by Glenn, Roy
“Right about now the only thing on his mind is if he can out swim them sharks,” Bobby added.
“You should have listened to Deidra, Harry,” Black said and pushed Harry over the side. Jada got up and walked to the edge of the boat and stood next to Black. She slipped her hand in his and they watched as one of the sharks took Harry under. When they saw the blood in the water, Black told Jamaica to head back to the dock.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It was a very sunny and hot day, but there was work to be done. While Alex, with a K9 carbine semi-automatic around his neck, held the umbrella, Jada stood outside and supervised the cleanup of the building that was damaged in the fire. While she stood there she was thinking about the changes that she would recommend to Black to prevent that type of thing from happening again. Her primary concern was of the safety and security of her ladies and the guests.
They were lucky that none of their guests were out on the compound, moving from building to building at the time of the incident. Still, in Jada’s opinion, the price for the lapse in security was too high. It was the second time that one of her ladies had been murdered. The first was Bella and she was beaten to death by a man named Bullet. Jada could still remember the sight of Bella stumbling in with her clothes torn and stained with blood. Both of her eyes were bruised, and blood was trickling down her lip and chin.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jada jumped from the couch. By the time she got to her, Bella collapsed in her arms.
“Somebody call 9-1-1!”
When the doctor came out, he didn’t even have to say a word for Jada to know the diagnosis. “I am so sorry ladies. There was nothing we could do. The internal bleeding was too severe.”
Just as she had with Bella, Jada blamed herself for Francine’s death. And just as she had then, she was there when the killer met his end. Jada smiled to herself when she thought back to that night. Despite the fact that she had never fired a gun before, Jada went to kill Bullet herself. She remembered raising her gun, closing her eyes and emptying her clip, and missing every shot. The recoil put her on her ass. While she was down Bullet fired at Jada, but he missed her. That’s when her friend Chante took careful aim and hit Bullet with two shots to the chest. At least this time she had enough sense to know that she should let Black handle it.
She looked over her shoulder, Black was still standing on the balcony of her office with Bobby. He had been watching her the whole time; she could feel his eyes on her. Jada thought back to their afternoon of love making and wondered had she made a mistake. She told herself that it would be just that one time, and went out of her way to make sure that Black understood that too. Since then she had thought of little else but doing it again. Even while she watched Black beat Harry for hours, all she could think about was stripping him down and riding him like she had that afternoon.
In her mind’s eye, Jada could see herself getting on top of him and once she had taken all of him inside her, she rode him very slowly, grinding her hips and using her muscles. When she began winding her hips, Black let go of her hips and allowed Jada to move her body freely. Black grabbed and squeezed her cheeks and Jada began to buck harder and harder. She leaned forward, grabbed Black by the shoulders, and began to pound furiously on him until her body started to tremble.
“Ooooooooh!”
After Jada came, Black pulled her body up over his face. While she steadied herself against the wall Black’s hands moved over her body. He spread her lips with the thumb and forefinger and began making small circles around her clit with the tip of his finger. She reached out with both hands and grabbed his head as he slowly lowered her. Black slid his tongue inside her and sucked her moist lips gently. He felt her body quiver as he licked her clit with the tip of his tongue. Her thighs pressed together as her body convulsed uncontrollably.
Black stood on the balcony watching Jada, but his mind was on CeCe. He thought back to the day that CeCe saved his life by taking care of him until Jamaica arrived with the doctor. He remembered what she said. “My only real competition for your heart is your wife.”
“She is?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?” CeCe inquired.
“I’m asking why you think she is.”
“You are still very much in love with her. I can tell by the look on your face when you talk about her. I think when I ask you what you’re thinking about and you say nothing, you’re actually thinking about her. So my problem is; how do I compete with a dead woman? How do I get past all the memories you cling to about her and the love the two of you had? How do I get past you thinking that if I get too close that what happened to her will happen to me, and you feeling like her dying was your fault? How do I get past all that?”
He knew that CeCe was right; he was still in love with Cassandra. At the time he told her that it was something that she had to work out for herself. But that was wrong. It was something he needed to work out. And even though he had allowed CeCe to get close to him, to become a mother to Michelle and to carry his unborn child, there were still times when he felt like Cassandra was just gone on a long trip and would be back any day now. That every minute he spent with CeCe, he was being unfaithful to his wife. Unfaithful to her memory. But CeCe managed to squeeze herself in and fought for the position that she now occupied in his life.
“Mind if I ask you a question?” Bobby asked, breaking Black out of the deep thought he was in.
“What’s that Bobby?”
“Do you think you’re with CeCe because she was with you when you almost died?”
“How did you know what I was thinking about?”
“I’ve known you a long time, Mike. You’re standing there burning a hole in the back of Ms West head. You’re thinking about her and your relationship with CeCe. Am I right?”
Black laughed. “Yeah, Bobby, you’re right.”
“So answer my question.”
“Honestly, Bobby, I don’t know. But since you’re inside my head, you should already know that.”
“Okay, let me ask you another question.”
“Go ahead.”
“You want to fuck her again, don’t you?”
“Yes. But she made it quite clear that it was a one time thing.”
“Whatever, nigga. I can tell by the way she looks at you that she wants you.”
“Whether that’s true or not, CeCe is the future,” Black said and continued to stare at Jada.
“That may be true and I know that you really believe that or you wouldn’t have said it. CeCe may be the future, but that,” Bobby said and pointed at Jada. “My old friend is your woman.”
Black didn’t say thing.
“Look at her. Aside from being fine as hell, she’s standing out there in blazing hot sun and she got that nigga out there with a machinegun, holding an umbrella for her. She is dressed to the nines, in four-inch stiletto’s and giving orders. She sat there last night and watched you brutalize that nigga. She didn’t flinch, she didn’t look away, she sat there all night and watched us work. I like CeCe, I really do, but could CeCe do that?”
“No. First of all, I would never have let Cee come with us. But if she was there, Cee would have left the room.” Black liked the fact that CeCe had no role in his business. And that was the way he wanted to keep it. By being involved in his world, Jada was at risk. The fact that Harry’s gunman took a shot at her brought that fact home to him. He didn’t want to be the cause of another woman in his life dying for something he had done.
“That is the lady on your arm that I know you like. Shit, I’ve never met anybody as lady like as her. And you both love making money.”
Black looked at Bobby and even though he didn’t want to admit it, Bobby had raised a number of good points that he couldn’t argue with. He and Jada were good together. But Cee is the future, he told himself.
He too thought about their afternoon together. He closed his eyes and could clearly see Jada crawling around on the bed. She had such a perfect ass. Black
crawled over behind her and ran his hands along her back, around her perfect ass, then squeezed her firm thighs. Her skin was soft and smooth. Jada spread her legs and he fingered her clit and played with her lips before he entered her. Her pussy was so soft, so wet and fit him so well. He felt her ass pounding against him. He felt her muscles tighten around him.
And when they kissed he tasted the champagne on her tongue as it glided slowly and smoothly over his. His hands reached out and caressed her thighs then her stomach and her beautiful breasts. Jada began to run her hand across Black’s leg then she took his face into her hands and kissed him. While she kissed him, Jada began to stroke him. Black looked down at Jada as she ran her tongue along the sides of his shaft.
Jada laid down on the bed, her nipples grew harder as Black ran his tongue across them. They looked in each other’s eyes. He reached for Jada’s face and pulled her toward him. Their tongues became entangled in passion. He eased himself inside. “Oh, Mr. Black,” she purred and wrapped her legs around his waist. Black opened his eyes and tried to push all thoughts of sex with Jada West out of his mind.
“Let’s go outta here, Bobby,” Black said and turned around. Bobby laughed and followed him in. Jada turned and looked around. It was almost like she could no longer feel his eyes on her. “Come on, Alex,” she said quickly and started for the building. Knowing that he had a habit of leaving without telling her, she picked up her pace. She got to the front door in time to watch them drive away. Jada started to call him and make up some excuse for him to come back, but then she caught herself. She went upstairs to her office and tried to push all thoughts of sex with Mike Black out of her mind.
“Where we goin’?” Bobby asked as Black drive away from Paraíso.
“Home. I promised that I would take the girls out on the boat this afternoon,” Black said as his cell phone rang.
“You got a cell phone?” Bobby asked.
“Cee insisted. With her being pregnant she needs to be able to get in touch with me if she needs me,” Black answered as the phone rang again.
“Drivin’ your own car, got your own cell phone. What other surprises you got for me?”
Black gave him the finger. “Hello.”
“Hello, Mike. It’s Deidra.”
“I was beginning to think that you weren’t gonna call.”
“I needed some time to think,” Deidra said. She spent the night thinking about whether she wanted to come back to the island.
“I understand.”
“Anyway, I’m staying at the Hilton.”
“Good. Relax and enjoy your evening. Tomorrow morning you catch a flight back here and we’ll talk then,” Black said.
“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know when my flight arrives,” Deidra said. She started to ask about Harry, but she knew if she was coming back that it was over and Harry was dead. “Mike.”
“What?”
“Thank you,” she said and ended the call. Deidra was sincerely thankful to be alive. She knew that she could have suffered whatever fate Harry had. Still, Black’s words echoed in her mind. You work for me now. Deidra wondered what she was going to be doing. She hadn’t had to do anything other than tell Harry what to do these last few years. But she had no prospects in Miami other than to hit the streets. Whatever Black had in mind for her was surely better than that.
“What you gonna do with her?” Bobby asked.
“Put her to work doin’ what she’s best at,” Black asked.
Later that afternoon, Black sat alone on deck in the shade, while Bobby, CeCe and Michelle fished off the side of the boat. He looked at his family; his brother, his daughter, his woman and thought that this was what life was all about. What made all the things he had done over the years worth doing; family. Being able to provide for and take care of his family.
Just then, Michelle put down her fishing rod and came to sit in her daddy’s lap. “What’s wrong?”
“Uncle Bobby is catching all the fish and me and Cee haven’t caught anything,” Michelle said and buried her head in his chest.
“Uncle Bobby’s been fishing a long time. He’s good at it. When you get older you’ll be good at it too, if you want to. You can do anything you want, all you gotta do is want to,” Black told his daughter.
After a while, Michelle drifted off to sleep and Black took her below. When he got back CeCe was sitting there. “What’s the matter? Bobby run you off too?”
“That what Michelle said?”
“She said that Uncle Bobby was catching all the fish and you two haven’t caught anything,” Black said and sat down.
“Well he is and then he talks shit about it. But that not why I came over here,” CeCe said.
“You feel all right?”
“Yeah, I feel pretty good today.”
“I’m not makin’ you sick to your stomach?”
“Not today, but I have been staying away from you. You know how I get being around you for too long,” CeCe smiled.
“You better say what you came to say and get outta here.”
CeCe leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I just wanted to say thank you.”
“For what?”
“For putting up with me. I know that I have been cranky and irritable, we don’t have sex and I complain all the time ’cause it’s hot and I’m fat and a lot of that gets directed at you. And you just let it roll off like its no big deal.”
“It’s not. I understand what you’re goin’ through and I know it will all be over soon and I can have my woman back.”
“But what if I don’t lose all this weight?”
“Then we’ll just call you Big Cee.”
CeCe hit him lightly on the arm. “Don’t play with me, I’m serious.”
“So am I. You’ll still be my woman and you’ll still be our children’s mother. You are my future, Cee,” he said and once again pushed Jada West out of his mind. “So start gettin’ used to it.”
CeCe kissed him again.
“Y’all take that shit below,” Bobby shouted and both Black and CeCe gave him the finger.
She kissed him again. “That’s good to hear. Good to know that you’ll always come home to me like you do every night. — Except last night,” CeCe said and smiled.
“You wanna know where I was last night?”
“Only if you want to tell me.”
Black leaned forward and looked at CeCe. “Last night me, Bobby and Jamaica beat a man until the sun came up. Then we took him out on this boat and fed him to the sharks,” Black said calmly.
“I did ask.”
“You did, and I told you don’t ask questions that you don’t want to know the answer to.”
“Next time I ask you where you been, remind me of what you just said, okay?”
“Okay.”
Then she started to laugh a little. “Y’all really feed him to the sharks?” she asked softly.
“Bobby, what we do last night?”
“Beat the shit outta a mutha fucka and feed him to the sharks,” Bobby said and continued fishing.
CeCe held up her hand. “Definitely remind me that I don’t want to hear about it,” she said and rested her head on his shoulder. Black put his arm around her and thought that CeCe had just proved Bobby’s point. She didn’t want to hear about it much less be able to sit through it.
When Deidra arrived at the airport, two of Jamaica’s men were there to meet her. She went with them even though she was afraid that they were going to kill her. They escorted her to a limo and drove her out to Lyford Key. Once they arrived at the house, Deidra was escorted around the back of the house, through the gate to the pool. She felt a little better when he saw Black sitting there. But she still wondered if Black was going to kill her.
“Deidra Walker, my brother Bobby Ray,” Black introduced them. “Talkin’ to Bobby is like talkin’ to me.”
“I understand.”
“Sit down.”
“Thank you.”
“How
was your flight back?”
“It was good.”
“Good,” Black paused. “There’s something I need you to do for me, Deidra.”
“What’s that?” she asked and braced herself for the answer.
“I need you to organize Harry’s people and get them up and running in new stops. Can you handle that?”
“Yes,” Deidra said quickly.
“I’m offering you the same deal I offered Harry. You run your own show. Anything you need, you talk to Jamaica.” Black saw the smile on Deidra’s face. “I hear you were the brains in that operation. So we don’t need Harry, do we?”
“No. I guess we don’t,” Deidra smiled. She was so happy for herself. Not only was she not going to die, Deidra was boss now.
CHAPTER TWENTY
New York City
If there was one thing Rain was sure about, it was that she missed Nick. She was pinned down behind a car, taking fire from at least four men; she didn’t stop to count and she was running out of bullets. Since she assassinated Grant and burned his club to the ground, his men have gone hard at her. So far, Rain had been up to the task. Each time they came at her, Rain would bust back. The next day, one of her people got killed outside the warehouse that housed her other gambling spot. When Rain heard that the men that were responsible were in a store on Bronxwood Avenue that Grant ran numbers out of, she used the Suburban like a tank and drove it through the front window. Her and her men jumped out and killed everybody.
This was retaliation.
They had been holed up at Donavan’s house for days when Rain ran out of cigarettes. Chris Toney insisted that he would go get them for her, but Rain told him no. “The store ain’t but a couple of blocks away, I’ll be all right.” Rain grabbed her gun and the keys to the Suburban. “Come ride with me, Brandon.” He armed himself and followed Rain out the door. As soon as they got out the store and were on their way back to the Suburban, they were fired upon. Brandon took three shots to the chest and abdomen, but he managed to make it behind a car with Rain.
