But She Knew

Chapter 5

After James and I agreed he'd pick me up at 7 that night, I took an elevator up to my condo. I called Chloe, my longtime best friend, to come over then ran the bath. Stripping myself down in front of the full length mirror, I stared at my figure. I still had a flat stomach and still carried a considerable package in breast. Turning around to view my back, I smiled approvingly of my behind. If I hadn't taken to doing leg workouts twice a week like Chloe urged me to, I'm sure my butt would have been flat as a board. Sitting at the office for 12 hours straight 5 days a week would have made sure of it.

I climbed into the tub, allowing the bubbles to cover me to my collar bone. The feeling of burning water soothing my back and easing the aches in my legs from standing in heels for six whole hours. I attempted to lose myself in the soft music I played, but Anderson's words kept playing in the back of my mind.

"Go rest your pretty head, Ms. Blake. While it's still connected to your body."

Many death threats had been handed to me when I became a lawyer, but this was the only one that carried any weight. I would be foolish to brush it aside. Anderson had men on payroll, in or out of jail, which meant he still ran the show. Just not in it's regular setting. And if he still ran the show, he already put a price on my head. But I had to survive long enough to destroy Anderson's business and everyone that was apart of it.

"Hello there, famous Ms. Blake." My head shot towards the door to find Chloe leaning against the framing.

"What the hell, Chlo. You can't just sneak up on me like that." I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

Coming towards me, she sat on the edge of the tub. Her dark brown eyes stared into mine with worry. "Why are you on edge? Does this have to do with the Anderson case?"

"No, Chloe, it doesn't." I grabbed a towel from the rack behind me, using my toe to flip the switch on the tub to drain the water.

"You're lying." She moved from the edge of the tub and back through the door. "Why else would you call me over in the middle of my work shift?"

I followed behind her with my towel wrapped around my body. "Because I don't know what to wear tonight."

"I told you a million times, Laylah. For fundraisers, persuasive; cocktail parties seductive; and business meetings professional." Chloe took to sprawling herself out on my bed. Her medium-length blonde hair hidden behind her head in a ponytail.

I laughed before walking into my closet. "This isn't work-related, actually."

Chloe walked into the closet, her astonished face  visible through the full-body mirror. "You're joking." I shook my head. "With who!?"

"James. He wants to take me to dinner at this place called Daniel? "

Chloe put her hands out. "First of all- wow. Honestly, that's an exclusive restaurant. I'm surprised."

"Benefits of working for Beretti, I suppose."

"Yeah, which brings me to the second thing." The filipina rolled her eyes. "This is work-related, since you two are just pretending for Creedmoor to get a rise in popularity."

I had told Chloe about the deal between Beretti and I, but I had left out certain details. Like how Beretti really just wanted to hurt Lucious.

"I wish." A quizzical look was her response. "He said that he had feelings for me. Then he made a deal with me: if I let him take me out to dinner tonight and I hated it, we would pretend this entire thing never happened. And I would go back to being a happy, single woman."

"And if you don't end up hating it?"

"I don't know."
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"What do you mean my reservations have been cancelled?!" Lucious was fuming.

"Sir, we have tried to contact you for the past two days to assure you wanted your reservations. The policy states that if you do not respond before the day of the reservation, your reservation is cancelled."

"Bullshit!" Lucious slammed the phone down into the receiver, already pissed that Hakeem had gotten himself in trouble.

The youngest Lyon had punched a middle-aged man square in the jaw, because the guy said his raps were pathetic. Lucious wasn't mad that Hakeem defended himself. If anything, he would have punched the bitch in the face as well. What he was mad about was the media he would have to deal with.

Becky entered the room after hearing the commotion. "What's wrong?"

"These bitches cancelled my dinner reservations at Balthazar. I made those damn reservations three months ago."

The assistant just shrugged her shoulders. "Just go to that Daniel restaurant. It's rated higher, anyways."

Lucious rolled his eyes. "And what makes you think if I had to call three months early for a reservation at a lower-rated restaurant that I'm going to get a reservation at a higher-rated restaurant on the day of?"

"Do you know who I am?" Becky rose an eyebrow at Lucious who returned the shrugging motion. "The best assistant in the world. I made the reservations to Daniel the same day you made reservations to Balthazar. You know, just in case a situation like this came up."

The father Lyon grinned. "Becky, baby! You just saved my ass! Come here!"

"No, no, no!" Becky tried to run as Lucious tackled her into a hug. He kissed both of her cheeks. ""Oh gross!"