by D. Camille
“But I don’t encourage it!” he corrected. “She keeps that damn bag locked up.”
Ray shook his head. “So we’re adding another Uncut Diamond which now brings us to eight and I swear if Kyle and Simone hook up, I’m ending this whole thing!”
“I always thought Kyle was with Lotus,” Jordan commented.
Sean agreed. “So did I.”
“Then how the hell did she end up with Kent?” Ray asked.
“Lily and Lavender say that she saw him in a vision.”
Jordan turned to Sean. “What the hell?”
“I’m only answering the question,” Sean replied.
Ray shook his head. “Never mind. Those two are in Atlanta and I’ll let them deal with that. We have enough going on here.”
“Kyle is still going through Justin’s information and he’ll have something soon because he’s very thorough. In the meantime, we have retrieve some blood diamonds in Colombia,” he finished.
Sean and Jordan looked confused. “Esteban?” Sean asked.
Ray nodded. “That’s the secret my mother’s been hiding.”
“She was cutting diamonds for the Esteban’s. When we showed up, she’d hidden hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth and now the owners are looking for them and her,” he explained. “And from some of your father’s information, they’ve teamed up with others who don’t particularly care for the Black Diamonds.”
“Are any of the ones we had arrested today involved?” Jordan asked.
Ray shook his head. “No, they were all a part of their little scheme that Kent uncovered. They’ll be dealt with in the legal system. We’ve got bigger problems than them.”
Sean agreed. “Kent has that under control for Phase II and that will be done.”
Ray looked across the table at the men he’d shared his life with. “This is it. Everything we’ve done, all the training, all the work now comes down to this…and our families’ lives depend on it.”
“Let’s handle it,” Jordan said firmly.
“It’s handled.” Sean told him.
Chapter 21
Kent arrived at Lotus’s apartment dressed for the evening in navy slacks and a light blue dress shirt. She answered the door with a frown, in her robe.
“What’s the matter little Momma?” he asked coming inside.
She looked him over with his fresh haircut and immaculate dress. “My hair won’t act right and I can’t decide what to wear,” she complained.
Kent looked at her. “What’s wrong with your hair?”
Lotus frowned at him. “It’s all over my head right now.”
He pulled her close. “I like it like that. It reminds me of how you look after playing with the monster.”
Pulling away, Lotus told him, “Well I don’t want to meet your family looking like I just rolled out of the bed with you,” she snapped.
“Why are you tripping?” he asked bringing her back into his arms. “What’s wrong?”
Lotus looked up at him. “Kent, I’m meeting all your brothers and sisters tonight.”
“So?”
“So, I want them to like me,” she explained.
He frowned. “I don’t even like them.”
Lotus smiled. “Yes, you do.”
Kent swept her up into his arms and headed towards the bedroom. “I don’t care if you come in pajamas and a scarf tied around your head. It’s not for them to like you. I don’t give a damn about their opinions.”
He reached the bed and she smiled up at him. “I’m so glad you were the one.”
Kent lifted a brow. “You want to get in that bed?”
“Put me down so I can get ready, boy.” She told him.
He lowered her to the bed, kissing her until neither of them could breathe. Finally, they looked into each other’s faces.
“Hey pretty eyes,” Lotus whispered with her leg thrown over him.
Kent stroked her bare leg into dangerous territory. “If you don’t get dressed in ten minutes, you won’t need clothes for the rest of the night.”
She smiled. “That’s really not a threat baby.”
“You know I love you,” he said staring at her dimples.
“You show me every day,” she whispered.
He grinned and moved his hand to her warm spot. “And night.”
“Your family is going to be waiting, Kent.”
Kent looked at her. “You’re the one still laying here,” he pointed out.
Lotus scrambled from the bed and went to her closet as Kent rested on his elbows watching her.
“What color?” she called from the walk-in closet.
“I don’t care.”
A minute later. “A dress or a skirt?”
He closed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Heels or flats?”
“Woman put on some damn clothes,” he complained.
Lotus came out of the closet completely dressed and laughing. “You’re no help at all.”
He smiled at her ensemble. “You look beautiful.”
She did a slow spin. “I’m straight?”
Kent moved slowly from the bed with his eyes locked on hers then stopped directly in front of her. “No, you’re beautiful.”
Placing a hand on her waist, he stared down at her. “You’re sexy, you’re sweet and you’re mine.”
Kent kissed her slowly as Lotus wound her arms around his neck. “I love you,” she whispered.
Gently he kissed her again until he couldn’t take anymore without taking her. “Do whatever you’re going to do to your hair and let’s go, please.”
Lotus laughed as he walked out of the room and went to try to tame her hair into a style. Kent walked into her living room and over to the mantle. Frowning, he picked up the picture of Kyle. A number of thoughts went through his mind as he held the photo. Everything from crumble it up, to toss it in the trash to burning it.
Patting the photo against his other hand, he continued to think. After a few minutes, he replaced the picture in the exact spot where Lotus kept it. This was her spot and Kyle was her friend. It would be wrong to destroy something that belonged to her and she’d be mad as hell.
“What are you doing?” he heard her voice behind him and turned.
“Looking at your pictures.”
Lotus picked up the picture of Kyle. “This bothers you a lot.”
He nodded. “Yeah, but this is your spot, so I can’t trip.”
“I thought it would be gone when I saw you over here,” she confessed.
“I wouldn’t do that,” he said honestly. “I did think about it though…real hard.”
She took his hand. “Thank you for not doing that.”
“You know, I’ve been thinking about making a scrapbook and putting all my pictures in there,” she told him.
Kent looked down at her. “What are you going to put on your mantle?”
Lotus shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe my twin flame and I can go have some pictures taken together that I can put up there?
“Yeah, I like that.” He told her with a smile.
“Me too,” she agreed. “He’s really handsome and apparently likes pictures of himself…very big ones.”
He laughed. “Those were for work.”
“Yeah right. You probably have a stack of them at your house.”
“Not quite a stack,” he conceded.
Kent looked at her hair in an afro puff bun. “I like that,” he said nodding at her hair.
“It’s easy to take down,” he said before kissing her.
“Just don’t take it down now.”
He smiled. “Come on so you can meet these kids.”
Lotus followed him to the door. “Why do you call them kids? They’re not much younger than you.”
On the way to the car he answered, “Because even though I’m only a few years older, I had to take care of them since they were babies.”
“You have a set of twins too huh?” she questioned.
He sho
ok his head. “Nah, my momma got a set of twins.”
Lotus smirked. “Okay smartass. Your family has a set of twins too.”
Helping her inside the vehicle, he answered. “Yes, those are my brothers.”
Kent walked around and climbed inside the vehicle and Lotus continued her questioning. “And you have two sisters?”
Starting the car, he nodded. “Keisha and Ariel.”
“Keisha is also your father’s daughter, right?”
“Yeah, she’s the spoiled ass baby,” he answered. “Ariel is married and has three bad ass kids. Her husband works for MARTA. The twins don’t try to do shit and they never have. Keisha goes to school and is a pain in my ass.”
“Sounds like a fun bunch,” Lotus said smiling.
Kent glanced at her. “They don’t read minds, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
He went back to driving and Lotus listened to the music and watched the scenery as they drove to his mother’s house.
She turned to him. “Hey,”
Kent glanced at her. “What’s up?”
“I have something back at my apartment for you?”
He grinned. “What’s that little Momma?”
“I made your favorite.”
His eyes lit up. “For real?”
Lotus nodded and touched his face. “I had to make my baby his favorite dish.”
“Is it good?” he asked cautiously.
She removed her hand. “Hell yeah, it’s good.”
Kent reached over and took her hand in his. “Thank you for thinking about me.”
“You’re welcome. You know I’m always thinking about you.”
He brought her hand to his mouth. “We can eat it in bed later?”
Her eyes darkened. “I’d like that.”
They arrived at the Baker household and Lotus got her first opportunity to see Kent’s entire family. She was introduced to his sister Ariel and the twins, Bruce and Reggie, who all looked more like their mother.
Ariel, seemed quiet and reserved. Her voice was hushed as she introduced her husband and children. The two boys and little girl were very polite in greeting Lotus, who smiled at them.
When Lotus looked over, she saw a green-eyed woman emerging from the kitchen with Ms. Baker.
Kent stepped up. “Lotus this is my sister Keisha.” He looked at his sister with a stern look. “Keisha this is Lotus.”
Lotus watched as Keisha smiled the same mischievous smile as her brother did. “Hi Lotus, my Momma says you have Kent on a leash.”
Vanessa looked at her daughter. “You know good and damn well I did not say that.”
“Keisha, don’t make me go there in front of Momma.” Kent told her firmly.
Keisha smiled again. “I’m just teasing, but I guess you really are whipped.” She looked at Lotus and reached for her hand.
Kneeling in front of her, Keisha said. “Hello Princess Lotus, you have slayed the Green-Eyed Monster and for that, you have my undying loyalty.”
“Get up and stop acting stupid,” Kent snapped.
Lotus laughed as Keisha got to her feet and hugged her. “Welcome to the family Lotus. Please take him off of our hands.”
“I’ll take him,” Lotus then whispered conspiratorially. “But be ready if I have to send him back.”
Keisha smiled. “Oh my god, I love you!”
Kent smirked and his mother smiled. “Let’s eat dinner. The food’s ready.”
They gathered around the large dining room table and the conversation was lively and festive. Ms. Baker broke out the pictures and all the siblings groaned, while the little ones settled in to watch a movie. Lotus smiled as she looked at pictures of little Kent then teenage Kent along with Trent.
She turned to him. “I bet all the girls were after you and Trent.”
“Trent was running through them,” he told her. “Like a freight train.”
Ms. Baker smirked. “Living with a grown woman.” She shook her head. “Speaking of her, how’s that baby?” she asked Kent.
“She’s good Momma. Trent and Callie are taking care of her.”
“I’m glad she’s with them because she needs a stable place right now after losing her mother like that.” Ms. Baker said softly.
Lotus nodded. “Yes, that was so tragic.”
“She was fine too,” Kent’s brother Bruce added and Kent looked at him.
“I guess that is your brother,” Lotus whispered to him.
He turned to her. “See, this is why I don’t see them too often.”
Ms. Baker announced that she was bringing out desert, which of course, was Kent’s favorite. Everyone dug into the dish except for Kent and his mother looked at him.
“What’s the matter? You still can’t eat?”
Everyone turned to him. “Yeah, I can eat but I’m having desert later,” he said looking at Lotus.
Reggie laughed. “I bet you are.”
Keisha frowned. “When weren’t you eating?”
“Were you sick?” Ariel asked concerned.
“No, his pretty little girlfriend was out of town,” his mother supplied.
Lotus hid a smile as Keisha continued, “You couldn’t eat while she was gone?”
“Shut up,” he told her.
Keisha burst out laughing and Lotus rubbed his arm. Leaning over, she said, “I couldn’t eat either.”
Kent kissed her cheek while everyone watched the love on his face and hers. All of them were astounded that Kent had fallen, and fallen so hard, since he’d always bragged that no one woman could handle him.
Ms. Baker beamed as thoughts of green-eyed grandbabies danced in her head. Kent and Lotus were so adorable and she couldn’t wait to officially have her as a daughter-in-law.
The rest of the evening went off without a hitch then Lotus and Kent said their goodbyes and headed back to the car. His phone rang as he held the door open for her and she climbed inside. Seeing it was his job, he quickly answered. Lotus listened as he stood with the door open and became concerned at his tone.
“I’m on my way,” Kent said into the phone and Lotus looked up at him.
“What’s wrong?”
He frowned. “Someone broke into my office at work. I have to go over there.”
“Why would somebody do that?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Hell if I know.” Kent made another call quickly and a black car pulled up.
“The agent is going to take you home,” Kent told Lotus reaching inside to help her back out of the car.
“I can just go with you,” she protested.
“Nah, I don’t want you wrapped up in whatever is going on over there.” Kent told her as she stepped out then reached distractedly back inside for her purse.
“I don’t like this Kent. I have a bad feeling and I want to go with you,” she told him.
Putting an arm around her, he comforted her. “It’s fine, I just need to check to see if anything is missing. The police are already there.”
Lotus hugged him. “Please be careful.”
“Just have my banana pudding ready when I get there,” he told her before walking her to the dark sedan. Lotus slowly climbed inside the passenger seat then looked back at him.
“Take her home and stay close until I get there,” Kent instructed and the agent nodded.
Kent leaned inside and kissed her softly. “Be nice to the agent.”
Closing the door, he waited until the car disappeared before heading to his own vehicle. Kent drove to his office and saw the police cars in the parking lot. He parked away from the commotion and went inside the building. Curiously, he headed up to his office and was met by his boss.
“Thanks for coming Kent,”
“No problem. What happened?”
“The alarm went off about an hour ago. I got a call that someone had broken into a couple of the offices. They need you to go inside and see if anything was taken,” his boss explained.
Kent nodded, “Okay.” He started toward his o
ffice then paused. “Who else had their office broken into?”
“Carla Packard,” his boss answered. “I had to call her in too, and she’s here now.”
Kent nodded again then turned with his eyes narrowed. What the fuck? Two offices broken into and they both had to be called to the building? This shit don’t sound right at all.
In his office, Kent began to look around. A few of his filing cabinets were open where the locks had been popped. His desk was still locked and he opened it to check inside, then Kent turned on his computer to see if any files had been removed or tampered with.
Thirty minutes later, he could tell that nothing was missing or had been tampered with. It looked like someone had just wanted to make it seem like there was a break-in. Kent spoke with the police and was given the okay to leave. As he was heading toward the elevator, he heard his name and turned.
He saw that Carla was still doing her Lotus impersonation. Since he’d returned from LA, Kent had been doing much of his work from home and hadn’t seen Carla since before he’d left for his trip.
“Can you believe this?” she asked coming up to him.
“Nah, I can’t.” He answered. “Seems real suspicious to me.”
She agreed. “The boss says that you and I should put our heads together to see if we can figure out why we were the only ones targeted,” she told him.
His eyes narrowed. “I think I already know why.”
“Really? We should go somewhere and talk about it.”
Kent ignored her and stepped inside the elevator when the doors opened. Carla stepped quickly inside and stood next to him.
“Damn, you smell good,” she whispered.
Kent turned to her. “Tomorrow morning, I’m reporting your ass.”
“For what?”
“Harassment and destruction of property.”
Carla pressed the stop button on the elevator. “Harassment? You should be flattered that a woman of my status is still trying to get your attention.”
Kent pressed the button to start the elevator again. “You’re crazy as hell and you’re going to wind up getting hurt.”
She went to push the button again and he stopped her. Carla looked up at him in anger and snatched her arm away.
Kent watched her until the doors opened then walked out with her following.
“Where have you been?” she demanded. “I haven’t seen you in over a week.”