Games Divas Play (A Diva Mystery Novel) (33 page)

CHAPTER 29

Vanessa

A
fter I put Damon down for his afternoon nap, I headed into the master bathroom to run a hot bath. My aching muscles, still sore from yoga that morning, called out for a warm soak. As I started to fill the large Jacuzzi in the center of the master bathroom, I sprinkled in some lavender bath salts and then dimmed the lights. I pushed some buttons on the iPod dock, and the sounds of Jill Scott filled
the room.

I was beyond tired. It had been a long day already and an even longer week. Going to counseling with Marcus three times a week was intense and draining. But unlike in the past when I had begged him to go and he had just sat on the couch saying whatever he thought I wanted to hear, this time he was the one who had found Dr. Gordon, a gentle and well-respected marriage counselor in Midtown. And this time he was fully engaged, searching for answers for his behavior and holding himself accountable. The sessions delved into the challenges in our marriage and the loss of our baby since that was something with which we were both still dealing. Marcus had also requested some solo sessions with Dr. Gordon, which was encouraging. I knew he needed to work through his issues of Kareem’s
betrayal.

One of the other things we discussed was the new reality show deal with Glam Network. Marcus had been surprised that I had expressed an interest in doing something so public, especially with the network that had been promoting Laila’s show. I explained to him that by doing the show, we could effectively kill Laila’s show and all the talk about their relationship. At first, Dr. Gordon didn’t think it was a good idea for us to be entering into such an arrangement, but when I explained to her that I really wanted to use this show as a platform to build awareness for our family foundation and show people how hard we were working on our relationship, she agreed that it could be good for us. Of course, I hadn’t mentioned that I also wanted to show the world that Laila hadn’t gotten the best of me, but no need to tell the therapist that litt
le nugget.

Dropping my jeans and T-shirt on the floor, I stepped out of my bra and panties. I groaned in appreciation as I slipped into the warm bath and leaned back on the terry cloth pillow attached to the back o
f the tub.

Shit, I thought as I sat up in the tub, I forgot to put my hair up. Too late now. The steam was already doing its magic. I settled back against the pillow and close
d my eyes.

“All I need now is a glass of wine.” I chuckled
to myself.

“Are you sure that’s all you need?” Marcus’s deep voice startled me. Dressed in black jeans, a camel sports coat, and a black turtleneck, he looke
d so good.

“Oh, hi. I didn’t hear you come in.” I swirled the water around in the tub, suddenly feeling vulnerable and wishing I’d put in some bubble bath so that I’d at least have the bubbles to h
ide under.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked. Dr. Gordon had been encouraging us to explore some intimate moments with each other, but anything we had done since returning from Phoenix a month ago had fallen flat and felt tense. After everything we had been through, we felt awkward with each other. But I knew we had to break through this barrier if we were really going to have a shot at saving our
marriage.

“There’s more than enough room,” I said, sweeping my fingers across the water. The tub could probably hold four people. As he began to take off his clothes, I pretended to look away. He took off his jacket and tossed it onto the chair next to my vanity. He lifted the cashmere turtleneck over his head, and I watched in the mirror how the muscles
in his arms and chest rippled. Before I could blink, his pants and underwear
had dropped to the floor. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the pillow. The water was about to get a l
ot hotter.

As I felt him lower himself into the other end of the tub, the water rose to cover the tops of my breasts. Even though the tub was large, it wasn’t long enough for his legs to stretch out, so he bent them at the knees, placing a foot on either side of
my thighs.

“The water feels good,” Marcus said as he moaned and leaned his head back against the other end of the tub. “But you know what would feel eve
n better?”

“What?”

“If you wou
ld come over here and let me hold you,” he said in a husky whisper that had a hint of vulnerability. I hesitated for a moment but then turned around and slid across the tub into his arms and be
tween his legs. My back relaxed against his muscled chest as his arms wrapped
around me.

We both reclined in the water, listening to the music, our eyes closed. Marcus’s arms stroked my arms lazily in the water as he planted soft kisses on the top o
f my head.

“Thank you, Vanessa,” Ma
rcus said.

“For what?” I asked, relaxing deeper into his embrace, seduced by the smell of the lavender, Jill’s voice, and the w
arm water.

“For this. For us. For everything.” His hands suddenly lifted me up and turned me around to face him. He pulled my mouth down to his as his other arm encircled my waist, keeping our bodies pressed together in the warm water. My tongue hungrily danced around his as I tasted crisp peppermint and a hint of coffee in his warm
wet mouth.

I could feel him swelling beneath me as he pressed my body into his and began to kiss me again. One of his hands tangled in my hair as he held my mouth firmly on his. He kissed me deeply as if he wanted to taste every corner. I kissed him back just as passionately and ground my hips
into his.

Suddenly, a voice we both loved could be heard outside
the door.

“Mommy, are you in there? I’m hungry.” Marcus and I both laughed at the sound of our son’s voice interrupting our l
ovemaking.

“We’ll continue this later,” I said as I took one last nibble on Marcus’s lower lip before stepping out of the tub and wrapping my wet body in the large peach bath sheet hanging on
the wall.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Marcus said with a frustrated chuckle as he sank deeper into
the water.

“You better,” I tossed over my shoulder as I turned the knob to let our son into the
bathroom.

CHAPTER 30

Laila

T
he small chrome gun felt light in my hands as I raised it and aimed the muzzle at the man seated in my li
ving room.

“What are you doing, Laila?” Darryl exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. “Are you crazy? You don’t point a loaded gun unless you plan t
o use it.”

“Maybe I am planning to use it,” I retorted as I lowered the weapon and turned the gun over, inspecting it closely. Darryl walked over to me and took the gun away, ejecting the
magazine.

“I’ll put that back in when you’re ready to leave,” he said sarcastically as he sat back down in
the chair.

“What are you so scared of? You know I’d never hurt you.” I walked over to Darryl and, sitting on his lap, h
ugged him.

“Yeah, but there are lots of people who have gotten their heads blown off because someone was playing around. I don’t play with guns. Now, what time are you meetin
g Kareem?”

“He told me to meet him at six o’clock,” I said as I hopped off his lap and went over to the bar to mix mysel
f a drink.

“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Dar
ryl asked.

“I’ll be fine. Besides, we can’t hide you in the closet again if he’s already there. I’ll have your little friend with me. You can put the gun over there with my purse and my tre
nch coat.”

I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use the gun tonight but was prepared if I did. I had been glad to finally hear from him. We had a lot to talk about, and from the tone in his messages, it seemed like he wanted to pick up where we had left off. He was going to have to agree to do things my way or suffer the unfortunate consequences. That had been the order that had come down. But I was hoping there was still a way for me to get what I wanted, and I was determined that Kareem was going t
o help me.

CHAPTER 31

Vanessa

A
s the three of us left the small Italian restaurant, we saw that a large crowd had gathered outside. Fans cheered for Marcus and snapped photos with their cell phones and clamored for autographs. Going out for an early dinner before Marcus headed to practice had been a last-minute decision, so we hadn’t brought Tyson and Bruce. After signing a few autographs for fans counting on Marcus to take the Gladiators to the championship, he ducked into the waiting SUV and slid in next to Damon and me. Alex pulled slowly away from the curb of chee
ring fans.

Damon chatted excitedly with his dad on the way home as the car made its way back
downtown.

“Can I wait up for you tonight, Daddy?” Damon asked, hoping his father would let him skip his strict seven thirty bedtime to play some more video games. Marcus and I looked at each other and smiled over our son’s head, both thinking about the promise we had made to each other to pick up where we left off in the bathroom earlier this
afternoon.

“Not tonight, little man,” Marcus said. “You’ve got a big day at school tomorrow, so you’ve got to go
to sleep.”

“Can’t I just stay up this one time, please?” he begged, looking up at his father. I knew it was my turn to be bad cop, and I was more than happy to do so since I had plans for his father later on. I told him that his father had said no and that he could stay up late another night or I would even take him to practice one night. He seemed to like that idea and settled back into his seat for the rest of the short
ride home.

Once we were home, Marcus changed his clothes quickly so that he could head out the door for the special late-night practice. It was unusual for the team to practice in the evenings, but with the championship within reach, Marcus said the coach wanted them to run some new plays and sharpen thei
r defense.

“Promise you’ll wait up for me,” Marcus said as he leaned over and kissed me while I stood in the kitchen making Damon’s lunch f
or school.

“Promise me you won’t sap all your energy on the court tonight and that you’ll have enough for me later,” I said, popping one of the strawberries into his mouth that I was cutting up to put in a san
dwich bag.

“You know I will,” he said as he smiled. The door closed behind him. I finished preparing Damon’s lunch and then walked to his bedroom to ask Nicole to get him ready for
his bath.

“You can leave as soon as you’re done, Nicole,” I said, eager to have the apartment to myself so that I could set the mood for Marcus
’s return.

A few minutes later the intercom buzzed, announcing that we had a visitor. The doorman said Alex, our driver, needed to drop something off. I told him to send him up and opened the door to await hi
s arrival.

“Hi, Mrs. King,” Alex said as he came off the elevator and approached the door.
“Sorry, to disturb you, but I think Mr. King left his phone in the car when I dropped him off at practice, so I wanted to leave it here in case he needed it
tonight.”

“Yep, that’s his phone. Thank you, Alex,” I said, taking the BlackBerry from him and closing the door behind him. As I walked down the hallway, the phone vibrated with an incoming text. Before I could stop myself, I looked down at the phone to see who the message was from. As the initials LJ popped up on the screen, I felt my legs give out, and I crumpled onto the floor in the hallway. La
ila James.

Suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. My face flushed hot with blinding rage, and my hands were shaking as I tried to push the buttons to pull up th
e message.

See you soon, baby. Wet and r
eady . . .

As I pulled up the screen to show their entire exchange, I banged my head against the wall. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have believed him? I could see it had all been a lie as I read their entire exchange, which had started while we were all together
at dinner:

LJ:
Me so horny. S
ee U soon?

Marcus:
Yes. Can’t wait. Trying to
get away.

LJ:
Where?

Marcus:
Four Seasons. Our suite. 6:00. Be rea
dy for me.

LJ:
Always ready for U. Luv U! Been to
oooo long.

Marcus:
Too long for me 2. I luv U 2. I’m read
y now!!!!!

LJ:
What did
U tell V?

Marcus:
At prac
tice . . .

LJ:
She believe
d that????

Marcus:
She believes whatever I tell her. Don’t worry about her. Worry about what I’m about t
o do to U!

LJ:
OOOOOh. Can’t
wait 2 CU!

Marcus:
Be naked!

LJ:
See U soon, baby. Wet and
ready!!!!

As I sat in a heap on the floor with my back up against the wall and reread the text exchange between Marcus and Laila, the red-hot fury continued to build. I felt like someone had reached inside my body and ripped my heart out of my chest. It had all been a lie. Everything he said in Phoenix about never seeing her again. Everything he said in the hospital about making it up to me. Everything he said in Dr. Gordon’s office week after week about changing his life. It had all been a fu
cking lie.

I stumbled to my feet and threw the phone hard against the wall, watching it shatter, and then turned and ran into our bedroom. I pulled open the door to Marcus’s closet, my eyes scanning the racks of neatly hung clothes, the shelves of gleaming shoes and fresh sneakers. I walked to the back of the closet and dropped down on my knees. Feeling back into the deep recesses of the closet underneath the hanging shirts, I felt the cold metal box. I pulled the safe out into the middle of the floor. My hands still shaking, I tried the combination, which was Damon’s birthday. The first time it didn’t work. Wiping my hands on my pants, I told myself to calm down. I slowly turned the dial and tried the combination again. The lights flashed on the display, and the door swung open. Pushing aside our passports, some insurance papers, and a stack of cash, I reached into the box fo
r the gun.

Pulling out the nine-millimeter gun that Kareem had gotten for us in Phoenix after we started to receive the threatening e-mails, I held it in one hand and reached back into the safe for the clip. I pushed it into the bottom of the gun until I heard it click i
nto place.