“Waiting for the shoe to inevitably drop,” I honestly reply. “You might as well get it over with it now so I can be on my way.”
Savior softly shakes his head. “I’m not letting you go, Keisha.”
Tears threaten my eyes and I look away to concentrate on something else. “I’ll ruin your reputation.”
“I doubt that.” His voice sounds like it was laced with maple syrup. “Last night was a horrible experience for everyone involved, especially you, Junie, and Tasha. I made sure they got home safely and I had James drop off you and me back here. I wanted to stay and take care of you today but work wouldn’t allow me so I asked my mother to come by.” He caresses my face again. “Your safety is my top priority, Keisha.”
I swallow my emotions. I’m waiting to wake up from this dream but it’s my reality. Savior is my saint. “Last night, with all of those horrible things Andrea said about me, you can’t expect me to show up there anymore with you. Everyone knows what happened. Everyone knows when I go there, it’s going to be like, ‘There’s Savior’s hoodrat girlfriend!’” The thought just humiliates me on a deeper level. “It’s too embarrassing.”
A small pause passes between us before Savior speaks again. “I fully expected Andrea and her boyfriend to show up. They were trying to get inside the club for a long while and couldn’t. I knew what was going to happen.” He explains. “I also knew King J was on drugs and was doing them in the bathroom. I have an anti-drug policy in the club and everyone knows it. He was arrested on that.”
Everything just worsened. I know Savior felt he was trying to do the right thing but if King J goes down, he won’t hesitate to take other people with him. “J is going to rat out my daddy,” I reply, “he does that and it’s over for him. My daddy will be ruthless. My daddy might kill him. My daddy….” I lock eyes with Savior and there’s an knowing within them as if he knew that was a possibility. “You wanted this to happen?”
“I wanted Andrea and James to stop harassing you and leave you alone.” Savior caresses my face. “They’re the ones that chose the path.”
It’s a side of Savior I haven’t seen before. It’s not the professional one who’s methodical about his cases and clients. There’s ruthlessness within him and he’s not one to be played with. It explains his reputation in the legal world and why he has no problem shutting people down before a case had a chance to build legs.
I should be scared. I should run for the nearest exit and not return. Instead, I’m aroused like never before. My nipples tightened and my sex suddenly craves him. My body yearns for him now and the feeling is only getting stronger.
“I want to meet your father.”
The proverbial record scratches and any romantic feelings dissipate into the L.A. air. My father made it clear to me he didn’t care who I dated as long as I didn’t bring home anyone who could be mistaken as a member of a boy band.
I have fantasies of how easily the Fresh Prince blended in Bel-Air, but I’m not sure how easily Savior is going to blend in Ladera Heights. My daddy keeps a strap on him at all times and his best friends act as his underground security. “He’s not going to stop dealing because it’s you. In fact, he’ll do it even more because it’s you.”
“I don’t want to meet your father because I want him to stop nor do I plan to narc on him to the authorities.” Savior presses his body close to mine. “I want to meet the father of the woman I’m going to marry.”
