Chapter 9 Amethyst
Chapter nine
Amethyst
She was beautiful; that was the only way to describe Yale, and she wasn’t even trying to be.
The black two-piece swimming suit wasn’t anything over-the-top or intentionally sexy, but no matter what Yale wore, the shit was sexy.
Her hair was pulled into a ponytail on top of her head, and she wore millions of gold bracelets and a necklace I’d bought her years ago.
She was right, I hated to see her cry. The only time it was acceptable was when they were happy tears; any other time, I made it my mission to keep her happy.
“Checkup, first one to five wins,” I suggested as we moved closer to the shallowest part of the pool. “And I don’t want to hear shit about losing when I dunk on you.”
“Yeah, alright,” she said, then shot the ball. It went in, and immediately she smiled and pointed at me. “You are about to lose, grandpa.”
“Man, go on,” I laughed as I went to get the ball and threw it to her. “Play or shut up.”
“I’ll do both,” she replied, and I shook my head. Again, she shot it, but this time she missed. I grabbed the ball, let her set up her shitty ass defense, then shot it. When it went in, she rolled her eyes. “Lucky shot.”
“Nah, that’s skills, Sunshine,” I laughed. She passed me the ball, and all it took was for me to shoot four more times before I circled her with a smile on my face. “You lost.”
“I let you win,” she said, waving me off.
“Let me?” I walked backwards until my feet didn’t touch the ground and waded through the water.
“Yeah,” she nodded and swam to me. Like always, I turned around and let her climb onto my back. Yale wrapped her shapely body around me and held on tight. “I’ve been letting you win for years.”
“Yeah, okay,” I grunted as I swam around the pool. “If that’s the lie you want to tell yourself, then I’m going to let you go with it.”
“Thank you,” she mumbled, then laughed as she rested her head on my back. “You know I need to live in denial sometimes.”
“Don’t I know it,” I nodded.
I continued to swim around; the only noise came from my movement through the water and the cicadas in the grass.
“I don’t think I’ve seen those in years,” Yale said softly. I leaned against the edge of the pool with her still on my back.
“What?”
“The lighting bugs.” She pointed to the right of us to show me the bugs. “I can't remember the last time I saw them.”
“They came out just for you, Sunshine,” I said, nodding. “They knew you needed to see them.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s your story to figure out, not mine. I’m just here to witness it.”
“It’s your story too,” she said into my ear, then kissed my cheek. “And you’ll be the first person to know why the lighting bugs came back just for me.”
“I look forward to finding out.” My phone rang from the chair next to the pool, and I grunted.
I had a work phone, a personal phone, and a phone just for the fucking Kilmores—and it was their phone that was ringing.
“Ay, let me get that,” I said, patting Yale’s arm.
She moved from my back, and I pushed myself up out of the pool and walked to the phone.
“Yeah?” I answered the phone, watching as Yale floated on her back.
“Meet up in ten,” Luther said.
“Location?”
“Your brother’s hotel,” he said. “Room eight fourteen.”
I looked at the phone, shook my head, and dropped it on the table.
I hated that nigga and the fact that after all this time, I was still working for him.
Taking Pyrite’s advice and waiting to kill all the Kilmores was the second dumbest thing I ever did.
The first was letting Yale drive that night, which put us in this situation.
“Sunshine?” I called out. She lifted her head slightly but kept floating. “I gotta run to the hospital right fast. There was a call, and I’m the closest doctor.”
“Okay,” she said. “Be safe.”
“Always,” I replied.
“Love you.”
“Love you more,” I said, then walked into the house. I hated lying to her, but I knew it was the only thing I could do at the moment.
An hour later, I was walking into Stone Hotel. I showered, making sure to wash my hair thoroughly before getting out, and then threw on some sweats, a t-shirt, tall socks, and a pair of Nikes before leaving.
“Hey, Mr. Stone,” the night hostess, Carmen, said, greeting me.
I threw her a wave but kept my stride. I didn’t need to talk to her because, more than likely, she thought I was here on business.
Whenever Citrine was out of town, I was the one who stepped in, so it wasn’t uncommon for me to be at one of his hotels.
I took the elevator up to the eighth floor and then walked to the room Luther had told me he was in. I knocked twice then stepped back.
“I told you ten minutes,” Luther said after he opened the door.
“Okay,” I said, stepping forward. He moved to the side, and I stepped in. The first thing I noticed was how fucked up the room was. Whoever was responsible for this was going to come out of pocket, and that was if Citrine didn’t show the fuck out first. “The fuck happened here?”
“Not your business,” Luther said, shaking his head. “Why you’re here is over there on the couch.”
I turned my attention to the couch and shook my head. “The fuck happened to her?” I asked as I looked at the very pregnant woman with black eyes and a busted lip. Her eyes shot daggers at the closed bedroom door. She looked familiar, but I didn’t know where I’d seen her before.
“Just check her out,” Luther said. “That’s why you’re here, to check her out.”
“I’m not an OB,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t help you.”
“Shelly, stand up and show the doctor your back,” Luther said to the woman.
She finally took her eyes off the door, nodded, stood, and turned around.
Her shirt was covered with blood, and when she lifted her shirt, I saw why.
She’d been cut up, but to my surprise, she wasn’t even acting as if it had phased her.
I approached her, looked at her wounds, and kissed my teeth. Whoever did this to her was fucked up; this shit had to hurt. I pulled the gloves I’d grabbed out of my truck before coming up here and put them on. “Ay, I gotta touch your back so I can make sure they aren’t too deep.”
“It’s fine,” Shelly said, then gave me a singular nod.
I examined her back, and each time I touched her skin, I expected her to show any discomfort, but she never did. Instead, she stood there, face blank, looking ahead.
“This shit is going to hurt,” I said, stepping back. “She’s going to need at least a hundred stitches.”
“Get to work then,” Luther said, nodding. He sat on the coffee table and watched us. “She’ll stand there the entire time.”
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “This shit is going to be painful. She’s going to need some pain meds.”
“Give her some, then,” Quention shrugged. “You’re the doctor.”
“She’s what, six months pregnant?” I said, looking at Shelly’s stomach. “She needs to get checked out.”
“You just did that,” he said, shaking his head. “Stitch her ass up so you can leave.”
I turned to Shelly, ignoring Luther. “You need to be checked out,” I said to her, but she didn’t look at me. “Your baby.”
“I don’t care about the baby,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s for him and his wife anyway.”
I looked over at Luther, and he smirked. “Not me, Stone. I’m done with kids.”
“Then who?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“The other one,” Shelly said, turning to look at me. “He fucked me to give his wife the baby. He lied to me, said he loved me, but he doesn’t, he can’t if he treats me like this.”
“Who is that?” I asked her even though I had a feeling I knew who she was talking about. I just needed to hear her say the name. “Huh, Shelly, who are you talking about?”
“Grant,” she spat out his name, as if saying it hurt her stomach.
“He said he loved me, but I knew it was a lie. Each time I get pregnant, he says the same thing, this baby will change it all but it never does.” She shook her head and gave me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“We have three kids at home, three.” She held up three fingers, then dropped her hand.
“And this one he wants to give to his wife. He said it’s to shut her up, but what about me?
” Her eyes filled with tears. “We have been together for years. I was there before her, before the engagement that he made me come to, and even the wedding.”
I heard Luther laugh, but I didn’t care. He got up from the table, patted me on the shoulder, and went to the door that was closed, turned the handle, and went inside. He made sure to close the door behind him. The anger that had been on her face was now gone, and tears filled her eyes.
“You were the server,” I said once I realized where I’d seen her, and she nodded.
“At the engagement party and the wedding. I’ve been here the entire time. Loving him, carrying his children, and now he wants to give my baby to her. To his wife.”
“To Yale,” I said.
“To Yale,” she repeated. “But I’m the one who has given him everything.
The family he always wanted, the happiness she could never provide.
She’s a broken woman.” Shelly shook her head and wiped her hands down her face.
“She’s dumb to think he’d ever love her, but hell, I guess I’m a fucking idiot.
” She shrugged. “I know what he’s doing while she’s living her life unaware. I’m the bigger fool.”
“And this baby?” I pointed to her stomach. “He wants you to give it to her. How?”
“Adoption,” she laughed. “He wants to surprise his wife with his child and say he adopted her. That way, he doesn’t look like a deadbeat, and he will take care of all his children.
” Her attention returned to the closed door, and she sighed.
“We fought. I knew not to push him, but I couldn’t stop myself. He beat my ass, but I got him good.”
“You sure?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Yeah, I made my mark.” She turned and gave me her back. “I’ll stand here, look out the window, and not move as you stitch me up.”