"How did he seem?" I asked.
Her eyes narrowed in question. "Normal I guess. Back to his same nonchalant shit." Ronnie searched my face. "Why? You don't think it was him, do you?"
"I don’t know," I huffed shaking my head. "But he did pop up. Who's to say it wasn’t him?" Leaning back, I folded my arms across my chest. "Just keep an eye out for me, aight? Let me know if you hear anything."
Ronnie agreed with no hesitation. "You know I got you, boo."
Chapter 37
When Gianna told me about the black truck incident and her suspicions, I wasn’t trying to hear anything else. I told her she would be staying with me for the week, and it wasn't up for discussion. I didn't know if it was that Boss nigga or some other weirdo she worked with, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Luckily, she didn’t protest.
I reached out to Devon to see if he could give me some information on Boss without telling my business on why I needed to know. All Devon told me was that he owned a couple of convenience stores and laundromats. He and Boss were cool, but the extent of their relationship was through their wives.
I had my eyes and ears open though, and if it came down to it, I was fully prepared to handle Boss myself. I was known for being chill, but I wasn’t pussy by any means. So for the week, Ihad been keeping Gianna close, taking her to my restaurant, and showing her the ins and outs of how to run a business.
Gianna was more invested than I expected. She would be in the kitchen talking to the kitchen staff one minute—curious about techniques and recipes. The next, she was on the floor talking to the customers and helping the waitstaff. She would even be at the bar asking questions about cocktails and wine pairings.
Everyone loved her. She just had a way with people, and I loved watching her work a room. If I had it my way, I would always have her right next to me. The way things were going, I would be able to make that happen.
The week had been good overall. I got to wake up and fall asleep next to her. Watch her and my son's bond grow stronger by the day. At this point I was ready to move her in and get the ball rolling on moving our relationship forward. I had to keep reminding myself to just take it slow and enjoy the moments instead of already planning our wedding menu in my head.
It was evening and we were on our way to my parents to pick up Melo. Soft music was playing low. My hand was resting on Gianna’s thigh while she leaned back in the passenger seat smiling down at something on her phone. Every now and then she read me random tweets and quotes from Instagram while I drove.
Honestly, I was enjoying the hell out of it. Just regular, normal, couple shit. The kind of stuff I didn’t realize I had been missing. “You laughing too hard,” I glanced over at her with a grin. “It wasn’t that funny.”
“It was to me,” she giggled shaking her head. “Y’all men really don’t have any sense.”
“I got sense.”
“Mmhm." She pinched my cheek playfully. "Debatable."
"You lucky you're beautiful." I smirked reaching over and squeezing her thigh gently.
"I know." She shrugged not modest at all.
But suddenly…the laughter faded. Gianna got quiet. My eyes flicked toward her briefly. She was staring out the passenger window now, brows pinched slightly before she checked the side mirror. Then the rearview. Then the side mirror again.
My grip tightened on the wheel slightly. “You okay, baby?” I asked casually.
“Yeah…” she answered too quickly.
A moment passed. Her posture straightened subtly in her seat. That’s when I checked the rearview myself. Noticed a black truck. Nothing immediately strange about it. Tinted windows, big body a few car lengths behind us. But her reaction had me worried.
“What’s wrong, love?” I asked quieter this time. "Tell me?"
Gianna kept staring ahead now. “I might be tripping…”
“But?” I glanced over at her.
Her lips pressed together. “That truck,” she finally murmured. “I think it’s the same one I told you about.”
My eyes lifted back to the mirror. The truck kept a steady distance behind us.
My jaw tightened slightly. “You sure?”
“No.” She shook her head quickly. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just paranoid after everything that happened. There are thousands of black trucks on the road.”
I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I switched lanes. A few seconds later—the truck switched too. My stomach tightened instantly.
