“Yeah,” Niyah whispered. “Me too. And, what happened to you?”
“One minute, we were in a full-fledged shootout with an enemy that we could not see. The next, they retreated.”
Niyah looked up at Xander and sighed. “What the fuck is goin’ on?”
Xander looked around at the mess spread across his parents’ estate. “I don’t know, babe. All I got was Asian dude and Yakuza boss. Do you have more?”
“Umm… Well, there’s a woman. Apparently, Lucas and the Asian man believed she was dead.”
“Oh, damn.”
“Yeah. Whoever she is, she wielded enough power to make the man fall back.”
Xander pointed to the helicopter. “Who are they here for?”
Niyah held on to him a little tighter. “Taylor’s dad was shot in the chest.”
“Oh, God, no!” Xander gasped “Is he gonna be okay?”
Niyah sighed. “No.” She looked up at him with sad eyes. “He won’t make it to the hospital.”
TAYLOR
Taylor stepped out of the bathroom and walked into the plush bedroom of the Skyline Suite located in The Hyatt Regency McCormick Pace. She tucked her towel and walked around the king-sized bed. To no surprise at all, she found Victor sitting on the floor heavily engaged in Call of Duty. For the last six hours, he’d been trying to find a quiet place to decompress. Finally, Taylor had decided to send for a PlayStation 5 and kick everyone out to the bedroom portion of the spacious suite. “Hey, baby, how ya holding up?”
“I’m all right. According to all the folks in suits, I’m doing pretty good.” He looked up with a grin. “I might win Cali.”Niyah chuckled. “Get the fuck outta here!” She grabbed a pair of footies and a jar of Vaseline. “You ain’t flipping liberal-ass California.”
Victor raised a brow. “It’s looking like I might.”
Taylor felt the wrinkle of her brow.
Victor chuckled. “What do you think pushed over with the California democrats? My Harley-riding wife or the sex tape?”
Taylor popped him in the back of the head. “Shut up, Mr. President.”
Victor paused the game and looked up at her. “We might win.”
The sadness in his eyes nearly broke Taylor’s heart. She’d always suspected Victor was working so hard to fulfill a dream that was never his, but his father’s. She smiled and ran her fingers through his dark strands. “Of course, you’re gonna. It’s what you do.”
Victor grinned. “I do have a terrible habit of succeeding,” he joked. “By the way, Samatha left that for you.” Hanging on the bathroom door was a blue pencil dress with a puritan collar.Taylor rolled her eyes and blew out a frustrated breath. “That chick ain’t going to the White House with us.”
Victor laughed. “Nah, I didn’t think that she would be.”
Taylor found her cellular phone by the pillow and touched the screen to call her assistant. “Yes, Mrs. Creed?”
“Kim, hi. I need you to do a few things for me.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“First, I need you to fire Samantha. Second, I need you to go to the Storm Tower apartment and grab me something to wear on the big stage.”
Kimberly giggled. “Ma’ am, I can’t fire your stylist. I’m just an intern.”
“Oh, that brings me to my third request. You’ve been doing a great job. So, now, you’ll be my chief of staff.”
Taylor heard the sigh on the other end of the call.
“Ma'am--”
