Niyah looked over at Bella with a desperate need to see her reaction to her fiancé and his leggy new accessory. A person could hear a mouse pissing on cotton when Bella pulled the dark glasses from her face and looked up at her man.
Donna burst into laughter while Niyah held her breath and waited for all hell to break loose. But to her surprise, Bella gestured toward two seats across from her and slid her glasses back on. “Look at this fool,” she muttered under her breath before letting her head fall to the table.
***
“Ready,” Xander announced, grabbing her overnight bag.
“About time,” Niyah muttered. She’d been waiting hours after that shit show of a breakfast for Xander to get ready. Avoiding Bella at her own event had become difficult. And had she not been extremely drunk the night before and hungover at breakfast, Niyah would have never been able to pull it off.
The way Bella had looked at her when she walked in on her and Naomi’s heated exchange could only lead to one conclusion: she was on to them. She may not have known everything, but she certainly suspected something. Maybe she had clocked Naomi’s secret. Either way, Niyah needed to get out of Indiana and back to the ME’s office. If nothing else, she needed to dot some I’s and cross some Ts.
Niyah looked around to make sure that she’d left the guest suite as close as possible to the way she’d found it. She and Xander left the room, took a few halls, rounded a few corners, descended a flight of stairs, and finally exited the enormous house.
Xander dropped his arm over her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Andrew is having someone pull the car around.”
“Okay.” Niyah slid her arm around his waist and did her best to pretend like she wasn’t struggling with anxiety. More than anything, she wanted to put some distance between her and Bella.
The sight of Lincoln’s expensive car pulling up was the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Xander opened the passenger door and closed it after tucking Niyah inside. She exhaled a sigh of relief when he walked around the car and got in. Unfortunately, the celebration ended before it began. When they locked eyes, Niyah felt a chill. Bella’s expression was downright accusatory. She walked over to the car. Niyah fixed a smile on her face and lowered the window.
“Hey!”
Bella leaned into the window and rested her arms on the windowsill. “Sneaking out without saying goodbye?”
Niyah chuckled, more nervous than she intended. “Girl, I figured you were still sleeping.”
Bella shook her head. “Nope. Wide awake. You headed back to the city?”
“Yeah. I gotta work tomorrow. When are you coming back?”
“Oh, I’ll be back tonight. I’m working.”
Xander leaned over and tapped Bella’s arm. “Hey, we’re gonna get on the road. Can you tell Lucas to give me a call later?”
Bella nodded. “Sure.” She stood upright and tapped the hood of the car. “Drive safe.” She turned and walked back into the house. Unfortunately, she left the chill behind.
CHAPTER 47
DONNA
Donna walked past a pickup truck and caught her reflection in the shiny, black paint. A pair of jeans two sizes too big, an oversized and over-washed sweater, a pair of dirty white Nikes, and a bonnet was the uniform of the day.
She walked over to a house in the middle of the block and stood at the entrance of the chain-link fence and waited for an invitation to approach the dilapidated porch. You would think she was waiting to see the president the way his weak-ass team of saggy-pants-wearing thugs guarded him while he had a conversation on the phone that was probably no more important than his next piece of ass.
The fat dope dealer ended his call and waved her over. Donna dug a twenty out of her pocket and walked over to the porch. “Lemme get two,” she requested.
The man in charge nodded his head toward a thinner man to his right. Donna gave him the twenty. He took the money and looked her up and down. “Man, you would be a ten if you wasn’t on that shit.”
“Mm-hm.” Donna licked her lips and wiped them with the back of her hand. “Can I get two?” she repeated.
Thin man pointed to the end of the block. “Around the corner.”
Donna left and walked to the corner. A whistle had her walking toward the strangest thing she’d seen in a long time. It was an Asian man selling dope on the west side. And he wasn’t selling weight, but tiny foil folded packs for the sole purpose of hand-to-hand transactions.
“Roy?” she questioned as she approached. The closer she got, the more she noticed his obvious African ancestry.
“Yeah, come here,” he told her.
Donna walked behind a house with him. “Kenzo said you had something for me?”
