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Hosea
At first, I thought Cartier was still awake. The door was open, and the light was on. I heard her soft whimpers when I headed toward the kitchen and realized she was having a nightmare. Afraid she was thinking about the robbery, I went to her room and considered waking her up. For a brief second, I watched as she tossed and turned, gripping the covers with fear staining her face. At the exact moment I reached down to wake her up, she jumped up and out of her sleep.
Her eyes ballooned at the sight of me as she scooted back toward the headboard.
“It’s just me,” I assured her quickly, quietly. “I heard you in here and was about to wake you up.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and Cartier released a sigh of relief. She pulled the bonnet that was covering her hair off and scratched her scalp as she looked around the room, re-familiarizing herself with her surroundings.
“I can’t sleep without seeing them. Seeing her.” Squeezing the bridge of her nose, she closed her eyes as her head hung. “Throughout the day, I can handle it. I can distract myself enough to not think about it too much. But as soon as I go to sleep, I have nightmares.”
“Is that why you have the door open and light on?” When she nodded, I climbed into bed with her. I knew she believed she was safe here physically, but I wanted her mind and emotions to be at peace too. “I will lie down and fall asleep in peace because you alone, Lord, let me live in safety.” Cartier’s body swayed after I recited Psalm 4:8 to her. “Can I pray for you?”
Her mouth opened and closed before she nodded softly. With rapidly blinking, watery eyes, Cartier sniffled.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” I assured her as I got out of bed.
Her hand slid across the bed in my direction, but she balled her fist to keep from reaching for me. That was all I needed to see to know I’d be sleeping with her tonight. I went to my room and grabbed the blessed oil my mother had given me when I first moved in. When I returned, Cartier was biting her thumb nail and rocking softly.
“C’mere,” I requested, kneeling on the edge of the bed. She made her way next to me, where I put some of the oil on her head and heart before praying a prayer of protection and peace over her. When I was done, I asked her, “Would you like for me to sleep in here with you tonight?”
“Yes, please,” she agreed with no hesitation. “You can… cut the light off. If you need to.”
I appreciated her offering. I wouldn’t have cut it off, but I also wanted her to trust that she’d be okay, so I did. After closing the door, I got back in bed, and Cartier made her way onto my chest. My body relaxed instantly under the weight of hers. I held her close, rubbing her back and placing kisses on the top of her head sporadically. Not long after, she was snoring softly.
* * *
“I want everything shut down,” I ordered, heading into my suite. “The club, the lounge—shut down all that shit. Don’t even let nobody in the fucking gym.”
Without waiting for my operations manager to agree, I disconnected the call. I was so upset, I’d completely forgotten Cartier was here until I saw her sitting in the living room. Just the sight of her calmed me down, but I was still pissed over what had just transpired.
As I loosened my blue tie, Cartier paused whatever she was watching. Standing, she followed me in the kitchen and asked, “Is… everything okay?”
My head shook as I poured myself a shot of brandy. I knew I wouldn’t be able to shake this anytime soon, so there was no point in me even trying. For the rest of the night, I’d allow myself to feel my anger, disappointment, and grief. But in the morning, it would have to be back to business as usual.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I took another shot, then allowed my eyes to settle on Cartier. She looked beautiful, even when she wasn’t trying. Her rich, cocoa brown skin was covered in a loose fitting, spaghetti strapped, gray maxi dress. My eyes lowered to her breasts briefly before returning to her under turned, syrup brown eyes. Cartier’s shoulder-length, feathered hair framed her face beautifully. Whenever she was around, I couldn’t help but run my fingers through it—even when she was with Raven’s bitch ass.
“Hosea,” she called softly, drawing my attention to her lips. I think they were my favorite part of her face. They were juicy as hell. Over the years, I wondered how they’d feel wrapped around my dick. I wondered if they felt as soft and juicy as they looked.
Shaking those thoughts from my head, I told her, “There was an accident in the club.”
“The sex club?” she confirmed, leaning against the island.
“Yeah. A couple was using one of the hanging swings with restraints. She was bound by her wrists, legs, and neck. The guy she was with put it too tight around her neck and too loose around her ankles. She ended up dangling by her neck when he cut it on.”
“Oh my God! Is she okay?”
My head shook as I sighed. “I don’t know yet. He panicked and started pushing a lot of buttons at once. It took quite a while for him to get it off and get her down. When they left, they were struggling to get a pulse. I tried to go to the hospital to check on her, but her parents had arrived and wouldn’t give me any updates.”
“Hosea,” she whispered, walking over to me and pulling me into her arms. “So sorry about this. Hopefully she’s okay.”
“Yeah. I feel responsible. I know I wasn’t in the room, but this is my place of business. If she doesn’t make it…”
“Shh,” she cooed, lifting herself slightly to look into my eyes. “We’re not even going to think about that. She’s going to be okay.”
At that moment, with her in my arms, was the first time I’d felt relief since all this shit went down. I hadn’t planned to just stand there, looking into her eyes, but I didn’t know what else to do. Cartier smiled, gripping my wrists at her waist.
