“I wanted to ask you the same thing.” I sat back with a sigh. “I know what you told me, but are you really okay? I know you want answers. Even if you think you don’t need or want it, closure might be good.” I swallowed down a lump when I thought about the fact that a conversation could very much give them resolve. The closure might not happen.
“And I said not here.” His response wasn’t hostile or aggressive. But I knew that the question had irritated him a bit, so I was going to let it go.
“Okay.”
My anxiety would be on ten while waiting and wondering when the conversation would take place once we got back from Cabo and if he’d ghost me.Why does it matter? Even if our union wasn’t real and even if I knew the situation would end one day my very short marriage to Pearce had been fun. I was scared as hell of his father yet awakened at the same time. Pearce had activated the parts of me that I never thought would be activated again because most of these men were trash.
Pearce stood up and walked out onto the balcony. My eyes closed as I cursed internally. It was little shit like that. Every move he made every word that left his mouth had me searching for clues if he wanted to say fuck me and go find Tasha. I made a promise to myself to let it go and enjoy the rest of Cabo.
I finished my food and washed it down with orange juice. Pearce walked back into the room. “The butler is on the way upto get the food trays. He’s cool as hell, so I’m gon’ ask him if he knows where I can get some weed. I’m sure we’ll have to go off the resort to get it.”
“Okay.”
“Come here.”
I hated how that one command made my heart lurch. The fact that I wanted to run to him was sickening. The way his tone activated my coochie muscles was absurd. Pearce was dangerous as hell for all the right reasons. Except for the fact that the main reason he was dangerous was because whether he wanted to admit it or not his heart belonged to Tasha. I couldn’t compete with that. Shit I wouldn’t try to compete with that. I’d only end up hurting my own feelings, and I was good on that.
When I was in front of Pearce, he smirked at me before cupping my chin. “Don’t think I forgot to wake you up with this dick in you. As soon as we get back from riding ATV’s and take showers, I’m doing something real disrespectful to you. Got it?”
His promise had me dizzy. Shit, I was ready now. Rather than saying that I simply nodded, and he pecked my lips. The buzzing of Pearce’s cell phone interrupted our moment. With a sigh, he released my chin and went over to get his phone from the table. I watched his brows furrow, and my heart drummed hoping that it wasn’t Tasha.
“Hello?”
With bated breath I waited to see who was calling. Pearce’s brows rose, and he glanced over at me.
“You don’t know any details?” He listened while keeping his gaze trained on me. “Damn. Keep me posted.” Pearce ended the call, and my throat bounced as I swallowed painfully hard. I wanted to know what the caller told him, but he was clearly taking his time repeating the information.
Between him and his damn father my heart wouldn’t be any good the way they’d stressed it. “Pearce who was that?” I finally asked with wide eyes.
“My father was arrested. For the murder of Tequanna Boyd, Talik Jones, and the attempted murder of you and Marlon Boyd.”
“I didn’t say anything.” My body grew so warm, it was physically uncomfortable. If Kalim thought I had snitched he would kill me for sure, and I doubted that Pearce would be able to stop him. Just as I became lightheaded, I was hit with a revelation.
“Wait, you said attempted murder of Marlon. He’s not dead?” my phone rang on cue. Glancing over at it I could see that my mother was calling me. I was sure the answer to my question was one that she knew, but I wanted Pearce to tell me.
“Nah he’s not. Turns out he was an informant. He’d been working with the police trying to get some charges he got dropped. He gave them a little info but then started bullshitting them. They started following him watching his moves and who he was dealing with. Seems my pops realized Marlon and Talik were following him that night but didn’t peep that Marlon and Talik were being trailed by the Feds. When they realized Marlon was alive, they got him to a hospital and put him in protective custody. While he was there in a coma, they began investigating my father. And I’m pretty sure these charges won’t be the only ones he gets hit with.”
CHAPTER 13
PEARCE
Shit had hitthe fan in the absolute worst way. When Tasha showed up in Cabo, I was determined to not let it ruin our trip. After I got the news of my father’s arrest, I still didn’t want to leave. But when I got word that his connect had been arrested in one of the largest drug busts in the last few years, I knew I couldn’t stay in Cabo. Big bad Kalim had no clue he was being targeted by the Feds and while they were watching him, he led them straight to his plug. Shit was all bad.
I didn’t really give two fucks about the nigga, but I wasn’t happy that he was in jail. In all honesty, I didn’t know how I felt. Most days, I was certain that I hated the nigga. But I found myself wondering why he was still selling drugs with all the money he had. Not knowing when to say when had been his downfall. All my life Kalim had been untouchable. Knowing that he’d been hemmed up had me feeling some kind of way.
And the fact that Tasha decided to show her face in Cabo. That shit had me hotter than fish grease. I didn’t have anything to say to her, but seeing her face made me feel shit I didn’t want to feel. I’d been having so much fun with Vanya that with each passing day, I thought about Tasha less and less. Her finding out her cousin was alive had her more than ready to get back home.Even if he was going to rob my father, I was glad for her that her aunt didn’t lose two kids. I wasn’t going to visit my father in jail, but his attorney did reach out to me and let me know that Kalim wanted me to keep things in order at his construction company and strip club. I could do that.
The strip clubs all had managers that kept the place running smoothly. My father went to the one in Diamond Cove a few nights a week to see the women more than he went to actually do any work. It was as if the moment my father was placed in cuffs, he forgot all about our feud. His attorney had reached out to me more than once with instructions from my father, and I did everything he wanted me to. He was an asshole for sure, but I wasn’t going to kick him while he was down.
My father didn’t murder Marlon’s homie or try to murder him. His goons did it, so it would be very possible for my father to beat those charges. However, if the police questioned Vanya and she cooperated, his ass was grass. I doubted she would because she was already worried about my father. If she got on a stand and testified against him, he might not care about her having the same last name as me. So, the murder and attempted murder charges could possibly be beat. But while they were trailing him, the Feds had witnessed more than one transaction between my father and his plug. I had no clue how he was going to get out of that.
I had been back from Cabo for two days and had been running nonstop the entire time. Because of that and jet lag that I never recovered from, I was exhausted. I didn’t have too much time to think about anything. When I got home and saw an unfamiliar car in my driveway, I was stumped until Tasha got out. Sucking my teeth, I blew out a breath and emerged from the car. I wasn’t in the mood to have a conversation with her or to hear anything that she had to say. I just wanted a shower and my bed. Earlier, after I smoked a blunt, I had demolisheda honeybun and a bag of Doritos. As tired as I was, that would suffice for dinner.
The look I gave Tasha wasn’t a friendly one. Without speaking, I walked right past her. “I get that you’re mad, Pearce. You have every right to be, but you don’t have to treat me like this,” her voice cracked.
I whirled around to face her. “I can’t treat you like anything if you’re not around me. You keep doing that shit by choice when I told you I don’t have shit to say to you, Tasha.”
“You’re not even going to let me explain?”
