“Okay! Okay!” her mother said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Come on, let’s eat. I think you’re just hangry.”
Naomi blew out a frustrated breath and grabbed a plate. Niyah followed suit. The sooner they ate, the sooner she could leave. She loved her mother, but she was insensitive and self-absorbed.
After fixing their plates, they sat down at the kitchen table. Niyah picked at her food. She wasn’t very hungry, and she certainly wasn’t in the mood for the bland German dish. Her mother, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying her dinner. Yet, she still managed an insult between bites. “Niyah, darling, how long do you plan to wear your hair like that? I mean thosedreadlocksjust look… Well, they look dirty.”
She said the word “dreadlocks” as if she were disgusted.
Niyah rolled her eyes. “This, coming from a dirty blonde with split ends,” she muttered.
“That was racist as fuck, Mom!” Naomi blurted out.
Niyah held out a hand to calm her sister and turned to her mother.
“My hair is my business. I happen to like myAfricanlocs.”
“Okay,” she chirped before shoving a forkful of food into her mouth. “But… you could totally pass if you didn’t wear your hair that way.”
Niyah frowned. “Why in the hell would I want to pass? I’m proud of being black and I want the world to know.”
Her mother rolled her eyes and shoved another forkful of food in her mouth.
Since she was young, her hair and how it was styled, had always been a contentious issue. Early on, her mother hadstruggled with her curls. And as soon as she became old enough, she’d taken Niyah to the nearest salon for a relaxer. She’d even gone beyond tempering their “blackness” through their hair. She and Naomi had always been encouraged to avoid the sun and even speak with a “Caucasian” pitch.
Niyah blew out a frustrated breath and wondered why she was even there. She never enjoyed dinner at her mother’s house. Probably because she didn’t much enjoy her mother. Yet, every month for some reason, she subjected herself to the woman’s ideals. And just like the months before, Niyah planned to eat fast, talk less, and leave immediately after. ?
CHAPTER 3
BELLADONNA
Bella pulled in front of the Willis Tower, which housed the Chicago headquarters for Creed Brothers Inc. Her cellphone rang as soon as she shifted into park. She fished her buzzing phone from between the seats of her old-school Chevy Caprice. It was a text from Lucas, her fiancé.
“Babe, got a thing at work. I’m gonna have to meet you there.”
Bella tossed the phone on the seat and took off for Alinea, the ridiculously high-priced restaurant for fine dining. It was located less than a mile from where she was, so it had only taken minutes for her to arrive.
Bella parked in front of the restaurant, grabbed her briefcase, and hopped out of the car. Instead of giving her keys to the valet, she stuffed them inside her pocket. She looked at the valet with a raised brow, daring anyone brave enough to tell her to move her squad car. He didn’t, so she entered the restaurant. Once inside, Bella looked around at the other patrons, then down at her black pantsuit, and quickly determined that she was extremely underdressed.
“Do you have a reservation?” a young hostess asked. Even though she was smiling, her tone was slightly snooty.
“I’m with the Creed dinner party, but I’m a little early.”
The blonde hostess, who was notably better dressed than Bella was, smiled and asked, “Would you like to wait at the bar?”
“That’ll be fine. Thank you.”
“Right this way,” she said, directing her to the fancy oak bar.
Bella took a seat on a barstool. She pulled out a folder and decided to use the extra time to go over some evidencein her current case. Over the years, she’d come across some bizarre murder cases, but a butt-naked gangbanger killed “Basic Instinct” style was noteworthy.
“Working so late?” the voice with a British accent caught her off guard.
Bella looked down at her watch. It was 7 o’clock, not too late for her to be working.
“Just a little light reading,” she countered, returning to her file.
“Wow, that’s positively gory,” he remarked.
Bella closed the folder and looked up at the man intent on conversation. Because of his English accent, she was a bit surprise to find he was Asian. He was also tall, very fit, and extremely well-dressed. The man was handsome, notLucas Creedhandsome, but close.
