now.” She ran her gaze up and down Ryan’s form once more. “Hmmm,” she sighed again a little dreamily and rather teasingly if the way that Ryan’s heated gaze was staring at her ass as she approached the door was any indication. This development definitely had my interest.
“Identification, please.” She held out her hand.
The three giant bodybuilder-type men were at the door. They wore cargo pants and black matching polos with a stitched red insignia and black, lace-up combat boots. Each beefy man dug into his pocket, got out his wallet, and handed her his ID. She read them and backed up. “Wait here a minute, please.” She smiled, then closed and locked the door, leaving the three strangers outside to be hounded by the paparazzi that were forever waiting for a glimpse of me, Simone, or Sonia.
Blessing turned around and brought the IDs over to Ryan. “Are these real?”
Ryan grabbed the three identification cards and evaluated them front and back. “They look legit, but I’d need a barcode scanner or my work computer to be certain. Did you hire security without running it through the FBI?”
She shrugged and snatched back the IDs. “Yeah. I count on no man to take care of me and my own.” Blessing scanned the IDs. “Meh, if they look legit and have the same names the security company I hired last night gave me over the phone, I think we’re safe. I mean it’s not like the psycho killer knew we’d hire this particular company. And besides, if the company is outside of the FBI and hired straightaway like I did, how would anyone be able to infiltrate them?”
Ryan grunted. “That is not how this works, Blessing. Jonah’s going to lose his mind. Our fucking chief is going to lose his mind. The fact that we’re even involved would usually be a no-go, but since we’re not technically related to Addison, we were able to stay on the case. You may have just compromised that.”
“What’s done is done,” she murmured still looking at the IDs.
“Security?” I perked up.
“Yep, a bodyguard for you and one for me. Jonah has Simone, Sonia has a team, and Gen, Charlie, and Liliana will have the third man driving them around and making sure they get to and from work safely. That same man will turn around and pick them all up to take them back home after work. Mama Kerri will be here or with Aunt Delores at the flower shop. Anyhoo, are you ready? I’ve got your favorite hair and makeup guy meeting us at the photographer’s address. When he gets you all beautified to your standards, we’ll relieve him of his duty. Your bodyguard will stay the day with you, but I told him he’d likely be outside the door since you’d be working and I figured you wouldn’t want some hulking dude watching you take pictures in lingerie. The other man will stay with me since I have meetings all over the city this week.”
“Did you by chance think to mention it to me last night?” I moved further into the kitchen, rinsed out my cup of tea, and placed it in the sink. I wasn’t exactly fond of others scheduling my life for me.
Blessing put a hand to her hip. “Sista, don’t even use that tone with me. A dead girl who looks like you is being mourned by her family today. That will not be me.” She pointed up the stairs. “That will not be our mama or our other sisters. We’ve grieved enough. You know how it is, Boo.” She shook her head. “I take care of what’s mine, and whether you like it or not…You. Are. My. Family. No sick motherfucker gettin’ his filthy hands on my sister again. No way. Nut uh. Not happening.” She fluffed her hair. “You hear me? You feel me? Do I need to explain further?”
I pressed my lips together. Classic Blessing. She was worried about our safety, so she did something about it. Even if it meant pissing me off in the process, she’d do what she felt she needed to do and ask forgiveness later. Since her heart was in the right place, and a bodyguard was a damn good idea, I let it go.
“You loooooooove me.” I shimmied my shoulders and grinned playfully.
She groaned. “Girl…”
“You can’t live without meeeeeee,” I flaunted, and spun in a circle dancing until I danced my way to her and bumped her hip with my own. “Admit it,