Page 26 of Mister Teacher

“I do,” I admitted, just above a whisper. “A lot. But—” Honey squealing and dancing in her seat cut me off and made me laugh. “Honey…”

“We’re going to be sisters-in-law after all,” she almost sang.

“Don’t get your hopes up now. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to do the work. He might be in a relationship by the time I’m ready for one.”

“Do the work?” she repeated, face twisted up as if she smelled something awful. “What the hell kind of work you have to do that wouldtakethat damn long, Nae?”

I placed my hands on my hips as my chin jutted out, but that only made her laugh, which made me laugh. She was not taking my plight seriously. Like at all.

“The inner work, girl!” I whisper-yelled. “I need to heal before being with a man like Tyreek.”

“I agree, but you don’t have to be fully healed.Loveheals. I think there’s a certain level you have to be on, one he can meet you at, but if you wait to heal fully from what you’ve gone through, there’s no telling how long that would take. If you heal fully at all. Grief is tricky in that way. You might think you’re good one day and be in shambles the next.”

“That’s true,” I agreed softly. “I think… I’m kind of nervous about being with a man like Tyreek too. He’s so…”

“Safe,” Honey supplied with a knowing smile. “I was the same way with Kahlil.”

“So how did you rest in how different he was from other men? How did you not sabotage it?”

“I almost did.” She giggled and leaned forward in her seat. “I almost pushed him away. He was so perfect I was unintentionally waiting for something bad to happen, so when I had what I thought was a way out, I took it. That didn’t last long. Kahlil has flaws just like every other man, but he’s willing to do whatever he can to love me the way I need to be loved, and that’s more than enough for me. I just… had to make up in my mind that I was worthy of that and the rest was easy.”

“How will I know when I’m ready?”

“When you can’t push him away anymore.” Her smile was sweet and voice low, forcing me to pay close attention to every word she said. “You’re going to be with him, and it’ll probably be at the most random time. He’s going to say or do something that makes you look at him like… damn. This ismyman. Mine. And in that moment, you’re going to commit within yourself to put forth the effort to do whatever it takes to keep him. Then he’s going to show you all it takes is to let him love you. Watch.”

I didn’t know what else to say. Really, there was nothing else to say. We talked for a few minutes more before Harmony arrived, walking in with the same damn glow Honey had. It was good seeing Saint get the love he deserved, and from the looks of it, he was giving it right back to Harmony. When she came through and got his rights back from Tristan, I was surprised his ass didn’t propose to her right then and there. It was coming, though, I was sure of that, and I’d be just as happy for them as I was for Honey and Kahlil.

CHAPTER18

Piper

Nathan was standing there, casually torturing someone as if it was nothing. The large blocks of ice he was placing on the man’s bare skin were smoking they were so cold. They stuck to his skin instantly, pulling it away the moment Nathan yanked. If I was squeamish, the sight of patches of blood would have turned my stomach, but unfortunately, I was used to it. With an irritated breath, I checked the time on my Rolex.

Nathan had asked me to meet him for lunch, but he was running late. Apparently one of my father’s men had stolen some money, and he wanted Nathan to make him suffer until he confessed where it was, then Nathan was supposed to kill him. By the looks of it, Nathan wasn’t going to be done any time soon, so I was about to ask him if he just wanted me to bring him something to eat.

As I walked over to him, I took in his appearance. Over the years, Nathan had become quite handsome. I couldn’t lie, he was a little skinny, funny-looking boy when my father first brought him on. Nathan’s parents had put him out for his disobedience, so he was homeless at sixteen. That didn’t last long, though. My father caught him stealing out of a store one day and ended up buying him dinner. After hearing his story, my father made him a deal—he’d put him up at a hotel and take care of his necessities if he stayed in school and stopped stealing. That worked for two years, but after that, my father told Nathan he had to fend for himself.

At that point, Nathan had gotten attached to my father and asked for work. My father put him on as a corner boy but eventually Nathan became team muscle. It was ironic that my father didn’t want Nathan stealing but he forced me to. Nathan and I were like two peas in a pod the moment we met after I graduated high school. For quite some time, my father kept me away from the business, but when I became legal, he didn’t care as much. Eventually, he let me prove my worth when I consistently asked to be with him or Nathan, and the rest, as they say, was history. He noticed how men gravitated toward me because of my beauty and used that to his advantage.

I felt like Nathan was tired of the game, especially after what happened with me and Thurston, but he was so loyal, I didn’t see him leaving until I did. He always stood on what he said, and the moment he said that to me two weeks ago, I knew we were locked in for life. Our bond was one beyond comparison. No one in my life accepted me the way he did, and I could only hope Nathan felt that same loyalty from me.

“Wassup?” he greeted, lowering himself to place a kiss on my cheek as he normally did.

“How much longer are you going to be? I’m hungry.”

“Hard to say. He ain’t talking.”

“Do you want me to bring you something to eat back?”

“Nah, I got an idea that shouldn’t make this take too much longer.”

Nathan shot me a wink before heading over to the corner and rifling through his bag. The warehouse we were in had cream-colored walls and flooring. Nothing was in it beyond weapons and tools for bondage. Every person that was brought here for punishment left lighter—either because parts of them were missing or because they’d exposed secrets or truths.

Nathan walked back over to the man holding a container of salt, and that made me clench. If he was going to pour that on his wounds, he was about to start screaming like crazy. Covering my ears, I watched as Nathan opened the salt and began to pour it from one bleeding patch to another. Eventually, I turned away, hoping he would tell Nathan what he wanted to hear soon.

“Alright!” he shouted. “Alright!”

I turned back as Nathan lowered the salt and handed it to Carlton, my father’s right-hand man.

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