DONNA #2
Bella closed her eyes and inhaled the clean masculine aroma of his bodywash. She missed it. She missed his scent on the sheets, on the pillowcase, and on her. “I missed you too, baby. But, right now, I need you to sit.”
Lucas chuckled and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead. “All right, my love. I’ll sit.”
Bella kept her arm around his waist and walked with him to the bedroom. Once they entered, they passed the wheelchair that Lucas should have been using and walked over to a chair in the corner.
He laughed when she tried to help him sit. “Bella, baby, I can sit and stand by myself.”
Bella frowned. “That don’t mean you should be sitting and standing by yourself.”
“Look here, little lady, I’m doing just fine. I’m a fast healer.”
Bella raised a brow. “I’ma call and ask your mama about that.”
Lucas grinned and moved slow to sit. “Don’t you call my mother, young lady. Anyway, I escaped when that woman tried to give me a bath.”
“What?” Bella laughed. “What woman? You mean your nurse?”
Lucas looked up at her wide-eyed and with feigned fear. “You laugh, but that lady was way too excited about the possibility.”
Bella shook her head at her ridiculous fiancé. “You’ve had baths since you’ve been shot,” she pointed out.
Lucas nodded. “No, ma’am. I’ve had sponge baths and showers always by the other one.”
Bella glared at him through narrowed lids. “You mean the young one with the big ole titties?”
Lucas’ lips parted, gasping as if he were shocked. “I have never noticed that woman’s breasts. Bella, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Right,” Bella scoffed. “Of course, not.”
“Look here, woman. I don’t need some nurse to bathe me. I have a fiancée. I came here for a bath. And I am not leaving until I get one.”
“All right, bae,” Bella agreed with a giggle. “I got you.” Bella moved toward the bathroom to start the water, but she froze when Lucas caught her wrist.
“Hand me that remote before you go.”
She grabbed the remote from the nightstand and handed it to him on her way to the ensuite bathroom.
Lucas turned on what sounded like the news.
While putting towels in the warmer, Bella could hear that Victor was still leading in the polls despite the ridiculous accusations made by Taylor’s sister.
She couldn’t imagine for one minute Donna doing anything to hurt her.
And she would for no reason in the world turn on her sister.
It was the way they’d been raised. Family was everything to them.
When the story turned to a possible serial killer in Chicago, Bella’s thoughts turned to Niyah.
Her gut told her that her friend was lying about the case.
But why? What could she possibly have to gain by fumbling the DNA evidence?
Maybe if Bella didn’t know Niyah to be so clinically meticulous, she would have believed it had been something as simple as human error.
Bella started the water, drowning out the sound of the television.
First, she would focus on staying alive and keeping her family safe.
Then, she would get to the bottom of Niyah’s mishandling of evidence.
With the water running, Bella left the bathroom and re-entered the bedroom. She dropped to her knees to take off Lucas’ shoes and laughed at his retro Jordan’s.
“What are you laughing at, little lady?”
Bella dropped her head and giggled. “You get engage to a black woman and all of a sudden, you’re rocking Jordans.”
“What?” Lucas scoffed through laughter. “I’ll have you know that I have been wearing Jordans since Jordan’s playing days.”
Bella’s lips pursed with skepticism. “Mm-mm. Bae, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in gym shoes. Or should I say sneakers?”
Lucas playfully poked the top of her. “Don’t make fun of me.”
Bella shook her head and pulled the socks and shoes from his feet. She stood and helped him stand. “Raise your arms.”
Because he was so tall, Lucas lowered himself while Bella stood on her toes to pull his T-shirt over his head.
Bella’s breathing hitched at the sight of the heart-wrenching scar in the middle of his chest. Her head fell, and before she could help it, warm tears drizzled down her cheeks.
Lucas had been shot directly in the center of his chest, less than an inch from his heart. He could have died.
“Oh, baby,” she whispered.
Hearing the fear in her voice, Lucas grabbed her hand and placed it over his scar.
“I’m okay.” He slid his hands around her back and pulled her against him, so that her head was pressed against his chest. “You hear that.” Bella closed her eyes and focused on the beat of Lucas’ heart.
In her head, she said a prayer, thanking God for not taking him.
Because after having him in her life, she couldn’t fathom losing him.
Lucas kissed the top of her head and grabbed her shoulders. “That water is gonna run over.”
Bella shook away depressing thoughts of losing Lucas and wiped the tears from her face. She unbuttoned his jeans and slid them along with his boxers down his hips.
“See, now, that’s what I’m talking about,” Lucas teased.
“Shush,” Bella scolded. “You’re in no condition to perform.”
Lucas stepped out of his pants and chuckled. “But I am in the perfect condition to lay on my back and let you do all the work.”
“Fat chance,” Bella countered with laughter. “You know I’m a pillow princess.”
She helped him to the bathroom and then into the tub, holding his arm as he sat in the hot water.
“Damn,” he hissed. “This shit feels like soup made in hell.”
With pursed lips, Bella adjusted the water. “It’s not even that hot, you big baby.”
She reached for the bath rack and grabbed her jar of Epsom salt mixed with tea tree oil and shook a good portion in the bathwater. “This will help if you have any soreness.”
Lucas relaxed against the bath pillow and inhaled. “Smells good,” he moaned.
Bella’s shameful eyes found their way to his big dick and painted seductive pictures of their lovemaking in her head.
“I see you looking at my dick,” Lucas groaned in a baritone that hinted his arousal.
Bella lowered her eyes and shook all thoughts of hopping in the tub and riding his dick out of her head. “I wasn’t looking. I was just debating on whether or not to tell you about my day.”
“Tell me,” Lucas insisted.
“Well, me and Donna set a trap for whoever is trying to kill us.”
“And?” Lucas asked. His wrinkled brow revealed his displeasure at the thought of her and Donna putting themselves at risk.”
“We caught a rat, but he got loose.”
Bella explained how they caught, arrested, and had to release a man who’d been ready to kill her.
Lucas frowned. “I mean what could we have done to make someone want us all dead?”
“Well, when you think about, it started with the shootout at the Jamaican restaurant. Now, there was no way to know whether or not they wanted me or Donna dead. But when you think about it, while we were being shot at, there had to be another crew simultaneously dispatched to you. Also, they’re showing up at my house, not Donna’s, which leads me to believe that you and I are the targets. ”
Lucas’ brow wrinkled as if he was deep in thought. “Okay. But, why?”
“Well, who have we had beef with?”
After shrugging his shoulders. “I haven’t had beef with anyone. And you’re a cop, so you’ve had beef with quite a few people.”
Bella shook her head and lowered to her knees beside the tub. “Yeah, but not like that. I’m a detective. I’m not kicking in doors. This is clearly someone who has a vendetta against both of us. And they’ll go through whoever they need to in order to get to us.”
Lucas chuckled. “If your ex-husband wasn’t happy and very gay, I would say it was him.”
Bella shook her head and giggled. “My ex-husband is planning my bridal shower. The only person we’ve done wrong as a team is dead.”
Lucas’ lips parted. After inhaling a sharp breath, he whispered, “The hitwoman... that crazy lady who killed Rosemary!”
“Yeah,” Bella agreed. “That’s the only person you and I have come up against together.”
Lucas nodded. “But, like you said, she’s dead.”
Bella grabbed Lucas’ favorite bodywash and squeezed a good portion on a bath sponge. “But what if she had a family? What if she had a man? What would you do if someone killed me?”
Lucas’ eyes narrowed to slits. Anger radiated off of him like steam. “I wouldn’t stop until they were dead.”