Chapter 16

16

E yela

It was risky, but I was determined to get something back that Karrington had loved and lost. He’d put forth effort the night before last to fix things between us, which I appreciated. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, though, and he change his mind. That didn’t stop me from wanting to do something nice for him. Even when we weren’t talking, he was still going above and beyond for me and spoiling me, so I was going to do this for him and hoped it didn’t push him away.

Since music for him was like a genie when a bottle was being rubbed, I tied my robe and looked around to make sure everything was ready, then began to play the guitar. Sure enough, less than two minutes passed before he was opening the door. I held in my laugh because I knew he’d come.

As I stood, he looked around. His eyes froze on the easel, canvas, and paint. Before he could bolt, I walked over to him and grabbed his hand.

“What’s this?”

“Has it been that long, Mr. Lowe?” He smiled with one side of his mouth as I pulled him toward the easel. “I want you to paint while I play.”

His head shook and he dropped my hand. “Eyela, you know I don’t paint anymore.”

Shuffling into plan B, I untied my robe. “Not even me?” Karrington’s eyes scanned my naked frame. He licked his lips and reached for me, but I stepped back. “You can only touch me with paint.”

He growled as his nostrils flared. I bit down on my bottom lip and tried to keep from smiling. My breath hitched when he grabbed the paint brush and dipped it in water before blue paint. When he slid it down my chest, I shivered. The brush dropped from his hand as he roughly pressed me against the wall. A whimper escaped me as he hoisted me in the air. His tongue slipped into my mouth, and I gladly welcomed it.

I busied myself with unzipping his slacks and pulled his shaft out of his boxers. We both moaned as he filled me. Karrington slowly bounced me against his dick, and I felt whole for the first time in a month. Not just because of the sex, but because of the intimacy of his closeness. As his strokes hardened and increased in pace, I dug my nails into his shoulder blades. Our eyes locked, and between the intensity in them and the fact that it had been so long, we both came quickly.

As he placed me on my feet I told him, “I still want you to paint.”

Karrington chuckled. “I will, little one.”

“Today?”

“Today.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, baby. Right now.”

We separated briefly, and when we met back in my room, he sighed and sat down on the stool. “I haven’t done this in over six years. I hope you feel special.”

My hand wrapped around the front of his neck, and I tilted it to kiss his lips as I stood behind him. “I do, but more than that, I hope you feel happy too. There’s no reason for you to not do what you love to do.”

I got comfortable and began to play the piano softly, keeping my eyes on him. When he started to paint, I smiled. Tears came to my eyes a million times over, but by the time he was a third of the way done and I realized he was painting me, they finally fell. He wasn’t done with it, but it would have to wait, because I wanted him inside of me again.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I heard someone say, but I couldn’t place the voice yet.

“Who you think you talking to?” Karrington asked.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I can’t be talking to the boss of all bosses because he knows not to get his hands dirty anymore. He knows that is what he has an enforcer and security team for. He knows that’s no longer his role.”

I leaned against the wall as Karrington sucked his teeth. It hadn’t been my plan to eavesdrop. When I heard the door open, I was excited he was home and planned to greet him with a kiss. Now, I didn’t know if I needed to go back to our bedroom or not.

“We can’t protect you, legally or physically, if you keep doing stuff like this, brother.” It was Loki.

Karrington sighed. “Look, believe me, I’m not trying to make this transition difficult, but I was my father’s enforcer for the last decade. I can’t just… cut that off.”

Loki’s voice softened when he said, “I get that. I do. But I need you to figure out how to. Because you’re not his enforcer anymore, Karrington. You’re the boss. When shit like that pops off, you gotta trust your men to handle it.”

Silence lingered before Karrington conceded with, “Aight, brother. I’ll try.”

“And I will raise you a do. We got you.”

It sounded like their palms slapped, and seconds later, the door closed. I made my way into the foyer and had to keep myself from gasping at the sight of him. Though there wasn’t a scratch on him, he was covered in blood and his knuckles were cut and swollen.

“Hi.”

“Hey, little one.”

“Did you win?” I asked, hoping it would make his scowl turn into a smile, and it did. With his arms extended, he looked himself over.

“I always win.”

“Good. Because you know what you promised me.”

As I unbuttoned his button down shirt, he tilted my head and kissed me. “That I will always come home to you.” I licked my lips, then kissed him again.

Once we had him out of his soiled clothes, Trey, the butler, burned them. Karrington showered, and I returned to what I was doing. If I’d learned anything watching my parents interact, it was that men in the mafia didn’t speak to their women about what was going on unless they absolutely had to. So as curious as I was, I didn’t bother asking what happened.

When I went into our room, he was drying his body off from his shower. He eyed me skeptically.

“You on your period?”

Sadness covered my face as I nodded. “Unfortunately.”

I’d intentionally brought a second trash can into the room with a lid so he wouldn’t have to look at my feminine products, but somehow, he still knew. Probably because I looked a little bloated. As I looked myself over in the mirror he asked, “Why unfortunately?”

“Because I want someone to love and someone that will love me unconditionally. I guess I have to get a dog.”

The bark of laughter he released made me smile even though I was serious. He pressed his skin against me and held me from behind.

“You don’t want to love me unconditionally anymore?”

“No. Not until I can trust you with my heart. You’ve proven to be a runner, and though I get why, I need something stable.”

Karrington turned me in his arms and pecked my lips. “That’s fair, but I want you to know I’m going to prove that you can trust me with your heart.”

“If you say so,” was what I said, but I was hopeful as I fought back my smile.

“What kind of dog do you want? I’ll get you a puppy and nanny for it so you can still maintain your freedom.”

“Just like that? Whatever I say I want you’re going to provide?”

He stared at me blankly as if he didn’t see anything wrong with that. “If I can, yes. If I can’t, I’ll go to God.”

My bottom lip puckered and eyes watered as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Standing on the tips of my toes, I kissed my husband. He made my day by taking the time to look at puppies with me instead of immediately leaving again. After I decided on two—a boy and girl from the same litter so they wouldn’t be lonely—he paid the training deposit to secure the pups then left.

It would be a while before they arrived, because they’d need to be eight weeks before they could start their training program and then fly, but they gave me something to hope for. I was sad when I got my period again, but Mommy assured me we’d conceive when it was time. On the bright side, not adding a baby to the equation gave me and Karrington time to get to know each other more.