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I motioned to our waiter, who’d just come into view, delivering drinks to another table. He acknowledged me before continuing.
“We can stop by there to pick up dessert. You one of those women who stress over their waistline?”
“If you ain’t complaining, why should I?”
Cracking the hell up, I escorted shortie down to my waiting truck.
I tapped on the monitor I had installed in myG-Wagonfor Chivon, typingJunior’sweb address into the browser.
“Here you go.” I tapped her thigh. “You can figure out what you want while I handle this.”
She giggled as she began swiping the screen to scroll the site. “Why do I feel like a child?”
Shit…
“My bad, Josie. It’s not my intent. It’s just that I may be a minute, but once I’m done, we can finish our night.”
“What kind of finishing?” Her grin was loaded with wickedness.
I’d already been aroused on the four-block ride over here for reasons other than anything sexual, but that toss of a flirt may have intensified it.
I snorted, thinking it was best not to respond for so many reasons. Instead, I stepped out of the truck and let Jug close the door. One of Tommy the Hitta’s boys was on the other side of the truck on watch duty. We crossed the street quickly, causing a fleet of screeching breaks and angry horns. Miguel was at the restaurant’s door waiting for us to go inside. I followed him to the back, feeling my mind segregate. That familiar surge of energy rushed in as my fingers flexed, balling into tight fists and opening again.
Once at the back of the restaurant, I could hear the commotion. The waiter walked out backward with wide eyes, and his palms stretched out into the air. A brolic ass nigga was barking at him with bass.
“We got it from here, Jack,” Miguel told the waiter. “Y’all may wanna close off this part of the restaurant back here.”
“The fuck?” the big ass brolic nigga barked, reaching into the breast of his coat and pacing backward, deeper into the room.
Jug whipped out the metal and pointed it to his head. “Don’t.”
I walked into the private dining room with a pulsing tension taking over my body. The first face I peeped was Austin Seers. His eyes were fucking big with fear, as they should have been. He glanced at his bodyguard first, almost like a silent cry for help. Then the nigga looked down at Ashira, still sitting in her chair, realizing what the play was.
And her. The mother of my child looked fucking shocked and frozen, with one hand wrapped around the arm of her chair and the other doing the same to the table.
I smiled at her. “Mufuckas around here got short-term memory. Or they think I do.”
ChapterNine
Part III
March | Three Years Later
The fine hairs of my neck lifted from my skin as I gripped my chair and the table. I was just about to stand before the melee began with the guys at the door not letting Jerry, Austin’s security, out of the private dining room. My limbs shook uncontrollably, joints locked in place. Beyond startled, I was terrified. The last time I’d felt terror like this was onRed’s Islandwhen the explosion happened in the bathroom. Mayhem, guns, bravado, and Jas all in one event, rendering me under duress.
And Jas…
His presence here was its usual vastness, but his energy was dark, as was the sinister, breathtaking gorgeous smirk on his face. His darkness was seductive, alluring, and frightening at the same time as he stood at the top of the room, almost surrounded by men I knew were armed. Juggy was not the only one. The father of my child had a documented history of firearms.
This was not the man I’d cursed out a number of times. The one I’d expressed resentment toward even as of recent times with fury. I’d slapped him with violent abandon before and had gotten away with it. I’d been subdued under his wicked lure, totally defenseless to his every evil capability. Nonetheless, I was aware of the vicious degree of his temperament, yet I had never seen Jas unleash this venom towardme.
“First comes your likes on her posts on theGram,” Jas murmured thickly. “I let that ride. Then came the comments,especiallyafter my daughter was born.” How the hell would he know? Jas’Instagramaccount was just as inactive as when I’d learned about it. Then was just the one picture of his project buildings in Harlem. Now, there were two. That one and one of him holding Chivon in the hospital room after she’d been cleaned and swathed.
Jas’ wrist yanked, tossing his palm into the air. “I ate all of them, even the ones about her being as beautiful as her mom and shit. Then the texting started. Short, sweet, and innocent. When she started to bite, the calls began. When I ain’t trip, you wanted to take it even further and see her, even flew out to Costa Rica. That was some bold shit—” He waggled his index finger. “—And Istilllet you live.” Jas turned to me. “Speaking of which, I was just about to let you start fuckin’ other niggas,” My bladder leaped.The hell… “but I find it to be poor judgment thatthiswas gonna be the one you started with.”
Stunned, I croaked, “Jas, I was not goingto—”
“It ain’t like that, bro!” Austin’s tone was of an alarmed warning, eyes big, breathing visibly uneven. “It’s just Shi-Shi, and I go back. You know…we got history, and I fucked up. You gotta understand, we had something deep, and I needed to address someshit—”
