Chapter 27 MAJA
MAJA
“That smile tells me we did a good job,” Von said.
Leaning into Von, I tilted my head back until he could see the light in my eyes. Light that he’d put there.
“He’s underneath Shyah like he’s afraid to let her go.”
Shyah looked utterly smitten by Lewis.
“He’s locked in. Much like I was when we bumped into each other. I didn’t give a fuck how much you attempted to push me away.”
Turning in Von’s arms, I looked up into his eyes.
To think, there was a time I would’ve never initiated this act.
Von’s love for me unlocked deep rooted trauma and lifted me out of the ashes that once consumed me.
An officer of the law stole something from me.
It was something that I never thought beat for anyone except my mother and the Bell family.
“Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“Never, baby. A couple of bullets, remember?”
I smacked my teeth. “That’s not funny.”
He chuckled. “Neither is my love for you.”
Gasping, I peered into Von’s eyes, admittedly stunned. Inside my chest, my heart skipped and galloped violently.
“Wipe that look off ya face,” he teased and kissed my lips. “You know damn well how I feel about you.”
“Yeah, but you’ve never said it.”
“How’s this?” He snuggled my neck and kissed me there, too, before kissing my ear. “I love you, Major minus the o and r, add an a, makes the ‘uh’ sound.”
I threw my head back and giggled foolishly.
Life was so different for me. The old me was dead, buried in a place that I no longer knew.
I didn’t know its address, nor the route.
As if she sensed the joy in my heart, my mother’s face flashed through my mind.
This was the type of love she sought from my father.
This was the type of protection and trust she sought.
“My mother would’ve loved you, Von.”
“I’m gon’ love you enough that her wings grow another feather every time ya heart beats for me.”
Blinking back tears, I stumbled over my emotions. Over the last few weeks, Von learned so much about me. While I couldn’t tell him my darkest and most devious deeds, if he ever wondered why, he had the answers.
Still, he had the same look in his eyes.
The look that he was willing to die for me, willing to sacrifice everything for me.
If he knew just how much damage I’d done to my life, that light would disappear.
Herein was a fear I’d never felt before.
It was the fear that, one day, this could all be just a memory.
If Von ever found out who I was, he’d walk away from me and never look back.
He’d likely arrest me, or worse…commit me.
He had no idea who lived dormant inside me.
You’ve turned over a new leaf. Leave the past where it is. There’s nothing tying you to anything back there. Seize the moment you have with him. Let the future work itself out.
“I love you, Von.”
This was our second time exchanging those words. However, they never flowed so smoothly from my tongue. This felt right. This felt like the beginning of forever.
Von’s lopsided grin captured another piece of me. It dazzled and reminded me that he was just as handsome as he was dangerous. He grabbed two handfuls of my ass and plastered us to one another.
“I want you to repeat that while I’m buried deep inside you tonight.”
Even as he said it, his dick pressed into my abdomen. Tugging his thick beard, I brought him down for a kiss.
“I can’t wait,” I mumbled against his lips.
My pussy agreed and came to life, dampening the crotch of my panties.
It took all I could take to get through the rest of the evening without demanding that Von take me right there inside this club.
He was so sexy, smelled so sexy, and moved his body against mine seductively.
Everything he did to me challenged my senses to bow and respect him as the man who would lead me for the rest of our lives…
“I like that look in ya eyes, baby. It’s givin’ you want forever wit’ me.”
I blushed hard, for I felt it deep inside my bones.
A few hours later, I felt Von so deep inside me that my bones absorbed his DNA. The harder my pussy clutched him, the deeper he tried to go, the louder he growled, and the closer he held me to him. Neither one of us wanted this to end.
As I repeatedly chanted my love for him, I decided that life was finally worth something more than the love of my family. I loved this man. I loved him to death.
***
Days later, I was in my office, reminiscing over that night.
We’d repeated it since then, but something about that night stuck to me.
Maybe it was because I’d truly let myself go.
I’d truly let my guard down and taken the one thing I vowed to never take from a man, especially one wearing a badge.
Von proved me wrong. The badge didn’t make the man—not a real man, at least. The man made the badge.
“Hey, boo. You busy?”
I glanced up from daydreaming to find Heir at my door. Her furrowed brow drew my attention.
“What is it?” I questioned, snapping out of the fairytale world Von created for me.
She came into my office and shut the door behind her. Without a word, she turned on the television and changed to the station she sought. Seconds later, a picture of Iyana filled the screen.
“She was found shot to death this morning,” Heir relayed in disbelief.
Disbelief also rested in the pit of my stomach. It had nothing on the fire blazing through me, though. Like a tidal wave, guilt swept through me.
“Is there a suspect in custody?” I questioned over the deafening sound of blood rushing through my head.
“She was found in another county, and the investigators claim they have no leads.” She sighed and shook her head. “Whoever it was, they left her like she was some trash on the side of the road.”
Swallowing the bile that rose in my throat, my head swam with fury.
“Okay, thank you for telling me,” I said to Heir.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Of course. I’m going to call Von and see if he can find out any information.” Iyana’s murder wasn’t in his jurisdiction, but she was a resident of Pensacola. The public would want answers that I was sure Von could get.
Heir clicked the television off and came around to hug me. “I hope they find who killed her and put them underneath the jail. She was so sweet.”
“Yeah… Right.” I returned Heir’s hug, then waited for her to leave my office before I collapsed out of my chair. Crumpling to the floor, I clutched my chest and resisted the urge to scream in hysteria.
“You ready to learn how to protect ya’self?”
“Yes, sir,” I replied to Adir.
My past rushed in like a four-hundred-pound linebacker, seizing my chest.
“Which gun do you wanna work with today?” Poppa asked.
“The thirty-eight,” I said. For some reason, I loved it the most.
“I want you to hit ya target on the first shot. Can you do that?” Adir quizzed.
“Yes, I can,” I told him.
Tears dropped from my eyes down to my hands that palmed the area rug beneath me, jolting me back in time again.
With determination I felt in the depths of my bones, I attacked the punching bag, pretending that it was my father’s face I pounded. Much like the way he put his hands on my mother, I wanted to put my hands on him. He was dead, though, and so was my beautiful mother.
“This can’t be happening,” I cried to myself.
I saw the warnings loud and clear but chose to walk away.
Now, Iyana was dead. She was dead because of me.
She was dead because I chose to walk away from the woman who’d always protected me and other women.
The woman who was perfect at ridding society of the evil muthafuckas that ruined women like me.
Women who just wanted to…live. Women who were bubbly, sweet, and kind. Women who wanted to love and be loved.
There was always someone ripping lives apart for absolutely no good reason other than their need to control someone. Abuse was a disgusting animal that needed to be put down like an infected rodent. I had no understanding for those who wore such a title. I wanted them all dead!
I’d made an oath to myself that I was about to break in the name of retribution. I tried. I really tried to walk away from it all. For a split second, I believed it was possible to simply let go. I was stupid to believe that I could leave it all behind me.
However, this moment was where the cards fell. Either I was going to rise to the occasion or let Iyana’s death haunt me for the rest of my days. The police claimed they had no suspect, but I knew who was at the top of my fucking list. He was going to suffer for killing Iyana.