They shared the blunt, wings, and bottle until it was time for Peaches to hit the stage.
“I’m going to have security come over here.”
“Now you know he got eyes watching me. I’ll be fine,” she said with confidence.
She wasn’t worried at all. An extra layer of peace fell over her once she saw him in the club. Nina knew without a doubt he would die before he let anything happen to her. She wondered if Carter would do the same.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
One minute Nina was surrounded by music, flashing lights, and big booty strippers that she wasn’t paying attention to. In the next minute, all she could smell was his expensive cologne as she thought about how long it’d been since she last sat across from him.
An entire year had passed since she’d taken her life back and been consistent with therapy. She didn’t have to cancel because he magically had plans at the same time as her scheduled session. She should be reimbursed for all the missed sessions that she’d still been charged for.
A year of boundaries…
It took her a whole year to learn how to become Nina again. Not Nina Marcelle but Nina. In fact, she’d become a woman thatshe didn’t know but one that she loved more than anyone and anything else on this planet.
So, after all of that progression, how was it that Jio Gotti could still walk into a room and make her forget her own name? He was problematic.
“You enjoying your night?” was how he greeted her after all the time that had passed between them.
The question sounded casual. Nina knew he’d already gathered every piece of information available on her. She didn’t doubt for a second that he didn't already know where she’d been, who she’d been with, and probably what she’d ordered for dinner before she came here. There had been plenty of times when she was out shopping and her sales rep would tell her that the total was covered. It was the same for when she was at the spa, hair salon or at lunch on a solo date. Something that she’d recently started doing to help her better navigate her single journey.
Nina took a sip of champagne.
“I did.” She refused to look at him. Knowing how quickly she seemed to misplace her common sense whenever she was in his presence.
Stay strong sista…she thought.
His eyes studied her physique, and he liked everything that he saw, but he always had. Most men looked at Nina and saw beauty. Jio looked at her like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Sometimes she wondered if he knew her better than she knew herself, and the thought unsettled her.
“Good.”
His answer surprised her. There wasn’t a hint of attitude or jealousy, nor did it seem as if an argument was on the horizon.
“What?”
Jio chuckled. “What you mean what?”
“You’re being normal.”
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It feels suspicious.”
His smile widened. “The girl who thinks everything I do got an ulterior motive has returned.”
Nina laughed loudly, the sound escaped before she could stop it.
The problem with Jio was that he could still make her laugh… even when she didn’t want him to,especiallywhen she didn't want him to. The reality of what was taking place was annoying. She couldn’t be tough if she wanted, not with him.
Across the room, one of his cousins tried to get his attention, but he didn’t take his eyes off Nina.
His attention remained hers. Although she would beg to differ, it’d always been on her. Even when lil’ mama hated him, and even after she left him to suffer through life without her, his attention never shifted. He would forever remain fixated on Nina Marcelle.
One thing she could say was that although he was full of shit, she never had to wonder how he felt about her.
“Who was the dude you was with all night?”
