Adonis' voice sounded like a little boy begging me for answers I didn't have. As I pulled into a park, he wiped his face clean with his strong, tatted hands. I pushed my glasses up on the bridge of my nose before trying to console him.
"Everybody lives their lives a certain way. Maybe her way of living isn't what was best for you, but it probably was the best decision for her."
"You sound like Joy with all that bullshit."
I wondered if Joy knew of Onyx's extracurricular activities. She had to if she agreed to raise her children. Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach when I thought about the bounty on my head. If anybody could erase me from the map, it was Onyx. She was precise, accurate as hell, and she had taught me everything I knew, so she already knew how I moved.
"Does Joy know which hotel we are staying in?"
Adonis looked at me with this confused look. I knew my questioning was off, but I had to prepare myself just in case. I had offered to book the hotel and to drive my Jeep because I needed my arsenal of weaponry. There was no being lax while on vacation, especially with a bounty on my head.
"No, she doesn't."
I sighed because at least I knew I could sleep a little easier for the night.
"You good, gang?"
Adonis' whole life just got flipped upside down, and he was worrying about me.
"Yeah, come on."
When we made it inside our hotel room, I listened to all the stories he had that he could remember with his mother in them. Adonis had a huge heart, which showed how much love he still harbored in his being for the woman who had abandoned him. I smiled when he smiled and laughed when he laughed. Hell, I even cried because at least if only for a brief moment in his life, he was able to feel and remember love from his mother. The memories of my mother that I had were all the ones of her hating me because of what my father had done to her. She had issued years of emotional and physical abuse upon me all because a man couldn't stay faithful to her and treat her right. That's where my assassin name, "Snake Eyes" had come from. My own damn mother named me Nyoka because, in my father's culture, it meant snake, and that's exactly what my father was to her.
For hours, I let Adonis talk my head off about his mother and Joy. My stomach started rumbling, and that's when I remembered why we had even gone straight to Joy's house to begin with so that we could get some food. Adonis, Adira, and Joy had been making fun of me for the past few weeks because I had never had homemade Rotel dip before. It was obviously a country thing that my city-ass knew nothing about.
"You hungry?" Adonis asked once my stomach had growled for the third time.
"Starving."
"Come on, let's eat."
I really wanted some of that Rotel that they had been talking about, but I knew going back to Joy's house wasn't an option at the moment.
"You like hibachi?"
My mouth watered at the thought of some steak with zucchini and yum-yum sauce.
"Yes."
"Okay, I know a spot. Let me get one of these first."
He held his arms out, and I fell into his embrace. I loved it when he said that shit. Considering the circumstances, I knew he needed a little more love than usual. Naturally, Adonis was affectionate. There was a point where he seemed slightly closed off after I had ghosted him, but we got past that. I don't know when I broke through his icy heart, but I was glad I did. I rubbed his back gently as we embraced. He kissed my forehead like he always did before we made our departure.
As Adonis drove around his city, I felt out of place in the passenger seat. Abandoned houses and empty lots had passed us by as he maneuvered my vehicle like it was his. There was something about the way a man maneuvered through his city that made my mouth water. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the shift gear, I badly wanted to place my face into his lap and blow him off. Of course, I held my composure because the room I had booked for us had a Jacuzzi and a balcony. I didn't care that this was a place he had called home for years. I wasn't from Lima, so I didn't give a damn about having my tits hanging over the railing while he drilled me from behind. Those people didn't know me.
I watched as the veins in his forearm flexed with turning the wheel to park into the parking spot. I sat patiently as he killed the engine and walked around to open my door. We walked hand in hand to an establishment called Yamato's. Adonis held the front door open for me, and we waited in line to request a seat for two.
"This table has two seats left. You guys can join this party," the server informed us as she ushered us toward a table in the back. When we reached our destination, Adonis pulled out my chair before taking his own. He had his hand placed on my lap, and I smiled as I looked at him. He seemed to be in better spirits, and I was sure it was from venting and getting all of that backed up hurt off his chest.
Those warm dessert-colored eyes went dark, and the color looked like it started to drain from his face. I turned around and looked at the other end of the table to see what had suddenly changed his mood. When I looked to the other end of the table, a Spanish woman with curly hair was wiggling her fingers in a wave at him. I turned back around to face him. I wasn't the jealous type at all, but seeing that whoever this woman was, was getting the best of him got under my skin. I leaned into him.
"Who is that?" I quietly asked.
Chapter 11
Adonis
"Hey, Drayko," Lola said with a bright smile.
