“You’re kissing him and sleeping with him! Azeira, that man is dangerous! Look what he did to me.” He lifted his four-fingered hand.
I shifted my eyes to his hand and bit the inside of my cheek. “None of this would have happened if you didn’t borrow money from him anyway!” I defended.
“I did it to help our family! Without going to him your mother would have died. We would have lost our house, lost everything!” His voice grew louder with every word he spoke. “You’re opening your legs to a man that is despicable! Did he force you?”
I stared at him with my mouth gaped. “Of course not.” My brows crinkled. “It just happened.” I shifted my eyes and my voice grew small. My tongue went across my lips.
“Mrs. Marks can be seen now,” a nurse informed us. My dad gave me one last disgusted look before turning and stalking off.
I blew out a deep breath and rubbed my forehead with the back of my hand. I felt like I had betrayed my dad by being attracted to Kairus. It was even worse now that my dad knew it. “Don’t worry, girl, your daddy is just stressed out right now. You know he loves you.” Jatavia stepped up behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at her and forced a smile on my face.
“Yeah I guess so.” I nibbled on my bottom lip. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you? For sleeping with him.”
She opened her mouth then closed it. Her head tilted and she smiled slightly at me. “I think I work as an escort and have seen some shit since being there. Everyone has their thing and I don’t judge them for it.” She shrugged. “Is Kairus scary as hell and someone I would never double cross? Hell yeah. But I saw how he looked at you, how protective he got over you when your dad grabbed you. That man is crazy about you in the literal sense. I don’t know what the hell you did to him, but whatever it is, I have no doubt it only makes sense between you two.”
I thought about Kairus. He was the only man who’d ever been as protective over me as he was, including my dad. He literally held my dad’s life in his hands yet I couldn’t find it within myself not to start falling for him. What did that say about me?
I changed the subject. “We should go see my mom. Hopefully she isn’t too groggy to talk.” She was all that mattered right now.
“C’mon then.” Jatavia laced her arm through mine. I tried to push anything that didn’t have to do with my mom to the back of my mind for now.
It was one thing when me and Kairus were in our bubble at his house, away from the world and judgment, but being put on blast publicly rattled my nerves.
“C’mon girl, loosen up!” Jatavia encouraged, slapping my ass and twirling around me. I laughed and shook my head. She passed me the drink in her hand and I didn’t think before I tossed it back. My mouth scrunched as the liquid warmed my chest.
My mom’s surgery was a success. We didn’t stay too long after she got put in her recovery room because she needed her rest. I was happy to see she was smiling and talking. My dad didn’t say anything else to me while I was there but I didn’t press the issue. Him being upset was understandable, but I couldn’t help how I felt when it came to Kairus. I tried to fight it for as long as I could. My mom was my main concern and when the time came I would talk with my dad.
When we left the hospital Jatavia suggested we go celebrate my mom’s surgery being a success. As long as I ended up back atthe estate I didn’t see the issue with it. Since I had a little bit of freedom I was gonna enjoy it.
Closing my eyes I allowed the music to run through me. My body swayed and I bounced my ass to the beat. A smile graced my face and I threw my head back. The vibe at the club was chill. It wasn’t overly packed, but the dance floor still had a good amount of people on it.
A hard body pressed into me and warm breath brushed against my ear. “Damn I meet you one time and you go ghost.”
Spinning around, I was shocked to see Koby. “Hey.” I bit into my bottom lip and looked around. He wasn’t here but the fear that Kairus might pop up out of nowhere had me on edge. He seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all the time.
He licked his lips and looked me over. Before coming here, Jatavia took me to my house so I could grab something to change into. She had been keeping up with it since I’d been gone.
“Can I get a hug or something?” A crooked grin formed on his face. He didn’t wait for me to answer before he pulled me into him. He smelled good and I couldn’t deny Koby was handsome.
When he released me I peeked over at my friend and she was grinding and grinning in Koby’s brother’s face. Obviously the two had been in contact with each other since meeting.
“Don’t let me ruin your good time.” He grabbed me by the hand and spun me around so my back was to his front. His mouth brushed against my ear. “Keep dancing.”
Swallowing hard, I looked around again. No one was paying us any attention. Everyone was in their own world. Deciding nothing was wrong with some harmless dancing, I pushed my ass into him and rolled my hips.
It ended up being a good night and it felt good to let my hair down without worrying about anything. Koby was a good time too. If the situation was different I might have pursued him further. He was funny, handsome, and a gentleman. While thatwasattractive and would have had my attention before, now I felt nothing. There was no spark, no substance. He had no edge that I had grown accustomed to, so I knew this couldn’t go anywhere.
“I should really head home,” I said into Jatavia’s ear. We had been here for a couple of hours and while I was having a good time, I was starting to worry maybe it was time to call it a night. The last thing I wanted was for Kairus to think I was trying to run and he reacted. Not to mention I was ready to go back home.
“What? No! Not yet,” she whined, clinging to my arm. The guys were at the bar and we stood off to the side waiting for them.
“Jatavia.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. While I loved my best friend, she didn’t know when to turn down when she was having a good time. She was all about a party.
“We haven’t been able to hang in so long and you want to leave so early!”
“You know why I have to go.”
She rolled her eyes. “So he controls you along with holding you hostage?”
