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ChapterSix
Joseph
I pull up in front of the restaurant and the valet opens our door. I round the car and offer her my arm as we walk in. The hostess shows us to our seat, where a waiter promptly takes our drink order.
“I was glad to get your call and that we could finally sync our schedules to be able to see each other.”
“Yes, we’re both pretty busy people. However, I did not expect it to take a couple of weeks before we could get together but I’m glad we could finally arrange it, Bree.”
We order our lunch and generally have a great time. She is very easy to talk to and has a very laid-back personality, but we do not have that red hot spark Joyce and I have. She cracks a joke and I nearly choke on my food laughing. I take my mind off Joyce and give Bree my undivided attention. She looks amazing with her yellow backless sundress that looks phenomenal against her brown skin. She’s a lot thinner than I’m generally attracted to but it fits her.
We walk out of the restaurant and wait for the car to be brought around, and I hear a voice calling my name. Before I can react, Joyce is in my face demanding an explanation. The last time I saw her was a few weeks ago when she brought a revised contract for me to sign. When I refused to do so she declared we would not be seeing each other again. So why she is in my face acting like a girlfriend being cheated on is beyond me.
“Joyce, I know you did not run up in my face like we are a couple, and I am cheating on you.”
“I just want to ask you a question.”
“That’s fine, but you have my number. So, I suggest calling me if you want to talk. You are being extremely rude right now and I am not going to cut my date short or slight her because you can’t figure out what you want. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m busy.”
I take Bree’s hand and walk away from a pissed off looking Joyce.
Joyce
I don’t know what I was thinking. All I can say is once I saw him out with another woman, a wave of possessiveness that I have never experienced before hit me. I don’t even know what I would have said to him. He has tried several times to convince me to let him get to know me, but I didn’t want anything to do with it. Hell, I haven’t contacted him or even let him know I was going to be in town. I turn around and begin to head back to the hotel. I don’t want to be here anymore. Maybe I’ll send T’Aundrea alone for the next meeting since she came this time and met with Peter too. The next thing I know someone is grabbing my arm. I’d know that touch anywhere. I’d know that touch if I was dead. He gently pulls on my arm to get me to stop walking and I do. Taking a deep breath, I slowly turn around to face a pissed off looking Joseph.
“What the hell were you thinking, Joyce?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I just saw you and felt betrayed.” His head snaps back like I slapped him.
“Betrayed?” He takes a deep breath. “How, Joyce? I don’t owe you anything. It was you who didn’t want to have anything more than on demand sex remember. You didn’t even want us to get to know each other. Everything was contracted and limited. I haven’t heard anything from you since the last time I saw you. No return calls or emails and you’re here in Mississippi and I never got a call or text, so you obviously didn’t want to see me. So please tell me how I betrayed you?” I drop my eyes because everything he said was the truth and I don’t have an explanation for the irrational feelings I had when I saw him.
“Awww. You expected me to be somewhere licking my wounds, and you got your feelings hurt when you realized I wasn’t. Well to be fair I was for a little while, but my brother got me straightened out. I told you before and I will tell you again, I am not like the other men you have been involved with. I am a grown man and I conduct myself as such. Just because you don’t want to be with me outside of the bedroom doesn’t mean other women would feel the same way. This is what you wanted, Joyce, so put your big girl panties on and deal with it, and while you are dealing with that, deal with the brokenness and trauma you are still very obviously carrying around unresolved. But just like you came to Mississippi and didn’t reach out to me, keep that same energy if you see me out with someone else,” he seethes out, turns and storms away from me.
I really messed up with him, but I honestly didn’t expect the reaction I had when I saw him and I should have handled it better. Because he is right. He doesn’t owe me anything, and I have no right to say anything outside of hello to him. I had the contract created to protect myself and my business, but if I am being honest, I have used it to hide behind. But until Joseph no one else has cared or challenged it. I enter the hotel and head to the suite T and I are staying in. It’s a two bedroom so we decided to share the one room. They call it a room but it’s the size of an apartment.
“Back so soon?” T says and then gets a look at my face.
“J, what happened! What’s wrong?” she shrieks while she rushes over to sit on the coffee table in front of me.
“I saw Joseph while I was out, and he was with a woman, and I embarrassed myself.”
“How?” she asks as she squints her eyes at me.
“I, um, confronted him,” I stutter out.
“Confronted him how? For what, J? You don’t have a right to confront that man.” She looks at me like I’m stupid.
“I know that, T. That’s the made a fool out of myself part,” I say as I hold my head in my hands.
“J, let this shit go and talk to the man. Fuck that contract. I told you that before!”
“I know you did, and I want to, but I don’t know how to. It scares me, T. What if I get hurt? What if he turns out to be like…?”
“Stop it!” she snaps at me. “He has taken so much from you in the past, but you are willingly giving him your future. Why is he still controlling you? Why are you letting him? And shut up,” she says quietly when I start to open my mouth. “You are allowing that man and the fucked-up things he did to you to control your present and future. What if Joseph is supposed to be your husband? And if not him, some other man but he still has you living in such fear you won’t give a man a chance. Give love a chance dammit, it’s worth it!” And with that she stands up and leaves out of the suite. I just sat there shook. T has never spoken to me like that, ever, but is she right? Have I let my past rob me of my future? I really didn’t need to ask that question; I already knew the answer, but once again I did not want to face the truth. We have another meeting with Peter tomorrow and then we are on a plane back to North Carolina. I will only come back once a month to meet with Peter. We have decided to also sell my products in his boutique and spas. His team will also offer the products online with the rest of the luxury products used in the rooms. By the time T comes back, I have my bags packed and I am once again ready to get the hell out of Mississippi.
Joseph
I was so mad I was vibrating. How dare she run up on me like that? I apologized to Bree so much she begged me to stop. She made it quite clear she wanted nothing to do with me unless it was on her ridiculous terms. Then at taco night Skai threw me directly under the bus! All I needed was for Savvy to start meddling. Luckily the kids’ gifts and Joshua was enough to get her off my case for a little while at least. After our confrontation she texted me for a little while and since I am not a teenager I responded, but I am over this bullshit she is trying to pull. My mood has gone from good to moody as hell, back to good, and now it stays on get the fuck away from me. On a brighter note, however, I really like True. She loves Atlas; anyone with eyes can see that and he loves her too. She has pretty much moved into the compound, and my brother was almost going to let her get away. Luckily after the kick in the ass I gave him, he went and brought her back home with him. I head up to the fourth level; I need to do some swimming to try to clear my head. I climb up the stairs to the diving board, walk out and dive in the water. I am on my however many laps when I hear Savvy screaming for Josh. I get out of the water because her voice says something is wrong and because she is yelling so loud, I can hear her all the way up here. Moving in instinct, I dry off as fast as I can, get dressed, grab some weapons and head downstairs. When I reach the family room I see Josh rush out. He looks at me and says two words…It’s Atlas.
1 week later
Joseph
I’m at work, but I am not much good. My mind is on my brother still in a coma and we do not know how long he is going to stay that way or if he will wake up. Even though he had on body armor, the one he wore didn’t offer enough coverage of his sides. The bullet that ripped through the side of his body wreaked havoc on his internal organs. Add to that the blood loss from the other bullet wounds and he was in pretty bad shape. I look up and realize I have been doing the same thing for the past ten minutes. Lucky for me my guys are picking up the slack. “Joseph,” I hear Asher call me. When I look up, all of my brothers are walking in.
“You look about as productive as us. We’re heading home to change and head to the hospital, so we came to grab you. Who is in charge when you are not here?”
“Scott is.” And as if I conjured him up, he walks in the room we are standing in.
“He’s doing good work, I see. With the way he’s working he could be a Gideon. He could replace you out here,” Joshua says, and I flip him the bird as I let Scott know I am leaving, and he is in charge. Once I give him instructions, we all head out to go see Atlas.
