylor’s intention was to walk over and engage the stranger in conversation, but the woman smiled and walked away before Taylor could make her way over to her.

  Taylor shrugged it off and turned back to Bella and Lucas, but they were gone too. She said a tiny prayer that Bella would finally let down her guard and allowed herself a little fun. She had a feeling that Lucas Creed could offer her the excitement and passion that she believed her friend so desperately needed.

  Taylor thought about all the shit that she was dealing with and decided that she couldn’t fix the world. So, she returned to her seat next to Nicole. Maria and Victoria sat as well. Without waiting for Bella, Victoria began to lay out the details of their spa day.