Page 22 of Disrespectfully, Relic
Her heart lurched and eyes doubled in size when his large hand clamped around her jaw, squeezing with a force that caved her cheeks and silenced her backtalk. The last man who’d gripped her face in the same manner was keeping her thirteen-year-old trap shut while deflowering her body in the back of a church van. She cowered away from Relic’s hold, but he clenched her face tighter.
“Look at me and listen, Aura,” he gritted as her blurry eyes strayed from his. “I tried to be nice about this shit, but I’m two seconds from dragging you out of my studio and tossing yo ass back where I found you. If you want to say fuck the contract to keep shaking your ass online for a few bucks, do it, baby, but see how well that shit goes over for you. Don’t ever for one second believe that nutting on my dick puts you above my fucking business or money.”
If Aura hadn’t opened her legs for him, Relic wouldn’t have given a damn since his sole mission was seeing if she’d mix business with pleasure. She had. Their second session—in his meeting room with her bent over the table—was where he’d spent time locating the spot that made her cum quickest because good nuts lured bitches into bad decisions.
Aura’s bad decision making started when he’d let her believe she’d finessed him out of cash his other artists hadn’t received. She wasn’t knowledgeable to the fact, her contract length was twice as long as theirs because Relic stayed ten moves ahead, even if his opponents assumed he was behind. He intended to work every red fucking cent out of her that she’d gotten.
“Can you let me go?” she croaked, swallowing the budding fear twisting her gut in knots. Aura almost thanked a God she no longer believed in when he released her and tucked both hands into his pockets.
“So, we shouldn’t have this issue again, right?” he quizzed, making her full lips thin into a line.
“No.”
Hatred laced the single word, while rage contorted her striking features, but the answer sufficed for Relic. He was used to those emotions. Every woman he’d bedded teetered on the line of loving or hating him depending on whether he assuaged them with petty cash and dick, or reprimanded them with physical or mental warfare. He’d learned that if he built them back up after breaking them down, it balanced out in their eyes. Joseph would knock the last breath out of him if he knew Relic did anything other than tear them into worthless pieces.
He pushed out a breath and strolled off at the disturbing reminder that he’d become his own man—he’d built a name and reputation that preceded him—and yet Joseph wouldn’t loosen the tight grip on his psyche. His father’s lectures ingrained his brain to where he struggled to move without scrolling through his mental rule book for plays. He was positive, Joseph preferred it that way.
“Is she straight now?” Calm lifted his eyes from the blunt he was rolling on the vacant receptionist desk when Relic trekked into the lobby.
“She better be, and she doesn’t leave this studio until that track is done. I don’t give a damn how long it takes.”
“She gon’ have to rap that shit in fast forward then, ‘cause I got moves to make.”
“You think I give a fuck what you have to do?” Relic stared at Calm as though he were a goddamn idiot before heading down the short hall to his office. He pushed open his door and stalled to shout over a shoulder, “I had moves to make, but I’m left dealing with your bullshit instead! You fucked up my day, so I’m fucking up everyone’s day. Let it not be done and see what happens.”
With that, he slammed the door shut and headed into his private restroom—fishing the used condom from his pocket to flush down the toilet before turning to grab a fresh washcloth and bar of soap from his wall cabinet. Relic turned on the sink water to warm, lathering his washcloth while debating if he should call his brother to hear his fucking mouth about not being on time. Before he could settle on an option, his phone juddered against his thigh.
“Fuck,” he grumbled, pulling it out to see Shabu’s name blaring on his screen. He answered and placed the call on speaker before balancing his phone on the sink while shoving down his pants. “I know I’m a little late. I’m heading to you right now,” he lied.
“Nigga, a little late is a few minutes. We’ve been here for over a fucking hour! Then, talking ‘bout you on the way, but I hear running water. What, you swapped out the stars in yo ceiling for a waterfall?”
Relic chuckled while scrubbing his dick clean. “You know, I only pull out my big boy on special occasions. I’m not too far from you, though. I had to stop past the studio and give Aura a pep talk.”
“So, you’re either cleaning cum off yo dick or blood off yo hands. Which is it?”
“Funny. Every now and again, you remind me how little you think of me, ti frè. You can’t see that your big brother is changing his ways?”
“Enough to have a conversation about a problem instead of snapping at her or playing mind games by fucking her? Hell no, you ain’t that changed!”
“You’re right. I fucked her,” he admitted, neglecting to add that he’d also given her a physical warning that worked better than sex. It always did. He reached behind him for a hand towel to dry himself before insisting, “I am changing, though. Ask your nephew.”
“That shit don’t count, Relic. You love Jah like you love me and Titan. Of course, you ain’t gon’ put a hand on him, and you’d fuck up anyone who tries it.”
The conviction in his brother’s tone made him pause, his eyes going to his phone as his mouth twitched, although a smile didn’t break through. It made his fucking heart swell to know Shabu lacked faith in him more often than not, but held undeniable belief that he wouldn’t screw up as a father. His exhausting efforts to prove that he loved his brothers more than his last breath were paying off. If he was lucky, Jahleel would hold those same sentiments for him at some point.
“You’re doing a good job with him, too.” Shabu continued singing his praises as Relic washed his hands, dried them, and then pulled up his pants. “I don’t know if I told you that. Jah seems happy as hell every time we get him, and he hasn’t picked up any bad habits. You’ve been watching what you say and do around him.”
“For the most part. Lil’ nigga said I curse too much,” Relic relayed, and Shabu burst into laughter.
“Shit, that’s all of us. He gon’ have to deal with that.” The line silenced before Relic heard female laughter fill the background as Shabu fussed, “Aye, y’all better not spill champagne on those dresses, ‘cause I’m not paying for shit Whoop ain’t wearing!”
Relic shook his head as he wiped down his glasses to place in their rightful spot before tossing his dirty cloth and towel into the mini laundry bin. He strolled toward his desk, swiping his jacket from the back of his chair to swing on as he listened to his brother going back and forth with his sister-in-law. Relic would bet his last, they were tipsy since they didn’t have their children.
“Handle your wife, Shabu. I’ll be there in fifteen, and I got the bill for being late,” he offered while digging in his coat pocket for his keys.
“Oh, word? Aye, y’all can spill as much shit as y’all want! My brother footing the muthafuckin’ bill in this hoe!” Shabu announced, just as his folks began to cheer. A bell rang in the distance before he told Relic, “And she just said yes to the dress, nigga! You right on time. Bring yo ass and pay this high ass tab.”
Relic ended the call without another word as a slight pang struck his chest. His jaw muscles ticked while he locked up his office and headed out, slowing his stride as he passed the studio room Aura’s muffled voice wafted from. The young, undisciplined version of himself that didn’t have as much to lose would’ve gone inside to slap the taste out of her mouth for being the reason he’d missed a significant moment in his brother’s life. His feet kept moving because the other thousand occasions he’d missed were on him.
