Page 21 of Dr. Bell

“Peace’s entire family died in a house fire.”

I clutched my chest. “That’s so sad.”

“Very. He was the oldest of his siblings. Sometimes, I think he blames himself for not saving them. However, he was just a kid himself.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. What a burden to carry for such a small kid.

“The twins…” He sighed. “Their mother died in childbirth. Their father was never in the picture.”

“So, Tilda adopted all the boys?”

“She did. Cared for them, raised them, and made sure they had everything they needed. They took her death hard. They’ve been with me for five years now. I made it my business to give them a life that is full. One where they’ll never be abandoned again.”

“But you live the life you live,” I replied. His life sounded so unpredictable.

He sighed heavily. “I do. Which is why security is necessary. It’s gon’ take trust you never knew you possessed to walk this walk with me, Pretty. Although I am the man I am, I’m only one man. I’m a man who has to be able to perform emergency surgeries at the drop of a hat. My mind has to be clear. Saving lives ain’t easy. I have control over some things, and I don’t have control over others. When a person’s heartbeat is in the palm of my hands, I can only do so much to keep it beating. That’s just one thing I don’t have control over. What I do have control over is how I protect my family. If that means ‘round the clock security, that’s what it has to be.”

We made it back to the driveway and through the gate. Unbothered by our departure, Russ stood in the same spot we’d left him in. On our approach, he opened the back door for me. Like last night, I entered the sleek sedan with too much trust in my heart.

COCO

Wearrivedatanoffice building downtown, not too far from the clinic and the street Quilo and I nearly lost our lives on. Involuntarily, I shuddered at the reality of last night. The crazy thing was, I hadn’t had any nightmares last night. However, being on this side of town made my skin crawl.

“Pretty.”

Adir snapped me back to reality with both his voice and his touch. He turned my face until my watery eyes met his.

“Gimme ya hand,” he requested even though he didn’t wait for me to extend my hand to him. He grabbed both of my folded hands and squeezed them. “All is well, baby. I don’t want you to bottle up anything you feel. My ears are open at all times. Aight?”

“I do have a question. The police…” I let my words trail off because I didn’t know how to ask without sounding stupid. With all that Adir revealed to me, I couldn’t see how the police wouldsimply just sweep a murder under the rug. Sure, it happened. Just not in my world.

“We have an understanding,” he stated.

He left it at that, so I did the same. All this shit was new to me and seemed like a not so fairytale. This was dark and scary. Nothing about it gave butterflies and bright, sunny skies. It was more like wasps and black ass clouds holding a years’ worth of rain.

Russ opened my door, and I stepped out, bringing in a deep breath as I did so. Midway through exhaling, I paused at Adir admiring my body. It was subtle but noticeable. Blushing, I turned away.

“We’ll go shopping when we leave here,” he said.

“Or I can just go by my apartment really quickly and grab some things.” With that statement came another layer of overthinking. I had to get out of my leasing contract and move our stuff to storage.

“Ya face is tensing up again,” Adir mentioned. “Don’t worry about ya apartment or anything that’s in it. Everything will be moved to Bell Estates before evening arrives.”

“Oh.”

“Oh,” he parroted. He took my hand and led me inside the building bearing Bell Oil Enterprises.

If I thought it was beautiful inside Bell & Associates, this place was magnificently so. Everything was pristine from the elaborate paintings on the walls to the shining marble floors beneath my feet.

“Mornin’, Boss,” a man at the front desk spoke. Like Russ, he was larger than life and looked like he played no games. Plus, although he addressed Adir, his eyes were keen and watched everything going on around him.

The two men bumped fists, then Adir introduced me.

“Demetri, this is my wife, Pretty. You’ll see her here occasionally.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Bell. Welcome to Bell Oil Enterprises. If you need anything, I’m a call away.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you as well.”

---