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“They got taken to a table while you were staring at your hands.” She pulled in a quick breath and rubbed my shoulder. “Look, we were all gonna have dinner together anyway, right? Might as well spend some time with your family. I won’t let Ken get too annoying.” She winked at me and tossed an arm around my shoulders.
It felt nice knowing Zee had my back. I couldn’t lie.
After another twenty minutes of waiting, we finally got taken to a table. It was honestly perfect timing because Kenya and Eli showed up shortly after.
“Y’all know your mother is at home drowning in a pool of fake tears while Father is consoling her.” Kenya spread a look between Zara and me and I just shrugged. What the fuck was I supposed to say or do?
“The whole time we were over there, she talked about how disrespectful you were and how you ran Zee off and were probably somewhere badmouthing her,” Eli said with a hefty sigh.
“I was. And?” I said, staring at my brother and sister.
“Why do you have to get her all stirred up, Nai?”
“Because, Eli,” I exaggerated his name, making him frown at me. “She talks to me any kind of way and I’m tired of it. I already feel bad about the job. She’s been rubbing that shit in for a week. Like she’s never missed a mark.” I closed the menu aggressively and slouched back in my chair.
“You know damn well why she’s so hard on you,” Eli said, passing a hand over his face. He looked just like our father but his complexion was a reddish brown like nutmeg. His braids stopped at his jawline with neat parts and his eyes were tilted like the rest of ours. “Grandpa always spoke so highly of your talent so when you mess up…”
“When you mess up, she gets to dig her claws in deeper and prove that you’re not perfect,” Kenya said, cutting Eli off. She ignored the glare he shot across the table at her.
“Well, well, well.” Our sibling chatter stopped when Bakari walked over to our table. “All the Sinclair kids in one spot. On the west side, too. What are y'all doing in my neck of the woods?” He wore that smug-ass grin that he seemed to smear on his face at the most inopportune times.
“Your neck of the woods? I didn’t realize you ran Bellmore,” Eli grumbled, standing to his feet. Eli was usually reserved but he did bristle around the Godwin boys.
“I’m sure you knew.” His pointed gaze flicked in my direction and I felt flames lick my neck. “Sanai knows. Don’t you, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know shit,” I blurted, running my fingers through my hair. Under the table, I crossed my legs tight to put a little pressure on my needy clit.
Why the fuck was Bakari so sexy? I hated him even more for looking good while being annoying.
“Yeah, okay. Keep pretending. Anyway, I just came over to say what’s up. I saw Zara and Sanai at the bar but I didn’t know all of you would be here. Y'all trying to figure out how to get your baby sister back in good standing at the Temple?” He lifted a thick, silky eyebrow and looked at all four of us.
“Wait…you got booted from the Temple?” Kenya hissed, leaning in close.
“Oh, shit…” Bakari said, placing a hand on his chest. “You ain’t tell your people?” He tsked then shook his head.
“I swear I can’t stand you.” I rolled my lips between my teeth and looked at my siblings. “Look, it wasn’t worth mentioning. It’s not like the Temple will be around for much longer anyway.” I knew that jab pissed Bakari off because the way he looked at me could have killed an elephant instantly.
“You can keep your little crude remarks to yourself, sweetheart. The Temple is fine and it’ll continue to be that way.”
“Yo, you need to watch how you talk to my sister, Breeze.” Eli’s shoulders stiffened and he took a small step toward Bakari. They were both around the same height but Eli was bulkier. The need to wedge myself between them was minimal. I wanted to see someone punch Bakari in the fucking mouth. I had a penchant for violence, which was why I was so good at killing people. I looked at it as an art form. The way all good killers should.
“God, can y'all cut it out?” Kenya groaned, leaning back in her seat. “Y'all want to hate each other so bad but you’re both equally annoying so go be friends somewhere.” She waved her hand at them and they both glared at her almost on command.
I looked around to see if I could spot Bakari’s date but she was nowhere to be found. I grinned a little, biting my bottom lip to stop the full smile that wanted to spread across my face. “So, Bakari,” I said in a sing-song voice. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
“I don’t do girlfriends and she left.” He sniffed then rolled his shoulders.
“She left?” Zara chuckled. “She must have gotten tired of you gawking at Sanai all night, huh?”
“I wasn’t gawking,” he countered. “I don’t gawk.”
Zee grunted incredulously then rolled her eyes. “Whatever, nigga. I saw you. You might not have seen me watching, but I peeped everything. Trust.”
“Look, I didn’t come over here to start shit. At least not in public. You can stand down, soldier,” Bakari laughed at Eli and clapped his shoulder, making my brother snatch away from him and flop into a seat. “I’ll see y'all around.” He tossed up a peace sign and turned to leave with his coat draped over his arm.
Bourbon was still alive and well in my bloodstream and it made me hop to my feet and rush after Bakari for reasons unknown to my brain. “Hold up,” I called when we got closer to the front door of the restaurant. We walked outside and he sighed like I was wasting his time. It irritated the fuck out of me when he did that. “I’m serious about you and your brothers staying away from Junior and his men. If they feel like you’re on to them, it’ll only accelerate everything and it won’t give me time to regroup and figure out how to stop him.” The anger I had toward Bakari at the Book Nook had waned and I was back to wanting to save the Temple from Junior’s takeover. Something in my gut told me I had to. That the Temple didn’t deserve to be torn apart.
“You? Just you?” he asked. He seemed to be open and receptive. Something I hadn’t seen in his bedroom eyes at the bookstore. There, he had been guarded.
