Insatiable (13 page)

The charge nurse turned Kai over. Blood covered her face. “Call 911,” she shouted to no one in particular. “And call security.” A cleaning lady ran to make the calls.

“Get a blanket, hurry!” the nurse barked at a befuddled intern.

Kai awakened to the bedlam, but lay very still beneath the blanket, pretending she was still knocked out. In her confused state, she had no idea what was going on. Stabbing pain jolted her into awareness, and she was able to establish what the commotion was all about as the confusion of panicking voices finally began to make sense.

According to the buzz that swirled around her, an employee had brutally raped and beat a patient in a mental hospital—her! Now that was some damn good fucking luck. The hell with waiting for her inheritance; Reece and Spring Haven were going to pay dearly for her pain and suffering.

“Help…somebody please help me,” she whimpered.

“Kai! Can you hear me, Kai?” asked the charge nurse.

Kai responded with a groan. The pain in her wrist was severe.

“What happened, Miss Montgomery?” The nurse leaned close to Kai’s mouth.

“He raped me,” she said, her voice barely audible.

“Who did?”

“Reece raped me. I…I think he broke my wrist.”

“You lying bitch.” Reece rushed toward Kai but was tackled and held down by the beefy security guard who’d arrived at that precise moment.

“
I
hope you don’t think I’m gonna be making deliveries every time you decide to make something fancy for your man,” Saleema said playfully as she tossed the Acme bag containing a pound of Italian sausage.

“My fiancé,” Terelle corrected and flashed her ring.

“My bad.” Saleema lifted the lid of the biggest pot on the stove. “Mmm, it smells delicious. What’s it called again?”

“Shrimp Jambalaya.”

“So why do you need the sausages?”

“Hell if I know. The recipe called for it and I didn’t want to leave anything out.”

“Can I taste it?”

“It’s spicy, but go ahead…help yourself.”

Saleema scooped up a heaping tablespoon of jambalaya. “Damn, girl. You ain’t playin’; this grub is bangin’! I see you’re seriously tryin’ to speed up the wedding date. They say food is the way to a man’s heart.”

“I already have Marquise’s heart. I’m just trying to show my baby some love because this is his first day on a real job. Ever.”

“Uh-huh.” Saleema studied her French manicured nails. “Marquise needs to be showin’ me some love since I’m the one who fucked the brains outta his new boss.”

Terelle looked around apprehensively, as if the walls had ears. “Please don’t ever let Marquise hear you say that; he’d be so hurt if he found out how he got hired so fast.”

“I know whassup; you ain’t gotta tell me.” Saleema looked offended.

“I know you do. I just don’t wanna take any chances because I let Quise believe Mr. Hicks was really impressed…”

“Drop it, Terelle. I
said
I know whassup.”

“So why you complainin’—Mr. Hicks paid you, didn’t he?”

“I ain’t complainin’, just reminding you that I’m not pressed for customers and I damn sure didn’t need that little bit of dough Mr. Hicks paid me. That cheap bastard only wanted to give me a bean.” Saleema snorted. “Now, what’s a hundred dollars gonna do for me? I told ’em two hundred is my lowest rate. Had to threaten to leave his naked ass in the hotel room before he gave up the rest of my cheddar.” Saleema paused, shaking her head at the memory of the event. “And I put myself through all that aggravation just for you. I fucked Mr. Hicks so you could stop worrying about Marquise going back to jail—now tell me if I ain’t the best fuckin’ friend in the whole wide world?”

“You da bomb and you know it,” Terelle said teasingly while feeling like a hypocrite for asking Saleema to turn a trick on her behalf. “I wouldn’t have even asked you to do that if I wasn’t desperate,” she explained. “Mr. Hicks promised to give Marquise the job, but the paperwork for the ex-inmate-training program was takin’ too long.”

“I know! You told me a thousand times. I just want to set the record straight because I could have been out with one of my white clients makin’ ten times what that cheap dickhead paid me.”

Saleema was exaggerating the amount she earned from her other clients, but Terelle let it slide. No point in debating the amount Saleema could have made. The fact that her friend had done her a major favor was the only important matter.

“I owe you big time,” Terelle stated, bending over to hug her friend.

“So start paying up. Hurry up and do something with those sausages. Fix me a real plate—I’m starving.”

Terelle began slicing the sausage and placing the bite-sized pieces in a pan of sizzling oil. She stood at the stove, her back to Saleema. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?”

Terelle turned to face Saleema. “My mom popped over here and started a bunch of shit right after Quise got out of jail.”

“Get out! You never told me that.”

“I know. It was a mess. I couldn’t talk about it.”

“What happened?”

“Long story short…she left that rehab place and wanted to stay here…”

“That’s messed up. Miss Cassy oughtta know that ain’t cool.”

“But that ain’t the worse part of the story.”

Saleema cocked her head and stared at Terelle with great interest.

“When she couldn’t get her way, when I refused to let her stay here…” Terelle smiled sadly. “My mother accused Quise of something so rank; I can’t even get the words out.”

Saleema lifted a brow. Terelle studied the floor, grimacing as she relived the horrible experience.

“Girl, what happened? What did your mother say?”

Terelle took a deep breath. “My mother said Quise made her go down on him in exchange for a hit when he was hustlin’.”

Saleema was silent.

“Say something!” Terelle demanded.

“What the hell do you want me to say?”

“Something—anything. What’s your opinion?”

“You don’t want my opinion,” Saleema snapped. “Now whassup with the grub?”

Terelle’s eyes pooled with tears. “Quise wouldn’t do no shit like that,” she said sobbing. “Not with my mother. I can’t understand why my own mother would try to hurt me like that?”

Saleema stood up and embraced Terelle. “I want to say something to make you feel better. But I honestly don’t know what to say. When it comes to sex, I don’t put nothin’ past men. I think they’re all perverted sleaze bags.”

“Okay,” Terelle said, pulling away from Saleema and wiping her eyes. “I know Marquise hasn’t always been faithful. And with that lifestyle he was into…the temptation was always there. But he wouldn’t…Not with
my
mother!” Terelle shook her head emphatically. “No way.”

“You’re probably right. Is your mom smokin’ again?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t tell because she was looking really bad. She’d had a fight with some dude she was stayin’ with. He punched her in the face—gave her a black eye.”

Saleema shook her head.

Terelle shook her head, too. “Marquise thinks she’s getting high again. And she probably is because I haven’t heard from her since that night.”

“Well…there’s your explanation.”

Terelle looked hopeful.

“You know how them crack addicts act when they start schitzin’…they’ll say and do anything. Miss Cassy is famous for causing a commotion when she’s tryin’ to get high.”

“That’s so true,” Terelle sadly agreed. “I don’t know why I even let her in here.”

“You let her in because she’s your mother.”

“Yeah, but she brings too much drama. I can’t deal with her bullshit anymore.” Terelle prepared Saleema’s plate and placed it on the table.

“Damn, girl. Where’s the camera? This looks pretty enough to be in a gourmet magazine.”

Terelle beamed proudly and watched Saleema dig in. “How’s it taste?”

“Mmm, it’s bangin’. You get high chef points for this meal.”

Terelle checked the clock. Marquise would be home with Markeeta in another hour. She had scented candles, a congratulatory card, and some new lingerie to celebrate his first day on the job.

After Saleema finished eating, Terelle hustled her to the door. “Hate to rush you, girl. But I gotta jump in the shower and get myself together before Quise gets home.”

“Ain’t no thing…it’s all gravy…I was leaving anyway,” Saleema said. She sounded slightly hurt and that bothered Terelle.

Oh well, she’d figure out a way to make it up to her friend later.

C
urled lazily on the big cushy sofa in her spacious sunlit living room of her new waterfront condo, Kai gazed happily at the million-dollar cast that covered her hand, wrist and part of her arm. Well…not quite a million. But, thanks to her escapade with Reece, she was no longer at the mercy of her miserly, controlling parents; she was now an independently wealthy woman.

Reece had been slapped with a five-year sentence for assault and rape. Kai snickered, naughtily amused by the thought of that pretty boy getting reamed in prison. Sure, she’d lied on Reece, but it served him right for being such an abominably bad fuck!

In a few days, the cast would be removed, then she’d be able to easily reach inside her purse to start spending some of the money she’d been awarded in her negligence lawsuit against Spring Haven.

According to the attorney who’d represented her, Spring Haven had made a promise upon admission that Kai would receive professional care and respite. Instead, he declared, she’d been left in care of a brutal, sex-crazed rapist. Out for blood, Kai’s attorney demanded and was certain he could get five million dollars—perhaps more. He cautioned that the litigation could drag on for years, but advised Kai to allow the case to go to trial.

Wanting to settle quickly and quietly, Spring Haven offered close to a million dollars and against the advice of her attorney, Kai eagerly accepted. The hell with waiting to go to trial; she needed the money NOW!

With the security of a healthy bank account, she should have been able to quit her stupid job and relax while she waited for her inheritance, but unfortunately her racist paternal grandmother had prevented that luxury. Fearing Kai had the propensity to become a slacker due to the black blood running through her veins, the grandmother, who died when Kai was a toddler, had stipulated in her will that Kai remain gainfully employed in a meaningful profession until her twenty-fifth birthday. How ridiculous!

There was a bright side, however. Keeping tabs on Kenneth required close proximity, but she refused to toil for the pittance the nursing home paid her. She’d show up for work, but her focus would be on Kenneth—not the residents who bothered her constantly for trivial matter such as ordering their clothing, placing phone calls for those who could verbalize their desires, listening to their constant whining at the Resident’s Council Meetings she was forced to facilitate, dispensing cigarettes, and passing out their fucking mail for crying out loud! No more. The administration could complain to her father until they turned blue; it simply didn’t matter. She’d do as she pleased and that was emphatically that!

Kenneth still loved her, she was certain. His marriage was a joke and his new relationship with that Kente cloth-clad woman was absurd.

Sending the photo to his wife was insensitive, Kai admitted to herself, but she was hurt and offended—he should have understood that. Besides, it was time his wife found out about him and Kai. He should have been grateful for her assistance in trying to rid him of the worthless woman.

But, his male ego demanded that he handle his marital situation himself, Kai decided with a wan smile. In the future…once she and Kenneth were man and wife, she’d have to remind herself to allow him to believe he was running the show.

Buoyed by the notion of being married to Kenneth, Kai sprung up and meandered toward the window. With her good hand, she pulled back the drapes. The view of the river was spectacular; Kenneth was going to love it!

She had eight hours a day to work on him—to convince him that they belonged together. She felt confident that she could persuade him.

All she had to do was get him in bed. Once she worked her magic on him in the bedroom, he’d have no choice but to acquiesce.

Standing at the window, feeling deliriously happy, she hugged herself as she imagined the enveloping warmth of having Kenneth’s arms wrapped around her.

Feeling magnanimous, Kai decided she and Kenneth would allow his ex-wife to keep the house in Chestnut Hill. Kai preferred living in the city, but a beachfront residence would make an awesome second home.

She opened her laptop and pecked with one finger:
Kai Montgomery Harding
.

Her future name had such a nice ring.