“Now that’s the Addy I want to hear. Positive and driven.” She patted my hand for emphasis. “Let’s make today our bitch.”
“You got it, sister!” I chuckled. “Now tell me what all that flirting was with Ryan. He’s exactly your type and you cannot deny it.”
“Because he’s white?” she challenged.
“Because he’s hot and doesn’t take any of your lip. And yeah, he’s white. When was the last time you dated a brother?”
She fluffed her hair and rubbed her glossy red lips together. “Can’t say that I recall.”
“Mmm hmm. That’s because you stopped dating them back in high school. It’s not my first day being your sister or your best friend, woman. So why did you blow him off? It was obvious he was interested.”
Blessing made a show of digging through her purse. “He’s law enforcement.”
“FBI. A little different than a cop. And what is it you have against cops anyway?”
Her face went expressionless. “A black woman with a daddy who’s in a gang and whose mother was murdered in gang retaliation does not need to be hopping into a bed with a man of the law. It just won’t work. We’re from two different planets.”
“It’s not like you see your father, right?”
She looked away and out the window avoiding my question.
“Blessing, you don’t see Tyrell, do you?”
She shrugged. “We’re in touch.”
“Bless…” My heart started to pound in my chest, and I reached for her thigh. “Tell me you’re not seeing your father. You know that’s not smart.”
“He’s my only living connection to my mother.” She lifted her chin in a regal attempt to throw me off.
I opened my mouth to object, but she lifted a finger as though she were pointing to the sky, but I knew it was a warning. She was about to get wicked with her tongue and say a bunch of crap she’d regret if I didn’t curtail this discussion.
“Don’t you even start with me, Addy. I do not have the time or the mental headspace to go down this rabbit hole with you. Let’s just let sleeping dogs lie, shall we? My business with my father is my business. Not yours. And I don’t want you tattling to Mama Kerri about this either.”
“There’s a reason why you were raised outside of that life, Blessing.”
“And I don’t need to be reminded of that fact seeing as it was me at ten years old that found my dead mother with her throat slit after having been beaten black and blue and raped.”
I closed my eyes and shivered.
“Now it’s on to bigger and better things. Remember?” she commanded.
“But…”
“Leave it, Addy. I mean it. I am in no mood to discuss this further. My personal business is mine to share or not, and I am not talking about my father or his dealings or my relationship to him.”
“So, you admit to having a relationship with him?” I covered my pounding heart with my hand.
She groaned under her breath. “Enough,” she warned, and I knew I wasn’t going to get any more out of her.
“Fine. But I reserve the right to bring up this conversation at another time, preferably over a great meal and a bottle or two of wine.”
Blessing nodded curtly. “Deal.” Then she pulled out a file from the briefcase she had at her feet. “Here are the full designs for the project.” She opened the file, and a myriad of delicate-looking lingerie pieces were laid out in a series of pictures.
I traced the lace edges of one design. “These are breathtaking, Blessing.”
“Some of my best work. Beautiful lingerie for my curvy girls, not that it wouldn’t look stellar on any size. Look at the scallop along that panty line.” She pointed to an eggplant purple set. “What woman wouldn’t want her booty looking like it’s edged with flower petals?”
“Stunning. And this color will photograph well against my skin tone.”
“Mmm hmm. My thoughts exactly. Have that long glorious hair trailing down your bare back, showing that scalloped edge on that fine ass of yours. Girl…I’m gonna be selling like hotcakes.”
I grinned wide, loving that she believed my body would be the magic bullet to sell her designs.
“I’ll do my best.”
She bumped my shoulder. “You’ll be perfect, Addy. I have no doubts.”
“Show me the rest, and while you do, I’ll tell you about the encounter between Omar the hulking bodyguard and Liliana.”
Her coal-black eyebrows rose up toward her hairline. “Damn, sounds like I missed something juicy.”
I grinned wide. “You did. She could barely speak when she saw him. And he was no better. Looked at her like a dying man walking through the desert in search of a drink and she was a fat glass of water.”
“Oh hell.” She rubbed her hands together, settling into my gossip. “Tell me more.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“All right, ladies. It’s obvious the two of you are used to doing your own thing, but my company was hired to protect you and that’s what we’re going to do,” the driver of our car stated in an authoritative tone, his gaze still on the road ahead.
I felt Blessing jerk and sit up straighter. “Since I hired you, I sure as hell hope you’re going to do the job I’m paying you to do.” Blessing gave attitude as the dark-haired driver made his way into a strangely obscure underground parking area attached to a ten-story brick and mortar building. It was massive and off the beaten path with a view of Lake Michigan on one side, the city on the other. If I was a betting woman, which I was not—my money was hard-earned and I liked it safely in my bank account—I’d say it was an old factory from back in the day that had been refurbished into lofts.
The cars however in the underground garage were all top of the line. Audi. BMW. Porsche. Tesla and Mercedes to name a few that we’d passed by before the driver pulled directly in front of the underground elevator, using the single handicap-accessible spot. Not cool.
He turned around and faced us both while his counterpart seemed to scan the area vigilantly. His light eyes were blazing with frustration.
“Look, you hired me, but it should have been a contract with the FBI. I don’t know why or how you escaped out from under their radar, but it’s possible this may be the only day we guard you. I looked up your history and saw the news. You, little miss,” he pointed at me accusingly, “are in some deep shit. I promise no blowback with my services and that everyone—client and guard—goes home at the end of the day. Hear me?”
I nodded numbly but thought he had a really handsome face with that sandy brown hair and light eyes, not to mention a sexy growl of a voice. And yet he was still scary mad and I personally wouldn’t want to anger him further.
He pointed at Blessing. “You didn’t say shit about having a serial killer after you. You just hired my company to watch over a bunch of women. Not even so much as giving me the lowdown about the paparazzi we’d see this morning, nor the fact that you’re connected to the fuckin’ Senator of Illinois.” His voice rose and I strained my head back to get a little more space in the car, but found none. He kept going in that pissed as hell tone. “The lack of information stops here. As we head up to Mr. Fitzpatrick’s loft, I want all the details. Then I’ll determine if it’s safe enough to leave one man here or if I should call for reinforcements. Already I have only one guy on three separate women. If I’d known this was more serious, I would have had one per person.”