Love and Law (16 page)

LIGHT SHINES IN FROM THE window, and I momentarily have to remember where the hell I am. But when I feel the soreness between my legs, I think of Ben and smile. I roll over toward him, but sadly he’s no longer in bed with me. We spent the entire night alternating between fucking and making love. With him, I’m a fan of both.

I sigh as I recall our heated discussion about my lying. My heart hurts knowing that I’m keeping such a huge secret from him. But if I play my cards right, maybe I can bring down Oculus, Blaze, and their minions but somehow leave out Ben. There has to be a way not to implicate him with all of this. He’ll hate me once he finds out, but at least he won’t go to prison. The idea of losing him makes me sick to my stomach. What have I gotten myself into?

Rolling out of bed, I find my clothes and dress. When I step out into the hall to find Ben, I’m enveloped by the scent of bacon. Grammy must be cooking breakfast. I hurry down the stairs and grin when I see him sitting at the table, texting someone while his grandmother cooks for him. His brows are furrowed and his bicep flexes as he types out his response with one hand. My sore body thrums to life at the sight of him, and I find myself anxiously wanting breakfast over with so he can take me again upstairs.

“About time you join us, sleepyhead,” Grammy greets from the stove.

Ben snaps his head in my direction, and immediately, his frown is replaced with a grin.

“Morning!” I chirp and bound over to him. I lean forward and peck him on the lips.

He surprises me when he pulls me into his lap. “Good morning, sexy,” he growls into my ear, nipping my lobe.

I squeal and playfully slap him. “You’re so bad!”

“Okay, you two lovebirds. As much as I want you to be working on some grandbabies for me, it ain’t happening at my dinner table. Maya, grab some orange juice for everyone. Ben, pull the syrup from the pantry,” Grammy orders.

We jump to attention and both do as we’re told. Moments later, we’re all seated at the table, ready to eat. Today, I know better and keep my hands clasped in my lap, waiting for Grammy to say her prayer.

She bows her head. “Dear Lord. Thank you for bringing sweet Maya into our home. I hope you’re up there as we speak, blessing her with fertile eggs. And, Lord, please make the media move on from Kimye. I’m so damned tired of hearing about that Kardashian and her stupid husband. Forgive me for cussing, but you know how I get when I see them on television. I mean, who names their kid North West? That ain’t a name. That’s a direction. The only direction those two need is to get a life. And that wedding! The damn woman already had a ridiculously expensive wedding to that dweeb that lasted all of three seconds. Now she wants another several-million-dollar wedding to the new clown? Oh hell no. Her momma needs to knock some sense into her. Anyway, Lord, I’m sorry to digress, but as you can see, that Kimye gets me all flustered.”

I’m biting my lip so hard as to not laugh that I’m pretty sure I’ll draw blood soon. Her prayers are almost too much to bear without laughing.

“Oh, and, Lord, please don’t let my sweet Poor Bear be a dumb man. Give him the strength to marry and impregnate Maya soon. I’m old. My time is short. You know this, Lord. I’m a good woman, and surely you can do me that favor. You kind of owe me since Lynetta already called this morning, miraculously healed from her laryngitis. Anyway, I thank you for this food that my sweet grandson provides with his hard work doing his daddy’s trade. We are beyond blessed. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”

I glance over at Ben, and he wears a troubled look before tossing his grandmother a fake smile. It bothers him that he’s a drug dealer and lies to her about it. I can see that it eats away at him. I know we can figure out a way to pull him out of that world before he gets thrown in jail with those horrible criminals. Ben is not a horrible criminal, but the law won’t see it that way. There are no technicalities or gray areas. It is all black and white—the colors on the side of the squad cars clearly prove that.

We laugh and enjoy our delicious breakfast. Grammy is thrilled once she discovers that Ben is taking me on a date tonight. The poor woman wants us together almost as much as we do. It worries me to think what will happen to her if Ben gets hauled off to jail for being associated with Oculus and his dealings. My stomach flip-flops because I worry about who will care for her.

“Well, kiddos, I’m off to play bridge with my group. Can you get this mess cleaned up for me?” she asks after she stands and drops her plate into the sink.

We nod at her, and I can’t help but feel loved by this woman when she kisses me on top of my head before shuffling out the front door.

“She drives?” I ask in disbelief. Grammy is old and hobbles along. She can’t climb the stairs either.

“Yeah, and I hate it. I’ve tried to convince her not to, but she fucking hits me with her magazine,” Ben laughs. “She’s only mowed down one mailbox and a couple of cats, sideswiped every construction barrel in the city, and backed into at least five cars in parking lots. Somehow it’s always their fault. Not the fact that she can’t see or that she doesn’t pay attention. The woman has a cell phone and tends to use her drives as a time to catch up with her girlfriends from church. It fucking terrifies me every time she picks up her keys to go somewhere.”

With wide eyes, I gape at him. Shit. Now I have one more thing to worry about.

Sighing, I make my way over to the sink and fill it with soap and warm water. I’ve just started to scrub the dishes when he presses his body against my back. His dick is hard and poking me from behind. I whimper when his hands come around to my front and tease me through my jeans.

Without any words, I feel him unfasten my jeans and then he shimmies them down my thighs to my knees. He pushes my body forward and my arms slip into the warm water up to my elbows. I hear him rip the foil off a condom, and seconds later, he’s pushing himself into my sore center.

“Ben!” I gasp as I go deeper into the water until my elbows are resting on the bottom. The sleeves of my T-shirt are getting soaked.

He has one hand gripping my hip tightly and the other one is holding on to the counter beside me. Even though I’m still sore, I don’t want him to stop. I never want him to stop. Water splashes around me as he fucks me wildly from behind.

“Maya, I’m about to fucking come. So fucking soon,” he gripes and tries to slow his pace.

“Touch me first,” I gasp between thrusts.

His hand slips from my hip to between my folds, immediately finding my pleasure button. With his expert finger massaging circles on my sensitive clit while he pounds me from behind, I come hard.

“Ben, oh God!”

This time when he groans, he releases his climax as my pussy continues to contract and grip his cock, seemingly begging for every last bit he has to give.

When we’re both spent from our kitchen lovemaking, Ben speaks up.

“I’m going to run us a hot bath. I’ll let you finish up here in the kitchen where a woman belongs,” he teases with an ornery laugh and swats my ass.

Spinning around, I splash him with the water in the sink, soaking him and the floor. He yanks up his jeans lightning fast and runs out of the kitchen and my line of fire. I hear him laughing his ass off all the way upstairs. Asshole.

“Where are we going?” I ask Ben as he maneuvers his car effortlessly through the Detroit streets.

He doesn’t notice it, but I’ve got my eye on the unmarked sedan that is following us several car lengths back.
Fucking Lopez.
Today I didn’t bring my allotted drugs at the meet up point. I’ll have to call him and let him know I’m working a different angle.

“I promised you that cop movie,” he says and pulls my hand from my lap.

We intertwine our fingers and my heart flutters at how easy things are for us. But my heart stops every time I see that car in the side mirror following our turns, attempting to stay unseen.

Distracted, I give him a half smile. He frowns over at me, immediately sensing my discomfort. Shit.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, baby girl?”

Instead of lying, I tell him the truth. “Just thinking about my best friend.”

Well that was the wrong answer too, because now he’s pissed and jerks his hand away from mine to grip the wheel with both hands.

“The best friend that gave you
orgasms
?” he bites out at me.
Ouch.

“I wasn’t thinking about that, asshole,” I snap at him. Crossing my arms, I huff and look out the window in an effort to avoid him.

He sighs heavily and grabs my thigh. “I’m sorry. He’s your best friend. I get it. But I can’t help but get fucking jealous that he’s touched you in ways that I’ve touched you. I want you all for myself. If he ever so much as hugs you, I’ll probably lose my shit because I don’t want anyone pawing my girl but me.”

I turn my head and smile at him. “I don’t want anyone but you touching me, Ben. No need to be jealous.” Leaning over, I peck his cheek. And just like that, we’re happy again. Well, except for each time I look in the mirror and see that damn car.

When we pull into the movie theater parking lot, I scan the area, looking for Miguel. Thankfully, he must have gone on.

“Grammy said you showed her how to use the computer today,” he laughs as he parks. Earlier today, Ben had to run out to take care of some ‘business.’ I was annoyed but hoped that maybe he’d have the opportunity to tell Oculus he was out of the game. Grammy and I spent the day researching her family tree. She was absolutely thrilled when I suggested it. Finally, somebody gets my little hobby.

“Uh, yeah. She’s not very good but she had fun helping me look up your family history.”

“My grammy is too fucking much sometimes,” he chuckles as we get out of the car and begin walking hand in hand toward the entrance, “I still can’t believe you want to see a cop movie.”

I swallow down my discomfort and try not to think about how upset he’ll be if—no, when—he finds out that I’m a cop. I laugh, although uncomfortably, at him as we walk up to the kiosk. He purchases our two tickets and we go into the building, immediately assaulted by the smell of buttery popcorn.

“Oh, we HAVE to get some popcorn,” I tell him. “Why don’t you stand in line to get our snacks while I run to the restroom?”

He nods, so I make a beeline for the payphones near the bathrooms. I need to call Miguel and ask him to back off before Ben notices. It sucks not having a cell phone. I pass the women’s side and almost reach the phones when someone grabs me from behind and drags me into the women’s bathroom.

“Let go of me,” I huff, squirming to free myself as the larger man pulls me into the handicapped stall and locks the door behind him.

When I inhale a deep breath to scream, it dies in my throat. I know this smell.

He releases me and my thoughts are confirmed when I spin around, coming face to face with Miguel, who is wearing a baseball cap to obviously camouflage himself.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I demand.

“Where were you today with the drugs?”

“I’m working a new angle! If you’d let me breathe for five minutes, I could fucking take care of business!” I screech.

“Maya, chill out. I need to talk to you.”

“I have this under control, you know. No need to jeopardize the investigation by following us so obviously and then accosting me in the bathroom!”

He pulls off his hat and runs his hands through his hair before putting it back on top of his head. I know he’s frustrated, but so am I.

“Listen. I took your info on Blaze and did some recon. It wasn’t hard to infiltrate his little group. They aren’t careful or secretive like Oculus’s. I was able to score a meeting with Blaze and told him I used to be tight with Oculus and his dealers. He was more than happy to try and gain whatever information he could from me. After a lengthy discussion, I told him I could help him come to a territorial agreement with Oculus. He seemed interested in what this might entail. Now this is where I’ll need your help. Together, we need to figure out a way to get them in the same place.”

“Easier said than done, Miguel. I don’t have much time,” I sigh, becoming more and more nervous because Ben’s waiting for me.

“I want you to convince your side that Blaze wants to make a deal. He’ll back off in exchange for a shitload of coke that he can buy at a discounted price. If Oculus’s gang will go for that, he’ll leave them alone.”

“How am I supposed to do that, Miguel?” I whine. It’s not like Ben is going to just let me waltz in and have a meeting with his boss.

“Figure it out and soon. Call me when it is done and we’ll nail down the specifics. Meanwhile, I’ll convince Blaze that we’re really just going to trap them into thinking we’ll back away. I know that creepy little bastard will try and kill them. No doubt. During their rendezvous, at which hopefully both of us will be a part of with backup nearby, we’ll nail their fucking asses to the wall.”

I gulp and nod. It has to be done. But what will I say to Ben? How will I find a way to leave him out of this meeting?

“And Maya?”

I look up at my best friend in question.