Page 27 of Disrespectfully, Relic
“The only person I know hard of hearing is Paris. Get up and let’s go, Kennedy.”
She cackled before shaking her head. “You need to learn how to talk to people because I’m not a woman you can boss around. Ask me nicely.”
Relic contained the smirk threatening to form on his face at her demand. His fingers toyed with the watch on his wrist before he pulled out his shades to slip on.
“The fact that you’re serious is almost cute, big dog Kennedy. I’ve hustled to put myself in a position where I give orders but never have to take them. I’m not asking you shit nicely.”
“In that case, this conversation is done. Not so nice talking to you, Relic.”
She stood from her seat and tried strutting past him, but his fingers clenching around her arm stopped her dead in her tracks. Her eyes narrowed to slits before her head rotated to see a cocky grin on his face.
“Be a woman of your word, Kennedy. Don’t you owe my son a date?”
“What kindof date with a kid takes place in the middle of nowhere? If you’re trying to murder me and hide the body, just know, I’m not going down without a fight, and I stay strapped.”
Kennedy patted the purse in her lap before shooting a warning glare at Relic that went unacknowledged as he drove down a one-way road with nothing but trees as far as the eye’s reach. Her statement had been made in jest, but she couldn’t settle the faint stirring in her gut from knowing Relic was fully capable of the act she’d mentioned. It didn’t register until she’d climbed into his car that she didn’t know a single thing about him outside of the sordid rumors from her girls that didn’t mitigate her reservations. The fact that Relic hadn’t spoken a word the entire drive made her uneasy.
She’d allowed sheer curiosity to coax her into leaving with him after informing Savvy of their arrangement. The suggestive expression she’d received from her friend almost made her change her mind, but she was too invested in figuring out what Relic wanted with her of all people—why he’d offered her a salon, to run his business, and to act as a partner for his label. All signs led to there being a motive. She doubted he’d go to such lengths to fuck her when women were lined up for the position of his personal bed warmer.
“Are you afraid of me, Kennedy?” Relic broke his silence without so much as a glance in her direction. She screwed up her face.
“I’m far from afraid of you. I just don’t trust you.”
“Why is that?”
“Why should I?” she countered. “We’re not cordial, and outside of trying to use me for your business purposes, you’ve never said more than a few words to me. You either stare or ignore me.”
“Because I don’t know how to talk to you.” His honesty threw her but calmed her skepticism to where her body relaxed against the seat. “Just about every interaction I have with women is either calculated or insincere, depending on what I need from them. Even then, I’m known for saying the wrong things, so I rather skip the small talk. We don’t have to get to know one another.”
“How can we work together, then? You planned to let a person you don’t know from Adam or Eve control your business and money? And don’t say you’ve done your research, because you can do all the digging in the world, but you’ll never learn more about me than from me.”
“Funny, coming from a person who just said I barely speak to them, yet claimed to knowenough about my asswhen I said you didn’t know shit.”
Kennedy pursed her lips with a nod. “Touché. I was just saying that I’ve heard about you. I’m also not one to judge based on other people’s opinions,” she made sure to add. Relic removed his eyes from the road to aim at her.
“Believe what you’ve heard, Kennedy. Eighty percent of that shit is true, and the other twenty percent is worse than what they’ve told you.”
His admission stupefied her as he set his sights back on the road.
Her eyes remained on his side profile—tracing his strong jawline that tensed, and then his Adam’s apple that bobbed from a swallow accompanying the subtle flair of his nose. Relic had told her one thing, but his enticing features exposed another. She bit her lip while mulling over if she should bring it up or leave well enough alone.
“Are you finished analyzing me, or do you need more time?” Relic cut his eyes at her as she continued her perusal.
“Since you asked, I’m almost done. Give me another minute.”
“Why? So, you can tell me, you don’t believe what I said, or that I’m agreeing to whatever people think about me since it’s easier than defending my name.” Confusion lined her forehead with wrinkles when he expressed what she’d been thinking. “It’s hard to read a person when they’ve learned to show you exactly what they want you to see. Play therapist with the next nigga. Did you come up with a solution to my problem you pointed out about the studio?”
Relic’s change in topics was so swift that Kennedy scrambled to keep up. She was still stuck on figuring out if he read her thoughts because it was the truth, or what he’d purposely portrayed.
“Focus, Kennedy.” He snapped his fingers in her face, and she swatted his hand away.
“I’m focused! I said to hire a security team.”
“That’s all you got? I need you to think bigger, baby. Anyone can suggest I hire other muthafuckas to take money out of my pockets. How does that benefit me?”
“Everything won’t always be beneficial to you, Relic.”
“That difference in logic is the reason I’m where I am in life, and you’re where you are.”
