CHAPTER 45
BELLA
“Coming!” Bella shouted after a knock. She wrapped herself in a robe and opened the door. It was Andrew, the Creeds’ house manager. “Hello, Andrew.”
“Good evening, Detective.”
Bella pouted. “Please, please call me Bella.”
Andrew smiled. “I will call you, Bella.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, Bella, this is for you.” Andrew handed her a garment bag.
“What’s this?”
“It’s your costume.”
Bella sighed. “So, she was serious about the costumes,” she mumbled under her breath.
Andrew smiled. “It’s your night, Bella. Enjoy yourself.” With that said, he turned and walked down the hall.
“Andrew?” Bella shouted at his back.
“Yes, Bella?”
“Can you please send me up a couple of shots of tequila?”
“Right away.”
“Thank you.”
Bella closed the door and hung the garment bag on a hook.
She unzipped the bag and could not believe her eyes.
Inside had to be the sluttiest version of Sherlock Holmes that she’d ever seen.
It was clearly a play on Bella being a detective.
She pulled the costume out and measured it with her eyes.
It was tiny. There was no guarantee that she would be able to squeeze her ass into the little getup.
Like always, Bella slapped on a light beat. Mascara, lip gloss, and brow shaping were all she had in her wheelhouse. To make room for the ridiculous hat, she pulled her long hair into a ponytail at her nape.
Bella wiggled into the smedium costume and shoved her arms into the shortest trench coat ever made.
Bella stepped into a pair of stilettos that made her already long legs go on for miles and walked over to the mirror.
“Gotdamn!” she shrieked, approving her appearance. Modesty aside, she was hot shit.
Another knock at the door got her excited for a shot or two of tequila.
“Ooh-wee!” Bella hurried over and swung the door open.
Surprisingly, on the other side of the door wasn’t one of the Creed staff members delivering her white liquor.
It was her stop-you-in-your-tracks, drop-dead gorgeous fiancé delivering her white liquor.
Lucas’ lips parted to speak, but no words escaped. Wide chartreuse irises slowly perused her outfit with a hint of disbelief. “Bella, sweetheart?”
Bella giggled and snatched the bottle from his hand. “Yeeees?” she answered in a sugary, seductive tone before turning on her heel to give her man an unobstructed view of her ass cheeks that were peeking out from under her micro-trench coat.
“Your sister-in-law has quite the imagination,” Bella commented.
“And, some damn good taste,” Lucas muttered. “Sherlock Holmes?”
Bella turned around with an exaggerated smile. “Ding, ding, ding.”
Lucas shrugged. “It makes sense.” He placed the glasses on a table and pulled Bella close to his body. “I know our family had big plans for the evening, but I don’t think I’m gonna let you out of this room.”
Bella laughed. “Baby, I wish I could stay in this room with you. But Taylor got me out here dressed like Sherlock Hoe. And to be honest, if you got me out of this costume, I don’t think I’d be able to get me back in it.”
Lucas chuckled and pulled the trench coat from her shoulders. “We’ll figure it out,” he assured before pressing his soft lips against her bare neck.
***
“Who are we waiting on beside Bella?” Donna asked.
“I’m here!” Bella announced from the patio door.
Her instructions were to meet on the lanai. Donna took one look at her costume and fell over with laughter. “Sherlock Holmes!” she squealed.
Bella raised a brow and took in her sister’s costume.
From the feathered headdress to the buckskin thong and the handmade moccasins, her sister was dressed in complete Native-American regalia.
But it was the sexiest regalia Bella had ever seen.
Donna threw her hands in the air. “Cultural appropriation!” she shouted.
Taylor stood, laughing and waving a hand. “Nope! Nope! Nope! It can’t be appropriation if yo’ black ass is Native-American!”
They’re all drunk, Bella concluded silently.
“Right, Bella?” Taylor pressed, unusually loud.
“Yes, ma’am,” Bella confirmed. “From the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana.”
Bella tilted her head while taking in Taylor’s costume.
She was wearing a slutty version of First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s pink, Chanel suit, which included the pink pillbox hat.
Bella glared at Taylor through narrowed lids and hissed, “Mrs. Kennedy would never have been caught dead with all that cleavage.”
Taylor laughed and did a spin so Bella could see how short the skirt was. “What kind of first lady would wear that?” Donna jokingly scolded. “Your ass is out!”
“Your ass is out!” Taylor countered through laughter.
Donna moved closer to Taylor and pinched the lapel of her pink suit. “Bitch, is this real Chanel?” She turned to Bella with wide eyes. “Bitch, that’s real Chanel! What the fuck?”
Taylor shrugged, but before she could say a word, Niyah walked in with Tabitha Creed.
Donna dropped into a lawn chair at the sight of Niyah’s doctor’s costume.
She wasn’t an ordinary white-coat wearing doctor.
She was a surgical-scrub-wearing doctor.
Only her scrubs were a crop top and boy shorts.
However, she did have a surgical cap and PPE.
Even Dr. Creed was in costume. She was a white-coat-wearing doctor with a tight pencil dress beneath.
“Oh, shit, Taylor! You slutted up your mother-in-law?” Donna blurted.
Taylor knocked back a shot and frowned. “A lie!” she squealed. “I did not pick out these costumes. I told my dear, sweet mother-in-law that I wanted to throw Bella a bachelorette party, and she insisted on helping. Y’all already know that meant she was taking over.”
Bella’s face twisted in disbelief. “What?”
“Your future mother-in-law picked the costumes!” Taylor revealed.
Bella turned to Tabitha with her mouth wide open. “Is that true?”
Feigning innocence, Tabitha shrugged. “I just--”
“Wait…” Bella interrupted. “So, your daughter-in-law gets Chanel?”
Tabitha raised a brow at Bella. “She is a Creed,” she pointed out with a grin and a hand on her hip. “And just so you know, future Mrs. Lucas Creed, that trench coat is Burberry.”
Bella twirled around. “Aww shit!”
“It is your party!” Mrs. Creed shouted with enthusiasm.
“It is my party!” Bella drunkenly confirmed.
“Maria Mendez!” Donna squealed at the arrival of Taylor’s old partner and close friend.
“Bidi bidi bom bom!” Maria sang as she danced onto the lanai in an authentic Selena-Esque sparkly, plum bell-bottom bodysuit.
Taylor turned to the family’s matriarch and folded her arms. “You’re being
very literal, Mother Dear,” she remarked.
Tabitha Creed giggled, doing very little to hide her amusement. She gestured toward the bar. “Let’s have some drinks, ladies.”
Bella walked over to Donna and grabbed her by the arm. “Come here,” she whispered.
They walked over to a magnolia tree, and Bella wondered how the Creeds kept it alive during a cold Indiana winter.
“Hey, what’s up?” Donna asked.
“You’ve been working this Yacuza angle. I wanna know what you got.”
Donna frowned. “You wanna know now? This can wait.”
Bella blew out a harsh breath. “These motherfuckers tried to kill us. They’re still trying to kill us. It cannot wait!”
“Okay, damn!” Donna relented. “I got a lead. I got a name, but he’s a ghost.”
“A ghost? What do you mean?”
Donna threw her hands up. “The people know his name. They've heard of him. Don’t nobody know where he lays his head or who he’s laying with.”
“So, all we--”
“Hey,” Donna interrupted. “I know what to do. But I ain’t gonna do it tonight. Tonight, I’ma do this.” Donna raised a shot glass to her lips and emptied the contents.
As if on cue, one of the staff members held out a tray of shot glasses filled with clear liquid. “Tequila?”
“Thanks.” Bella grabbed one and then another when the server tried to walk away. “Save you a trip back,” she said with a wink. She knocked back both shots just as Victoria Storm walked up. “Who invited you?” Bella muttered.
Victoria rolled her eyes. “You weren't acting like that when you were smoking all my weed.”
Bella’s eyes perused her outfit. She was wearing a blonde wig, a white buttoned-down shirt that tied at the belly and highlighted her cleavage, and a pair of tight Guess jeans. Bella would never tell her, but Victoria was a stunner. “Who are you supposed to be?”
“Anna Nicole Smith,” Victoria revealed with an eyeroll. “Now that I see your costumes, I have to conclude that your mother-in-law has quite the sense of humor.”
Bella’s laughter caused her sister to laugh, and the rest of the woman to turned around. “Anna Nicole!” she spat.
Victoria glowered at Bella and Donna. “Ha ha hell! I’ll have you know that when I met my husband, he was only twenty-nine, not a hundred and two like J. Howard Marshall.” Victoria looked them up and down as if disgusted. “Your mother-in-law’s a hater. But I ain’t mad because I’m rocking this shit.”
“Yes, you are,” Donna countered with flirtatious commentary.
“Ugh!” Bella rolled her eyes and walked away. Every time she almost forgot that Victoria and her sister had a fling, one of them would cruelly remind her.
Thankfully, the sound of Tabitha’s voice cut through the chatter and changed the picture in Bella’s mind. “Excuse me, ladies. May I have your attention?”
The ladies walked over to where Tabitha stood making her announcement. “Now, that most of us are here, we can start piling into the carts and head over to the lake house. There, we’ll have dinner and then sip and paint.”
Bella jumped up and down like a giddy child. She had absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever, but she’d always wanted to sip and paint.
“One more thing,” Tabitha added. “Victoria, we have a helipad. Please have your pilot remove your helicopter from our lawn.”
“Yes, Dr, Creed. I’ll call her right now.”
“This is a conversation I never thought I’d be a party to,” Bella commented under her breath.
“Thank you. Now, we can go.”
After they all climbed into the golf carts.
They drank and laughed the five minutes it took to get to the lake house.
Bella had never seen it so well lit. They exited the golf carts and filed into the lake house.
It was beautiful inside. One large dining table was set beautifully with floral centerpieces and Wedgewood China.
As if the table wasn’t beautiful enough, it was placed in front of a wall of glass with a stunning backdrop of Lake Creed and its plush surroundings.
“Wow,” Bella gushed. “This is incredible.” She crossed the room, shocked to see that Dr. Creed had hired DJ Pharris, a famous Chicago DJ and staple in urban radio. She turned to her future mother-in-law. “What do you know about DJ Pharris?”
Tabitha Creed shook her head. “Not a thing. However, I do have a black daughter-in-law who appreciates urban music.”
Bella laughed and wrapped her arm around Lucas’ mother. “Now, you have two.”
Tabitha took a step back and grabbed Bella by the shoulders. She kissed her cheek, looked her in the eye, and said, “Welcome to the family.”
Bella grinned from ear to ear.
“Come on. Let me show you to your seat.” By the hand, she led Bella to the head of the table. “You sit here.”
Bella sat and admired the calligraphy on the classy place cards. The seats had been assigned. Donna, her maid of honor, was seated to her right. And Taylor, her matron of honor, was positioned to her left with Niyah, a bride’s maid, sitting to the left of Taylor.
Tabitha Creed took her place at the other end of the table. She retrieved a small bell from the table and shook it until she caught the ladies’ attention. “Ladies, please take your seats. Dinner is about to be served.”
The rest of the ladies took their seats. Because everyone was a bit drunk, it took a minute to get settled.
Once every ass was in a chair, Taylor stood.
She straightened her pillbox hat, tugged on the teeny-weenie skirt, and cleared her throat.
“I would like to thank you all for coming.” After the first three words, it was clear that she was a bit on the drunk side.
“I have a surprise for our bride-to-be. Now, a lot of you don’t know this, but our very own Belladonna is a huge foodie. ”
Donna nodded. “It’s true. She is,” she confirmed.”
“Well, my beautiful mother-in-law was gracious enough to let me handle this evening’s dinner.” Taylor turned to Tabitha and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Tabitha blew her a kiss in return.
“Now,” Taylor continued. “I happen to know who Bella’s favorite chef is.”
Bella’s eyes grew wide. She jumped to her feet. “No!”
“Yes!” Taylor confirmed.
Bella craned her neck to look toward the kitchen. And sure enough, out popped, award-winning chef, Marcus Samuelson and four servers.
“Oh, my God!” Bella squealed with glee. She could not believe she was going to get the chance to eat food prepared by her favorite celebrity chef.
Marcus approached with an outstretched hand. “Congratulations.”
Bella accepted his hand and shook it. “Thank you so very much. I’m really looking forward to everything you prepared.”
“Good. I pray you enjoy.” The chef took a step back and held out his hands to the group of women. “Shall we begin?”
“Yes, Chef!” Bella shouted like they did on her favorite television competition show.
“Great!” Chef Samuelson clapped his hands. “So, we’re going to start with a red snapper crudo with a citrus and scotch bonnet drizzle.”
Bella licked her lips and savored the ear orgasm gifted by the chef’s description of the first course.