Chapter 34 SHYAH
SHYAH
There was something about standing before Forest and Noa Bell that terrified me.
I wasn’t afraid of them; I’d known them since I was sixteen.
The two men were almost replicas of Adir, personality and all.
Noa’s stoic expression was a little more forgiving, but all the Bell men seemed to have stoicism sewn into the fabric of their DNA.
I was done with my presentation and waiting on one of them to say something.
They both stared at me like I’d just given them a rundown of aliens and why I believed they existed.
I twiddled my thumbs, nervously waiting for one of them to blink.
Everything I’d studied for came down to this moment.
Months of preparation, and I was finally here. The anxiety of it all was high.
“Welcome to Bell Oil, Enterprises, Shyah,” Forest announced.
Just short of squealing, I clapped my hands. “Are you sure? I mean, not because we’re sort of related, right?” I had to be sure.
Forest grinned. Just a little. “If ya presentation would’ve sucked, I would’ve told you so.”
Damn. “Okay, thanks. Thank you so much!”
They offered me what I considered a smile, and I practically ran out of there to call Lewis. He had to go back to Atlanta yesterday, which bummed me out. I loved when he was at the farm, spending time with me. I couldn’t wait for Gion and Margarite to come for a visit. They would love Lewis.
I burst out of Bell Oil Enterprises and stopped in my tracks. Along the curb, Lewis waited by his truck, holding a bouquet of roses, balloons, and a big-ass teddy bear.
“Congratulations!” was his greeting.
No lie, I blinked back tears as my feet moved towards him. I took the flowers and teddy bear, then let him envelop me in a hug. “How’d you know?” I croaked against his broad chest.
“Because I know who my lady is…”
Lewis’s voice trailed off as he saw something over my shoulder.
“The fuck you lookin’ at?” he asked the guy standing on the sidewalk. He was a classmate of mine and was here to do a presentation also.
Ingrum chuckled. He’d tried talking to me once, but I shut him down so quickly that he and I never said a word to each other since then. He was nice looking, but Ingrum’s entitled personality wasn’t something I could ever tolerate from anyone let alone a man.
“Lewis,” I chided. His face was drawn up in a frown as he continued to stare at Ingrum, who found Lewis funny.
“Cartoon face lookin’ ass nigga.”
“Lewis…”
“Built like a minute lookin’ ass nigga.”
“Lewis…”
“Putrid smellin’ ass nigga.”
I burst out laughing, then caught myself. “Lewis!” I barked softly. “That man does not stink.”
His frown turned to me. “You defending him? Oh, you think he smells good?”
Smacking my teeth, I shoved the teddy bear back into Lewis’s hands and said, “Let’s go before you get me fired on my just got the job day.”
Reluctantly, he pulled his gaze from Ingrum and opened the door for me. Once we were both inside his truck, I took the time to smell the roses he’d gifted me. Aside from the way he almost cut up, it was sweet of him to show up unannounced, bearing gifts.
“Do you even work?” I asked him. He was always popping up on me at the slightest moment.
“I do,” he said. “Too fuckin’ much. Lately, I’ve been using more of my leave time.”
“Ah, okay. Do you foresee yourself doing anything besides being a detective?”
His eyes twinkled playfully. “Farm life doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It isn’t,” I seconded. “It’s a far cry from where I grew up and how I grew up. I’ve come so far.”
Lewis peered at the side of my face, and I knew he had questions.
All he knew was that Antonias raised me.
We’d never discussed the before Antonias raised me.
If the way I ran out of Bell Oil, Enterprises just to call him didn’t warn me, I felt a way about Lewis.
He was funny, smart, sweet, and I felt safe with him.
Telling him about my past was almost inevitable.
“My name used to be Shyah Lovelace, and I was born in Miami. There were times I would cry myself to sleep because I knew the weekend was coming, and I didn’t have the sanctuary of the school to run to just so I didn’t have to be at home.
From the time I was fifteen, I lived inside my parents’ attic.
They kept me up there to keep me from escaping them. ”
Lewis’s hand reached over to take my hand. Only then did I realize that my hands were a bit shaky.
“Days before meeting Antonias, I had made up in my mind that I would attempt to escape. At the time, I only had one friend at school, and she was just as terrified of her parents as I was of mine. Still, she had my back.” Gulping, I thought about Ray and wondered if she ever thought about me.
Months after I was rescued, Antonias told me that Ray’s parents died.
Ray was placed into foster care, and that was the last time she ever came up.
“The day I met Antonias was like a dream that I was too afraid to wake up from. He took one look at me and knew something was wrong.” Shaking my head, I blinked hard to fight the tears.
“He whispered his number to me and told me that if I ever needed him to call him. When I got up the nerve, Ray let me borrow her cell phone, and I called him. I was so scared. My parents had cameras everywhere and I just knew that they were going to catch me. It felt like days, but it was only hours before Antonias showed up. I prayed the whole time and didn’t sleep a wink.
When he called my name, and I saw that it was him, I could’ve fainted from how relieved I was. ”
Lewis squeezed my hand and brought it to his lips. As he drove, rested his lips there for a minute.
“As bad as life was with my parents, what they had planned for me was much worse.” That part always caused me to shudder.
“Where are they?” he asked. Judging by the look in his eyes, he wanted nothing but harm for my parents.
“They’re dead,” I replied. “They’re where they belong.”
He kissed my knuckles and said, “I agree, mama.”
“So, now that you know my story, what happens next?”
“Next, I take you back to Atlanta, spoil you, and explain to you why you should make room for me inside ya closet.”
I burst out laughing. Just like that, Miami and my parents were forgotten. I had a new life, a better life. Things worked out better than I ever prayed for.
Lewis took me back to the farm where I packed some bags, hugged Antonias, Bianca, and the twins goodbye, and hopped back inside Lewis’s truck. He said he wanted to take me to Atlanta and spoil me. No matter how balled up Antonias’ face was, I surely wasn’t about to stop Lewis from courting me.
***
Having needed some rest, I slept the whole way to Atlanta. Thankfully, Lewis was a great driver. Between the music he listened to, the ease with which he handled the wheel, and his occasional rubbing of my thighs, I slept peacefully.
I woke up to him pulling into the driveway of an amazing mansion right out of Beverly Hills.
“This is your house?” I questioned.
He grinned. “Let my mama tell it, it’s hers.” He pointed towards the right side of the mansion. “Her house is on that side.”
“So, you just casually live in this big ol’ mansion by yourself? No hot asses running through here?”
Lewis chortled. “Hell, naw! I won’t lie, I used to be a force, baby. Maja put me on though, so I’m on the straight and narrow.”
I scoffed to which he laughed.
“You want me to lie, baby?”
“Nope, you scoundrel.”
He cracked up. “Scoundrel?”
“Yep! Low down, dirty scoundrel.”
His laughter made me blush so hard. Lewis was fine and every time I considered how fine he was, my core tingled. He caught the change in my energy, then looked me up and down.
“Stop it,” he warned. “I’m not givin’ you my dick until after you’re Mrs. Winston.”
I fell out laughing. “That may take some time.”
“So, if I asked you right now, you would tell me no?”
Tittering, I replied, “We just met each other, Lewis.”
“We met in July, when I left you that first voice message.” His ass was so serious, but I laughed harder. “It’s a whole new month, baby.”
“Hush!” I pleaded when my jaws started hurting.
“I’m for real, though,” he stated. “We should get engaged.”
I stopped laughing to study the serious expression on his face. “Lewis…” I stumbled because I wasn’t expecting this from him. Not this soon.
“I tell you what. We will circle back to this topic after I’m done spoiling you for the weekend. Aight?”
“Just for clarification, you already spoil me.”
He grinned. “You think so?”
I nodded.
He leaned over and softly kissed my lips. “Just for clarification, I haven’t been spoiling you. I was getting warmed up.”
“Oh—”
Someone knocked on Lewis’s window, startling me and interrupting our moment.
He chuckled and opened the door. My mouth fell open at who stood there.
Lewis got out of the truck and hugged the woman.
Her eyes keenly assessed me, then she disappeared around the truck with Lewis.
I remained with my mouth open until Lewis came around to my side and opened my door.
“Shyah, this is my mama, Navé. Mama, my girl.”
Lost for words, I got out of the truck and continued to stare. Navé, however, grabbed me and hugged me tightly. Her big smile and infectious giggle made me instantly comfortable. I hugged her back and smiled, too.
Leaning back, she took a once over of me and looked at her son. “Now I see why you were burnin’ up all that fuel.”
Lewis scoffed, and I burst out laughing.
“Lewis talks about you quite often, but he could’ve led with my mom is thee Navé Winston,” I said, still a little shocked. Navé starred in one of television’s highly acclaimed drama series. Her naturally stunning face and tall, elegant physique were everywhere.
Navé smacked her teeth. “He thinks telling people about me is going to somehow dim his shine—"
“Naw, now. Don’t lie to my girl,” Lewis interjected. “I wanted this to be a surprise. Plus, when’s the last time I introduced you to anyone?”
Navé thought for a second, then said, “You’re right.” She whirled on her heels and headed towards the house while I giggled and Lewis shook his head.
We followed his mother, and I was surely still a little stunned that this man stemmed from royalty.
“Shyah Winston,” I mumbled to myself as I stepped over the threshold of his abode. “It does have a nice ring to it.”
Lewis’s first display of spoiling me came in the form of a room full of roses, diamonds, and too many gift bags to count. Lewis would mess around and be stuck with me.