Page 65 of Sweetest Temptation
Her eyes went wide, her voice trembling. “A fire? My shop! Oh God!” She covered her mouth, her breathing quick and shaky. I instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her as she swayed a little.
“What do you mean bya fire?” I demanded, my tone sharp. “How bad is it?”
The officer’s expression softened. “The fire department responded quickly. The flames were contained before they could spread too bad, but there’s some damage. Mainly water damage.We’re still trying to determine the cause. But from what we were told, it was intentional.”
Zanova shook her head in disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes. “No, no, no. Who would do this?” Her voice broke, and it damn near gutted me. I pulled her closer, feeling her trembling against my chest.
“We’ll figure it out. We’ll go see what’s going on, okay? You’re not dealing with this by yourself.”
She nodded weakly, wiping her face, her voice barely a whisper. “I can’t believe this is happening. It’s been one bad thing after another since they started construction on this shop. I give up.”
“Nah, you are not giving up. This is just a milestone. I promise you, everything will work out.”
The officer cleared his throat gently. “If you’d like, we can escort you there, Ms. Pierce. The scene’s secure, but it’s still under review.”
“Let’s go and see what’s the damage. Don’t worry… I got you, love.”
I escorted Zanova back out to my ride. On the drive to the shop, she was quiet, which gave me time to think. I wondered who she had beef with that would want to burn her shit down. I was going to have that conversation with her, and when I found out who the motherfucker was, I was going to personally make sure they paid for hurting my woman.
“Baby? Did you have cameras set up at your shop? I don’t think my guys did any of that when we finished the renovations.”
“No. I had called to have everything set up next week. I’ve been shelling out more money than expected on this shop. Like I said, anything that could go wrong since the construction started, went wrong, and I’m done. I’m just going to cut my losses. I’m just stumped on who would set fire to a building that’s not even open for business yet.”
“I’m going to figure that shit out. Let’s just see what the fire department has to say and go from there.”
She nodded, but I could tell she wasn’t feeling it. Her shoulders were slumped, and her eyes were distant as if she was already watching her dream burn all over again. I reached for her hand, and though she didn’t pull away, her fingers felt limp in mine.
I was pissed. This wasn’t how I expected our night to end.
It’s been two weeks since the fire at my shop. I was exhausted from dealing with insurance adjusters, cleanup crews, and trying to pretend I wasn’t still hurting. However, I managed to pull it together somehow. The shop wasn’t a total lost. I was thanking God that the fire department got there when they did, or it would’ve been much worse.
I stopped all construction until I decided whether I wanted to move forward with fixing the fire damage. It saddens me that I had to cancel my grand opening. All the money I poured into promotion and marketing went down the drain. The emails from vendors and the endless “We’re so sorry” messages only made it worse. Everyone had sympathy, but nobody had solutions. And while I appreciated the concern, what I really needed was a break. I needed one day where everything didn’t feel like it was falling apart.
I took a deep breath, setting down the piping bag I’d been using, and flexed my sore wrist. I stood back to admire the cake I was finishing for Samir’s nieces’ birthday cake.
“Perfect,” I murmured to myself with a small smile. “She’s going to love this.”
I peeled off my gloves and took a slow breath as I looked over the finished cake. A smile crept across my face because it had come out even better than I imagined. The two-tiered cake was a soft blend of blush pink and lilac. On top sat a sparkling gold castle topper surrounded by sugar pearls and lavender roses I’d piped by hand. I added a few edible butterflies, painted in shimmery shades of pink and peach, that looked like they’d just landed mid-flight.
Around the base, I placed tiny princess figurines, such as Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, and Rapunzel. Their colorful gowns were bright against the pastel frosting. I carefully pressed the name “Joya” in neat white fondant letters, making sure it was centered perfectly.
After washing my hands, I boxed up the cake and had a few minutes to rest before I had to deliver it to the party, so I went to my office to check some emails. Samir had invited me to attend the party, but I declined. That would mean I’d officially meet his family, and I wasn’t ready for that. We’d just agreed to be in a relationship, and I felt we needed more time for that.
Just as I finished answering my last email, I heard a knock on my office door before Nyala came strolling in, smiling like everything was all good in her world.
“Hey, boo!” she sang, dropping her purse onto the chair across from my desk, sitting in the chair next to it.
“Hey, yourself. You’re awfully chipper today.”
“Girl, I just left Ryan. That man is driving me crazy.” She shook her head, but I could see the smile she was trying to hide.
“What did he do?”
“So, we went to The Chamber last night. You know,ourlittle freaky spot. My freaky ass let that man tie me up. And girlaa! When I tell you… I’ve never squirted so many times in one night! Ryan is the only man that I’ve been with that matches my freakiness.” She laughed.
“Girl, you are a trip.” I cackled. “So why are you giving him such a hard time about taking things to the next step?”
Nyala was what you’d call free-spirited, but that wasn’t always the case. There was a time she loved with her whole chest, believed in forever, and trusted a man who ended up doing a number on her heart. He broke something in her; something she didn’t think she’d ever get back.
