Chasing Bliss (23 page)

He blinked and exhaled a shuddery little breath. He bit his bottom lip, then answered her.
“Yeah, I would, Bliss. Nobody knows everything about everybody…no matter how close they are.
There’s probably things I’ll never know about
you—
maybe things I don’t want to know. Sometimes
not knowing things is the way to go.”

There was nothing Bliss could say to argue with what he’d said. He was right, but she didn’t
really want him to be, so she decided to torture him. She put her hand on him and gave him a
squeeze, though it wasn’t really necessary because he was already like steel. He made a sound that
was somewhere between a growl and a moan.

Chase took his eyes off the road and looked at her for a second. “If you keep that up, I’m pullin’
this car over, and I’m gonna let you have it, girl—right here in this car, right here in broad daylight,
and I won’t give a damn who see’s us. I’m serious, Bliss.”

She laughed and let him go. “I’m sorry.”

He smiled. “No you’re not. I could still pull over. You know you want me to.”

Bliss wouldn’t have liked anything more, and she knew he meant what he said. Chase was
crazy, and she loved him for it. Their relationship was very heavy on the physical; they couldn’t
keep their hands off each other and made love at every opportunity. But it was just as heavy
emotionally. Every time Chase touched her, she felt
loved
. He didn’t just have sex with her. Instead,
he made love to her every single time, even if it was just a quickie in the shower before they went
to work. Bliss loved him dearly, and she couldn’t imagine her life without him. He was very
quickly
becoming
her life. “I love you, Chase,” she said again.

He smiled that boyish smile, and it lit his handsome face up. “And I love
you
, Bliss.” He kissed
her quick, then turned back to the road. They didn’t talk much until they got to his place.

Chase pulled his Porsche into the garage, and J.T. pulled his Range Rover in right after him.

“Damn. Thought I’d get a chance to feel you up in the elevator.” He smiled, but Bliss could tell
his disappointment was real…and so was hers.

“I’ll let you feel me up later,” Bliss said, looking over her shoulder. Everyone was piling out
of J.T.’s ride. She turned back, and Chase was kissing her. Bliss put her hands on his chest to hold
him back, but he stopped kissing her just as quickly as he started.

He opened his door and smiled at her. “Come on, sweetheart. I’m gonna tell you some stuff you
really
don’t want to hear.”

Bliss felt a tingle that wasn’t quite dread at that one.

Chase watched her face and saw that look. He squeezed her hand gently. “Don’t worry. I’ll give
it to you easy.”

They got out of the car, and everyone rode the elevator up together.

Dee took off her jacket and started taking plates out of the cabinet like she’d been there 1,000
times. Bliss pushed back an instinctive stab of jealousy. “Bliss, you come on and help me set the
table. The food will be here soon. J.T., you and lazy-ass Corey start pouring drinks. And Chase,
you need to open your mouth and start talkin’, honey.”

Chase gave her a look. “You can’t order me around in my own house, Dee.” He disappeared
into the bedroom.

J.T. and Corey set about bringing drinks to the table, Dee picked up a stack of plates, and Bliss
picked up the silverware.

“Chase loves you, you know,” Dee said, looking at her thoughtfully.

Bliss tried on a smile that felt awkward on her lips; Dee made her nervous. “Yeah. Chase is
wonderful. I couldn’t ask for a better man. I love him too.”

They walked into the dining area and started to set the table. Bliss was surprised when Dee
touched her arm. “Did you rehearse what you’d say to me, honey? That was a real brisk answer,
and you may have meant it, but your delivery sucked.”

Bliss’s head went back, but not in anger. She didn’t know exactly
how
she felt. Caught off guard
maybe? She stumbled for something to say. “What?” was all she managed.

Dee put her hands on her hips and smiled at her. “I only bite when I’m provoked, Bliss. You
see me as some kind of threat, don’t you? You probably think I want your man. Isn’t that true,
honey?”

Well, since she brought it up…
“I don’t know. I hope not.”

Dee laughed good and deep, from her diaphragm. “I’m not gonna lie to you. There was a time
that I actually entertained the notion. As you know, Chase is fairly easy to fall in love with. We
went back and forward with our flirting and teasing, but nothin’ ever came of it, and I know why.
That has never been the role Chase wants me to play in his life. It ain’t what he needs me for. Chase
is very deliberate in everything he does. He doesn’t do things on a whim, and he rarely does things
he regrets.”

Bliss nodded. “I’m learning that.”

“I’m no threat, Bliss. I know Chase loves you. I’ve known him for a long time, and I’ve
never
seen him act like this. You make him happy, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this happy.”

Bliss smiled, not sure what to make of Dee’s revelations. “I’m glad. He makes me happy too.”

Dee looked at her seriously. “Chase is a very complicated man, Bliss.”

“I know.”

“No you don’t, honey. Not yet.” She shrugged. “I just wanted to tell you that things might get
hard. We may never be friends, but I’m your ally and not your enemy. If you ever need me, I’m
there.”

J.T. and Corey picked that moment to return to the table with their bottles of liquor, and J.T.
squinted at Dee. “What are you up to, Dee?”

Dee sucked her teeth at him. “Nothing. I was just talking to Bliss. Is that all right with you?”

Corey opened the Rémy Martin. “Depends,” he said. “You should let Chase talk for himself.”

“I agree,” J.T. added, pouring Hennessey.

Chase emerged from the bedroom, back to casual, in jeans and a T-shirt, just in time to answer
the door. “Food’s here,” he said absently. He took the food and paid the delivery person, and they
all sat down. Chase looked at Bliss for a long time, and then he leaned forward in his seat and
took her hand. “All right, Bliss. Here goes. I’m gonna tell you the story of me and Cyrus…pretty
much. Of course, it’s just
my
side of the story, and there are always two sides to everything. Cyrus
might not see it exactly the way I do.” He paused to sip his drink, then looked back at her with his
beautiful cognac eyes. He looked sad and a bit tired.

Bliss glanced around. Corey was busy eating, like he was absorbing himself in his food to keep
from hearing what Chase was about to say. Dee was pushing her food around on her plate, hardly
eating at all, and J.T. had both elbows on the table, sipping his Hennessey and studying Chase.
Bliss sat back in her chair, but she didn’t let go of his hand. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

Chase took a deep breath and started talking. “Me and Cyrus have
never
gotten along, Bliss. I
think Cyrus hated my ass at first sight.”

“Cyrus don’t hate Chase,” Corey interjected.

“I think he does. Eat your food and let the man talk, Corey,” J.T. said quietly.

“Anyway, like I said, Cyrus never liked me—and I got news for you, Corey. He ain’t all that
crazy about you, either, so don’t get too comfortable.” He turned back to Bliss. “My mother had
three sons by three different men, and none of us knew our fathers. I think Cyrus is resentful of
that, but I’m not into psychotherapy. I’m not feeling Cyrus because he’s been a bastard to me all
of my life. He used to beat my ass or do something mean to me
every day
when I was little. He was
mean to Corey, too, but I’d usually take Corey’s ass-whippin’s for him so Cyrus would leave him
alone.”

Bliss rubbed her hand over his. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t know.”

He smiled wryly. “You’re not supposed to cry over spilled milk, Bliss, and I hardly ever do. I
will say this though. I believe when you suffer trauma and have terrible experiences when you’re
very young, you store that shit inside you somewhere, and it makes you into the person you
become—good or bad.” He finished his drink and poured another, and then he poured one for
Bliss. “Go ahead and drink up. You’ll probably need it for this next part.”

Corey stopped eating and let his fork clank noisily onto his plate. “Don’t start talkin’ about
Mama, Chase. For real. I ain’t feelin’ that at all.”

Chase stared at him for a moment, not unkindly. “Then you need to go to another room,
Corey.”

“Ain’t no other room in this place. You live in a fuckin’ loft,” Corey mumbled and then fell
silent.

Chase stared at him a little longer, and then he picked up where he left off. “Cyrus is fifteen
years older than me. He started selling drugs somewhere in his late teens, early twenties. Him and
his boys did some kind of hostile takeover on some old-school turf, and they started a war. When
the smoke cleared, I was cryin’ in the schoolyard, with Corey next to me, and I was holdin’ our
dead mother’s head in my lap. A bastard named Maceo shot her in the temple right in front of us.
One more reason to hate Cyrus, right?”

Bliss shook her head and squeezed his hand. “God, Chase.” She looked at Corey, who had
turned his attention out the window. “You guys have been through so much. I’m sorry.” Bliss was
horrified. A story like that was beyond the pale for her. She couldn’t even
begin
to imagine what it
must have been like for those little boys. Chase sipped his drink, and Bliss finally picked up her
own. While it was shocking as hell to hear it all happened to the man she loved, she was not too
naïve to know that things like that went down in the world of drugs. It was always tit for tat. “So
what happened to that guy? What was his name? Maceo?” she asked, drinking deeply from her
glass.

Chase laughed and turned to Dee. “Let me get one of your smokes, Dee,” he said and finished
his drink. He immediately poured another one.

“You aimin’ to get pissy, Chase?” J.T. asked with his eyebrow in the air.

Chase lit a cigarette and Dee got up to get an ashtray. Chase smiled. “Relax. I’ll nurse this one.
Besides, I’m in my own house with my woman, my brother, and my two closest friends. One of
y’all will cover me up when I pass out. It
takes
liquor to talk about this shit. Bliss, you wanted to
know what happened to Maceo?”