Page 17 of Widow Mayker

No One: According to my GPS, you should’ve been home by now, baby.

Reading Von’s message made my face heat up.

Sighing, I reluctantly pressed the button to reply to Von’s text. Before I could do so, my phone vibrated in my hand. He was calling. Suddenly nervous, I worried over my bottom lip. On the fourth ring, I answered.

“Maja, Maja, Maja… I was ‘bout to pop up on yo’ ass,” he drawled sexily.

Von’s deep voice washed over me like water after working in the sun all day. It nourished me, bringing my skin to life. Literally, every hair on my body reacted to his voice.

“How do you know where I live, Von?” I questioned.

“I took a wild guess.”

“A wild guess, huh?” I sat on the edge of my bed and asked, “What are you, a psychic?”

His low chuckle stirred my soul. “More like a detective. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. Adir ain’t letting you stray too far from Bell Estates.”

Detective rolling off Von’s lips shook my entire foundation. Everything inside my room started spinning. In my ears, my heart pounded.

“Wait… You’re a detective?” Maybe I didn’t hear him correctly.

“Homicide,” he informed me.

My stomach felt queasy. You like him. Shit! I did! Now... Now I wouldn’t even be able to stand the sight of him. In fact, the sound of his voice wasn’t even sexy or soul-stirring anymore.

“You got really quiet on me,” he stated. “What’s on ya mind?”

With a passion I felt to the tips of my toes, I uttered, “I hate the police. Matter fact, fuck the police.”

Never in my life would I be caught falling for any man that wore a fucking uniform. Not ever.

VONSHAE

The sheer hatred dripping off Maja’s words gave me pause. Sure, I’d heard people say that shit before. She wasn’t people, though. Maja was the woman who’d bitten my ass like a muthafucka. I wasn’t letting her go any-fucking-where. I didn’t give a damn what she said.

“Everybody has their reasons why,” I stated. “Care to tell me your why?”

“Nope,” she quickly replied. “Have a good night, Detective Gunner.”

Glancing at the screen, I saw that she’d hung up. Tossing my phone on the sofa, I took a deep breath, then blew it out frustratingly. I had to laugh at myself. Never in my adult life had I chased a woman. Furthermore, it wasn’t like I had to.

Needing to talk to someone, I swiped my phone back off the bed and called my father.

“There’s this woman.” I didn’t bother speaking or anything. I had pressing issues. A nigga was still fully dressed, having just gotten home a few minutes ago. I needed a shower to wash the club off me and grab a light snack before bed. The last thing I needed to be concerned about was a woman.

“Mm, hm,” my pops mumbled.

“She has a strong-ass aversion to the laws. A part of me wants to use the privilege of my badge and dive into her background. The other part of me is determined to let everything play out as it’s supposed to. The man in me wants to respect her privacy. The detective in me wants to know who the fuck hurt my girl.”

“Mm, hm.”

“That’s all you got for me? Mm, hm?” I asked him.

Pops chuckled. “Of course not. I just find it funny that my boys are all grown up. One is married, one is in a committed relationship, and one is heading that way. I’m proud of you is all.”

“Oh, well, thanks. Now tell me what the hell to do,” I pleaded. We both laughed.

“First, I commend you for wanting things to play out like they’re supposed to. That tells me you really care about this woman. Secondly, I can already see your potential to crash out behind her. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just see to it that she’s willing to crash out behind you, too. Healthy love is not one-sided. Then again, you’ve watched me and ya mama. It took a lot of understanding and trust to do what we did. Is that something you think you can have with this woman? Wearing a badge is one thing. Wearing a badge and having someone at home waiting for you is another thing.”