Page 25

J'Ru sucked his teeth. On top of the fact that he was about to be on TV supporting a bitch who didn't give a fuck about him and his people, his personal life was turning to shit. "Aja came back from Japan," he muttered with a look of agitation etched on his face.

Both Kaymen and Priest withdrew their eyes from their phones and placed them on him. They were both slightly in shock, and their faces showed it all. "YourwifeAja?" Kaymen asked for clarification.

J'Ru shot him a cold glare for his stupid question. "What other Aja would I be fucking talking about, Kaymen?" He crudely cut his eyes at Kaymen.

Priest chuckled, finding J'Ru's attitude amusing. "So how exactly are you going to keep her happy?" he asked.

J'Ru dragged out a heavy sigh. "I have no fucking idea.”

Unlike Priest and Kaymen, who were both in typical relationships, J'Ru's relationship with Aja was far more complex and harder to understand. Priest had witnessed the evolution of J'Ru and Aja since the two had always messed around since high school. J'Ru married Aja during his senior year, right before Aja went to the army. It was a senseless decision, but at the time, he was just thinking with his heart. Unfortunately, Priest was locked up at the time, so he didn't get the chance to talk J'Ru’s irrational ass out of it.

Aja was never really the issue. She was a wonderful girl and even better woman. She cared for J'Ru a lot, but their circumstances were just odd. The two could go months without speaking to each other since they were both living two very different lives. She was stationed out in Japan while he continued his life out here in New York.

The two had agreed on an open relationship, which was the logical thing to do since they went so long without contact. The issue was that a while ago, Aja admitted that she no longerwanted an open relationship. J'Ru agreed, but he never followed through. How could he? Aja was stationed all the way in Japan. Their contact was limited due to her deployment. J'Ru truly loved Aja and everything about her, but she couldn't possibly think he could fight the temptation of being deep inside of a woman for so long.

"So, about Taylor…" Priest let out in a questioning manner, which caused J'Ru to cut his eyes at him.

Taylor had made herself available to J'Ru during his recovery after he was shot. He appreciated Taylor for being the woman he needed during such a low time of his life while Aja simply couldn't. Long distance was troubling, and with the extra restrictions of Aja being in the army, it was far more troubling than any normal long-distance relationship.

J'Ru leaned back in his seat. "She'll get it," he shrugged. "Aja comes first."

Kaymen chuckled as he shook his head. "This nigga made a vow before God and talking about she come first like she ever had the chance to come second," Kaymen shamed J'Ru. Kaymen took marriage extremely seriously, and it showed just by the way he conducted himself with Jadey and his own marriage. He had warned J'Ru several times to stop playing this wicked game between Aja and Taylor, but he was hardheaded.

"Facts," Priest agreed with Kaymen. "The best thing you could do right now is be real with Aja."

J'Ru knew his friends weren't judging him, which was why he didn't get offended. They were right, and now he had the obligation of making everything right with the use of their advice. "It's her first time back since she got stationed in Japan. She's happy to be home. I can't just ruin shit like that." J'Ru sighed deeply.

"You rather spend this month she's here lying to her or being real?" Priest quizzed him with a raised brow.

J'Ru pursed his lips. It was a lot to think over. It didn't make it any better that Aja was at his brownstone waiting for him to return."I'll tell her tonight.”

Kaymen and Priest exchanged glances with each other as they both shook their heads.

"Not tonight. She's gonna be worried about you after this. Tell her tomorrow. Less emotions all over the place," Kaymen advised J'Ru.

"Bet," J'Ru agreed.

Eventually, Cyro pulled the car to a stop at the side of the City Hall building. Civilians gathered before the building in a mass crowd waiting for Leila to take the podium and give her acceptance speech. Priest, Kaymen and J'Ru climbed out of the darkly tinted SUV and into the windy weather. Despite it being four in the afternoon, the sun didn't make much of an appearance from the sky.

With J'Ru and Kaymen striding behind him, Priest made his way toward the side entrance of the building. Before they entered the building, Priest extracted a phone from the pocket of his classic grey Dior overcoat. He turned the burner cell on, sending a text to the only number programmed into the device.

Arrived.

Once the text was delivered, Priest turned to face Kaymen who was awaiting him with this hand out. Swiftly, Kaymen extracted the SIM card from the device, carelessly tossing it on the ground and stepping on it. The tiny SIM card crumbled into smaller pieces that were unable to be used again. Kaymen pulled the silk handkerchief from the inner breast pocket of his suit, wiping any traces of he and Priest's fingerprints from the device.

Wrapping the device in the silk handkerchief, Kaymen turned around to face Cyro. "We'll be back here to meet you when it's done. Switch cars and be ready," Kaymen instructed Cyro, who simply nodded his head in clear understanding beforeheading off to fulfill their orders while the men entered City Hall.

Upon entering the building, Kaymen and Priest waited for J'Ru to retrieve the leather duffle bag from where he stashed it. The three men chuckled as J'Ru began pulling the duffle bag from a nearby air vent. "Hidden in plain fucking sight," J'Ru joked as he pulled back the zipper of the duffle bag.

He, Priest and Kaymen surveyed the cash that filled the bag, sufficed with the sight of it."You counted all this yourself?" Kaymen teased J'Ru as he unzipped the bag’s inner pocket, placing the phone inside.

J'Ru laughed. "Yeah, with the help of your mother, bitch,” he retorted, causing Priest to laugh.

"You niggas are hell," Priest chuckled as he shook his head.

"Mention my mother again and I'm fucking you up," Kaymen warned J'Ru as he neatly slid the handkerchief back into the inner pocket of his suit.

J'Ru waved Kaymen off. "I'll meet you niggas out there," he told them as he took the exit with the duffle bag in hand.