Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Heir
This time, waking up in Marz’s arms felt like a blessing.
With everything that went down yesterday, I didn’t think I’d be able to rest. Once he came in and held me, I slept peacefully.
After I handled my hygiene this morning, I met Marz in the kitchen.
He admitted he wasn’t too big on cooking because his mom and sisters did it for him, but he’d made use of what was in the refrigerator to cook breakfast for me.
While I didn’t eat eggs, I appreciated his effort and enjoyed the cheesy, scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes.
After we finished breakfast, Marz asked me what I needed to be comfortable here. It was hard for me to answer that because I didn’t know how long he expected me to stay here. Regardless of what happened, I had a life to get back to, and I wasn’t comfortable hiding away in fear.
“I understand that,” Marz said before taking a sip of his orange juice.
“But I would rather you stay here safely than rush back to your home or job. If Iman wants you dead, I have to handle that threat before I can let you go. Can you work from here? What do you need beyond your phone and a laptop?”
I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, so I stuffed my frustration down and rattled off the small list of things that came to mind.
He asked if I wanted him to pick up any personal items from my home or if I would be cool getting new clothes for my stay.
The thought of him taking me shopping was appealing, but I didn’t want him to waste money on me.
He’d already done enough. I called my mom and asked her to pack me two weeks’ worth of clothes along with my laptop, charger, and hair and skincare products.
She agreed to take them to the firm, and that’s where Marz would pick everything up.
“I know you said you live with your parents, but do you have a key to Jay’s house?”
“Yes, but it’s at home. I don’t have it with me.”
He had me put the address in a burner phone along with Jay’s schedule, though it was all over the place.
After clearing his throat, Marz stood. For a while, I just stared at him.
He was fine as hell years ago, but the aged version of Marz looked better than I thought was possible.
His locs were longer and pulled into a bun on the top of his head with shaved sides.
The mustache-goatee combo he rocked added to his grown man appeal.
His ground nutmeg colored skin was littered with more tattoos that wrapped around a tall, wide, muscular frame.
Naturally arched brows hovered over under turned coffee brown eyes, and his bow shaped smoker lips had been calling my name ever since he kissed my face last night.
“I wanna apologize in advance,” Marz said, pulling his vibrating phone out of his pocket.
“I’ma kill your ex, so if you need to forgive me for that, start now.
” My mouth dropped open, but before I could respond, he put his phone on speaker and said, “Iman… tell me where you are, and we can have this conversation in person.”
Iman laughed. “You are a better shooter than I thought. Here I was thinking your best skill would be debt collecting. Maybe I should have brought you on solely as my assassin. And the cleanup job your team did?” He whistled.
“My office looked brand new this morning, and there wasn’t a drop of blood in sight. ”
“Can I meet you there?” Marz asked, typing something on the burner phone as it rested on the island.
“We’ll talk. I won’t deny you of that. For right now, I just wanted to send you a warning. I don’t want your acquaintance with the girl to interfere with our working relationship. If you agree to give her to me—”
“We have no working relationship,” Marz interrupted him to say. “And the girl you’re referring to will never have anything to do with you. I’ma make sure of that.”
Iman released an annoyed sigh. “If that’s how you want to play it. I’ll reach out when I’m ready to meet.”
“Do that,” Marz agreed before ending the call. His head tilted as he looked at me. “I’m sorry, Heir, but until he and I can come to an agreement, you have to stay here.”
Nodding, I ran my hand down the back of my neck and released a shaky breath. “I see that now.”
“I don’t think he’ll go after your parents to get to you, but to be safe, I’ll put two guards on them as well. They won’t know they’re being watched. And if you don’t tell your mom about what’s going on, I won’t say anything about it when I grab your things.”
Trying to maintain my composure, I said, “Just… tell her that you’re the guy from the hotel and she’ll trust you. She and Daddy want answers, and I haven’t wanted to give them any. I’ll… tell them a little more of what’s going on later tonight.”
“Okay. Let me know if I can do anything to make that conversation easier for you.” After placing both phones in his pockets, Marz said, “I want to handle Jay today. If he’s not around for Iman’s use, that’s one less way of him being able to get to you.”
“You have to kill him to do that?”
Marz chuckled then frowned. “Don’t tell me you want me to spare this nigga? He was going to kill you, Wifey.”
“I know,” I stressed, avoiding his eyes. “That was a reflection of his character, not mine.”
“So you want me to keep him alive? The man who’s known you intimately for the last two years, set you up with Iman, and was okay with killing you for him?”
Standing, I took his hand into mine. “I don’t want that on my conscience, Marz. If his death can be avoided, I’d appreciate that.” Cupping his cheek, I caressed it with my thumb.
“Can I at least beat ’im up?” Marz compromised.
His serious expression made me laugh. “Yes, but when you get back, we need to talk. I need to know who you are, babe, and what I’m getting into. I will always be grateful for you saving my life, and I do feel safe with you. But I have questions.”
“And I’ll give you answers… later. I really have to go though. I’ma pull up on ya ex and try my hardest not to kill his ass. If he bleeds out, just know I tried.”
Before he could walk away completely, I grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a lingering hug. “Please be careful. I just got you back. I can’t lose you already.”
“You won’t, bae,” he promised, tilting my head and placing a tender kiss to my lips. When his large palm squeezed my ass, I sighed in satisfaction as my body melted against him. “I’ve waited too long to get you back to leave you now.”
When he winked, I smiled, and it stayed on my face as I watched him walk away.
As soon as I was alone, fear tried to creep in, but I knew I was safe.
If Marz trusted Tim and Dominic to protect me in his absence, I’d trust them too.
While I waited for him to return, I decided to distract myself in the game room so I wouldn’t go stir crazy thinking about what was going on outside of these walls.
All I could do was pray he and Iman could meet and come to an agreement soon, because I didn’t know how long I was going to last being cooped up in this house…
regardless of how big and beautiful it was.