“Suicide watch?” Zyir questioned.
The doctor nodded grimly and replied, “Unfortunately, yes. She is going to need a lot of support. She needs to regain her physical health as well as her mental health. No one but Breeze knows the things that she’s been through, so handle her with extreme care.”
Zyir watched the doctor leave and then made his way to Breeze’s bedside. She slept restlessly. Sweat covered her body and she twitched involuntarily as the potency of her last high passed out of her. Zyir got on his knees and grabbed Breeze’s hand as he put his head down. He didn’t want to wake her, only to let her know that he was right beside her and he wasn’t going anywhere.
Illiana awoke to the loneliness of an empty bed and frowned. The undisturbed sheets let her know that Zyir hadn’t been beside her all night. She climbed out of bed and pulled one of his shirts over her head before she went searching for him. Tiptoeing through the house in the dark with ease, she crept to the door of the guest bedroom.
Zyir was so unaware of anything and everyone except Breeze that he did not notice Illiana standing behind him. The delicate way in which he touched her made Illiana sick. There was no misinterpreting his actions toward her.
He loves this girl, Illiana thought as she scoffed and crossed her arms. She walked back to the bedroom knowing that with Breeze Diamond in the picture, she would never secure a spot in Zyir’s world.
I have to get rid of her, she thought as she climbed back into bed. It was the only solution.
Illiana’s features were so striking that they appeared deadly. As the wheels of manipulation began to turn in her pretty little head, she smiled deviously. These were exactly the type of games she loved to play. There was only room for one woman in Zyir’s life, and she was determined to make sure that she was it.
Leena lay in bed with the silky sheets wrapped around her gorgeous physique as if she were a Greek goddess. Her mind spun wildly as thoughts of Mecca filled her head. Her son lay beside her, and Estes rested on the other side of him. On the outside they looked like a happy family, but on the inside, she yearned for something more, something irresistible, something dangerous-and that something was a new life with Mecca Diamond.
Don’t be stupid Leena! He shot you. Don’t go there. Stop thinking with your heart and use your head, she told herself. She could not understand how she could still care for the man who had tried to end her life, but her heart was a puzzle that was too complicated to piece together. It wanted what it wanted, and the more she reacquainted herself with Mecca, the more she wanted him.
There was something about the Diamond mystique that always pulled her in. She had felt the same thing with Monroe, and now that Mecca seemed to be changing, he was magnetic to her as well.
She was so conflicted, so torn over him. Everything in her wanted to hate him. He deserved to be punished for the acts of sin he had committed against her, but seeing his transformation made it easier to forgive. He was slowly changing into a better man. She had known Mecca for a long time and knew that it would not be easy for him to give up the life he had been born into, but he was trying, and that alone impressed her.
The ticking of the antique grandfather clock in the corner of the room kept her awake as her heart raced in the midnight hour. How can you still love him? She asked herself, but she knew that she loved Mecca because it was the next best thing to loving Monroe. They were so much alike that she could not keep up her angry visage toward Mecca. Every time she saw his face she remembered Monroe. Identical in every way except demeanor, Mecca and Monroe were two halves that made up her whole heart. Those two halves equaled the one true love of her life.
Hesitantly, she sat up in bed and peeked over at Estes. His light snoring indicated that he was in a deep sleep. She took a deep breath as she leaned down to kiss her son’s cheek before she slid out of bed. She knew that the decision she was about to make could be detrimental to her health.
I have to see him, she thought as she slipped on her clothes, moving silently through the dark as she dressed. She grabbed her Chanel bag and fished out her keys as she snuck out of the door, hoping that Estes would not awaken before she returned.
Fear, anxiety, and anticipation filled her as she pulled away from Estes’ home. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Mecca’s number.
“Mecca, I need to see you,” she said as soon as he answered.
Without hesitation, he gave her his address, and she sped through the city streets, her Benz making its way to Mecca’s place in record speed. She sat in front of his building for an hour, listening to the pattern of the rain falling on the roof of her car. It was as if the sky were crying right along with her as her own tears flowed down her cheeks.
Confusion plagued her as she tried to make sense of her feelings. Knowing that Mecca was no good, she started to leave, but every time she went to put the car in drive, she froze. She needed to see Mecca, and although the consequences of her actions would be great, she decided to stay.
She got out of the car before she lost her nerve, and ran into the high-rise building. Her throat felt as if it would close as she took the elevator to the penthouse on the top floor, and nervous energy filled her.
She went to Mecca’s door and lifted her hand to knock, but before she could, Mecca pulled it open. He stood before her, shirtless, with a blunt in one hand, as weed smoke danced in the space around him.
She took in everything about him. Mecca was a beautiful man. From his broad and well-sculpted chest to his strikingly handsome features, he was perfect. His only flaw was his dangerous temper. She had seen it firsthand. It had almost cost her everything, yet there she stood, intrigued and forgiving in front of him.
Overwhelmed by his presence, she stopped thinking and did what felt right to her: she kissed him passionately, catching Mecca off guard as she backed him into the penthouse. Their pace was feverish as desire filled the space between them.
Mecca fumbled to put out the blunt without breaking their connection. “I’m so sorry, Lee,” he whispered over and over again in her ear, causing her tears to flow.
Hearing the sincerity in his words was like a punch to the gut as she pushed him away. “Why did you have to speak, Mecca? Why did you have to remind me of what you did? Every time you apologize, I remember that night!” she yelled as she put her hands to her face and turned toward the door.
“Leena-”
Before Mecca could get his words out, she stalked over to him in a rage and slapped him across the face. “I hate you, Mecca. I hate you for what you did!!” she yelled, her anger ablaze in her emotion-filled eyes.
“Then why are you here?” he asked as he touched the side of her face. The gentleness that he displayed was uncharacteristic for him. This new version of Mecca that stood before her was so much easier to love than the callous gangster she knew him to be.
She sobbed as if she were ashamed of herself. She replied, “Because I love you. The line between the two is so thin that I go back and forth every day.”
Mecca embraced her, and she fought him as she tried to regain control of her heart.
“No, Mecca, I have to go. I shouldn’t have come here. What the fuck was I thinking? I have to think of my son,” she protested.
“Stop fighting me, ma,” he whispered. He took her chin into his hand and lifted her face to his, kissing her gently. She melted as she kissed him back, indulging in the forbidden affection she felt for him.