by Edwina Fort
Let me tell y’all something about Nak: first of all… I looooooovvvveedddd her!!!!
She had this really innocent face. When Rome had first introduced us, I thought to myself, “Wow, he has a sweet wife.” I think I may have expressed my sentiments to Hitta who couldn’t stop touching my hair as we posed for a few pictures, because it was his first time seeing me without my braids.
“Don’t let her face fool you. She’s deadly,” he said, speaking loud enough for only me to hear.
“What do you mean deadly?”
“I mean, she will beat the sh*t out of everybody in this room while eating a f**king sandwich and still make it home in time enough to catch the nightly news.”
I laughed at his silliness, but when he didn’t laugh back, the smile left my face. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. She damn near beat my ass.”
My mouth dropped… “Nooooo!!!”
He nodded. “Thought I was gonna have to turn on these guns.” He held up those monster paws he called fists.
Then I overheard him and Rome talking about some kind of mission or something he and Nak had gone on a few weeks ago to help rescue somebody’s wife, who’d been sold into a sex slave ring in Argentina. Ever since then, I tried not to be too obvious, but I couldn’t help but stare at her, trying to figure out how something that looked so delicate, could be so dangerous. She and her husband were like real-life secret agents.
However, I was not the only one drawn to her, Carmen and Jessie were as well. But you didn’t need Rome’s mind to figure out why. The three of them shared a similar personality. They were all troublemakers and Nak was the biggest one. She was the reason we’d snuck into one of the Château's kitchens that wasn’t open to the public. It wasn't even in use tonight, but we’d gone on a hunt for strawberry cream cheese that she claimed was simply imperative for the tasty treat she was going to make the four of us, so here we are.
“Ladies, here y’all are. Damn, we were about to send out them boys to look for y’all,” Rome’s deep voice came from behind us.
I turned to see him, Hitta, and Wayne walking across the empty dining room that was connected to this kitchen. I couldn’t help but smile…those are some good-looking men. They all had ditched their ties and bowties somewhere. Each of them carried a glass with Hennessy in it. I knew that because Rome had gifted Hitta with a bottle of Hennessy Paradis Imperial for our wedding and my husband decided to drink it with them. However, when he told me it was a three-thousand-dollar bottle of cognac, I nearly spat my drink out.
“We decided to ditch the party to find some real food,” I told them around a mouth full of… heck, I don’t know what I was eating, but it was good.
It was a hundred percent better than what Nak and Jessie called that Hollywood food downstairs. That crap was horrible. I nearly threw up when I walked past the oyster bar.
“Oh yeah? I can dig that! I don’t like that food either,” Rome said coming to a stop next to his wife. He reached over and snagged one of her snacks popping it into his mouth, seconds later, he began choking and gagging as he desperately searched for a garbage can.
Taking a sip of his cocktail, Hitta chuckled from where he stood next to me, he put his other hand on my hip and pulled me in front of him so that my back rested against his front. I was grateful for his strength because I was tired.
“Damn, Nak!” Rome cried after he spat the offensive food out. “What the hell is with you lately? Eating all that nasty sh*t!”
Jessie nearly fell off the island laughing, Hitta had to reach over and catch her. “I told you it was nasty!”
“Yeah well, what does he know?” Nak grumbled as she scooped up another spoonful of cream cheese and put it on the bit she had left in her hand. “His idea of a tasty treat is chicken fried zucchini, without the chicken.”
That made me chuckle as I reached over and grabbed another off the plate.
“Baye, don’t eat that sh*t!” Hitta cried as he watched in horror as I brought it to my mouth.
“I know it looks gross, but it’s really good.”
“Is that strawberry cream cheese with pickles?” Wayne asked from where he stood awfully close to Carmen, who surprisingly has been very chill during this trip. She and Wayne had been forced to spend a lot of time together and amazingly, they’d done it without biting each other’s head off.
Nak nodded as she took the second to the last treat before offering me the last.
“If I didn’t know no better, I would think you heffas was pregnant!” Carmen said as she watched us eat the last of the snack with a frown of disgust on her face.
That caused us all to laugh.
That was just too funny.
Me…pregnant.
That was just too fu—
Hmmm…
As if the possibility hit us all at once, everybody stopped laughing but Carmen, Wayne, and Jessie. Rome’s and Nak’s faces reflected Hitta’s and mine.
I don’t know what they were thinking, but my mind was racing as I tried to remember when I had my last period. And then another thought came to me, Hitta and I have never used a condom. We’ve never even discussed using condoms, I just assumed…
You know what!? I don’t know what the hell I assumed!
WHAT THE HELL, ANGEL?!
I looked up just as Rome and Hitta looked at each other before they both turned to look at Nak and I. There was a slight grin on Hitta’s face as his eyes lowered to my stomach.
“No, I can’t,” I heard Nak whisper from the other side of the island, however, she didn’t sound too sure. “Ca-can I?”
Wayne exhaled before he turned his glass up to drain the last of his drink. When he was done, he turned to leave the kitchen.
“Get two of them!” Rome called after him.
“I can’t believe you beat me in that f**king obstacle course pregnant!” Rome growled from where he paced back and forward in the kitchen of me and Hitta’s suite
Wayne had been back for ten minutes now and we all sat here eagerly awaiting the results. Jessie had finally crashed and was knocked out cold in our bed. Still in my wedding dress, I sat in one of the kitchen chairs gripping the edge of it so tightly my knuckles were white.
Hitta sat in the chair next to me, I wondered what he was thinking. He didn’t seem to be freaking out or anything. In fact, the little grin had not left his face. Could he be happy about this?
Dear God, had he tried to get me pregnant?
“Just wait till that chump Jo hear about this. He ain’t gon’ never let me live it down,” Rome continued to grumble to himself.
Nak, who had not stopped nervously eating since she peed on the stick, shook her head at him. “You’re always worrying about what the hell Jo thinks. Technically, I beat him too. He was there.”
He looked at her as if she’d grown a frog out of her head. “That’s not going to matter. He gon’ say some sh*t like, “At least my wife ain’t a better athlete than me.” I just know he is.” He began his angry pacing again.
“I been trying to get Journey to work out. Damn girl lazy!” he muttered under his breath.
“Oh, leave her alone. Everybody is not competitive like you,” Nak told him before she filled her mouth with some microwave popcorn. How she’d spotted that bag as nervous as she was, I’ll never know.
I couldn’t think of anything but the results. Oh my God! I was probably getting ready to be a mom.
Hitta reached for my hand. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “You?”
The grin grew on his face. “Fan-f*ckin-tastic!”
“Really?”
“Yeah! I’m ready to be a dad.”
I squeezed his hand; his certainty was having a calming effect on me. “But what if I’m a bad mom?”
He looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Don’t believe that negative voice that’s trying to convince you of that sh*t. Believe yo’ own actions.” He gestured toward the bedroom.
“You the only
real mama she ever knew. If not for you, she wouldn’t be so amazing. It was when I saw you with her that I knew I wanted you to be the mother of my children.”
I was up and out of my chair and into his arms in a flash, needing to feel his strength in this moment. He wanted to have children with me from the very beginning.
Dear God! Please let it come back positive…
“They’re ready!” Carmen screeched from where she had been standing in front of the counter staring down at the sticks. I don’t know who was more excited about this, she or Hitta.
Nak eased her popcorn bag on the table before slowly coming to her feet. For the first time, I could see how much of a big deal this was to her. Rome didn’t speak, he just walked to her and pulled her into his arms.
I didn’t move off of Hitta’s lap. If the test was positive, I would need his support, and if it was negative, I would need his support.
“What do they say?” Wayne asked looking over her shoulder.
Carmen could barely contain her excitement. “They’re both positive! Congratulations, guys! Y’all are both pregnant!”
Nak began to weep and Rome lifted her in his arms and carried her into one of the spare bedrooms, shutting the door behind them.
My gaze came to Hitta’s to find the grin back on his face. He lifted his hand and gently rubbed his finger along my cheek.
“Thank you, Teacup! This was the best wedding present you could have given me.”
I returned his smile before I threw my arms around his neck. The thought of becoming a mom is terrifying and magnificent all at once. But knowing that he wanted this so much was even more amazing. Dame Marjorie was right; this is a wedding night I will never forget.
Chapter 20
The Honeymoon…
Angel
“If you could go anywhere on earth, where would you go?”
As I thought about my husband’s question, I stared into the small lagoon hidden deep inside the intimate garden Hitta and I had disappeared into about thirty minutes ago. It was beyond extraordinary here. There were lights at the bottom of the sparkling blue water that cast the whole area in its gentle glow, making it so very romantic. The moon sat high and full in the sky only serving to intensify the feeling in the air.
I don’t know how Dame Marjorie and her husband did it, but they’d managed to create a couple’s paradise here on their forty-plus acres of land. This little area where we are is one of many private, themed, rendezvous spots spattered around the grounds. This one was called the Blue Lagoon and Dame Marjorie assured us it’s the most sensually stimulating out of all the hidden little nooks. She also assured us we will have our privacy for the rest of the evening.
“Hmmmm, if I could go anywhere?”
He nodded from where he sat on the plush grass behind me. I leaned against his strong body more satisfied than I’d ever been in my life, even though I was sitting on this grass in my wedding dress.
“Yeah, anywhere.”
“There is a little village tucked securely between a group of mountains in Tibet called Minling Gangri in the Himalayans. They have an herbal bazaar there where they sell some of the rarest herbs and plants in the world, things that can only be grown in the Himalayans. My Greatie says she found some of her best tea ingredients there.”
“Damn, yo’ great grandmother been to Tibet?”
“Oh yeah, quite a few times.”
“When am I going to meet her? You always have these wild stories about her.”
I shrugged; this wasn’t his first time asking me that. I didn’t know how to explain her to him outside of the fact that she’s my great grandmother. I could say she gets around really well for her age, she was a bit mysterious, and came and went as she pleased. Of course, he thought I meant that she was just another kooky old lady who liked to travel. But if only he knew.
“She’ll come around one day.”
He moved my hair to the side and placed a gentle kiss on my neck. “With yo hair like this, it make you look completely different.”
“Different in a good way I hope.”
“Shawty, I don’t care how yo’ hair look, I’m hooked. So, all yo’ difference is good to me."
I chuckled. “The beautician spent nearly an hour flat ironing it, but all it would take is one second in that water and it would draw up like this.” I snapped my finger.
“You know what? That sound like a good idea.” He stood and began undressing.
“What are you doing?” I asked laughing at his silliness.
“Going swimming. Come on.”
“Are you nuts?! I’m still in my wedding dress.”
He pulled me to my feet. “I know, here, let me help you out of it.”
“Oh my God, Hitta! What if someone sees us?” I screeched as he quickly untied the big bow at my waist before unzipping it.
“I been waiting to peel you out this boy all night. For real! Sh*t!”
I held my head back and laughed when he suddenly lifted me straight out of all the layers of the dress. When he placed me back on my feet, I stood in a pair of cream thigh highs and panties with the matching strapless bustier.
“Damn,” he hissed as his gaze took its time raking over my body.
The way Hitta always looked at me made me feel so sexy. He looked at me as if I was something rare, as if he’d never seen anything like me. Slowly he went down to one knee in front of me.
“Sh*t, I did want to go swimming,” he muttered before he palmed my soft behind in his massive hands bringing my body towards him.
I bit my lip to try and stop the huge grin that was trying to take over my face. “Oh yeah, and what do you want to do now?”
I grabbed on to his shoulders when his warm mouth touched my belly button. I was so distracted with his talented tongue that I didn’t notice he’d hooked his fingers in my panties and was pulling them down my legs until he was urging me to step out of them.
“Now, all I can think about is making love to my wife.”
I chuckled nervously. “We can’t do it here. There’s nothing but the ground.”
When he lifted his handsome face to look at me, there was a devious grin on it. That grin unnerved me. With horror I watched his gaze lower to the puffy cloud that was my wedding dress. Before I could open my mouth to protest, his hands came to my waist and he was lifting me, turning me and then laying me on top of my beautiful gown.
“Absolutely not, brotha! Have you lost your mi—” The last of my sentence ended on a moan, because that talented mouth of his was once again at work. He had this way of ravishing me that scrambled my brain, causing me to only think about pleasure.
Yes, I was very aware that my husband was getting ready to make love to me on my Vera Wang wedding dress, but the only thing I could think at the moment was: What the hell? I can just take it to the cleaners when we get back to Chicago.
“Let’s go to Tibet.”
Now good and sleepy, I grinned at him. We were still in the secluded garden lying facing each other on top of my puffy wedding dress. My husband had made love to me twice and now as the sun rose slowly in the sky, I was ready to drift off into a deep sleep.
“When?”
“Today…now.”
I chuckled. “You’re so silly.” As I spoke my eyes got heavier. I was literally fighting to keep them open. I was so tired I didn’t care that somebody may come along and find me and Hitta lying here in our birthday suits.
“I’m serious, Teacup. Let’s go to Tibet for our honeymoon.”
I reached up and gently rubbed my fingers through his beard. “That would be awesome, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave Jessie until we get the custody issue squared away. Who knows what tricks Stan will pull out of his sleeve while we’re gone?”
The look that came into his eyes caused me to frown a bit. He exhaled before he sat up resting on his elbow. For a moment he didn’t speak, he just stared at his hand as if he was contemplating how best to tell me something horrible.
“I ummm…” He paused again really thinking hard about his words. “I wasn’t going to tell you this until after we got back to Chicago.”
Oh goodness! Now he really had my attention. I too sat up on my elbow. “Tell me what?”
“I don’t think you have to worry about Stan no mo’.”
“Why not?”
When Hitta didn’t answer immediately, I put my hand on his chest, encouraging him to continue.
“He killed his wife, bae.”
My mouth opened as a gasp escaped my lips. “Whaaat?! How do you know that?!”
“The sh*t was in the paper. He poisoned her to make it look like she died from her disease. And I guess he must have known that the police was going to be looking for him, ‘cause he cleaned out all his bank accounts and got little. The last known traces of him was like in Russia or some sh*t.”
I brought my shaking hand to my lips. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “I wish I was joking, Teacup.”
Oh my God! Poor Diana!
What the hell is wrong with Stan?! Why would he do that to a woman that worked herself into exhaustion trying to be the perfect wife to him? This news was going to kill Westly. He was already going to hate himself for not being there when she died, and now this.
Dear God, give us the strength to overcome this.
“That’s ain’t all,” Hitta continued, drawing me back out of my head. “They say evidence show that he may have killed another woman, whose identity have yet to be released.”
“Stan killed somebody else?! Is there any clue to who it could have been?”
He shook his head. “Naw, but I’m sure it’s nobody for you to worry about.” He reached up and dried tears from my cheek. I hadn’t even been aware I was crying.
“Don’t cry over these people who didn’t give a f**k about you. The only reason I told you is because I want you to enjoy our honeymoon without worrying that dude was going to try and f**k with Jessie. Trust me, where he at right now, he ain’t thinking about you or Jessie.”