CHAPTER 13
XANDER
Xander slipped out of his suit jacket and laid it across Bella. She was curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, but he knew she wasn’t asleep. A weak, “Thank you,” confirmed his suspicions.
Xander looked at his watch. It was nearly five in the morning. Lucas had been in surgery for a little over eight hours, and they still had no answers. His family had been waiting on pins and needles for the small update from the surgeons, but they hadn’t heard from them in at least two hours.
Xander felt utterly useless as he leaned against the wall and looked around at his anxious and exhausted family.
There was nothing he could do to make it better.
It seemed no one understood what he did.
Lucas was going to be fine. He couldn’t die.
Even though Victor was the oldest, Lucas was the raft that kept his brothers afloat.
Since Victor’s life had been mapped out before he was born, his childhood and most of his time had been dominated, dictated, and monopolized from the very beginning by Victor Senior.
Thankfully, Victor had rebelled, always finding time for his younger brothers.
But Lucas was the brother that tucked them in at night when their father was in Washington and their mother was working at the hospital.
Lucas was the one who had protected them from bullies and only called on Victor to help when he couldn’t handle them alone.
Then he’d come running every time. The Creed brothers had been raised to look after each other.
And they couldn’t do that without Lucas.
So, there was no way that they were going to lose him.
The creak of the door caused Xander to look up. A nurse held the door while Niyah hustled through, carrying multiple bags. A few long strides carried Xander across the room. He grabbed the bags from Niyah’s hand and placed them on a round table in the corner of the waiting room.
Niyah thanked the nurse and walked over to the table.
“Smells delicious. Thank you.”
Niyah graced him with a sympathetic smile. “No thanks necessary. I figured you guys haven’t eaten.”
Xander sighed. “Not since we’ve been here, but I’m not sure if anyone has an appetite.”
“Well, just in case,” Niyah responded while opening the bags. “How’s Lucas?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Niyah moved closer and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure he’s gonna pull through.”
Xander’s body responded instantly to her touch. He looked down at her and drew comfort from the sincerity in her beautiful eyes. Even with her locs twisted into a messy bun, a face free of makeup, and wearing hospital scrubs, Niyah was stunning.
Xander covered her hand with his. “I know,” he whispered.
When her hand trembled beneath his, he knew she was affected by his touch as well. She blinked up at him and smiled nervously before sliding her hand from his shoulder.
“I picked up some Harold’s chicken,” she pointed out.
“That’s very thoughtful, Niyah.”
“It’s nothing,” she said with the wave of her hand. She grinned and looked up at him. “Have you ever had Harold’s before?”
Xander laughed. “Of course, I have.”
Niyah raised a brow suspiciously as if she didn’t believe him. Apparently, she assumed that rich, white men didn’t frequent the black-owned chicken franchise.
“What? You don’t believe me?”
She responded with a chuckle. “Of course, I believe you.”
Her skepticism was obvious, but Xander did enjoy a meal from Harold’s Chicken from time to time.
“Hey, Niyah,” Bella greeted.
Niyah turned and caressed Bella’s shoulders. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m hanging in there. What do you have?” Bella asked, switching into detective mode.
Niyah looked around at the distressed Creed clan and tugged on Bella’s arm. “Let’s step outside.”
Bella nodded and accompanied Niyah into the hall. Xander didn’t know if he was invited, but he followed anyway. Once they were in the hall, Bella asked again, “What do have?”
Niyah sighed. “Not a lot. I got a male, possibly Asian, with no prior arrests or DNA in the system.”
Bella turned around and blew out a frustrated breath. She ran her fingers through her long, black hair. “There has to be something.”
She turned back to Niyah. “Tattoos? Identifying marks? Is anyone claiming the body?”
Niyah shook her head. “No one has claimed the body as of yet. But he had plenty of tattoos.”
With wrinkled brows, Bella asked. “Did you run them in the system?”
“Yes,” Niyah replied. “I’ll get a photo over to you and let you know if I get a hit.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Of course. I’ll do everything I can,” Niyah assured.
Xander stood in silence, and listened to all the investigative lingo. He had nothing to offer. Still, he wanted to be kept in the loop. Bella dropped her head and reached for the doorknob. “You can find me here until Lucas is out of the woods.”
Niyah grabbed Bella’s arm and pulled her in for a hug. “You’re welcome, and I’ll do everything I can to find out who did this.”
Bella relaxed into the hug and whispered. “I know you will, friend.”
When the women separated, Xander smiled. Their display of friendship was different than male expressions of friendship.
“I’m going back to my office,” Niyah told Bella. “Please call me when you know something.”
“I will,” Bella promised.
“Thanks, Doc,” Xander chimed.
With a nod and a smile, she bid him farewell and walked away. Unable to help himself, his eyes landed on her scrub-covered ass. The sway of her hips and the rotation of perfectly rounded cheeks would have hypnotized him had it not been for his sister-in-law’s elbow jabbing his ribs.
“Why are you not ashamed?” Bella scolded.
Xander tore his eyes from Niyah's beautiful rear and looked down at Bella with a raised brow. “And why should I be ashamed?”
Bella raised a hand to her hips. “Well, for one, you’re ogling my friend’s ass while your brother is fighting for his life.”
Xander waved off her comment and threw an arm over her shoulder. “I’m not worried about my brother. Soon, the only thing he’ll be fighting for is not having to pick out China patterns and color schemes for this overdone wedding of yours.”
“Excuse me?” Bella scoffed. “You can take that up with your mother. This is her wedding.”
Xander laughed because he knew what she had said was true. Their mother had hijacked Lucas and Bella’s wedding with no apologies whatsoever. “Come on, Sis. Let’s get some food in you.”
“I’m not hungry,” Bella grumbled.
Xander chuckled. “I thought you’d say that. So, I am more than prepared to pin you down and force feed you.”
When Bella resisted, he put her in a pretend headlock and pulled her back into the family waiting room. It was quiet and dark except for the dim lights from Jack and Lincoln’s cellular phones. Donatella tiptoed over and pulled Bella into a huddle. “What happened to Niyah?”
“She went back to the office,” Bella responded.
“Did she have anything?”
“Not much,” Bella responded with a deep sigh. “The shooter might be an Asian male with no ID and no one to claim his body.”
Donatella frowned. “Might be?”
“Well, I’m sure the fact that he has no face hinders a positive ID. But he had a lot of tattoos”
Donatella pushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear as if the dark, silky strands were a burden. “What kind of tattoos?”
Bella shrugged. “Don’t know. She’s gonna send over some pictures. I’ll send them to you when I get them.”
“I’m not waiting,” Donatella announced. She walked across the room and grabbed her backpack from a chair. “I’ll let you know,” she told her sister. “I gotta get to the morgue,”