Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
I’m finally free.
My life as Tanjaya is gone.
I killed him.
Marcelin is dead and I hope he rots in hell.
Not one word has fallen from Sunjiya’s lips since they left the Benoit Estate but a million have sprinted across her mind.
The hell she’s been living in is finally over, for good.
This time, Marcelin won’t be coming to get her.
No goons to drag her out of Aunt Pri’s home.
She’s free and can now go anywhere and do whatever the hell she wants. She’s a free woman.
As she stares at the city lights gracing the sky, Akeem focuses on the highway but periodically glances her way every few minutes.
She just found out her twin sister is dead and he can’t even imagine or process that.
If he lost Axton, his world would be shattered and whoever was responsible would be dead in seconds.
At least she has that satisfaction. Killing her sister’s killer should give her some peace. Just some. I’ll provide the rest.
Whatever Sunjiya needs, he’s going to make sure she has it.
He’s here for her. Although he has a million questions, he won’t ask until she’s ready.
She’s grieving and needs time to deal with that.
He heads toward his usual hotel when he’s in south Florida, the Conrad off Sunrise in Fort Lauderdale.
No need for them to be in Miami anymore.
When he pulls up to the exquisite hotel, he parks and leaves the car running.
“I’m going to make sure they have rooms,” he tells her before getting out and she merely nods.
While Akeem handles their stay for the night, Sunjiya quickly gathers her thoughts.
Marcelin’s death thankfully came quicker than she planned.
She always knew she would kill him, she just didn’t know when or how.
Getting away from him, stashing her money, and figuring out her next steps were the initial plan.
Crescent Falls was where she had been doing her figuring out until Akeem snatched her.
He found her in the random city she’d heard about one night in Lazy’s when a few Crescent Falls basketball players rolled in.
He was definitely not part of the plan but turned out to be the best part.
Fast and hard, she fell, and luckily for her, so did he.
She fell even harder when he vowed to kill Marcelin after seeing her medical records.
He wanted to do that for her and that shit was everything.
No, he didn’t pull the trigger tonight. She had the honor because of Akeem.
He made it possible and cleared the way by taking out Marcelin’s bitch ass guards.
Tonight marks the beginning of her newfound freedom and she owes it all to him.
Two taps on the driver’s window pulls Sunjiya from her thoughts and she turns to see Akeem. When their eyes meet, he opens the door, slides in, and kills the engine.
“We’re staying here?” she asks and he smiles internally at finally hearing her voice again. Because of the news of her sister, he’s empathetic and doesn’t show his smile.
“Yeah. I got it for three nights. Quise is here, and if we have time, I’ll go see him,” he says, hopeful.
“You’ll have time to see him. I’m gonna be okay,” she assures him.
“But you don’t have to be if you’re not. And if you need more than three nights, we can stay. It’s whatever you need.”
“Thank you. Relax for a minute. When we go upstairs, I don’t want to think about tonight anymore,” she says. He merely listens because he knows grief isn’t that easy. “I need to tell you what happened.”
“And why you were in the house,” he adds, unable to keep that in.
“And why I was there,” she says, then shifts to face him.
She inhales and exhales loudly before starting the story she’d rehearsed in her head as she waited for him back on Marina Bay.
“I was scared. It felt like you had been gone forever and I didn’t like being alone.
I was also worried he had killed you. So I got out.
When I made it to the house, I didn’t see you but I heard him.
I found him in that room. Because he appeared to be the only one still breathing in the house, I figured he was Marcelin. ”
“He killed her and laughed when he told me that shit. He killed my sister and buried her on the property somewhere,” she utters while shaking her head. “He needed to die; he deserved it. I just closed my eyes and pulled the trigger.” She sighs then drops her head.
Akeem has no words. He doesn’t know what to say but he wants to comfort her somehow. After just holding her for a few minutes, he finally says, “What you need from me?”
“This. I just want this tonight. After a long hot shower, I want to crawl into bed and fall asleep in your arms,” she admits.
“You got that. I’ll hold you all night. You ready?” he asks before reluctantly releasing her.
“I am.”
They exit the car and he retrieves their luggage and bags from the trunk.
He leads her into the beautiful lobby of the hotel.
Their room has a wonderful view of the ocean from its private balcony, but tonight it won’t be appreciated by her.
Shower, bed, and sleep are the only items on her agenda.
The same for Akeem, along with a blunt. After clean kills, he always enjoys fye ass weed.
“Can you put mine on the table?” Sunjiya asks while nodding at her bag.
She’s standing in the suite’s spacious living room.
When he complies, she opens her luggage and pulls out items needed for the bathroom.
Then she removes her clothes and leaves them where they land.
Under normal circumstances, she would be tidier, but not tonight.
She’s anxious to shower and sleep as a completely free woman, something she hasn’t done in too damn long.
Marcelin is fucking dead and she can finally get much-needed real sleep.
Trying to sleep thoroughly with the threat of Marcelin finding and killing her had been impossible. While she’s been able to sleep since around Akeem and his protective aura, she hasn’t experienced that good ass deep sleep in years.
Akeem’s eyes stay plastered on Sunjiya’s naked body as she journeys to the bathroom. While her entire body is a work of art, his eyes linger on her face the most. He’s trying to gauge her emotional state so he can move accordingly and simply be what she needs right now.
When she closes the bathroom door, he removes his hoodie, grabs his last blunt, then steps onto the private balcony.
The night air is crisp and cool and the faint sound of small waves cresting in the huge ocean fills the air.
Akeem takes it all in as he fires up his blunt and tries to push away the one thought that has plagued him since they left Marina Bay.
He failed.
Tanjaya is dead; he didn’t save her.
Marcelin is dead and he didn’t pull the fucking trigger.
He successfully infiltrated Marcelin’s estate and skillfully took out all of his men but was too late for Tanjaya.
Marcelin snatched her life away before Akeem could take his.
The plan wasn’t fully executed. Sunjiya made the kill instead of him.
This shit fucks with him as heavy as the grief he knows Sunjiya is dealing with.
Hoping to push disappointment out of his mind, Akeem drops onto one of the balcony chairs and blazes.
As the primo weed fills his lungs and courses through his veins, he focuses on the view.
He’s killed half of the blunt when he hears the bathroom door open.
Quickly, he ashes it and steps back into the suite.
Sunjiya sits on the edge of the king sized bed, moisturizing her legs and feet.
One towel is wrapped around her damp hair and the other her body.
She took full advantage of the shower’s jet stream without any regard for her hair.
She’ll deal with it tomorrow. When Akeem gets closer, she can smell the remnants of his weed.
“Please say there’s some left,” she says.
“Some what?” he questions.
“The blunt. I could use it,” she admits.
“Yeah. I left it on the table out there. I’ll light it for you.”
“No. I got it. Is the lighter out there?”
“Yeah,” he says with a nod.
“Go shower. I got it. By the time you’re done, I should be right and ready to curl up with you in bed. I’m exhausted, mentally and physically. This is a lot,” she says and he steps a little closer. After placing his hands on the bed, he leans in and tenderly kisses her lips.
“A whole lot and I’m sorry,” he says and she nods.
“I know. I know,” she says, then exhales loudly. She pecks his lips then adds, “Go shower.”
Akeem nods then treks to the bathroom. When he closes the door, she moisturizes her arms, grabs her cell, and steps out on the balcony. Before lighting the blunt, she texts Aunt Pri to alleviate her worries.
Sunjiya: We made it and Tanjaya is safe. She’s finally free. Marcelin won’t hurt her again.
Aunt Pri: Praise God! Where is she?
Sunjiya: About to get much-needed rest. She’s going to call you once she’s settled but she wanted you to know she loves you.
Aunt Pri: I love her too. Thank you, baby.
Once she reads Aunt Pri’s response, Sunjiya erases the messages and hopefully all traces of Tanjaya.
That painful part of her past is over and done.
It died when Marcelin took his last painful breath.
Only Sunjiya exists now and she is about to climb into bed with a wonderful man who has already proven he won’t hurt her.
Although new, unplanned, and unexpected as hell, she likes things with Akeem and all the possibilities that accompany him.
This, him, is the life she dreamed of when her reality was a nightmare on Marina Bay.