Page 33 of Bodyguard My Heart
“Um huh!” I nodded my head as a yawn escaped my lips.
“Get some rest, kidnapper. We need to get up and get those burner phones before it gets too late. We have to update Royale and Polo on our whereabouts before those niggas send the calvary searching for us.”
“Okay,” I replied as I snuggled into his arms, allowing sleep to find me.
“Wake up. I’m dialing Royale.”Demetrius’s thick voice shook me from my sleep. My eyes snapped open as they adjusted to the light in the room.
“Huh?” I narrowed my eyes on Demetrius. He was standing over me shirtless, propped up on one crutch, waving a cell phone in the air.When did he get a cell phone?I sat up on the bed, still naked from our lovemaking session, confused about what was going on.
“Huh? How’d you—”
“Paid the bellhop to get them,” he answered before I could even finish asking. My eyebrows raised in suspicion. How the hell did he even get downstairs to talk to the bellhop?
“You're doing too much. Please remember you are not a cartel boss over here. Don’t start bossing these people around trying to find minions and shit.” I shook my head.
“I’m a boss everywhere, baby.” He crawled into the bed next to me and positioned the phone so we could both see it. I peered down at the old model smartphone in his hand. He had an identical one in his other hand. They were a stark difference from the ones we’d left in Rebecca’s car back home. I would be surprised if it even had a video-calling feature.
“It’s ringing.” I leaned forward, pulling the cover up over my naked body. Even if this was just a call, I wanted to be presentable. It was my brother. Breathing echoed through the speakers, and I knew that the call had connected.
“Royale!” I spoke softly into the phone. I was nervous. Things with my brother were weird, and I wasn’t sure if they would ever be the same.
“Mara!” Royale’s voice rang out. I could hear the relief as he let out a sigh. “It’s them!” he shouted. It soothed me to know even in his anger, he was at least still worried about us.
“Thank goodness,” Monroe said in the background.
“Took y’all asses long enough. Tika said y’all flight left over sixteen hours ago.” That was Polo.
“A few hours more, and we were about to raise hell,” Royale added.
“It took us some time to get the phones. A nigga is cripple,” Demetrius explained as he pulled the covers and joined me underneath. I eyed him as he got comfortable next to me, pulling me into his body. The affection wasn’t new to me. This was our dynamic when we weren’t on bullshit. What was interesting was how quickly we seemed to find our rhythm, like nothing had transpired. Like he hadn’t put divorce papers in my door a few days ago.
“Y’all good? Y’all made it to Haiti? Y’all settled?” Ro fired off question after question.
“Yeah, we’re straight. What about y’all?” Demetrius responded.
“We’ve made it to Cuba. The new safe house not ready yet, so we’re staying at a place Aunt Vanessa recommended. Monroe is getting flashbacks of being out here, but I’m keeping her occupied,” Royale replied. My heart went out to Monroe. The last time she and Royale were in Cuba, my father sent a crazed man to kill her at the safe house he had built for Royale, now Royale was having another one built for them.
“Good, we’re all out of the way,” Demetrius reiterated. “Now we just stay low. Have y’all heard anything?”
“Nah, just speculation that you didn’t survive the crash. The news outlets added in that one, though. They reported one person dead in a car crash,” Royale stated.
“That’s perfect! Whoever did this shit gon’ have to show their cards in a minute. All we have to do is enjoy our vacations and relax.”
“Enjoy our vacations?” Polo shouted. “Don’t forget your ass is a ghost. Don’t be frolicking all over Haiti. We don’t know where these niggas got eyes.”
“Don’t worry. Samara ain’t let my ass loose. Y’all just continue to put the poison in the water. The cartel is scrambling in the wake of my death. I want all shipments slowed down.”
I shook my head. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop this man from working. Being a boss was in him, not on him, for real.
“Put a constant check on the cameras in Samara’s apartment. If they are trying to take over the cartel, as my wife and rightful heir, she might be the target now.”
My eyebrows narrowed at the thought of me being a target. Somebody trying to kill little old me was crazy.
“I’m not there, though.” I interjected.
“Yeah, but they don’t know that. They probably think you at home grieving or some shit. If somebody stops by your house, we may see who’s behind all this and get a jump on their ass.”
“Oh, that’s smart.” I nodded.