Page 9 of Love At Close Range

“I’on know but I’ll keep my eyes and ears open to see what’s going on,” Mello offered.

“Aight… bet.” I hung up the phone and blew out a staggered breath. I didn’t need this shit right now. I should’ve just let the deal go as is, but the money was too good to be true and I needed that. I wanted to be able to do more than what I was doing now for Reiana. She did well for herself, but I wanted to prove that I was good enough to be her man. Shit, Rhyse’s little bad ass already didn’t like me so I figured the money would help me out some. This shit was becoming more of a hassle than it was worth, and I needed to get a handle on it before it got too out of hand.

Reiana didn’t need me financially, and if I was being honest, that bothered me more than I ever told her. She had built her business from the ground up and lived good with nobody doing shit for her. I respected it, but I also wanted her to look at me like I could add something to the life she had already created. My real estate company did well, but well wasn’t enough for me anymore. I wanted more, and simple commercial real estate flipping wasn’t doing it fast enough. The street shit was supposed to help me get there faster. Instead, I was sitting around wondering if some nigga I robbed had finally figured out I was the reason his whole deal went left.

Instead of sulking, I got up and went to take a shower. Reiana didn’t even let me go take them home. She had her homegirl Tay do it. I would’ve objected, but I needed to see what Mello knew. I pulled out my phone and tried calling her, but my calls kept going to voicemail.

“Fuck, man,” I groaned as I threw the phone down beside me.

Her ignoring me only added to everything else I had going on. I already knew why she was pissed. I had been moving different, and Reiana wasn’t the type of woman who would ignore that shit just because I said shit was cool. She asked questions, and lately I hadn’t been giving her any answers that made sense. I couldn’t tell her the truth either. Reiana knew about the real estate side of my life, and that was where I intended to keep her. She had too much going for herself and Rhyse for me to drag her into some street shit that had nothing to do with her.

Defeated, I went upstairs to take a shower and take it down for the night. I needed all my rest if I was going to stay ahead of this shit. I didn’t need shit getting out of hand.

***

a few days later…

Mello called and said he had some information and wanted to meet at my office downtown. By the time I got up and dressed, it was almost noon. I tried calling Reiana again, but she still wasn’t answering. I had a trick for that, though. Once I got finished with Mello, I was gone pop up on her ass. She was really tripping over nothing. At least that was what I kept telling myself. I knew she had every reason to be questioning me, but I also knew I couldn’t give her the answers she wanted. If I told her what was actually happening, there was a good chance she would walk away before I even got the chance to fix it. I wasn’t willing to let that happen over some shit I planned on cleaning up, anyway.

I dressed quickly and headed straight to my office. When I got there, Mello was already there waiting.

“Wassup?” I greeted when I walked in.

“Ain’t shit, but I did find out that Cyrus has been in touch with Drex and they supposedly came to some kinda truce. I’on know what that’s about but it could mean that you’re in the clear,” he revealed.

I nodded my head as I listened to him and processed what he was saying. If they did come to a truce, then they could be joining forces.

That possibility didn’t sit right with me. If Cyrus had really worked something out with the nigga who lost money and men behind the deal, then I needed to know what the agreement involved. A truce could mean they decided the situation wasn’t worth taking any further, but it could also mean they had figured out who really fucked them and were waiting for the right time to move.

“That’s all you heard?” I asked.

“Yeah… for now. You’on wanna be asking a bunch of questions and get a target on your back. Let’s see how this shit pans out before we come up with our next move,” he uttered.

“Aight. I’ll stand down but I need to be in front of this shit.”

“I got you, bro.” Mello stood, and I followed suit. Once he was standing, he extended his fist, and I met it with mine. When he was gone, I grabbed my keys and was behind him. I needed to go see my girl. I knew she was pissed, and I needed to make it right.

There wasn’t much else I could do about Cyrus until Mello heard something else, and sitting in my office thinking about it wasn’t going to change shit. My relationship with Reiana was something I could handle right now. I knew she wasn’t going to make it easy on me, but I also knew her well enough to know that showing up empty-handed probably wasn’t the smartest move.

I left my office and headed straight to her house, but not before stopping to get her a bouquet of her favorite flowers… peonies. After securing a bouquet of white and blush pink ones, I headed to her house on the other side of town. The drive gave me too much time to think. Reiana and I had been together for two years, and I knew she cared about me, but there were times when it felt like a part of her was somewhere I couldn’t reach. I never asked too many questions about what happened before me because I figured everybody had a past. Still, something about her always made me feel like I was competing against somebody who wasn’t even around. That was another reason I wanted everything I touched to be bigger. More money… more power… more respect. I wanted her to see me as somebody permanent instead of whatever the fuck I sometimes felt like I was to her. Maybe that was my own insecurity talking, but I wasn’t blind. I knew the difference between a woman being in love with you and a woman simply passing time with you.

When I got to Ree’s, I saw her friend Tay’s car in the driveway. I couldn’t stand that bitch. She was always in Reiana’s head about me. She acted as if she wanted me or some shit. Walking up to the door, I rang the doorbell and waited for her to come and answer it. When the door opened, she stood before me, looking as beautiful as ever. She had her curly hair down and in a tank top that showed her breasts and a pair of yoga shorts that had her thick thighs and ass on display. Seeing her softened some of the irritation I had from her ignoring me. She looked good enough for me to forget for a second that I had come over there because she was pissed at me. The flowers were supposed to get me through the door. After that, I figured I could talk my way through the rest.

“You gone let me in?” I asked when I handed her the flowers. She looked at me for a moment before she took the flowers and stepped aside. Once she closed the door, she headed to the kitchen, where I followed her. Tay was sitting at the table with a bottle of tequila and a frown.

“Why are you here?” She asked. “Don’t you have some secrets you need to be keeping?” She cocked her head to the side.

“Why are you always in my damn business. You need to get a man,” I snarled.

“Don’t worry about what I got. You need to get the fuck on so we can finish our night, and you can get back to being your usual weird self,” she spat.

“What do you want, Dorian?” Reiana asked before I could respond to Tay’s hating ass.

The way Reiana looked at me told me the flowers hadn’t done nearly as much as I hoped they would. She wasn’t yelling or going off, which almost made it worse. When she got quiet, I knew I had to be careful with whatever came out of my mouth next.

“Can we talk… alone?” I asked.

“Are you going to tell me what you’re hiding?” She asked.