A Test of Love: Interracial Erotic Romance (Chasing Love) (24 page)

“Jazz should stay,” I said.

Benny’s smile left his face, which in his world was actually a sign that he was pleased. “And why’s that?”

“Because that’s what she wants.”

“And if there’s one thing about your sister.” He turned her way and beamed. “She’s smarter than us all.”

Chase practically snarled. “Doesn’t matter. I need her safe.”

“I’m here. She’ll never be safer.”

“I’m assigning her brother Sherman to her,” Chase countered.

“I heard. One thing you need to understand about Sherman. He was born in the wrong time. Thank you,” Benny said as Ada handed him a glass of orange juice. “Sherman should’ve been raised during the times of gladiators. Have you seen Sherman? Must be as big as any of the ancient killers back in the day. Beyond sports, men of his build don’t have many options in this time. Then you add his color and the fact that being raised in his community was already stifling, you now have the recipe for a modern murderer.”

“None of this convinces me that I should change my plan,” Chase said.

Jazz let go of him. “It doesn’t matter, baby. I’m staying.”

A hardened mask covered Chase’s face. I could tell tons of things hung on the tip of his tongue, but for Jazz he’d keep quiet if it meant having her in his life. Here, I’d thought Chase was open, but now I realized he was severely pussy-whipped.

Poor guy. I wonder if Jazz knows how much she’s got him sprung.

“Plus, Sherman is as dumb as rocks when it comes to anything outside of street life,” Benny said. “You ask him to keep Jasmine safe. His idea would most likely be to lock her in a closet for days without food and stand in front of it. He’s like that. Protecting Jasmine in a way that hurts her more. He means well, but—”

“I’ve heard enough.” Chase must’ve accepted defeat on that topic as well as Benny’s intrusion in his home. Maybe he would’ve fought it more if those three chicks weren’t on their way to the house. Perhaps, he saw the benefit of having Benny on our side and near Jazz. Either way, Benny’s presence gave me hope that the solution would be near. If there was one thing about Benny, he solved problems. Granted, others shed tears each time he did, but it was worth it to keep Jazz alive.

Benny’s phone rang before he or Chase could begin an argument that would surely come. Placing it to his ear, he listened without even saying hello. A half a minute passed. “Good job.” Benny put his phone up and twisted in his chair, his face targeting the cooks. “Ada, looks like our three honorable guests will be here in less than two minutes. You may want to make some more of those yummy biscuits.”

Chapter 22

CHASE

Benny claimed they would be here in two minutes. But half an hour passed before the limo pulled up to the front.

I’d been waiting there for them with closed fists and the taste of murder on my tongue. My hands itched to wring all of their necks. My foot yearned to connect with each of their bottoms. I didn’t hit women, but the moment that bullet greeted Jasmine’s arms, I’d been reconsidering domestic abuse. These women whom’ I’d loved one by one, in my way. Now, I despised them—every inch, every cell, every breath that entered their darkening lungs. I hated them. Dawn, Wendy, and Lucy kept me from Jasmine, forced me to live with her in fear instead of simply taking all the money I offered them and moving on. They came for money, but they would’ve shown up regardless. One or all of them hadn’t finished bringing blood and death to my life.

Which one of you is it? Which one couldn’t let go?

The driver jumped out of the limo, hurried to the back door, and opened it

Legs. Long, beautiful legs appeared first. I’d tasted them many nights. I knew which one they belonged to before her brunette hair materialized.
Wendy.
Although she had a petite body—slim hips and small breasts—she was all legs and hair, those strands hanging well past her shoulders and down to her waist. Wearing a short emerald sundress, she directed her green eyes to me before stepping to the side and waiting for the rest to get out. Warmth radiated from her gaze. I was actually happy to see she got out first.

You’re the one ’who’s going to help me with the rest.

Due to my father’s gun being involved I knew the main person wasn’t Wendy. How would she have known about its existence? Dawn and Wendy had a romantic relationship, but Dawn tended to be tightlipped when it came to her pillow talk. With that logical deduction, Lucy and Dawn were at the top of my list for suspects.

They probably worked together. Which is why I’ll need you, Wendy.

Wendy blew me a kiss. I smiled, but said nothing else. Somewhere upstairs, Vivian and Jasmine watched from their windows. Every moment could make or break the next hours.

“I don’t get a hug?” Wendy’s words drawled out like a southern song. She had that twang that beautiful country women on movies possessed. She used to taunt me with it before, make me hard just with a few words out of those lips. Now she or her voice had no effect. Instead, I dissected her—the loads of make-up on her face, the chemical scent of her perfume, which rode on the breeze. She wasn’t top on the suspect list, but she remained on there, nonetheless.

“Mama always says that only good comes from kindness.” She winked at me. “There’s just no other way.”

She’s definitely sober.

Sober Wendy always rivaled the drunken one. When she didn’t drink, her southern accent came on much stronger and she always had some cute saying to preach out as we went about our days. Mama always said this. Papa always claimed that. Only problem was that when I actually met her relatives, none of them held that country twang that she did, and even her accent lightened. And her mother never seemed to be the type that said much of anything. She kept her head low a lot, gaze to the ground, and hands resting in her lap.

Unease slumped down into my stomach. For the past days I’d been reviewing my memories and overanalyzing every single thing I could to get a hint of who the killer was.

Why am I feeling weird about Wendy’s parents and their accent?

Out of the three, Wendy needed me the most. She’d come from no money and appreciated everything I gave her. It had never been a secret among us all. Lucy owned a few stocks from her dead father that she’d refused to ever touch, but I was sure she would if her financial situation got too horrific. Dawn had access to her family’s money, although a lot of it her father gave me control of.

“Women shouldn’t have control of the money.” Dawn’s father handed me over all of her trust fund paperwork to sign. “I’m giving you power of attorney. I hate to say it but I can’t deal with my daughter anymore. She’s got me right where she wants to. She seems to listen to you, and since you’ve taken over your father’s companies, you’ve been shrewd and responsible.”

Dark blue suit pants appeared, next Dawn’s pale face and striking blonde hair. Today she had wore it in waves that outlined one side of her face. With full suit and a silk white shirt, she looked like she was walking into her law firm instead of meeting her death. Guilt and hatred mingled in my veins and then surged through my body. I’d cared for Dawn for a large part of my life. I’d even thought I loved her until I experienced the amazing sensation of being with Jasmine. Now I understood that what Dawn and I had was nothing but a long-term friendship and an intense infatuation; but nothing more. For Dawn, I could be with her as long as there were other women available. For Jasmine, I would sacrifice it all—money, women, life, if necessary.

And you think this is some sort of loving reunion? Naughty
tesoro,
I’ll teach you after all of this is over.

Dawn nodded and got on Wendy’s side. “Chase.”

“Hello.”

She tilted to the side and glanced behind me. “Where’s your whore?”

I was sure the vein in my neck pulsed and my top lip might have gone up into a sneer. “Apologize or kiss your trust fund money goodbye.”

“You can’t threaten me with my own money.”

“Then why are you here, Dawn?”

“I want full access.”

“Then you have two options. One, you can apologize and fix your head to respect the woman of my life when you see her later. Or two, and this is my favorite one, you can go back to daddy and beg him to give you access.”

“She’s not even here. She didn’t hear me.”

“Say sorry.” I held my hands out. “Jasmine and I are one now. To disrespect her is to insult me. I’m here. I need to hear it.”

She spat the word out. “Sorry.”

“Thank you, and make sure we have no more problems.”

Dawn stepped forward. “How dare you! How dare you think that—”

Wendy seized Dawn’s hand and pulled her back. “Let’s not argue.”

Dawn huffed, but said nothing more.

Troy took that time to come to my side. His voice lowered to a whisper. “We should talk after this.”

“About what?”

“These broads.”

If it had been another time, I might have laughed. Troy couldn’t say the word women or lady to save his life.

I continued to watch the opened limo door as I waited for Lucy to come out. “Okay. Let me get them to their rooms and then I’ll meet with you.”

Troy placed his hands in front of them and cracked one of his knuckles. “I’m staying with you.”

“What?” I chuckled a little. “Are you my protection?”

“No way. I don’t get in between a man and his chicks.”

“They’re not mine anymore. They’re from my past.”

Troy snapped his attention my way. “Just make sure they stay in the past then. I get a whiff of something going on with you and these three, and I’ll kill you.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Are you threatening me?”

He directed his view back to the car. “Boys threaten. Murderers take a life with no warning, but real men, they tend to tell you the truth as they know it. What I understand about myself is that when Jazz is hurt, I am too. Could be ‘cause we’re twins or that she’s just someone I love over most. Either way, none of that matters when the reality is, I like you, but I would just as soon put a knife in your neck if you hurt her.”

I touched my neck. “Got the message.”

“Good.” He squinted. “Where’s the third chick?”

“Lucy always takes forever to get out of the limo. She crochets a lot. Probably has yarn and needles all over. Anytime we go somewhere she would dump it all out and start making whatever she loved to create.”

“Okay.” Troy centered his gaze on Wendy and Dawn. “You getting any weird vibes from those two?”

“No.”

“I got the reports back on the lab tests for Wendy’s bottles.”

That got my attention. “Anything interesting?”

“Maybe.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

I took my time gaining control of my anger. With Troy, I had to tread carefully. “You had one of my labs do the test. I paid for the cost and results. They’re mine.”

“Then call them up yourself.”

In jeans and sneakers, Lucy got out of the limo before I could respond. As I suspected, she carried her bag full of crochet needles and yarn with her. I’d remembered traveling with that big burgundy bag many trips. A few times, I’d been forced to hold on to it myself. She had her strawberry red strands up in a ponytail. It bobbed around as she rushed to get her bag under her arm. Yarn fell out.

“Sorry.” Lucy rushed for it as the ball of colors rolled away from her. “Okay. Just. . .a minute.” She cleared her throat, dove for the multicolored yarn, caught it, and stuffed the thing back into her back. “Hey, Chase.” She looked around. “I can’t believe you came here.”

“Why?”

“Because. . .” A sad, distant look glazed over her eyes as she took in the surroundings. “I. . .just never thought I. . .or all of us would ever come back.”

Once Mom died, I had only had to return to the Atrani house a few times. When I took over Dad’s companies, I gained control of the house and made sure the staff kept the place clean and empty.

“I came here out of desperation,” I said.

“Desperation?” Lucy widened her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“When one of you shot Jasmine, I decided to take matters in my own hands and be proactive. I needed her protected.”

Lucy dropped her bag. Tons of yarn spilled out as she touched her chest. “Jasmine was shot. Is she okay?”

Is this all an act, Lucy? Have you been fooling me all these years?

“Let’s go inside.” I turned around. Troy didn’t come. He continued to watch as I made my way back to the house.

“Wait. Chase?” Lucy rushed up to me. “Is she okay? What do you mean someone shot her?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

She grimaced. “I-I didn’t. Why would I?”

“It’s been all over Oshane City news. I made sure of it.” I climbed the steps. Dawn’s and Wendy’s high heels stomped on the pavement behind me. I didn’t relish in the idea of those two vile women being behind me, but felt comfort in the fact that Troy remained near, just in case.

“Who shot her?” Lucy tapped my shoulder hard. “Where is she? How is she doing? She must be scared.”

“She’s here. As you know.”

“Stop saying that.” Her face reddened. “I have no idea what is going on. I’ve been in my cottage up in Boulder for like forever. Then Dawn calls me—”

“Lucy.” Warning lathered the word as it left Dawn’s lips. “Let’s keep our mouths closed until we have our official meeting together.”

“We won’t be having an official meeting,” I said.

“Yes, we will,” Dawn argued. “That’s our way. That’s how we settle disagreements. I think this whole break-up thing has gone far enough. It’s time for all of us to see if we can make it work. Is Jasmine here? Feel free to invite her to our meeting, since apparently you can’t let her go.”

“I’ll be meeting with you all, but it’ll be one by one.” I opened the door and stood by it as they all walked in. Troy was the last person and refused to walk through, so I stepped inside myself. “You each have your own room. Until I’ve met with you, you’re not to talk to the others.”

“Pardon me?” Dawn laughed. “What is this, some sort of interrogation about a shooting? And yes, I was well aware that your darling Jasmine had gotten shot, but from what the news stated it was a gang-related shooting. I assumed it was someone from her family starting territory wars or something.”