He comes hard and fast, stilling as he shoots his load into me, as the condom catches it all.
He drops my legs and pulls me against him, and we both hold on tightly as we try to catch our breaths.
“I love you, Valencia,” he whispers.
“I love you too, Reno.”
I mean that more than I’ve meant anything I’ve ever said.
Reno changed my life, and I will always be grateful.
EPILOGUE
Five Months Later. . .
Reno
The club is all decked out for Iris and Faith’s joint graduation party. Both of the ladies have officially finished their master’s degree programs, and we couldn’t be prouder of them. They somehow managed to juggle not only working at Mamie’s and the club but also keeping up with their school course loads as well. They’re two women who have been determined to make their big dreams in the city pay off, no matter the cost. Even if they had a setback, they somehow managed to push through and make it work. That’s some real dedication if you ask me.
We’re all on the rooftop on this warm May day, relaxing as the beat of the music pounds in the background. I’m sure our neighbors aren’t too happy about how hard we’re partying right now, but they know better than to call the cops on us.
Faith is talking to Mug across the roof while Chuckles is dancing with Gold. Sometimes I don’t understand how those two got together. For fuck’s sake, Gold was with Rage before he died, and then after, she and Chuckles became an item. Rage was Chuckles’ best fucking friend. It seemed like it shouldn’t work between the two of them, but somehow it did. I didn’t like Rage in the beginning when I met him. I heard so much about his reputation, and then he showed up here as a cocky, arrogant asshole. He pissed me off more times than I could count, but I’m glad he got to experience love one last time before he was killed. Every man deserves to be cherished, and I’m glad Gold was there to give that to him.
“Have you seen Iris?” Valencia asks me, and I haven’t seen her yet.
“No, have you?”
Valencia shakes her head. “I haven’t heard from her since yesterday, actually. I figured maybe she partied a little too hard last night and was going to wake up late, but she hasn’t even texted me back yet.” Valencia might not know I realize it, but she’s nervous. Her voice drops a little bit whenever something is bothering her, and the fact neither of us have seen Iris right now is upsetting her.
“Okay, come on.” I slide my arm around her waist and force her to walk with me over to where Mug and Faith are.
“Hey, girlie!” Valencia says, masking her worries with a smile.
“Hey,” Faith says, searching the crowd for her best friend.
“You don’t know where Iris is either,” I state because it’s a fact at this point. She doesn’t know where Iris is, and since she keeps scanning the space, looking for her proves it.
Faith shakes her head. “No, I haven’t. We were supposed to go get our nails done together before the party, and she never showed up, so I went without her. I thought maybe she forgot, or something came up . . . but she hasn’t responded to my texts since last night, and I went to her bedroom, but she wasn’t there.”
Fuck, this is giving me some bad vibes. “When’s the last time you spoke to her?”
“Last night. She was selling some of her textbooks since she wasn’t going to need them anymore. It was right before eight when she said she was heading out to meet them to make the sale,” Faith answers, and I look right over at Mug.
“Did you see Iris come back last night? I know you’re up pretty late.”
He shakes his head. “No, I fell asleep on the couch around two in the morning, and I never saw her come in.”
“Okay, let’s all go around and see if anyone has seen Iris. It’s not like she vanished into thin air, so someone has to have seen her at some point,” I state, trying to develop some sort of game plan between the group of us. We all split up and approach different people, asking when the last time they saw Iris was. I end up asking Omen, Boss, Nikki, and Maddox, and they all say they saw her leave last night before eight, but no one saw her come back to the clubhouse. Boss is now worried as well, and by the time I speak to Valencia, Faith, and Mug, they tell me no one has seen her since last night.
Fuck.
“Okay, who’s the last person who saw Iris?” Boss asks as she approaches us.
“Ricochet and Venom saw her leave the clubhouse last night,” Faith tells us and then takes a moment. “It would’ve been right as she was leaving to meet that person buying the textbooks. I know it.” Faith’s voice drops a couple of times while she’s speaking, and I know this is rattling her to her core. Faith swallows hard and looks over at Boss. “Boss, can we please pause this party? We have to figure out where the hell Iris is. It’s making me nervous, and I’m worried something bad could’ve happened to her.”
Boss reaches out and grabs Faith’s hand. “Don’t you worry about it. I was thinking the same thing.” Boss claps her hands loudly and then whistles. Everyone on the rooftop turns and looks at her. “Listen up, none of us can find Iris. I want you all out on the streets until we find her. Reno, Mug, and Ricochet stay here. Everyone else, fan out and see what you can find.”
Drifter’s still at the clubhouse, and he’s standing on the other side of the rooftop. As everyone else leaves, he approaches the small group of us that remains. “I’d like to help if you’d let me.”
