Chapter 4 VONSHAE
VONSHAE
In my eyes, Jeezy could do no wrong. That was the only reason I bobbed my head to his track. Otherwise, a slight snarl marred my face. If I so much as grinned, a muhfucka would think it was okay to approach me on some friendly shit. I was anything but friendly.
The look on my face made anybody, who glanced my way, think of something safe to do besides approaching me as I walked through the club towards the section my brothers reserved.
Normally, I welcomed the opposite sex’s appraisal.
Not tonight, though. Fuckery dominated my thoughts since a certain woman bumped into me.
I couldn’t get Maja off my mind no matter what the fuck I did.
Not even a woman salivating over me ruffled my damn feathers.
Two weeks had flown by since meeting Maja.
I was one loose screw from doing some illegal shit to find her ass.
Thing was, I wanted us to meet by happenstance, just like before.
If shit was meant to be, we’d run into each other again.
We had to run into each other again. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Being patient while waiting for divine intervention was starting to wear on me.
Here I was, fully committed to finding a woman who I was sure held a special place in my life.
From the moment I looked into her dull eyes, I knew it was my calling to put the light back there.
However, I couldn’t if I couldn’t find her ass.
Just as we entered the section, a bottle girl that I’d fucked with some years back took one look at me and grinned.
“Hey, Gunner!” Neya spoke.
“‘Sup?” I chucked my head at her and dismissed the hug she tried to give me. My brothers chuckled.
“Uh, oh.” Neya chuckled. “Rough week at work?”
“Nah…” I sat on one of the couches and declined her request for my drink order. “I’m good.”
She shrugged and moved on to take my brothers’ orders. Absently, I bobbed my head to a song by this new recording artist, Josie.
“You sure you don’t want a drink?” my youngest brother asked. Wesley Gunner Junior eyed me suspiciously when I shook my head. “Fuck wrong wit’ you?” he asked.
“I told y’all I didn’t wanna come here. But, naw, y’all had to drag me outta the house.” Clubs were cool when I wanted to vibe. Tonight, I wasn’t feeling this shit. My house was calling my name, and I had half a mind to get up and leave.
“Bruh, I swear. You need a blunt or somethin’.” Younger than me by one year, Amaré added his two cents.
“I stopped smokin’ years ago,” I said.
“Sadly,” Wes intoned to which I chuckled. “You were easier to deal with back then.”
My face frowned up. “Say one mo’ thing sideways, and I’m leavin’—" Someone just outside my section caught my eye, stopping me from cursing my brother out.
There she was… Fucking fine as hell Maja. She strutted right past my section like the regal-ass vision she made. I’d know that sleek figure and walk anywhere. Tonight, she wore the same fedora hat she’d worn the day we bumped into each other. Right behind her was Heir Bell.
Tilting my head to the side, something clicked.
Maja was the adopted daughter of Maddie Cooley—had to be.
I knew every Bell there was, and they weren’t too keen about letting people in the fold.
However, Maja’s name floated somewhere in the recesses of my mind, and that was because I’d heard it before years ago.
I was out of my seat in seconds, leaving my brothers to argue amongst each other. Just steps behind the ladies, I’d already gotten a whiff of Maja’s perfume. It squeezed my chest and wouldn’t let up until I said something, anything, to her.
They entered a section two spaces down from mine, and I entered right behind them.
Heir moved to sit down while I walked up behind Maja.
Heir’s eyes widened when she saw me. With all the noise surrounding us, I was surprised when Maja turned to me and placed her hand on her hip.
She wore a black dress that fit her snuggly in the bodice, with a puffed out skirt that was short as hell.
“Why are you following me, Mr. Gunner?” she questioned over the music.
I reached up to touch her chin. With the ease and quickness of a trained soldier, her hand caught my wrist just as my fingers touched the delicate flesh of her chin.
While the touch of her hand caused me to snag my bottom lip, she snatched her hand back like she’d unwittingly touched a snake.
I lifted her chin to stare into those brown eyes.
There was something about a woman whose eyes said so much, yet so little.
While beautifully brown, almond shaped and topped with long ass lashes, her eyes held an emptiness that I wanted to fill.
Normally, I would’ve taken the emptiness there as a sign to run the other way.
Not with Maja. I wanted to break through whatever burdens she carried and put those muthafuckas on my back.
“How did you know I was behind you?” I questioned.
“Because… I just did. It’s improper to follow a lady.”
“Should I remind you of our agreement?” I asked, instead of acknowledging her statement and getting straight to the point.
“No. My memory is perfectly intact.”
I took my phone out of my back pocket and handed it to her. Her dainty fingers wrapped around it. Everything was sexy on this woman, right down to the muted red pointy-ass, semi-long nails she wore. The same color was on her toes in the strappy black heels she wore.
She programmed her number in, then handed me back my phone.
“Are you satisfied?”
“Not just yet,” I said. “Just in case you try to pull some shit…” I dialed her number and felt relieved that her phone rang.
“Now, are you satisfied?”
“I won’t be satisfied until I know the taste of your lips…” My eyes dipped from her glossed covered plump lips down to her toned, thick-ass thighs. Slowly, my eyes returned to hers.
“Well, if that’s what you’re looking for, Mr. Gunner—”
“No one—”
“—I can assure you; you will never know the taste of either.”
Grinning, I closed the tiny space between us until our bodies touched. “I’ma have ya short, beautiful ass swallowin’ those words, Maja.”
“I don’t swallow anything; not even my pride,” she effortlessly shot back.
Her quick comeback produced a laugh from deep inside me. “Maja… If you tryna run me off, you gon’ have to stop makin’ me fall deeper and harder for you, baby.”
She tried to fight a smile that I knew was hard to wring from her. I considered it a small feat whenever I got her lips to bend for me.
“Where’s ya security?” I had to ask because Maja and Heir had walked their asses up in there solo. Anytime I’d ever seen Heir, she had security with her.
“I don’t have any,” she replied with a gentle shrug.
“Why not?” That shit rubbed me the wrong way. None of the Bells moved without security. The fact that she did made me feel some type of way.
“You’re in my business, Vonshae,” she replied.
“Our business. Remember, I’m No One. You said ya’self that you belong to No One.”
Tickled, she giggled. “No one as in no maaannn.”
“Nah, you can’t change it now. I made things exceptionally clear. If I caught you, you’re mine.”
“We haven’t even been on a date yet. For all you know you could be claiming a batshit crazy woman.”
“Well, then you’re my batshit crazy woman,” I countered.
She smacked her teeth and grinned.
“Beneath all that radiant, deep hickory skin, I just saw a blush, Maja.”
Her smile slowly dropped, then she cleared her throat. “What are your intentions for this date?”
“I intend to brighten up those eyes, my baby.”
“Dinner. That’s all,” she offered.
“Aht, aht. I get to make the calls, remember?”
She grimaced, but I forged along.
“This date requires you to pack a bag.”
“No—”
“Yes. It’ll be fun, I promise. Pack for comfortability. Three days, three nights,” I stated.
“What if I’m busy? You want me to run off with you when I could have other pressing issues,” she countered.
“If you were runnin’ off with me, ya issues would already be solved, love.”
“You have an answer for everything?” she contested.
“Shit, I wish.” We both laughed. I took the opportunity to close the rest of the space between us. The laughter died on her lips. I leaned closer until our eyes mirrored each other’s. “What I do know is that I’m not letting you go anywhere, Maja. Might as well call me No One Shadow Gunner.”
“No One Shadow Gunner,” she whispered. “I’d like to see you try and keep me.”
My heart surely sped up like crazy from the way her tone dipped just a little. “Ohh… You’re dangerous, Maja,” I stated.
Although her lips didn’t, her eyes smiled. “You think so?”
I nodded.
“Then I suggest you walk away while you still have the opportunity.”
Smirking, I replied, “There’s something you should know about me.”
One of her eyebrows lifted quizzically.
“That scent you give off is mine. The quiet dominance you possess…it’s mine as well. I’ve never been afraid of anything, baby. Especially not the woman of my dreams.”
For the first time, a spark filtered through her sharp gaze. It was brief but there.
“Answer when I call you. Don’t make me find you, lil’ baby.” Before leaving the section, I chucked my head at Heir. Her mouth was open like I was a complete stranger or something.
Returning to my own section to the curious gazes of my brothers, this time I ordered a drink. I needed it to keep me calm while watching Maja enjoy her night. Suddenly, I didn’t mind them dragging me out of my house.