Chapter 13
LUCERO
I'd become an addict and Onyx was my supplier and drug.
Need more.
There was a steady stream of electricity underneath my flesh the longer I went without him.
I sat the last plate on the table, looking it over before I ran back to the kitchen to grab orange juice and water.
Like clockwork, Onyx walked out of the bedroom.
His platinum blond hair was a mess and his face was more red on one side than the other.
His eyes were red-rimmed and there were circles that normally weren't there.
"Bella, are you okay?"
I was across the room, reaching out for him before either of us knew what was happening. I had Onyx in my arms leading him over to the table before he could tell me no. The moment I sat him down, I fell to my knees next to him.
"No, I have a huge problem," he finally uttered.
"I'll take care of it, whatever it is," I promised.
"I doubt it." Onyx looked over the table, his eyes widening at the spread before him.
"For you, I could do anything."
"Okay, change your last name and move out."
An ache formed in the middle of my chest that felt similar to being shot.
I rubbed it slightly but smiled all the same.
I knew it would be difficult for Onyx; he wasn't used to someone being by his side.
Being loyal to him, but if yesterday proved anything to me it was that my husband wanted this too.
"I can't." There was no reason to live without Onyx. As selfish as it was, I wanted to stay with my husband.
The silence that surrounded us sat heavily on my shoulders. I was disappointing him again.
"I made breakfast. You should eat." I stood up, placing my hands behind my back to busy them.
Onyx pushed away from the table and stood. He moved around me, no words came out of his mouth, not even a French curse was shot my way as he went to the kitchen.
"Onyx?" I followed behind him like a lost puppy waiting to be acknowledged.
"There's French toast and pancakes if you don't like toast. A veggie omelet and scrambled cheese eggs.
Oh, a fruit and vegetable tray. I made sure to cut everything myself.
Oatmeal; I did a fruit one and a brown sugar flavored one just in case you weren't interested in the berry tasting one.
Although I know you like fruit, I was trying to give you variety.
" I was rambling the longer Onyx didn't speak to me.
It felt like I was stuck in a corner with no one or nothing near me. "Onyx—bella, please."
My husband stopped with the milk in hand, a box of Fruit Loops in the other.
He wouldn’t eat that when I’d prepared him a perfectly well-balanced breakfast. Would he?
I mentally swore to trash every box of Fruit Loops I came across if he chose them over me.
He looked over his shoulder at me. I got his attention for five seconds before it was snatched away again.
I groaned as my stomach flipped. That wasn't enough.
"Onyx." I inched closer to him until I could feel the heat radiating off his body. Still that wasn't close enough, I wanted to touch him again, to be skin to skin. As he poured the cereal and milk into a bowl, I moved closer. "I'm sorry."
A loud clunk echoed around the room as Onyx slammed his bowl down. "No, you aren't. And fuck your sorries. You don’t mean it."
I placed both hands on the counter on either side of him. It was all I could do to keep myself from touching him. "I am. I don't want you upset with me."
"Lucero." Onyx twisted around and tilted his head back to meet my gaze. His perfectly groomed eyebrows were pinched together as he glared at me. Even angry, he was more stunning than any piece of art I’d seen. "You could fix this, make me happy if you?—"
I covered his mouth before he could finish what he planned to say.
Anything but that, please.
"You agreed to stay married while we search for who framed me. Let me have this. Please, bella." I'd get on my knees if I had to.
Onyx tugged at my hands. "You're not listening."
Not on this I couldn't. "I'll be good, so please stop asking me to do the impossible.
" I dropped down to my knees and circled my arms around his legs. His thighs pressed firmly against my forearms. The silk fabric of his sleep shorts tickled the fine hairs on my arms. The delicate sweet scent that seemed to cling to every inch of him wrapped around me and coaxed me closer. I buried my face against his abdomen. It still wasn’t enough.
I nosed his shirt up until his bare flesh pressed against my lips.
He was even warmer than I remembered. I never wanted to let Onyx go. I wanted to open my mouth and run my tongue over any piece I could touch.
"Please, Onyx. You're all I need, all I have."
"You have a family."
"I want you." Yeah, I had siblings and parents who adored me but that was the hand I was given in life. I was fortunate, and I loved my family to pieces, but they weren't Onyx. They weren't the man I chose to be my world.
His hand hovered over my head, and I closed my eyes, waiting for his fingers to push through my hair and his nails to scrape over my scalp. When nothing happened, I was left wanting.
"Don't you have work to do?" Onyx asked.
"No." Just as the word left my mouth, my phone rang. I'd fully planned to ignore it but Onyx dislodged himself from me and grabbed it off the counter.
"It's your brother."
He didn't need to tell me which one. Any of them could be calling for one reason or another. The results would be the same: They'd pull me away from Onyx.
"Go."
"You haven't eaten yet," I argued.
Onyx blew out a breath and put the milk away. "I will go eat some of the breakfast you made if you go."
"When I get done, will you be home?"
"I have my own shit to take care of."
Not another three days. I couldn't handle being apart for so long. What made it worse was not knowing where he was and what he was up to. Anything could have happened.
"They can handle it. I want to stay with you."
Onyx pinched the bridge of his nose as an exaggerated sigh left him. Maybe he felt the same way. He didn't want me to go either.
"Lucero—" He dropped his hand to stare at me. "How about if you go handle your work, tonight we can go over who has a vendetta against you together."
"I'll cook." I perked up instantly at the thought of dinner plans with my husband. "That list is long so it will probably lead over into the next night."
Onyx squinted at me. "Sure, why not, but you have to go to work or do something out of the house."
"I can do that." I snatched up my phone as it rang again. Nash's name flashed over the screen, and I stuffed it into my pocket. I reached for Onyx and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll miss you."
My husband stared at me as if I was a lunatic, but I was used to it by now. He'd learn that he was the only one I was remotely crazy for.
"Love you, have a good day. See you tonight," I said as I headed for the door. As much as I didn't want to go, I knew the faster I finished the sooner I could get back to him.
***
I pulled up to Heaven's Gate, a strip club Nash and Damian had started a few months back. Business was good, nothing to write home about, but according to Damian, another decent source of money. What really brought in the big bucks was the illegal gambling nights we ran in them. But nothing was better than the income we got from Elia’s fight ring.
I mainly helped him out but Nash called me over on some nights, especially when it was time to handle things.
Each of my siblings still in the family had their own jobs within the organization.
Mine was to float around. I thought it would be fine that I took so much time off.
I knew my family needed me. They made that very clear, but it wasn’t as if I was specifically in charge of anything.
I just happened to be a part of the head of the family.
With the new transition of power and increase of eyes on my family, there was a lot more trouble to look out for.
A resounding knock echoed through the truck before I could put it in park. Nash and Damian stood right outside my car. One looked pissed off and the other annoyed. Both could eat a bum’s ass. I had husband duties to take care of and they came before the family.
"You're late," Nash pointed out.
I slipped from behind the wheel, forcing both of them to take a step back. Damian was older but I was far bigger than he was. Nash was the same age as Damian, but even he was nearly a foot shorter than me.
"My husband was upset with me."
"Oh, I wonder why. Think it had to do with him being forced down the aisle at gunpoint?" Nash asked.
"I never aimed a gun at him. I love him too much for that, and no, it wasn't that."
Damian punched Nash. "Don't start with him."
Nash lifted his hands in surrender. I know he meant well, all my brothers did. They worried about the stupidest shit. If Onyx did end up hurting me, then so be it, but I wasn't going to give up on my chance to have him. No matter how short it was.
"Fine, my bad. I haven't been sleeping because I've been covering someone's job and my own." Nash looked at me like I was supposed to guess.
"Who?" I asked.
Both of them stopped walking to stare at me.
"Bet it's Prince, or is it Emir?" My head tilted as I thought about Emir's twin.
"Elia?" That didn't feel right. My younger brother enjoyed fighting way too much to miss out on the job. He was in the ring any chance he got, taking on whoever dared to step up. I mostly helped him out because if we left the fights to him, we’d never make any money. But out of all my brothers, he was the only one who hadn’t called me lately.
Damian grabbed Nash before he could lunge himself at me. "Not worth it, he won't get it."
"One good punch, it might knock some brain cells loose."
Damian snorted. "You're bound to get your ass beat. You know that fool doesn’t know his own strength."