“Please! Please no! No!” Slade screamed before C.J. rolled him out the window.
There was a thud followed by silence. The night’s peace returned. C.J. walked downstairs with a thick rope with a waxy flammable coating and strung it throughout the house. Once he was outside, he dropped the rope just past Slade’s porch. He pulled out a match and lit the rope. Once he saw the little spark traveling towards the house, C.J. knew his work was done.
He walked three blocks away into an alleyway where his car was parked and had a cigarette. C.J. changed his clothes to rid them of the potent gasoline smell and then left the car with the keys in the ignition as he made his way to a main road. After a bitter cold half hour wait, he finally got a cab to the airport. “I’m never visiting this miserable place again,” C.J. thought to himself as his plane left Vermont.
Earlier on the same day Slade received his visit from C.J., Nadiyya and Lucian were paying a visit of their own to Martine. The evidence they had to stop her from blackmailing Lucian had been copied so many times, she couldn’t get rid of it even if she tried.
Nadiyya and Lucian were easily buzzed up to Martine’s hotel room. As usual, she was lounging with a few bottles of whiskey and a pack of cigarettes. Her room smelled like sex and liquor when they entered. “Lucian! You brought your whore!” Martine squealed before bursting out into maniacal laughter. She was drunk as a skunk.
“Shut the fuck up Martine,” Lucian said. Martine was taken aback. Lucian had really changed since she first met him!
“That’s no way to speak to your child’s mother,” Martine said, wagging her finger at Lucian melodramatically.
“Martine… Listen very closely. This isn’t a game anymore. Do you want to hear what I’ve brought you today?” Lucian said smiling.
“An apology?” Martine smirked.
Nadiyya took out her phone and hit play on the recording. Slade’s muffled voice echoed through the hotel room. Martine’s face became solemn when she heard her lover confessing to their multiple sexual encounters. “Shit! That damned idiot!” Martine thought to herself. She tried to hide her upset, but it was written all over her face. She was stuck. There was no way she or Slade could wriggle their way out of this one. They were finished.
Nadiyya and Lucian looked righteously smug.
Martine knew she had no choice but to concede to Nadiyya and Lucian.
“Fine. I’ll call my lawyer,” Martine said. She picked up one of her half empty bottles and took a giant swig. She scrunched up her face as the liquor burned down her throat.
“Do it now,” Lucian commanded. Martine rolled her eyes at him and then picked up her phone. Within a few minutes, Martine had called off the hounds and surrendered.
When Nadiyya and Lucian left, Martine’s phone rang again. It was the local physician she had gone to see right before Lucian and Nadiyya had visited.
“Good afternoon Doctor,” Martine said.
“Hello Mrs. Wynter. Your blood test results came back negative. It was a complete miscarriage. Let us know if we can be of assistance to you,” her doctor replied softly.
“Thank you,” Martine said. She hung up the phone and buried her troubles in a pack of Marlboro lights.
Lucian and Nadiyya left Martine’s hotel room and returned to Lucian’s. That night, after they made love, the began to think of the craziness they’d both just experienced. It had been a wild ride since they’d met each other and now they could finally grasp at real happiness. Lucian had finally broken free from Martine’s crazy abusiveness. Nadiyya was finally free from a toxic friendship and she’d just started a business that was destined to be successful.
**********
Chapter 16
Lucian and Nadiyya had slept together in his hotel room. They were satisfied at how the previous evening had turned out and celebrated loudly all night long. Morning light came and Lucian turned around to look at Nadiyya’s face as she slept. Her nubian skin shone in the morning light. Lucian was supposed to leave in two days but he knew there was no way he could leave without her. Not a chance.
He put on a pot of coffee and waited for Nadiyya to get up. When she finally awoke, her brown eyes were glossy with remnants of sleep. Lucian still thought she looked more beautiful than ever.
“Good morning sleepyhead,” Lucian said before kissing her. He brought her a cup of coffee and they sat together in bed just talking and enjoying each other’s company for most of the morning. They’d planned a trip to Otter Creek Brewery and the Ben & Jerry’s factory that day. Then, Lucian had promised her he would get his pilot to bring his jet down to Vermont so they could fly around New England and experience the winter landscape from the sky.
They were about to leave when Lucian said, “Wait,” I’m not ready to go yet. He got down on his knee before Nadiyya. She squealed and covered her mouth with her hands as she jumped up and down. She hadn’t seen this coming at all. She almost shouted “Yes!” at the top of her lungs before Lucian even asked the question.
“Nadiyya, sometimes it feels like we barely know each other and sometimes it feels like we’ve known each other forever. I know I came into your life for quite a strange reason at quite a strange time. We come from different worlds in more ways than one… But to me, none of that matters. Nadiyya will you marry me? Then we can get the hell out of this cold ass state,” Lucian said. He almost teared up as he watched Nadiyya’s face light up in pure joy.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she said crying. This was the happiest moment of her entire life. Vermont was finished with Nadiyya. She’d known that in her heart for a while. Now, she was being presented with the perfect opportunity to make a life for herself somewhere new.
Lucian got up off his knees. “Sorry I don’t have a ring babe. But I’ll get you anything you want from Tiffany’s. The cost doesn’t matter,” Lucian said. Nadiyya didn’t care about a ring. She was brimming with happiness. She kissed Lucian all over again and again.
“I love you Lucian,” Nadiyya squealed.
“I love you too,” Lucian replied. “But there’s one thing I need to know.”
“What?”
“When Slade threatened you that time...When he wiped your files...What was he talking about?”
Nadiyya shifted uncomfortably, but then her expression cleared. She made up her mind to be perfectly honest with Lucian, no matter what.
“There’s a warrant for me in New York.”
“What?”
“My mom was involved in some...bad stuff. And I held drugs for her.”
She was surprised to hear Lucian laugh. “That’s it?”
“It doesn’t bother you?”
“Not in the slightest.”
Nadiyya sighed in relief. In that moment she knew that she could forgive Lucian for anything, that she loved him so deeply and strongly nothing else could ever matter more. Except perhaps the small, secret thing budding within her.
“I’ll make it go away,” Lucian promised. “Nothing will ever get in the way of our happiness again. I love you, Nadiyya.”
Within three days, Nadiyya’s apartment was packed and she moved out. Lucian urged her to leave most of her belongings behind; he promised to take her shopping for the luxury she deserved the moment his jet touched down in L.A. Nadiyya left behind most of her winter clothes and anything that would remind her of Vermont. That chapter of her life was finally closed.
Nadiyya’s business was making unexpectedly high profits the first week of launch so she felt totally comfortable making time to move across country. She said good bye to all her acquaintances and close friends. They hadn’t seen each other in a while but they were still sad to see Nadiyya go. She was excited to finally be living with her fiance, heck she was happy to have a fiance. Nadiyya’s life had settled down. She’d gained so much since Lucian had come into her life: confidence, financial stability and a belief that anything was possible, even love.
**********
The End.
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If the idea of a gorgeous, warm young black writer getting pounded by a tall, alpha male white billionaire bothers you then read no further…
Bijou didn’t like Greta very much. Something about Greta had always rubbed her the wrong way. The girl just seemed unstable, and not the kind of person you’d want to get upset at all. But since Greta seemed to have taken a liking to her and since she didn’t have many friends in this town since leaving New York, it only seemed appropriate that Bijou give her a chance. Bijou was a short, dark skinned writer with a warm smile and rubenesque body who had left her small time position in the city to be a big fish in a small pond. Bijou had long curly black hair that hit the middle of her back and unusual topaz colored eyes. She had a very beautiful body but was constantly plagued by the terrible men she chose to date.
She couldn’t figure out what was going wrong. She knew boisterous outgoing men were not her type. These men had no values (a judgment she had made based off of no factual information). These were the men who would get up and leave you for another woman the moment their fickle minds decided it was time. Despite Bijou’s constant pursuit of beta male nice guys, she found they treated her no better than the alpha males she desperately avoided. Another woman would have decided that it was time for a change, to start giving guys a chance based on who they actually were as opposed to who she perceived them to be. Bijou just figured she should swear off men. Her guard was up and she was tired of getting her heart broken.
Her “friend” Greta was a tall, Anglo looking girl with stringy blond hair and an intensely violent nature. It was pretty bizarre. Greta was an intern at the same agency that Bijou worked for and even if there positions within the agency were completely different they had been thrust together due to their closeness in age. Greta had a very strange attitude towards Bijou. She could act totally sweet and supportive but other times she was intensely jealous. Bijou concluded that the girl was nuts but kept hanging out with her because she always supplied a constant stream of weekend entertainment.
That weekend, Greta had dragged Bijou to a salsa club. Bijou thought the entire thing was totally uncomfortable. She’d taken one salsa class in her life and she wasn’t very good at it. The men there seemed confident to the point of arrogance and had no qualms about feeling up every woman they danced with. Bijou wasn’t a prude, but she considered herself to be too classy to be felt up by a guy who’d spent the entire night feeling up ten other girls just like her. Greta ordered them both cosmopolitans and they sat at the bar. “Look at that guy damn he’s so fucking hot!” Greta yelled loud enough for the guy to hear her if he’d been listening. Bijou looked over at him. Sure on the outside he was pretty attractive. He was taller than average and oozed sensuality which Bijou interpreted as being sleazy.
“Looks like kind of a sleaze ball,” Bijou said dismissively. Greta wasn’t listening to her. She was just staring at the man making his way around the dancefloor like a pro. Sam was tall, tanned lightly with green eyes that seemed to gleam even in the dimness of the bar. He was clearly muscular and athletic, an all around gorgeous guy. But Bijou had already determined he was a sleaze and as they continued to stare at him, both her and Greta noticed that he had flirted intensely with maybe five or six of the girls he danced with. Probably trying to sleep with all of them. Bijou had thought to herself.
She was lost in her own judgmental thoughts when the handsome man they’d been observing was suddenly standing right in front of her. “I’m Sam. Let’s dance,” he said and grabbed her by the hand, barely waiting for her response. How rude! Bijou was pissed but she couldn’t say no. He was already spinning her around the floor and all she could do was follow the beat of the music to avoid bumping into someone as he took her on a journey around the dancefloor. Greta was still at the bar, bitterly sipping on her cosmopolitan, clearly jealous of the attention Bijou was getting from the guy that she had spotted first after all.
As he swung her around like a rag doll, Sam was actually trying to start a conversation with Bijou. He didn’t really mean to be so rude and crass; his life in Philly had made him rough around the edges but deep down he was a good guy. Bijou just saw him as an attractive womanizer and she’d already made up her mind to remain closed off to him. “So what do you do for a living?” he asked Bijou. “I’m a writer,” she said, narrowly avoiding stomping on his feet. “Yeah? That sounds like a lonely career for a woman as beautiful as you are,” Sam said, looking intently in her eyes. Oh please. Did he really think that line would work on her? “It’s not lonely,” Bijou said. Sam pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “A woman like you could never truly be lonely” before spinning her out, pulling her back in and dipping her back.
After they had danced for a couple songs, Bijou felt like she’d overstayed her time in his arms. Plus, she wasn’t very good at dancing salsa and she felt a little seasick from all the spinning. Bijou kept herself steady at the bar. Greta was off flirting with some guy twice her age. Bijou felt the liquor taking control of her body. The room was unsteady. She felt clumsier on her feet than when she was dancing with Sam. Ugh. She felt like she was going to be sick. When she turned away from the bar to keep an eye on Greta, another guy was right in her face. Unlike Sam, he was not very attractive. He was tall, sure but he had a body like the Pillsbury doughboy and pungent breath she could smell before he opened his mouth.
“Hey,” he slurred and then leaned in closer and said, “I want to fuck you so bad pretty lady. Whaddya say we go out back?” He grinned afterwards, as if he’d just made an appealing proposition and not suggested something utterly disgusting. Bijou tried to step back but the bar obstructed her ability to escape. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” she said, trying to be gentle lest she instigate the man to attempt something further. He needed no instigation. The drunken man moved closer and moved his hand to touch Bijou’s ass. “Hey! Leave me alone!” she said in a loud voice, hoping someone would hear her in this loud ass bar and help her. To her surprise, she saw Sam walking over with a determined look on his face. He tapped the drunk on his shoulder and said, “Hey are you bothering this nice young lady?”
“She’s mine asshole. Back off,” the drunk said to Sam. Big mistake. Sam pulled the guy away from Bijou and landed a right hook on his face. “Let’s get you out of here,” Sam said, grabbing Bijou’s arm and leaving her assaulter on the ground clutching his bloody nose. Once they were outdoors away from the loudness of the bar, Sam asked her, “Hey are you okay?” Bijou was shaken. She couldn’t believe that guy had actually groped her with all those people around! What’s worse was that there was no one there to see her or help her except Sam… the guy she had judged for being a total sleaze. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a little shaken,” she said.
“Well what do you want to do? I know you just met me but if you wanted to go grab a coffee, just get away from here, I’d be happy to. And don’t worry, I won’t try any funny business,” Sam said smirking, as if he knew just what she thought of him.
“I want to go home. Do you mind driving me there? I came with my friend Greta, but I’ll text her. I can give you my address,” Bijou asked, practically pleading with him not to leave her there a moment longer. Sam looked down at the beautiful dark skinned girl with her round cheeks and her beautiful fluffy hair. How could he say no to a woman like that?
“No problem at all. I’ll take you home” Sam said
. He took off his jacket and put it around Bijou’s shoulders as they walked to his car. Bijou’s eyes damn near popped open when she saw Sam’s car. She didn’t know much about luxury vehicles, but she knew an expensive custom car when she saw one. Holy shit. This guy must be loaded! Bijou thought to herself, trying her best not to mention the obvious elephant in the room. She began to feel embarrassed when she thought of the house she was about to lead him back to. Of course, Bijou was proud that she could actually afford a house at her age, but she felt very humble sitting in Sam’s luxury car.
They started driving and Sam began talking and to Bijou’s surprise, he wasn’t actually talking about himself. He asked her about her career, where she was from and even asked her the kind of questions Bijou thought you would only ask someone who you were seriously considering as a romantic prospect. Was Sam just being a gentleman or was he actually into her? Bijou couldn’t tell. He seemed like he was just going through the motions of chivalry and Bijou still hadn’t ruled out that all of this was an excessively elaborate ploy to get in her pants.
The Devoted Winter: BWWM Billionaire Romance Novel (Her Winter Love Series Book 1) Page 11
