Games Divas Play (A Diva Mystery Novel) (30 page)

“Ease up, man. We just wanted to congratulate you on your MVP,” DJ said sarc
astically.

“Really?” Marcus said, looking DJ up and down. “Maybe next year you’ll get to play and you’ll have a shot. But in the meantime, I asked what the hell are you do
ing here?”

“Hello, Marcus,” I said, drawing my lover’s name out like a silken caress and refusing to acknowledge Vanessa. “So good to see you again. Thanks for the in
vitation.”

“Laila, you have to leave. I don’t want you here,” Marcus said. His words cut into my heart, but I knew they were just for Vanessa’s benefit. What else cou
ld he say?

“I’m sure you don’t mean that, Marcus,” I said. I wanted to reach out and touch him and let him know that I forgave him for what he said yesterday. I knew he just said those things because of Vanessa being pregnant. He really didn’t want to be with her; he wanted to be with me. I fingered the large pear-shaped diamond pendant hanging around my neck that Marcus had given me for my birthday. I knew he remembered the
necklace.

“You must leave now,” Vanessa said through pinched lips, refusing to be ignored at her own event by her husband’s former mistress. Her hands were now clutched in the folds of the heavy sequined fabric of her long dress. Her friend Nia, dressed in a one-shoulder black gown, appeared at her side and whispered in her ear, trying to pull
her away.

“Really, Vanessa?” I said haughtily. “And who’s going to make
us leave?”

I couldn’t stand to look at her or Nia. I hated them both. I couldn’t stand the thought that Vanessa was carrying Marcus’s child. That should be our baby. I ignored her, flipping my hair back over my shoulder, and then I tur
ned to DJ.

Vanessa and Nia turned to look for the event’s organizer who stood outside the circle, whispering desperately into a walkie-talkie to call up security. Fortunately, Darryl had taken care of that by giving the two guards in the lobby enough to share with the other Biltmore rent-a-cops. What I didn’t see was Marcus’s private security detail that Darryl wouldn’t have been able to convince to take an extended break. Maybe they were in the back, assisting with security for Jo
hn Legend.

“Don’t be mad at me, baby. We just wanted to support your event,” I said, stroking DJ’s arm and turning my attention back to Marcus. I saw Vanessa’s body tense when I called her husband “baby” right in front of her. But she needed to learn even if it was the hard way. Marcus was my baby. Not hers. They were the past, and I was going to be his future, baby o
r no baby.

If I could just get him to look at me. His steely gaze was locked on DJ just like when they were on the court. But I needed Marcus to look into my eyes so that he could see that I still loved him. I still wanted him just as much as he wanted me. He had to look at me and see that I could wait. I could wait for Vanessa to have the baby, and then we could go back to the way things were. I needed to break through the arctic chill I saw in his eyes. He refused to look at me with Vanessa standing right ne
xt to him.

But like crazy-ass Glenn Close said in
Fatal Attraction
, I wasn’t going to b
e ignored.

“DJ, didn’t you say you wanted to make a donation to Marcus’s little charity?” I said. I was hoping this young boy was bright enough to pick up on my cue. He hesitated for just a moment, looked at me quizzically, and then snapped his fingers twice at one of his boys who immediately produced a large ball of cash and handed
it to him.

“Yeah, Laila, baby,” DJ said, his lips curled into a sardonic twist as he unfolded the thick ball of cash his boy handed to him. “You’re right, I wanted to give something for the kids.” And with that, just like he and his boys liked to do in the strip club, DJ began to flick the bills in a rolling motion into the air, making it rain hundred-dollar bills down on Marcus and Vanessa. DJ’s boys erupted into howls of deep
laughter.

“Yo, son, you gon’ make him dance for that shit,” one of DJ’s boys quipped as he doubled over and guffaw
ed loudly.

“Nah, man, but maybe his little wifey wants to shake that ass for some of daddy’s cash,” DJ said as he looked Vanessa up and down, daring Marcus to do something. The rain of money continued to fall arrogantly down onto the couple as if in sl
ow motion.

Suddenly Marcus snapped and lunged at DJ, throwing a punch that landed right on his nose. Blood gushed out of his nose, and the ballroom erupted in screams and shouts as the sounds of chairs being overturned and glass breaking filled the air. DJ wiped the blood from his face, spit onto the ballroom floor, and then drew back and punched Marcus. Then the two men were locked with their arms swinging, trying to land blows. The Glam Network camera crew was jostled back, and they tried to regain their footing to continue shooting. As DJ’s boys prepared to jump in, some of Marcus’s teammates jumped up from their tables and rushed ove
r to help.

Nia and the party organizer tried to extricate Vanessa from the growing swarm of people as she screamed for Marcus to stop fighting. A wall of black-suited bodies bumped into me, knocking me onto the carpeted floor of the ballroom. As I quickly got up on my knees to avoid being trampled by the growing crowd of fighting men, I saw Nia trying to lead a tearful, screaming Vanessa away from
the crowd.

“Marcus! Marcus!” Vanessa’s arms flailed in the air to grab her husband from the escalating brawl. The sound of her voice screeched in my ears like nails on a chalkboard. This was all her fault as far as I was concerned. Before Nia could get her friend away from the crowd and safely on the other side of the room, I lunged and grabbed onto the end of Vanessa’s dress and jerked as hard as I could on the end of the gown. Vanessa flew backward onto the floor, losing her grip on Nia’s hand. I backed out of the crowd and knelt under the skirt of the table. I lifted the linen fabric and could see that Vanessa was down on the ground. Her sequined form was soon swallowed up by the fighting men stampeding to get at one another. They couldn’t see or hear the woman screaming on the floor between their legs. The tangle of legs and shoes swarmed around her as she curled her body into a tight ball, trying to shield he
r stomach.

“Vanessa!
Vanessa!”

Nia jumped up and down as she screamed for Vanessa. I could see the sheer panic and fear in her eyes as she tried to break into the crowd of bodies to reach h
er friend.

As the mass of fighting bodies shifted deeper into the ballroom, I began to crawl out from under the table. Just as I stood up, someone stepped on the plume of netting on the back of my skirt, ripping it off. Suddenly I felt a pair of strong arms lifting me up and back onto my feet. I pushed my tangle of hair off my face and turned around, hoping to see Marcus. But it w
as Darryl.

The swarm of fighting bodies had grown to over twenty people. The Mardi Gras decorations crashed to the floor as streams of screaming guests tried to make their way out of the ballroom, tripping and falling over one another. As I steadied myself on my feet, I could see over the top of Darryl’s head that Marcus’s private security guards, Tyson and Bruce, were quickly bounding across the tops of the tables to get to their boss. As they reached the edge of the crowd, they dove into the middle of the fray. Bruce head-butted his way through two fights and then smashed his elbow into the throat of one of DJ’s boys as he made his way to Marcus who was still wrestling with DJ. Tyson threw four quick punches, blowing back a couple of the fighters so that he could get down to the ground and the ball of red sequins on the floor. He came up holding Vanessa’s limp body in his arms. Putting his head down, he rammed his way back out of the crowd, moving quickly out to the entrance where I could hear the wail of police sirens and p
aramedics.

“We gotta get out of here,” Darryl yelled as he quickly turned and pushed through the crowd of onlookers, leading me away from the fight as the cameras continue
d to roll.

CHAPTER 25

Nia

T
he taxi pulled up in front of the Ritz-Carlton. The valet opened the door and tipped his hat as I paid the driver and exited into the crisp predawn morning. I carried my shoes in one hand and tried to hold close what used to be a modest split up the front of my black J. Mendel silk dress; it was now ripped open to the tops of my thighs as I dragged myself into the lobby of the hotel. The tile floor felt cool to my bare tired feet. Dark sunglasses shielded my bloodshot eyes and runn
y mascara.

I knew I must have looked crazy to the hotel staff, scurrying around the lobby in the early-morning hours, but since it was All-Star weekend, I’m sure they had seen worse. As I made my way to the elevators, I passed a man wearing dark jeans and a white linen shirt who was sleeping in a chair next to a potted
palm tree.

“Terrence?” I said quizzically, wondering what he was doing sleeping in the lobby of my hotel. The sound of my voice stirred him from his sleep, and he jumped up from
the chair.

“Oh my God, Nia, where have you been?” he barked with concern in his eyes as he grabbed my bruised shoulders and took in my torn dress. I recoiled in pain, and as I reached up to rub my aching shoulder, my dress
flew open.

“Terrence, what do you want?” I said. I was bone tired and not in the mood for any more drama. I closed the opening of my dress and pushed the button for the
elevator.

“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you for hours.” He followed me onto the waiting elevator. “I heard about the brawl on the news, but when I went over there, I couldn’t find you. No one could tell me where you were. I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. When you insisted on going to the party after leaving Sean’s apartment, I knew it wasn’t a g
ood idea!”

“Terrence, can’t we do this another time? I’m exhausted.” I pushed the button for the twenty-eighth floor and the elevator doors closed. I hadn’t wanted to go to the gala, either, but I had promised Vanessa I would
be there.

“No, this can’t wait, Nia. I was worried sick about you! What happened?” His warm hand reached out to caress my sore shoulder, but I jerked away from his touch again. After what I had seen tonight at the hospital, I just wasn’t in the mood for any more drama. And complicated relationships cause nothing
but drama.

“In case you don’t remember the last time I saw you, you were getting attacked in Sean’s apartment by someone tied to one of the most vicious drug cartels in the country. How do I know he didn’t come back for you at t
he party?”

“Look, Terrence, no one tried to kill me at the party,” I said dismissively, walking off the elevator when the doors opened for my floor. “Shouldn’t you be with your fiancée anyway? What are you even doing here at my hotel? Shouldn’t you be
with her?”

“Maybe I don’t want to be with her.” His response stopped me in my tracks as I started to make my way down th
e hallway.

“Really?” I snorted, sick of the game we had been playing for months. “Go home to your fiancée, Terrence. Leave me alone.” I turned away as a single tear slid down my face behind my sunglasses. My nerves were brittle, and my emotions raw. The last thing I wanted was for him to see me crying. After what I had just witnessed at the hospital, I couldn’t handle another emotional conf
rontation.

In front of my door, I reached into my clutch and pulled out my room key, causing my cell phone to tumble onto the floor. Before I could stop him, Terrence bent down to pick up the buzzing phone. I knew before I saw it that it was another incoming text from Eric. He had been texting me all night, checking in with me after hearing about the fight on
the news.

I’m glad ur OK. Get some sleep. Cal
l U later.

Terrence handed me the phone. I could tell he saw th
e message.

“Glad to see someone knows that you’re OK,” he snapped sarc
astically.

“Whatever, Terrence,” I said with a sigh. “Who I text and who I talk to isn’t any of your business.” I shoved the phone back in my bag and opened the door to my room. I turned to say good night and to close the door, but he followed me into
the room.

“Well, come on in,” I said. It was my turn to be sarcastic. I followed him into the living room area of my small one-room suite and tossed my shoes and bag on the chair. I really wanted to take off the tight dress, which I felt like I’d been wearing for t
hree days.

“What do you want, Terrence?” I asked again as I walked over to the large windows and opened the curtains. The view overlooked the hotel courtyard, which was full of desert flowers. There was a lone swimmer in the lap pool. The sun continued to rise in the early-mo
rning sky.

“I want to know that you’re OK. I need to know that y
ou’re OK.”

“I’m fine, Terrence,” I said, my voice sounding high and shrill in my own ears. The evening’s events whirled around in my head. I couldn’t stop the tears this time. Terrence led me over to the sofa as I sobbed, and he cradled me in his arms. I rested my head against his chest and cried from the depths of my soul for my best friend and the baby she
had lost.

When I caught my breath, I told Terrence what happened—Laila, DJ, the camera crew, the fight. I shuddered as I recalled seeing Vanessa trampled by the fighting crowd and not being able to reach her. Tyson had gotten Vanessa out to the paramedics while Bruce had freed Marcus from the brawl and got him to the ambulance. I jumped in a cab and followed them to the hospital, but it was too late. There was nothing the doctors could do. I stood in the hallway of the hospital room and heard Vanessa scream when the doctor told her the news. I saw Marcus hold on to his broken wife as they both cried and mourned the loss of the baby they had already com
e to love.

“It was my fault Vanessa lost the baby,” I mumbled. “If I hadn’t let go of her h
and . . .”

“No, it wasn’t,” Terrence said, lifting my chin and looking into my eyes. “Look at me, Nia. It wasn’t your fault. There’s nothing you could have done.” He held me as I cried, rocking me in
his arms.

I felt the heat from his body. His hand came up and stroke
d my hair.

“Don’t do that, Terrence,” I said huskily. I couldn’t think when he touched me. Despite my tiredness, I could feel the electricity b
etween us.

“Why not, Nia?” He continued to stroke my arms. I could feel his warm breath in my hair as he sigh
ed deeply.

“Because you have a fiancée. Did you forget a
bout her?”

“I can’t forget about you, Nia. As much as I want to, I can’t. And I told Vivica that tonight after we got into a huge fight when I told her I had to leave to find out if you were a
ll right.”

“Look, no one asked you to check on me. You don’t need to check up on me,” I choked out as I tried to pull away from him. “Now go back to your fiancée. I’m sure you can patch t
hings up.”

“I don’t want to patch things up. I want you. I always wanted you.” Then Terrence’s lips were on mine, kissing me softly yet insistently. His mouth was sweet, warm, and wet. Heat raced through my veins. My fingers danced across the front of his shirt, making a path toward his taut stomach. Reaching under the shirt, I felt his smooth hot skin as he moaned into my mouth. My fingers lingered around his belt buckle, and I could feel him starting to surg
e to life.

Suddenly he pulled awa
y from me.

“We shouldn’t be doing this, Nia. You’re tired. You’re emotional. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret in the
morning.”

“It’s already morning, Terrence. No more regrets,” I said as I rained kisses along his neck. There would be no turning back
this time.

“Nia . . . ,” he groaned into my ear as his lips and teeth nibbled at my earlobe. His hands cupped my breasts through the silken fabric of my gown. His thumb played across my hardening nipple, teasing me with spikes of pleasure and causing me to arch forward into his hands, craving his mouth on my body. He slid the single shoulder strap of the gown off my shoulder and unzipped
the dress.

Emboldened, I pushed away and stood up in front of him. Staring into eyes full of hunger and passion, I shimmied the dress down around my hips and let the fabric fall into a pool of silk around my feet. Standing in front of him with a hand on my hip, I let him take in the view of my black lace demi-cut strapless bra and wisp of a matching thong. Turning around, I bent over in front of him to pick up
my dress.

“You’re not playing fair,” he said huskily, reaching out to caress my bare f
ull cheek.

“I know.” I took his hand and led him into the bedroom. The curtains were closed, so the room was still dim. I pushed him down onto the crisp white duvet. His dark skin gleamed against the stark white bedding. I stood between his legs, muscled thighs that strained against his jeans, unbuttoned his linen shirt, and pushed it off his broad muscled shoulders. His chest was tight and hard. He was so
damn sexy.

“You know I love you, Nia,” he said, cupping my face and pulling my mouth down to his. He nibbled at my lips and then plunged his slippery tongue into my waiting mouth. He pulled his mouth away
from mine.

“Nia, I love you,” he said again, looking deep into my eyes as his hand stroked the side of my face. I let my guard down, relaxing into his embrace, and released the words I’d never thought I’d ever say to him again. There was no need to hold back e
ver again.

“I love you, too, Terrence,” I whispered as a single tear fell onto his chest. “But so much has happ
ened . . .

“When I saw you after you got shot lying in that hospital bed, I knew I couldn’t stand the thought of going through that again. Not knowing if you were going to live or die, so I begged you to come to LA with me, hoping that would keep you safe.” The memory of seeing him lying in that hospital bed, hooked up to machines and going in and out of surgery, caused me to shiver. It had been the scariest forty-eight hours of my life. The decision to leave had been so hard, but I knew I had to pursue my dreams and couldn’t bear watching him go out into those dangerous streets night after night, not knowing if he was going to come b
ack to me.

“Baby, I’m sorry you had to go through that. But I’m OK. Nothing is ever going to happen to me. None of that matters. We’re both in New York now, and nothing is going to keep
us apart.”

“But what about Vivica?” I said, afraid of h
is answer.

“Like I said, when I told her last night that I had to find you, she knew before I was even willing to admit to myself that I was still in love with you. At first I tried to deny it, but it
was true.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was it possible that we had found our way back to each other after all of th
ese years?

“We can figure this out. I know we can, Nia. We both love each other, and that’s the only thing that
matters.”

His lips were suddenly on my mouth again as he flipped me over onto the bed, and I felt his delicious weight on top of my body. I raked my nails along his muscled back and opened my legs to wrap around his waist, pulling him into me even more deeply. I reached in between us to undo his belt buckle and open his pants. I held him, feeling him grow and surge in my hand, and heard him moan with pleasure at
my touch.

As I massaged him, the warm wetness of his tongue licked hungrily along my neck. I moaned in disappointment as he slipped out of my hand. My back arched as he made his way down to my breasts, which were straining against the cups of my bra for his touch. I was so hungry for him, and he sensed my i
mpatience.

“Relax, baby,” he said with a deep moan as he pushed me gently back down into the soft, cool folds of the bed. “We’ve got all day. And I want to taste and enjoy every inch of you.” My body tingled with anticipation as I felt warm silkiness between
my thighs.

While one hand skimmed along the edges of the delicate lace bra, his other wandered slowly down the curves of my body along my hips and thighs and then back up along my arm. His hand caressed the side of my face as his thumb stroked my lower lip. I sighed deeply and opened my mouth and sucked lightly on it, giving him a promise of the warm wetness that wa
s to come.

My body was on fire, but I knew he was intent on taking his time
as our bodies got reacquainted. I could feel the pulsating weight between
his legs pressing urgently into the middle of my thigh as he slid down my body. My hands caressed the short dark hairs on
his head.

His tongue lapped warm wet circles along my bra as he teased me with his mouth. I grabbed his shoulders until he finally opened the delicate diamond clasp. Just as my breasts spilled out of the cups, he traced his tongue across my erect nipples, which had been craving his touch. His lips sucked and pulled gently on one as his fingers tugged and pinched lightly at the other. It was exquisit
e torture.

Suddenly he kissed me again, more urgently this time as his hips thrust into mine. The silkiness between my legs turned into a throbbing ache as I felt him straining against his jeans to
get to me.

“Maybe the wait’s not going to be as long as you think,” I said softly, joking as I pressed my warm wetness into him. He laughed throatily as he slid down my body, his mouth stopping again to rain strokes of his tongue along my breasts to my smooth stomach. I tried to control the quiver I felt in my legs as his hot breath moved along my belly button to the waistband of
my thong.