After that, she was careful with how she approached anything that she planned on attaching her name to. If she wasn’t in the best of spirits, she set it down for another time. Nina enjoyed spending her weekends with Jio’s family. She was becoming privy to all the family secrets while laughing with his Auntie Vee and his cousins as they shared family gossip. Nina would listen with her ears perked up while licking buttercream from her fingers.
From the bakery to the barbecues, she was rolling with the Gottis’. His uncle taught her how to BBQ ribs and smoke turkey legs. Nina even learned how to shoot dice.
“All I need you to do is blow on em’ for me, pretty girl. Daddy gon’ bring the money right to you,”he sealed his words with a kiss right in front of his folks.
They’d never seen him so smitten before and they loved it. Jio deserved all the love and happiness that his big heart could hold.
What Nina respected most about his family and friends was that no one pretended in Jio’s world. Everybody was themselves and unapologetically. She didn’t have to perform when she was around them. She could breathe easier and anxiety was nonexistent.
Danyelle entered her life more permanently too. They indulged in more wine than she’d ever had and trotted all over the city to private art shows followed by late nights at the club in VIP, where Jio rolled out the red carpet for her and her new friend. Nina enjoyed the long conversations that they got lost in about womanhood and ambition. It was safe to say that slowly but surely, she was adjusting to a life that didn’t revolve around her last name.
Her dad had removed her from the board meetings. She could only imagine what stupid lie he came up with to tell them why the PRESIDENT WAS NOT PRESENT.
But the simplicity of her life became addictive, so fuck it. If he wanted to push her out, he better not do it too hard because Jio would be honored to take care of her. He loved having her around more and more whenever he had time. He kept trying to downplay it, but she peeped the change in his attitude. He was more relaxed, and maybe that’s because she wasn’t too tired to fuck more throughout the week.
Jio was way more attentive and clingier. His hands constantly found her waist, it happened absentmindedly, he wanted her in his skin. They fell deeper into each other quietlyand the term ‘dangerously in love’ took on a whole ‘nother meaning.
The streets had his full attention along with the businesses that he was trying to get off the ground with his brothers. His family depended on him to make all the decisions. Nina didn’t realize how many people’s bills he paid until she started riding with him whenever she left the office early.
He was a powerful man, and his life was fuckin’ chaotic.
Nina had to remain his breath of fresh air when the streets became dark and cloudy. There had been plenty of nights where she had to fuck the frustration out of her baby followed by a prayer for his protection on his way out the door hours later. She realized something awful one night lying in his arms…
Jio was becoming her everything but she was not his. She’d slowly started building her life to revolve around him, and how did it happen so fast? A tiny part of her was terrified at the reality of the damage already being done.
NINE
“ANYTIME. ANYWHERE. WON’T YOU TRUST IN ME BABY.” MARY J. BLIGE
“I’ll call you when I leave the bank. Do you have time to get a coffee?” Nina asked her friend Danyelle.
“Yeah, as long as I can bring work with me.”
“I need to catch up on a few things myself, so that works for me. See you in a second.”
“Where are we meeting?”
“We can go to the one with the beef patties.”
“Cool, I’ll see you in a sec, girl.”
Nina hung the phone up and dropped it in the cup holder. She was running in to make a deposit and coming back out. Around this time, the bank should have been empty, so she didn’t foresee this taking too long.
Jio was good for giving her lump sums of cash every three or four days. Nina wasn’t sure what he expected her to do with the money, but the way her parents had been acting lately, she’d been dumping the funds into different investment accounts. She refused to depend on the Marcelles or the Gottis even for that matter. Nina and independency once didn’t belong in the same sentence, but with age came wisdom, and she was done holding her breath waiting on the other shoe to drop. She’d swapped out her normal Romance and Women’s Fiction reads for morebusiness development and books that focused on strategy and marketing.
Nina held her head high as she walked into the bank. Not because she assumed people were staring at her, but because she was a woman who possessed confidence and it radiated through the building with every step she took in her Manolo loafers.
“Next,” the bank teller said with a warm smile.
Nina looked up and nearly stopped in her tracks.
Gosh, she’s gorgeous.
Pretty didn't even begin to cover it. Her sleek and silky black hair fell down her back. Her complexion was rich and radiant. She had the kind of skin that looked expensive because somebody was drinking their water, minding their business, and seeing a dermatologist on a regular basis. From one quick glance, Nina could tell she was living well.
Two diamond tennis bracelets rested effortlessly on her wrist and they weren’t the flea market specials folks swore were “real enough,” either. The stones caught the light every time she moved her hand. Her almond-shaped nails were flawlessly polished in a soft nude that somehow looked understated and luxurious.
“I love your nails,” Nina said before she could stop herself.
