The feel of the cold metal must have snapped the senator out of his state of shock. “What are you doing? I am a United States senator! You can’t do this to me!”
Bella pulled the senator to his feet and dragged him down the hall. Once they were downstairs, she handed him off to one of the security officers. The officer placed the senator on the sofa with his housekeeper and his weeping wife. Bella was curious to know if the senator’s wife knew the sadistic shit that her husband was involved in. She would be sure to question the woman later.
Bella joined the others. They searched the senator’s large house from top to bottom. Three hours later, they were placing evidence in plastic, department-issued bags. Bella had found more than she’d ever expected. Apparently, the senator was quite paranoid and he certainly didn’t trust his co-conspirators. He recorded all of their conversations. There must have been more than a hundred audio recordings and some video. It was definitely going to take a while to sift through all of it.
Bella went to take one of the evidence bags to the car, but when she walked past the room where the senator had been placed, he wasn’t there. Bella walked into the room. His wife had buried herself in the corner of the sofa, and the housekeeper was sitting next to her with folded arms and pursed lips.
“When can I go?” she asked, impatiently. “I don’t live here.”
Ignoring the woman, Bella turned to one of the officers. “Where is the senator?” she asked.
“The new guy took him to the bathroom.”
Bella walked out of the room and down the hall. When she reached the bathroom door, it was open and empty. Bella sat the bag on the floor and jogged up the stairs. An officer that she didn’t recognize was standing in the hall. She figured that he must have been the “new guy.”
“Where is the senator?”
“He’s getting dressed.”
Bella looked over at the closed bedroom door and prayed that the idiot hadn’t left him alone.
“Who’s in there with him?”
The officer gave Bella a puzzled look. “Nobody. He’s getting dress.”
He actually said it with a “duh” connotation.
“You stupid motherfuckah!” Bella barked.
She ran over to the door and tried the knob. It was locked. In a panic, Bella kicked the door until it flew open. She entered the room in just enough time to see the senator eat a bullet.
“Goddamn it!” Bella screamed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
TAYLOR
Victor hurried Taylor through the swarm of reporters that had been camped out at her house since Rosemary revealed that she was alive. He ushered her into the back seat of the SUV and climbed in after her. Earlier, he’d called and told her to pack a bag because they were going to be staying in the penthouse indefinitely. Taylor was already packed. After seeing the news, she was expecting the call. She instantly went from being immensely proud of her man to shocked and horrified by the sight of Rosemary coming out of Tiffany’s.
“Governor, your wife, and brother are waiting for you at your apartment,” Gregor informed.
Hearing him refer to Rosemary as Victor’s wife was like taking a bullet.
“Thank you, Gregor. Has anyone been able to reach the detective?”
“No, sir.”
Victor turned to Taylor. “Have you talked to Bella?” “No. I tried calling her, but her phone went straight to voicemail.”
Victor ran his fingers through his thick hair and blew out a frustrated breath. Taylor used her index finger to turn Victor’s face toward hers. Once they were eye to eye, Taylor smiled. “Hello,” she said with a raised brow.
Victor closed his eyes and sighed. “Aw, baby, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “Hi. How was your day?”
“It was cool. I went to see my parents. When my dad saw my cast, he was ready to kill somebody.” Taylor chuckled.
“Yeah, I know how he feels,” Victor muttered.
He draped his arm over Taylor’s shoulder and pulled her into the nook. Taylor inhaled the familiar scent of the man she loved.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I know you do, babe.”
Taylor relaxed against Victor until they arrived at Storm Tower. They waited behind the shielding of the tinted windows until Gregor and his team secured the area. Once they were escorted out, Gregor and his team shielded them from reporters. He ushered them inside the building and tucked them into the elevator. They were ascending to the penthouse when Victor turned to Taylor with a concerned look in his eyes.
“What?” Taylor asked.
“I think we should stay at the mansion for a while.”
Taylor didn’t mind spending weekends in the governor’s mansion, but she didn’t want to live there. It was so big and very far from everyone and everything that was important to Taylor. From the moment Victor found out that she’d been attacked, she knew that he was going to suggest that they retreat to Springfield.
“Baby, let’s deal with one thing at a time,” Taylor said as the elevator doors opened
Victor gave her a look that said that he knew that she was avoiding the subject. Taylor grinned and exited the elevator. Victor opened the door, and as soon as they stepped inside, they were practically bum-rushed by Rosemary.
“Victor, hear me out,” she started.
Taylor looked past Rosemary to Lucas’ angry face. He took a sip from the glass he was holding and shot fiery darts at the back of Rosemary’s head.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Rosemary?” Victor admonished.
“Look at Taylor!” Rosemary shrieked. “I can’t keep putting the people that surround me in danger. Taylor and her friends could’ve have been killed, Victor!” Rosemary shook her head emphatically. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t live with that.”
“So, you threw yourself out there as bait?” Taylor asked.
“Yes. I won’t have another person’s death on my conscience, especially not the people that I love.”
Taylor cleared her throat.
“I don’t believe that Lucas was even on this woman’s radar, and Victor has more security than the royal family. I know you’re not throwing yourself out there because I got hurt.”
“But I am, Taylor.” Rosemary sighed. “I know that you don’t know me very well, but I love Victor so very much, and he loves you. Like, he’s in love with you. He deserves that. And I’ll have nothing to do with taking that away from him.”
Admittedly, Taylor was touched. Victor had told her that they were never in love, but to hear her say it was sort of solidifying. “You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger. My friends and I can take care of ourselves.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” Rosemary argued
The room went silent when a man from Victor’s security staff entered the apartment with Taylor’s bags.
“I’ll take the bags,” Victor said. “You can leave them there. Thank you.”
What’s done is done, Taylor thought. There wasn’t a thing that Victor, Lucas, or anyone else could do about the situation that they were in. The cat was definitely out of the bag.
“I called my dad,” Rosemary announced. “I explained everything. When he gets his security team in place, he’ll be coming to get me.”
“So, you’ll risk your father’s safety,” Lucas muttered.
“I tried to refuse, but he insisted.”
Victor and Lucas shared worried looks.
“Well, I’m gonna go take my bags to the bedroom.”
“No, babe, I got the bags,” Victor said, hurrying over to Taylor.
“Nope. I got ‘em. Y’all handle things here.” Taylor grabbed her bag from the floor, tossed the strap over her good arm, and dragged roll-aboard across the beautiful marble floor. But, before she could make it to the hall, the front door opened, and Gregor walked in.
“Governor, Detective Devereaux is here to see you.”
Taylor sat the bag down and left the roll-aboard. She walked over to the door,
anxious to see Bella. She’d been calling her all day. Bella walked into the penthouse with a smile on her face.
“We’ve been calling you all day,” Victor snapped, wiping the smile right off Bella’s face.
Bella crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg. “Governor, I’m not your woman. You need to watch your tone with me.”
Taylor recoiled as if Bella had just slapped her. “But I am. So, you watch your tone when you talk to him,” Taylor retorted.
Bella’s eyes grew wide. She looked at Taylor as if she’d lost her mind.
“He started it!” Bella shrieked.
“He is my fiancé, and he is also the governor of Illinois. Show some respect, friend.”
Bella blew out a harsh breath and uncrossed her arms. “I had good news. I don’t even know if I wanna tell your asses now,” Bella mumbled with a roll of her eyes.
“Victor,” Lucas called out in a stern voice.
Victor turned to Lucas with a questioning glare. Lucas stood to his full height, folded his arms, and nodded toward Bella. Victor turned to Bella.
“My apologies, Detective.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry for being so snappy.”
After Bella accepted his apology and apologized, she went on to them all about her day with the senator.
If the senator was dead, Rosemary was no longer in danger, and they could all breathe a sigh of relief. On the other hand, there could have been more people involved. Not to mention the infamous black widow. What if her ego was bruised by the good ole fashion beat down Victoria had served her? She could come back just for the hell of it.
“Okay, since Rosemary’s dad is in the process of hiring more security, why don’t we just keep her close for now?” Taylor proposed.
“You mean, I can stay here with you guys?”
“Uh, no,” Taylor, scoffed. “Victoria said that if need be, you can stay in one of the apartments here. Since you’re still married to Victor, he can assign you a security detail.” Taylor turned to Victor with a smirk and added, “Legally.”
Everyone in that room knew that Taylor often times had an unofficial security detail. And, now that she’d been attacked, that detail would more than likely be permanent.
“Oh, and you should stay with Lucas,” Taylor suggested with a sly grin.
Bella ignored Taylor and turned to Victor. “Governor Creed, do you mind if I pour myself a drink?”
“Come on in the rec room. I’ll have Vera fix us all some drinks. We need to celebrate your brilliant detective work.”
BELLA
Victor and Lucas were having a conversation at the bar while Bella sat on the sofa with Rosemary and Taylor. Vera, the housekeeper, walked in with an ice bucket containing a bottle of champagne. She placed it on the bar in front of Victor.
“You know he’s crazy about you?” Rosemary whispered.
Bella assumed that the question was rhetorical, so she didn’t answer. She was too busy watching Vera flirt shamelessly with Lucas. Bella had never seen anyone take so long to open a bottle of champagne. Thankfully, Lucas’ behavior was nothing more than polite. Unfortunately, his indifference only served as fuel for the woman’s advances. She started to find reasons to touch his arm, place her hand on his back, or place her hand over his. Lucas finally figured out the woman’s play and retreated to the other end of the bar. When it looked like Vera was trying to inch her way closer to him, Bella hopped up from the sofa, walked over to Vera, and grabbed the bottle of champagne.
“Don’t get fucked up,” Bella warned the flirtatious domestic.
Bella popped the cork, poured champagne into a glass, and handed it to Lucas. She poured her own glass, narrowed her eyes at the housekeeper, and walked back over to the sofa. She left the woman with a terrified look on her face.
“That’ll be all, Vera. Thank you,” Taylor told the housekeeper.
“Yes, ma’am,” she replied before scurrying out of the recreation room.
Bella looked up and Lucas. He was donning the silliest grin. Surely, his head was swollen from watching Bella mark her territory. Or he could have very well been thinking, ‘How the hell did she go from I don’t want you, Lucas, to I’ll beat a bitch’s ass?’
Bella rolled her eyes at Lucas and looked over at Taylor. “You need to get rid of that trick,” Bella warned. “She’s gonna be walking around naked in front of your man soon.”
“I concur,” Rosemary mumbled. “She won’t let me stay, but she’d allow that tart in her house?”
Taylor rolled her eyes and got up to pour her own champagne. But, when she looked back, Bella could see that she and Rosemary had put something on her mind. It was almost a guarantee that Miss Vera was as good as gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
BELLA
Bella was on her belly, stretched across Lucas’ enormous bed, listening to yet another set of audio tapes. Over the last few weeks, Bella had learned that Senator Craven had been an intricate part in the human trafficking racket for years. He’d made millions exploiting women and even children. She’d also proved that the senator was in fact involved with the organization that’d had a hand in the kidnapping of Natasha, Victoria, and Robert. Henry Craven’s death was not the close of Bella’s case.
Over the last three weeks, Bella had made thirteen arrests based on evidence from the senator’s house. And there were more to be made. Bella wasn’t nearly done. She was going to identify every voice on those tapes.
The voices on the tape turned into blah, blah, blah when Lucas walked out of the master bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. The combination of his gorgeous face and chiseled body was distracting, to say the least. His dark hair was wet and slicked back from his handsome face. And his striking green eyes were gleaming with desire. Bella had been staying at Lucas’ place for the last three weeks, and she was still in awe every time he got naked.
Lucas strolled over to the bed and stood in front of Bella. She was up close and personal with the large bulge beneath the towel. She inhaled the exotic mixture of soap and raw masculinity. Lucas kneeled until they were face to face. He smiled and pecked her lips before pulling the headphones from her ears.
“Hey,” he said in a sexy baritone whisper that meant the promise of pleasure.
“Hey,” Bella replied with a smile. “How was your shower?”
“Hot,” he said in another sensual whisper.
Bella was tingling with anticipation. She rose up on all fours and pulled the towel from Lucas’ body. Bella suddenly had a carnal desire to be the source of his pleasure.
LUCAS
Bella tossed Lucas’ towel to the floor and climbed off of the bed. The lustful look in her dark eyes was hypnotizing.
“Come with me,” she urged in deep, sensual tone.
She grabbed his hand and led him away from the bed. Lucas didn’t know where she was taking him and he didn’t care as long as she provided relief for his painfully swollen cock. As she led him across the bedroom, Lucas admired the sway of her hips. She was wearing only a T-shirt and panties. Her perfectly round ass was peeping from under the hem of the T-shirt. Lucas was imaging her on all fours, her sweet pussy swallowing his cock.
Bella led him to the other side of the room and position him so that he was facing the armoire. Lucas was puzzled, but he kept quiet. He’d let her have her way as long as her way ended in eruption for them both.
“Put your hands up there.”
As instructed, Lucas placed his hands on the top of the armoire. Bella stepped back and slowly peeled the T-shirt over her head. When her gorgeous tits bounced from under the T-shirt, Lucas wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. Bella’s pert nipples, surrounded by large, dark areolas, were a temptation. Lucas longed to put his mouth on her. But Bella gave him the stiff arm and a stern look.
“I said, put your hands there,” she admonished with a sinful grin.
However, impatient, Lucas returned his hands to the top of the armoire. Bella smiled an
d dipped under his arm so that she was standing in front of him. She freed her silky, black hair from the high bun, enabling it to cascade down her bare shoulders. As he looked down at her, Lucas concluded that Bella was the most beautiful woman that he’d ever seen. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her toes. Lucas kept his eyes on her plump, sexy lips until they joined with his. A sigh escaped from the simple connection.
Bella’s kiss was sweet and sensual, sending erotic currents straight to his cock. Had she not instructed him to keep his hands on the armoire, he would’ve squeezed the shaft to relieve some of the ache of his need. When his angry cock began to throb, Lucas groaned against Bella’s lips.
“Bella,” he grumbled.
She lowered herself to her shorter height and looked up at him. She was torturing him, and the smirk she was wearing told him that she knew it. What she didn’t know was that Lucas was about to turn her around and fuck her against the cabinet. But, just as he’d resigned to do so, Bella wrapped her small fingers around his cock. Lucas gasped from the sensation of her touch. Their eyes locked and maintained contact as Bella slowly lowered to her knees. Without looking away, she wrapped her sweet, wet lips around his eagerly, pulsating dick. When Bella sucked the swollen head into her hot mouth, Lucas’ knees weakened. To stay on his feet, he braced himself against the armoire. He was staring down at her. And she was staring up at him with a hunger in her eyes that made Lucas want to feed her.
Bella tightened her soft fingers around his shaft and began to stroke. She folded her lips, tightly around his cock and used her mouth to shadow the movement of her hand. Bella was slurping, sucking, and stroking Lucas into hysteria. She was mastering his cock. As his dick throbbed in her mouth, Lucas knew that he wasn’t going last much longer.
“Aghh, fuck! Bella!” Lucas roared.
Unable to help himself, he ripped his hand from the armoire and gripped the back of Bella’s head. As he fucked her face, his full, heavy balls tightened. Lucas’ knees locked, his legs stiffened, and his cock was nearing an eruption.
Creed 2: Black Widow Page 14
