by Roy Glenn
“Really? That would be so cool,” she said, excitedly.
“Welcome home, Mike,” Joanne said, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Sandy.”
“Hey, Mommy. Where is everybody?” Shy asked, as she went into the living room and put down her purse.
“M and Mansa are taking a nap, and Easy is in his room. He’s on punishment.”
“What did he do?” she asked.
“I’ve told that boy a million times not to play with that basketball in the house because he could break something.” She pointed to the table where a lamp used to be. “But a hard head makes a soft behind.”
“I’ll go talk to him,” Shy said, and headed for the stairs to go talk to her son.
That evening, the Black family had dinner together as they always did, and then Black and Michelle disappeared into the media room and played Tekken, her favorite video game, until she announced that she was tired of beating him and went up to her room.
Black gave some thought to going to J.R.’s to talk to Rain, and then they’d pay Valencia a visit, but then he had a better idea. He got up, turned off the lights and left the media room. Black went upstairs and saw Shy coming out of Easy’s room. After dinner, his punishment was to stand and read aloud to Shy, and then tell her what he read had meant.
“Hi, baby,” she said, holding the open door.
“He sleep?” Black asked and peeked in the door.
“He is now,” Shy said, closing the door, and taking his hand as they walked down the hall toward their bedroom. “What you gonna do now?”
“I was going to jump in the shower, and then I was thinking about making love to my wife.”
“Good,” Shy said, and began getting undressed. “Your wife was thinking the same thing.”
Once they were naked, he followed her to the bathroom; and when the water had reached the temperature that they liked, Mr. and Mrs. Black got in the shower and their lips met.
The way that he kissed her, every time that he kissed her, she could feel his passion. She felt the love that he had for her, and she got caught up in the sensation of the moment.
“I love you, baby.”
He kissed her again, this time with more passion, and their tongues seemed to fuse together as though they were one. His hand eased between her thighs, and she opened them wider to receive his gentle touch.
“Ah,” she breathed out, looking into his eyes.
Her mouth opened, but no sound emanated from it as he eased a finger in and out of her. Shy lifted her leg and pressed her back against the shower wall. Black continued to slide his finger into her slowly until her toes curled, and Shy moaned deeply and her walls rippled around his finger.
Shy’s deep moan and the look of ecstasy in her eyes made him anxious to be inside her. They kissed feverishly, their mouths fused together as their tongues danced and when Shy couldn’t stand it any longer, Black turned off the water and they got out of the shower.
She rolled on her back to receive him and pulled Black toward her. He guided himself into her warmth, felt her soft wetness as it enveloped his dick and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He thrusted as he moved in and out of her, slowly at first, and she started to rock her body into his. Rolling her hips from beneath him, Black increased his pace, thrusting his entire length into her. The pleasure Black was giving Shy was almost painful, but she was loving every second of it. Her husband filled her with so much joy.
Black held her hips and plunged in and out of her hard and deep. Each time that the base of his dick hit her clit, Shy let out a scream of passion. Her body shook and she began clenching and releasing around him. Black held her tighter, pumping harder until he stiffened, and came hard inside her.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Chapter Twenty-one
It was just after ten when Jada’s Phenom 300 landed at Westchester county airport, and Geno and Valencia got off the plane. During the flight from Nassau, Valencia had one question rolling around in her mind.
What do I do now?
She had been counting on this trip to the islands to bring her issues to close so that she’d finally be free of Ezequiel Simmonds. As they walked toward his car, Valencia knew that Geno was right, guys like Ezequiel never go away. Once they get their hooks in you, there will always be something else to drag you in deeper.
No matter what she did, he would always be there, sucking the life from her body like a vampire. Valencia got in the car, knowing in her heart that she would never be free of him until he was dead.
As Geno headed back toward the city, Valencia took her phone from her purse and turned it back on. As much as she hated to do it, she needed to call Shy and explain herself. Then she had to call Ezequiel Simmonds and tell him that she had failed to deliver Mike Black.
“No answer,” she said, a little relieved as the call went to voicemail. “Good evening, Mrs. Black. This is Valencia DeVerão, returning your call. Please, call me. It doesn’t matter what time. I am expecting your call.”
She ended the call and looked at the satisfied look on Geno’s face. Valencia was happy that he had stayed with her through this ordeal and had done everything he could to handle it for her.
You said you were gonna let me handle this. Well … this is me handling it.
For the first time, in an exceptionally long time, Valencia felt safe and protected. After years of being alone and having to fight every battle by herself, this was a welcomed change. It caused her to think that maybe she was wrong when she chose money over love.
I haven’t seen this man in years, and he’s done all this just to help me, she thought, and memories for the love she tossed aside flooded her mind. She looked at Geno as he drove. This is how a man that cares about you treats you.
She was about to call Ezequiel Simmonds but thought that it was best to call Adrianna and check-in with her first.
“Are you all right?” was her first question, followed quickly by, “Where have you been?”
“I’m fine, Adrianna. And I’ve been in the Bahamas with Geno.”
“Well,” Adrianna said sounding indignant. “Must be nice to just pick up when you choose and run off to the islands for a romantic rendezvous.”
“Trust and believe, the trip was anything but a romantic rendezvous. It was all business and unsuccessful.”
“But you’re back in the city now, right?”
“I am. Anything going on that I need to know about?”
“Detective Gutiérrez called.”
“Damn.” Valencia paused because she was actually hoping that issue was behind her, even though there was no reason for her to feel that way. “What did she want?”
“She said that she had some more questions for you and that it wouldn’t take long.”
“Great,” she said, thinking that Gutiérrez stepping up her investigation of Coleman Patterson was the very last thing that she needed.
“She said that she needed to clarify some things in your statement.”
“Anything else?”
“Mrs. Black called and asked that you return her call at your earliest convenience. She said that it was important.”
“Thank you, Adrianna.”
“Where are you off to now? Paris, the French Riviera?”
Valencia forced out a little laugh. “No, Adrianna. I am going home to take a long hot bath, have a glass of wine and contemplate my future. We’ll talk in the morning,” she said and ended the call.
“Before I take you home, there’s a stop I gotta make. It’s on the way.” Geno paused. “It won’t take long,” he promised her even though he understood that because it involved Mrs. Black that it might be a while. But in that second, Geno had a moment of true clarity and Carter’s words rang in his ears.
Rain got the whole damn family out hunting her.
It made him wonder if by taking her along, he was serving her up for whatever Rain had in mind for her and if that were the case, what would he do?
Hope that Rain doesn’t kill her.
When he got to J.R.’s, Leo informed him that Rain and Carter had just left. They had gone to pay a visit to Jaylinda Harvey in the hopes of finding out whatever it was that Rex Steward was willing to die for.
“When you see him, let Carter know that I’m back.”
“Will do, Geno,” Leo said, and he and Valencia headed back to his car.
“You still want me to take you home?”
“Would you, please. I need to think about what I’m going to do next.” She paused. “Not that I have a lot of choices. And the choices that I do have aren’t good.” She looked at Geno and smiled, thinking that maybe she should withdraw all the money that she could, and they just run away together.
Live my life on the run from the police, Mike Black and the Comodoro’s, she laughed. Great plan, Valencia.
When they got to her house, Geno parked out front and turned off the car. He looked at Valencia.
“Thank you for everything that you tried to do for me today, Geno.”
“I wish it had come out better for you.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, me too.”
“So what now?”
“Like I told Adrianna, I’m gonna go inside, take a long hot bath, have a glass of wine and contemplate my future.”
“Need some company?”
She sighed. “No, I don’t think so, at least not tonight. It’s been a long day … a long couple of days and I really think I need to be alone.”
“I understand. Can I at least walk you to the door?”
Valencia smiled. “Of course, you can.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I meant what I said. Just not tonight.” She kissed him again, on the lips this time to be sure that he understood that she wanted him.
Just not tonight.
When their lips slowly parted Geno leaned back and smiled. “I understand,” he said, and opened his door.
Geno got out of the car and walked around to open the door for Valencia. “Thank you, sir,” she said, and accepted his hand. He shut the door and had taken a few steps toward the house when he saw the car coming fast and then the driver opened fire.
“Get down!” he yelled and pulled Valencia on top of him. As they lay there, the driver fired a couple of shots.
When the shooting stopped and he heard the car speed away, Geno pushed Valencia off him and got to his feet. “Go inside and lock the door!” he yelled and ran to the car. Valencia scrambled to get to her feet, ran to the car and got in.
“I told you to go inside,” Geno shouted, and he started the car as the shooter sped down the street.
“Just drive!” she yelled.
Geno made a U-turn and went after the car.
As Geno closed the distance, he reached over, opened the glove compartment, and took out his gun.
“You ever use one of these?”
“No,” Valencia said, with her eyes wide open in horror as he got a couple of extra clips. Geno laughed as he drove, keeping an eye on the car as it approached an intersection.
“He’s not gonna make it,” Valencia said, and held on.
“He’s gonna make it,” Geno said, gripped the steering wheel tighter and stepped on the gas.
“He’s not gonna make it!” Valencia shouted.
“He made it!” Geno shouted as the car passed through the intersection.
“We’re not gonna make it!” Valencia screamed, and Geno slammed on the brakes, barely stopping in time to avoid a crash. As soon as the intersection was clear, Geno sped off in pursuit.
“Do you see him?” Valencia asked.
“No,” Geno said, looking around as he drove. “I think we lost him.”
In spite of that, Geno kept driving around until Valencia spotted the car. “There he is. Over there on the right.” She pointed.
“He slowed down. He thinks he lost us,” Geno said, and kept his distance.
“What are you doing?” she asked when Geno slowed down.
“I wanna see where he goes.” He looked at Valencia. “Don’t you wanna know who sent him?”
“I already know who sent him,” she said, as the car slowed to make a right turn, and eventually stopped and parked in front of a building.
Geno dimmed his lights and parked the car on the opposite side of the street. When the driver got out, Geno waited until he got close to the building before, he got out. When he did, Valencia did too.
“Where are you going?”
“I wanna know who sent him.”
“I thought you already knew who sent him,” Geno said, as the man turned and began firing at them.
They took cover behind a car and Geno returned fire until the driver’s gun was empty, and he ran in the building. Geno came out from behind the car and went in after him. When he stepped inside, Geno pressed his back against the wall and looked around the room before moving out.
Just then, the driver seemed to come out of nowhere, rushed at Geno and he dropped his gun. They wrestled for a while and then Geno hit him with blow after blow until the driver went down. Geno pulled him up and rammed him face first into the wall.
“Who sent you?” Geno shouted, and slammed the driver’s face into the wall over and over again.
“Who sent you?” he shouted again and hit him several times in the face.
As his body slumped to the floor, Geno looked around and saw where his gun was. He kicked the man in the face and went to pick it up. He grabbed the man by the shirt collar and pulled him to his feet. Geno put the barrel of his gun in the man’s eye just as Valencia came through the door.
“Who sent you?”
“Fuck you,” he said, and spit blood in Geno’s face.
He pulled the trigger and blew a hole out the back of his head. With her eyes opened wide, Valencia watched her protector stand over the man and shoot him twice more in the chest. He walked quickly to Valencia and took her by the hand.
“Come on. We gotta go.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Geno opened the door and stepped outside. He took a quick look around before he and Valencia rushed to his car, got in and drove away from the scene.
Valencia reached in her purse and took out some tissue. Her hands shook a bit as she wiped the blood from Geno’s face. He looked at her soft features and he could tell that she was bothered by what she had just witnessed.
“I hate that you had to see that.”
Valencia didn’t say anything. She had never been around anything like this, seen anybody die before her eyes, never seen so much blood.
“Did he say who sent him?
“No,” he said softly, and Valencia looked away.
They had driven in silence for a while with Valencia wondering what she was going to do and Geno wondering what he was going to do with her. Somebody had just raised the stakes. This wasn’t just somebody poisoning her food, somebody had taken a shot at her and if he weren’t there, she’d be dead now.
It was then that Valencia noticed that they weren’t heading for her house.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t think that it safe for you to go home.” He turned toward her. “At least not tonight.”
“So where are you taking me?”
“Someplace where you’ll be safe.”
“Where is that?”
“I’m taking you to a hotel.”
“Okay.”
“And then I’m gonna call some friends of mine to watch out for you.”
“Okay.”
“I know that you said that you wanted to be alone tonight, but I’m going to stay with you to make sure you’re safe.”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Valencia said, and settled into her seat. She was glad that he wanted to stay because after being shot at, she had no intention of leaving his side until this was over.
If I ever leave his side ever again, she thought.
She glanced at her handsome hero and visions of living happily ever after when this was all behind
her ran through Valencia’s mind.
This is how a man who loves you treats you, she thought and as they drove, Valencia remembered all the reasons why she thought that she loved Geno. All of the reasons that should have been enough for her to choose to stay with Geno and not marry Gustavo. She wondered what would have happened if he had come right out and said, Valencia, I love you, please don’t marry this man, what would she have done. Although he hinted at it all the time, Geno never said the words.
By the time that they got to the hotel, Geno’s men had arrived, had gotten them a room, and had taken up strategic positions to protect them.
“Who are these men?” Valencia asked as they took the elevator up to their floor.
“Those guys?” They work for me,” he said, and Valencia was even more impressed by him. She wasn’t sure if it was the excitement of the evening; getting shot at, the car chase, watching him kill a man to protect her or because Geno was just fine, but whatever it was made her heart race and had her juices flowing.
The minute he closed and locked the door behind them, Valencia’s arms were around his neck and her lips were pressed against his. As Valencia attacked his tongue; Geno grabbed her thighs and lifted her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he carried her to the bed. He crawled on top of her and began kissing Valencia through her clothes until he reached her lips.
He kissed her again and again, nibbled her chin, and sucked her neck. Valencia ran her tongue over her lips and then kissed his lips. Geno pushed off Valencia and began slowly unbuttoning her Balmain double-breasted mini dress. She stared into his eyes as he moved her Simone Perele demi cup bra aside, lowered his head and took her nipple between his teeth. The sensation felt like electricity rushing through her veins and Valencia excitedly began unbuckling his belt and pulling down the zipper.
Geno stood up and pulled Valencia to him. Their lips met again, and their hands roamed over the other’s body and soon there were clothes flying. Once they were naked, they stood before each other and then Geno picked her up and laid her on the bed.
Valencia opened her legs to receive him, grabbing his length and guiding it inside her. He eased into her wetness slowly and once she had accepted all of him, Geno began to stroke her hard. Valencia loved it!