“That’s it. Your call is done. I will show you fine as bloody hell,” Uri growls somewhere nearby.
I laugh when the call cuts off without Val having time to say goodbye. The shoe store I’m heading for comes into view. I get ready to reach for the door when a woman steps in front of me.
I go to curse her rude ass out and that’s when I focus on the familiar face. I narrow my eyes behind my shades. It’s that bitch from John’s house.
“He left me for a gold digger,” she snarls looking down at my bags.
I scoff and fold my arms over my chest. I worked for every dime I’ve spent. John still gives me access to credit card accounts and puts money in savings for me and Torque, but we never touch a dime of it. She doesn’t need to know that though.
“Mad I took your place. You look like you could use some coin to get that dye job fixed,” I snap back.
“You bitch. You’re going to leave him alone and go back to wherever you came from. I can still fix things with him. I didn’t know you were what was pulling his attention from me, I do now. You leave and he’ll come back to me,” she says.
I step into her face and tear my shades off. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with. You ever run up on me again and I’m going to put your ass in a body bag,” I seethe.
This bitch has the nerve to gasp like she’s innocent. “Are you threatening me?” she says in that whiny voice.
“No, bitch. That’s a fucking promise.”
“We have a problem here?”
I stiffen and turn. In all my rage I missed the damn cop that walks up on us. I clench the bags in my hand. I know exactly what this looks like to him. I’m an Afro-Latina woman threatening this fake blonde princess. Her sudden change in demeaner makes total sense.
I give the cop a smile and shrug. “No, officer. I changed my mind about those shoes. I’m going to head home,” I say as sugary sweet as I can.
“Is that right? Ma’am you all right?” he says, looking over my shoulder.
My temper is about to snap when a second officer walks over. “Hey, I remember you,” the female officer says. “You Blacks always bring in the big fish.”
I’m so pissed, I almost forget John has everyone thinking that my last name is Black too. I’m calm enough to recognize the female cop.
Right, you Blacks as in the family I work for.
“Hey,” I say as my lips turn up into real smile. “Yeah, I remember you too. That Reynolds guy, right?”
“Yeah. Real bastard. That was your first official bounty, wasn’t it?”
I nod. “Sure was.”
John has had me and Torque helping him pick up some of the slack for his dad. With all the drama they’ve been through, they’ve been getting the business back in order the last few weeks.
“You know her, Gilmore?”
“Yeah, she works with Johnathan Black. As a matter of fact, I was told to treat her like one of Joe’s kids. Especially after that crap with Detective Louis. Man, that almost got him canned. Why, what’s the problem?”
The male officer scratches his chin. “Nothing, I guess. You ladies have a nice day.”
I can feel Missy’s ass seething behind me. I turn to face her and put my shades back on. “Remember what I said. Stay your ass the fuck away from me.”
I turn and walk off. In my head, I’m patting myself on the back for not beating the shit out of her crazy ass. She has to be crazy, running up on me like that. John better control his little friend.
John
I pull into my courtyard and the first thing I see is Roni, sitting on the hood of the Chevelle I gave her. I know something is off right away. I’m out of my car faster than I can park it.
I walk over and stand between her legs, cupping the side of her face. She looks pissed. I drop a kiss on her frowning lips.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I breathe against her forehead.
“Who is she to you? You said she wasn’t your girlfriend when she said she was, but she was at some point wasn’t she,” she says.
Her voice is so detached, it’s as if a human isn’t talking to me at all. I squint my eyes as I look into her face. I already know who she’s taking about, I’m just not sure why?
In the last two months we’ve been fine with not talking about Missy. Why start now? Then it hits me.
“Did she show up here?”
“No, I came here after running into her,” she says. “Answer my question, John.”
“Come inside.”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“This is a long story. Please, come inside,” I say tiredly.
Everything hits me at once. All my family has been through, the shit I’ve been through with Missy, having my relationship with Roni set back because of Missy. I’m wary to the bone.
Roni nods and starts to lift from the car. I step back and give her room. Relief washes over me when she allows me to place my hand on the small of her back.
I need the contact. I always feel like I’m one step away from losing her before I truly have her. The dance we’re doing will hold up for but so long. Roni and I have too much chemistry not to combust sooner or later. That is if something like this Missy shit doesn’t come along and ignite the wrong fuse.
I get us into the house, but the foyer is as far as Roni gets before, she spins on me and places her hands on her hips. The fire in her eyes says she wants answers and she want them right now. I blow out a breath and start talking as I drag my tired body toward the living room.
“I met her at a party. She had a flat tire when I was leaving, and I stopped to help. One thing led to another and we ended up in an arrangement.
“It wasn’t anything serious. I had been planning to end it early,” I say, blowing out a breath as I sit and run a hand through my hair.
Roni sits in the accent chair farthest away from me. I tighten my lips in frustration. I had thought we were getting somewhere in the last few weeks. Roni had been allowing her guard to come down slowly.
I continue. “That’s when she told me she was pregnant. I was shocked to say the least, but I stepped up to help her. We started to really get to know each other—”
“Because as her Dom you weren’t interested in knowing her,” Roni interjects.
I fix my gaze on her, knowing what she’s implying. “Baby, our relationship will be nothing like what I had with her. I want you as more than a Sub. That means, I’m interested in knowing everything you want to share with me.
“But yes, with Missy, we only had an arrangement between us. I didn’t want to know much about her. Not that I haven’t gotten to know my Subs in the past. Missy was different. I never felt like she enjoyed the life. It was more like she was pretending to please me.” I shrug.
“Yeah, okay, whatever. What happened to the baby?”
“A few months went by and things were interesting. One night she started a fight and I was so frustrated and confused. Like, I still can’t tell you what the fuck the fight was about. I left, the next morning she called me to say she lost the baby. Since then I’ve been nothing but guilty.
“Missy latched onto that like a weapon and then the suicide threats and attempts started.” I pause and run my hand through my hair again. “So much stopped adding up. No, so much never added up. In hindsight, I don’t know what to believe. My gut tells me she’s been playing me from the beginning.”