Page 4 of A Million Boss Kisses

CHAPTER ONE

Marissa Bentley

T he Miami sun was ruthless, scorching every inch of the backyard like it knew something was about to go left.

I sat in one of the pool chairs next to my best friend Karina waiting for our special guests to arrive.

Lifting the purple handheld fan up to cool my face down, it didn’t seem like anything would help cool me off.

One of the waitresses returned with two bottles of water, and I cracked mine open and took a long swig.

“You okay, Marissa?” Karina questioned.

“Yeah, it’s just hot as fuck.”

“Girl, this is your bestie you’re speaking to,” she sat up in her chair and folded her legs beneath her so she could peer over at me.

“You’ve been quiet and in the same spot all day.

Tell that motha fucka to uninvite them kids before they pull up.

I don’t understand why he would spring some shit like this on you last week, then yesterday tell you they are coming to his family reunion.

I just feel like introductions should’ve been done privately, for the benefit of all parties involved. ”

I couldn’t say I didn’t agree with Karina.

Quinten was moving funny as fuck, and that’s why my eyes were glued to him all day.

When he initially informed me that he learned he had two children with his ex-girlfriend Lavita, I felt like my world crumbled for a moment.

Quinten never hid his feelings for Lavita from me, and I thought that bitch re-entering our lives would be the end of our marriage, but he assured me that wouldn’t be the case because she was deceased.

That quickly softened the blow, and I felt for these children.

Growing up without their father, and their mother keeping them hidden until she died had to crush them.

I was all too familiar with the emptiness that came from growing up without your parents.

I’d never stand in the way of that. At the same time, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was about to learn some shit Quinten was hiding. I just had a nagging feeling.

He disappeared to Tampa for a while two months ago and was tight-lipped about what the fuck he was doing up there.

We had two kids together, Quincy and Lil Q, and he missed a few of Quincy’s games, which he never did before.

While he was in Tampa, I had to deal with Lil Q’s bullshit on my own.

I was already pissed about that, and then came the revelation about the kids Lavita had been hiding.

Something just kept gnawing at me, like Quinten still wasn’t giving me the full story.

The shit really just didn’t make sense how she could hide two kids, one I could see, but he had to have known about the first child.

Of course, he didn’t have the answer to that or any of my other follow up questions.

Today was the first day Quinten actually made it a point to be home at a normal hour.

Ever since he broke the news, he had been so busy that he didn’t come home until I was already good and asleep then was back out the door before I even opened my eyes in the morning.

I thought we left that phase of our lives behind five years ago, but now it was creeping back in like a bad habit I thought we’d shaken.

I wasn’t sweating it though. As my great aunt Michelle would always say, the truth will always reveal itself.

“Marissa, I think they just walked in because that boy is Quinten’s twin. I thought Quincy looked like his damn daddy, but that boy is a carbon copy of Quinten before he started balding,” she whispered, looking past me.

I almost got whiplash from how hard my neck snapped in the direction Karina was looking, and sure enough, a man who looked identical to Quinten when I first met him entered the backyard with my husband.

There was a girl with them, and my heart damn near catapulted out of my chest. She looked just like Lavita, and my stomach churned; it was like seeing Quinten’s first love in the flesh.

The girl and the man that was joined at her hip were all smiles. Quinten’s twin hadn’t cracked a single smile since entering the backyard. I observed from my seat as my husband located our sons and brought them over to introduce his other kids.

“The one that looks just like Quinten don’t have no decorum. He done took an entire tray of scallops,” Karina laughed, then took a sip from her champagne flute while shaking her head.

Karina was amused, but my stomach was doing somersaults and my body temperature was rising.

They stood around making introductions and engaging in conversation, and not once did my husband think to invite me over.

The conversation seemed to be going well, and I wanted to be a supportive wife and not make everything about me, so I took a deep breath and remained seated until Quinten yoked Lil Q off his feet by his shirt.

The move was sudden and everyone was watching.

Jumping from my seat, I dropped my fan and marched over to them.

“Who the fuck you talking to? Make me fuck you up in front of all these people! I ain’t none of yo lil homeboys, the fuck wrong with you Lil Q?

This right here is exactly why you ain’t inheriting my position.

Keep fucking around and you won’t inherit a motha fuckin’ thang period!

” Quinten snarled, the entire backyard watching now.

“Quinten! Put my fucking baby down!” I demanded.

Quinten released his grip on Lil Q, and he fluffed out his Chrome Heart shirt, clearly unfazed by his father’s threats.

“Hello,” I chirped once I was standing next to Quinten.

“You must be Quinten’s long lost children,” I greeted them, instantly wishing I had thought of a better way to greet them, but Quinten hadn’t told me their names.

Maybe this is why he didn’t invite me over for introductions because I definitely turned the scene from hostile to awkward.

The boy whose face mirrored Quinten’s face frowned up and then relaxed again.

“Yes, I’m Terrance. Everybody calls me Tech.” I reached in and shook his hand with a warm smile then turned to embrace the daughter in a hug.

“And I’m Quori,” she bubbled.

At the sound of her voice, I visibly stiffened in her arms. Tech dropped the serving tray he was holding, and I removed myself from the hug. I looked up at the girl, and she was breathtaking, just like her mother.

“Ummm, how do you spell it?” I pried, my voice firm.

“Q-U-O-R-I. I love it because it’s so unique,” she explained.

I did my best to hold my shit together, but Lil Q and Quincy’s disdain was immediately evident.

Their eyes went from Quori to their father and back to Quori.

Visions of shooting Quinten in the heart played through my mind, and when I finally came back to reality, I realized my scowl was locked on Quori, even though my anger wasn’t towards her at all.

Her boyfriend pushed Quori behind him, and I glared at the side of my husband’s head.

Quinten couldn’t even look at me, and if he had, I swear on my daughter’s grave I would’ve spit in his face.

Unable to stomach the sight of him any longer, I stormed off.

My chest tightened with every step, heart pounding so fast I thought it might give out on me.

My breaths came short and shallow as the sound of Quori spelling her name crashed into my heart.

That shit wasn’t a coincidence; it was intentional, and my heart couldn’t take it.

I swung the door open and charged inside, barely noticing the slam behind me.

I heard the boys and Karina trailing behind me, calling my name, but I couldn’t stop moving. I didn’t want to break down in front of all these people.

“Ma.”

“Marissa.”

I heard them calling me, but I couldn’t snap out of my daunting thoughts.

Breathe in. Breathe out. I mentally coached myself once I made it to my bedroom.

Placing my hands on the edge of the dresser, I looked up at the ceiling and allowed my emotions to spill out of me.

I grabbed the picture of my daughter, the one who never got the chance to take her first breath, let alone grow into the beautiful woman I know she would’ve become.

It sat in a custom lilac frame my uncle gifted us, engraved with her name.

Quori. Spelled Q-U-O-R-I. Just like the girl downstairs.

My knees buckled and I collapsed under the weight of my reality, but Quincy caught me just before I hit the floor.

Quincy held me in his arms while I wept like a baby.

Karina kneeled beside us and gently patted my tears away, and Lil Q stood above us with his hands on top of his head.

There was a gentle knock at the door, and Lil Q diverted his attention to swing the door open. “The fuck you want?” He barked on the party planner.

“I’m sorry, Quinten told me to let Marissa know we were about to start serving dinner,” she faltered.

“It look like we give a fuck what that nigga said?” Lil Q slammed the door in her face.

“Junior!” I chastised him.

“That lady didn’t do anything to either of us,” I sniffled, pulling myself out of Quincy’s grasp. “This is a private matter that I will handle with your father later.”

I had to get my shit together, get through this dinner, and sort shit out after all of these people left.

My uncle always taught me not to let outsiders see you sweat.

Although this was Quinten’s family, I always felt like an outsider to them.

Troy, Quinten’s father, was an evil bastard.

I should’ve known from the manner in which I met Quinten, but I was young, dumb, and looking for a way out of Jacksonville.

Then Quora, Quinten’s mother, always played blind and dumb to her husband’s bullshit, which drove a wedge between the budding mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship before we could really get started.

“Nah, fuck that, you don’t have to put on a brave face for that nigga. He’s foul as fuck!” Lil Q fumed.