The way Liora had me was a way no other woman could achieve. She had me wide fucking open, and she probably knew it, but I didn’t care. She was the moment right after a storm, untouched, ethereal, and most of all, inaccessible to anyone but me. She belonged to me and she knew it. She accepted it, even with all the chaos that ensued.
While she lay next to me asleep, I couldn’t help but let my mind roam, settling deeply on Posydiann’s words, especially about blood. At the moment I just knew he had been talking about RJ, but shit, what would blood have ever meant when it came to that nigga?
“Why aren’t you asleep?” Her sleep laced tone caught me by surprise
“Something Posydiann sai?—”
“The same thing that had you looking crazy earlier,” she interrupted.
“Yeah. Are you able to run some financials for me?”
“Yeah, it’s just a financial analysis. For whom? What am I looking for in particular?”
“Lucian Bell. I need to know if there were any large deposits around the time I got shot or after. Can you do that for me?”
“Yeah, bu?—”
“My mind is everywhere right now, baby. I’ll explain it to you as soon as I know what I’m thinking ain’t flawed.”
“Okay. Remember what I said about your vegetables.”
“I know.”
EIGHT
Liora
Days later
I wished I could’ve stayed in bed with Iso this morning, but Adela called me at the crack of dawn asking if I could come through so she could talk to me about something. As much as I wanted to stay in bed, in that man’s arms, I told her I’d be her way within an hour and was up moving around seconds later. Today was the first day in almost a week that I had off. Ever since Forman popped her ass up at the shop, I had been on go. I knew I wanted to come back, but I guess I hadn’t thought about how much I’d given when I was there. It was never a thought because when I was working I never formed attachments and my family was never this close to me. Now they were minutes away, and not only them, but him. It had only been a week since I stepped back in, and though I could tell he wanted to ask me questions, and worry, he kept it at bay.
Coming to his home at the end of the night felt like some sort of reward. Shoot, being under him felt surreal, because somehow we had crafted this routine I was starting to need. I prided myself in not needing a soul, being able to move my own pace and tone, but then here he was. The dead man who didn’tstay dead, somehow becoming the very thing I didn’t know I needed.
“Earth to Liora.” Adela’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Nothing, what’s up?” I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t even realized she was back. When we first entered her office, we started to talk but were quickly interrupted by one of her employees knocking on the door and needing her help.
“What the hell has gotten into you?”
I grinned, sitting back in the chair. “If I told you, I don’t think you’d believe me. So please carry on with what you were about to tell me.”
“I need you to become my business partner.”
“Nope,” I responded as fast as she said it.
She held up her hand for me to let her speak. “I’m sick, Liora.”
My mouth went dry and I felt my heartbeat in my ears. Her words caught me by complete surprise as I sat up, looking her over for something to indicate the words that had just come out of her lips.
“How sick?”
She swallowed hard. “Brain cancer.”
“Damn, Adela, I’m so sor—” I started, but she threw her hands up to stop me.
“Nope, the last thing I want is you feeling bad or being sorry. What I want is you to not give me lip when I tell you that you are the only person I trust to be part of this. Blood couldn’t make us closer.”
There was a lot I wanted to say at the moment, but I just agreed, deciding not to push her. “Fine.”
