by Belvin, Love
Once again, I looked at Rayna who was now looking at me with remorse in her eyes. My guilt started setting in. I have to get used to this level of intimacy. Suddenly, and ironically, I remember Big D schooling me on love. He’d said several times in the past, “the woman who wins your heart will forfeit your control of your universe.” Damn. That fucker was right. I was caught between a rock and a fucking mountain.
“Indeed,” I agreed. “Peace-peace.”
“Peace-Peace, Duke.”
D made that visit testing my chin. He was gauging my commitment to Rayna. If I ignored it, he would believe I didn’t give a shit about Rayna. If I react he would know where my heart is. Shit just got real. D’s days over pawning me were over. He’s depravity knew no bounds.
“Let’s go,” I hissed to Rayna.
We headed over to the bungalow in silence. Once we were in, I told her I had to check my e-mail. I sensed her standing by the door of the bungalow until I walked in the office and slammed the door.
I checked in with Washington and he had given more information on Rayna’s secret about her brother. His charge involved a third dude from her projects. Some kid named Omar Brown. Washington informed me that there was a little girl who was killed in the crossfire among other facts, but nothing he’s come up with so far was secret-worthy. There had to be more if Big D thought to bribe her.
See, D was infuriated because I’d shut him down after learning about his role in killing my father. My agreement with him was that we’d end our business in the same timeline originally planned, but I wouldn’t cut him out of any money considering he’s damn near broke from his gambling bug and blowing dough on pussy. This man has run through millions over the years. It’s still unbelievable to me. I assured him that after these next couple of months of me washing my hands from the game, we’d go our separate ways. I knew that didn’t rest easy with him. Couple that with the fact that I’d done the same with his daughter. I never told him the full truth and apparently neither had Tara. I was going for a full makeover in terms of my loved ones. Those two opportunists never loved me, but they did love what I was able to profit them. Game over. But Big D didn’t want to bow out gracefully.
Rayna had no idea what was going on. She’d been caught in the crossfire. This shit had nothing to do with her, but I couldn’t have her thinking she could keep things from me. She was my blind spot. I understand that I’ve brought her into my convoluted world blindsided, but she has skeletons in her own closet that I’m trying to work with.
I could hear the water running through the pipes and into the tub upstairs. She was preparing to take a bath. I guess I need to relax, too. I had really spazzed on her. This was supposed to be a celebratory getaway, not be plagued with issues from that selfish, manipulative fuck. I swear my feelings for D were turning malevolent. It challenged my new path in life, but I swear if he ever comes close to Rayna again I’ll kill him.
Rayna had looked so broken out on the beach. I knew I needed to change the course of our vacation. I didn’t want to leave early and we had several excursions planned for the following day so I needed to assuage the situation.
I walked into the bathroom where she was laid out in the tub. And upon entering, she swung her head to me and innocently searched my eyes, trying to assess my mood.
“You’re still wearing your ring,” I attempt to break the ice.
“You want it back?” her eyes shot up and body tensed in the water.
I shook my head. “No. Besides it’s no longer mine. You now have the headache of keeping up with it. It cost me enough to get it here secure and on your finger. I don’t want the stress of that anymore.” I was being honest.
She held it up slightly, savoring in her new reality yet once again. She looked proud of it as she smiled.
“Can I join you?”
“Oh…please do,” Rayna anxiously agreed and scooted her body up in the oversized tub. I like baths, but could never find comfort in one since I was about twelve or thirteen years old because of my height. In all of my homes I’ve had special sized and shaped tubs installed. In hotels, one of the many reasons I prefer suites is because they typically came with Jacuzzis or whirlpools.
I stripped my clothes and descended behind her.
“The water feels good…spicy.” I pulled her back to rest her body on my chest. We engage in peaceful silence for minutes long. I exhale and close my eyes, relishing in a private and intimate moment with Ms. Brimm.
“You were livid. I don’t want to get used to seeing you that way. Are you still?”
“I was. I’m calming as we speak,” I open my eyes, deciding to receive her conversation.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know the protocol. You told me he was your mentor so I measured his words…perhaps too deeply,” Rayna murmured as I ran the sponge over her arms.
“Detective Daryl Harrison is no longer my mentor. He hasn’t been for some time. For all intents and purposes he’s simply Tara’s father.” I needed her to know this moving forward. She remained quiet and I could tell the cogs of her mind were working.
“What was the agreement about Tara’s baby?”
“Huhn?” I asked as I stopped washing her shoulders.
“When you were on the phone, you referred to the seed.”
Oh.
“I agreed to help Tara out until the paternity situation was cleared.”
“Help how?”
“Take care of the hospital bills and doctor fees for the baby.”
“Would you do that?”
“As a parting deal; it was a steal.”
“That’s some bargain.”
“It’s all strategic,” I divulged, being partially honest and hoped that this conversation’s end was near.
Rayna snorted. “He does know you a little, I see.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He said you were strategic and calculating.”
“That I am.”
“Oh,” she replied contemplatively.
“Turn around. I want to wash your legs,” Rayna swivels around in the whirlpool to face me.
I grabbed her legs one by one to wash them. She started off tensed, but eased up in no time. Once I was done, I nibbled on her toes, causing her writhing movements in the water.
“Stay still,” I playfully scolded.
She tried, but could never endure the pleasurable sensations. Even her eyes gave away her sheer delectation. After some time of doing this, we couldn’t make it out of the tub before sex occurred. I had her ass hanging halfway out of the whirlpool, screaming my name. Lovemaking was something I was becoming very acquiescent to, particularly because my acts of smashing appealed to Rayna, we brought the two together.
This could actually work.
The next two days in Tahiti were a huge contrast to the first. Rayna and I indulged in parasailing, jet-skiing, canoeing, and horseback riding. We ate great food and made love everyday, several times a day. We shared in laughter and playful moments. Rayna was back. I did everything I could think of to help her shake whatever insecurities she had about my commitment to her. The last thing I needed was a weak link in my strong chain. I needed her confidence in what I was proposing. I had only wished that her girl, Michelle, could have been around to celebrate this next step with her.
Our return home was bitter-sweet. I hated leaving paradise and being in our bubble as she termed it, waking up to Rayna in open air and lying down in the same. But it was nice to know that we were on the track to a new life together.
As we were seated on the plane, waiting to take off, Rayna looked over to me with a half a smile and a slight moue.
I lifted her chin with my index finger to engage her eyes. “Hey…what’s that all about?” I asked.
“We’re leaving our Eden,” she puckers her lips and sniffles to gesture a desire to cry.
“We’ll always have Tahiti,” I sang.
She reaches over and rubs my cheek in adoration. It’s consolatory.
�
�I freaking love this!” she exclaimed, referring to the wildly grown stubble that had taken over my face since we’d arrived. It gave me an idea immediately.
“Good. Because I’m not cutting it until you give me a date.”
“A date?”
“Yes. A wedding date.”
“Oh.” Rayna smiled and ducked her head embarrassingly.
“Well, what date do you have in mind?”
“Oh, no, Ms. Brimm. It’s obvious that you weren’t expecting my proposal and therefore I am not strong-arming you to the altar. You’ll have to do it on your own volition.”
Her eyes opened wide, giving me an affronted expression. I know Rayna. She needs to be given a push to make a decision that involves trusting another individual. In this case, I was asking her to enter into a lifetime institution, the biggest trust and commitment proposal of them all. I believe she’s agreeable to it, but needs a little motivation to take the next step.
“I’ll just wait miserably until you come around,” I continued to taunt her.
“You don’t think I want to marry you?” she’d become argumentative instantly. I didn’t want to fight about it, but egged her on.
“I hope so, but…time will tell,” I murmured as I adjusted my pillow in my seat to get comfortable. She sat erect in her chair, at a loss for words when I turned my back to her.
You can lead a horse…
Chapter 9
Azmir
The sound of my Blackberry ringing snapped me frantically out of my sleep, ejecting me from my pillow. Veered between torpor and alarm, I glanced around the room. Rayna stirred in the sheets, but appeared still very much asleep. I reached for the alerting phone.
“Peace…Peace.”
“Errrr…my name is Detective Timothy Ames and I’m looking for a Azmir Jacobs.” Why is One Time calling my cell at this hour?
“I’m sorry, what is this in reference to?” I asked as I picked up my iPhone prepared to dial my attorney.
“Mr. Jacobs, I’m sorry to have to call you at this hour to inform you that there has been an act of arson at your residence.”
I regard the bedroom around me. There’s no fire. Is this some kind of joke? I questioned.
“Mr. Jacobs? Are you away on vacation? How soon can you get down to the Pasadena PD so that we can discuss this?”
“A fire at my home on Farmingdale Drive?” My senses had begun returning. I felt Rayna sit up in the bed.
“Yes, sir. How soon can you be here? Or I can meet you there.”
“Give me under an hour. I’ll meet you at the house,” I disconnected with the detective and swung my legs out of bed, still somewhat languished.
“What’s going on?” Rayna groggily asked, grabbing my lower back. I paused, trying to process what just happened.
“Supposedly a fire at one of my properties. I’m going to check it out.”
She gasped, “What? Oh, my god!”
I turned to her, patting her leg, “Go back to sleep, I’ll be back as soon as I get a handle on it.”
Rayna starts making her way out of the bed, causing Azna to jump from the edge to the center of the mattress. “No, this is awful. I’ll go with you!”
“Rayna, baby, it’s nearly three thirty in the morning. There’s no way I’ll have you out this late. If I need you, I’ll call. Rest,” I demanded.
She recoiled her legs back in the bed, making it clear that she caught on to my adamancy. I kissed her on the head and left for the john. From the bathroom, I called Petey who, in turn, called Kid. They both agreed to reporting there. I was dazed, still adjusting from our return from Tahiti the evening before.
When I pulled up, the firefighters were still out there, hosing down the rear of the house and a couple were walking through the front area, I guess making sure nothing was ignitable or combustible and possibly confirming there were no bodies in there.
The fire was pretty bad, all that seemed to have been left was the frame and my fireproof safes. My breathing hiked and I grabbed my head.
Petey walked up on me, “Shiiiiiiiieet! What the fuck is this?” He wore gray flannels, a hoodie, and his bedroom slippers. His face was still wrinkled from recent sleep.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “This is some bullshit,” I muttered, watching strangers walking all over and through my property.
“Tell Kid and them to get the tools needed to unbolt the safes and take them over to my warehouse down in the Watts. There’s storage space there for them.”
“Mr. Jacobs?” I heard my name being called and turned to find Detective Ames. I recognized his timid voice.
I turned to him and watched as he approached us. He looked at Petey, but we don’t do introductions, so I didn’t even acknowledge him and Ames quickly got the message.
“Errrr…is this your primary residence?”
“No.” I was interested in seeing where his question was leading.
“Do you rent this out to anyone or have someone living here?”
“No.”
He scratched his head contemplatively. Petey and I just watched, giving nothing away. “Errrrr…that was the fire chief that I was just talking to over there and he’s saying that he’ll need a couple of days to come to a full investigation, but he can say with little revelation that this was an act of arson. Some sort of explosive bottles were thrown into the front and rear of the house through the windows. This being said, do you have any idea who would want to harm you or your property?”
“I’ve no clue.”
“Well, here’s the plan. I’m going to let them conclude their investigation before I come in and do mine. In the meantime, I’ll need you to come by the station to answer a few preliminary questions that would help me discover the person or persons responsible for this. Here’s my card. I’ll look forward to your call.”
He handed me his business card. “How long do you think it took for this place to crumble? I’m curious about the level of malevolence here. Could they have been unoccupied kids who knew the house was vacant or do I need to hire a security team?” I asked in jest, but slightly sincere about wanting to know how badly someone wanted me dead.
“Considering the methods taken to burn it down, this is seriously malicious.”
“Indeed,” I nodded. “We’ll be in touch, detective.” He took my pro-offered hand and gave me a brief, but firm shake.
By this time Kid had walked up. Ames took off toward the back of the house and I turned to Petey and Kid. “What’s the streets saying?”
“It’s ya’ rapper boy,” Kid murmured. I knew right away he was referring to D-Struct.
“How sure are we?”
“‘Bout seventy five percent. My cousin going over to his old baby mutha’s later on. They friends. She told her that he came through there a couple of hours ago smelling like gasoline, asking to shower and shit. I’ll have more on that in a minute. Yo, D, man. If it’s that dude, he need to close his eyes tonight. He can’t live no more.”
“If it’s son, he might get sniped by one of ‘dem youngin’s that’s trying catch Divine’s attention. It’s gonna be a bounty on his fuckin’ head,” Petey muttered.
Petey was right. This shit wasn’t looking good for ol’ boy.
“Kid, y’all good on those safes in there?”
“Yeah, he pulling them up from the floor now. Let me go check up on him.” Kid headed back inside the house despite the firefighters urging them not to. It was my shit and I damn sure wasn’t about to let such personal items stay there in an opened charred house.
“You want me to call Kip?” Petey asked.
“Yeah, but see if he can lay low until this place is empty. I don’t want the officials to know about the surveillance out here unless it’s necessary.”
“You got it, Duke.”
Petey walked off to make the call to Kip, a surveillance specialist that I’d contracted years ago to protect my properties. You almost forget about him until an incident like this when you need him. Footage of the propert
y should be stored and that should pinpoint the perpetrator, if not, point us in the right direction. My gut told me that Big D was behind this in some way. He didn’t like my cutting him off and therefore wringing him dry. You mess with a man’s money, he’ll eventually get desperate and make risky moves. I stayed there for about a half an hour before I decided to head out. The ride back to the marina gave me time to think and plan.
She lay there with the house phone and her cell laying on my pillow, I guess for easy access if I had called. I looked over to the time on the nightstand to see that it was six forty-two.
Taking her by the shoulders, I nudged her, trying to ease her back into a conscious state. “Brimm. Brimm, baby,” I muttered. From her shoulders I shoved her body several times before she had actually awakened. Her tired eyes were red as she tried to focus them.
“Azmir! I’m so glad that you’re back. I must have dozed off…what time is it?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.
It’s nearly seven. Get up…I have your favorite old-fashion oatmeal from the deli around the corner. I don’t want it to get cold.
She took a few moments to collect herself and strode into the shower.
Back out in the kitchen at the table, she took a seat next to me and I opened up her steaming oatmeal. Her yogurt and fresh fruit sat adjacent to it. I rose to put on the kettle for tea. As I filled it Rayna asked, “Well?”
I knew it was coming. We needed to talk, which is why I didn’t serve this to her in bed like I typically did on a weekend morning if I didn’t want her to cook. I took my seat next to her and opened my to go container that held my vegetable omelet.
“Well, it’s bad.”
“How bad?” her eyes were glued go my profile as she licked the smudge of yogurt that had gotten on her thumb. Rayna looked adorable in her boy shorts and matching thin camisole.
“Pretty bad. Nothing salvageable besides a few safes I had there.”
“Where is the house? I know you said you’d just bought this apartment recently, but did you stay at that house before living here?”
I cut into my omelet, prepared to dig in. “Pasadena. Yes, it’s where I lived prior to moving in here. I had lots of things there that I’d been meaning to have packed up, but never got around to it.” In all honesty, I’d been so wrapped up in Rayna that nothing from my past seemed important to rush into here, not even clothes.