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The red flags were bright, flashing lights now.

Eden wasn’t sure how much more of Natavia’s control she could take.

Talking to Mac’Roy about going in a new direction was off the table because whatever Natavia told him to do, he did.

The whole situation was becoming more and more irritating.

Playing small, being indebted to Natavia for saving her, and having to be subjected to Rico when she brought him around.

Eden: Traffic. Be there in a minute

Natavia: Hurry up. I want to hear what you thought about the movie

“Of course you do,” Eden huffed. “You want to spend all night talking about a five-minute scene.”

It took almost an hour to arrive at Rico’s lakeside home from the other side of the city.

When she walked into Rico’s larger-than-life house, the music clashed against her ears, and people were everywhere.

Already, this wasn’t Eden’s type of vibe.

She preferred lowkey spots where she knew who was in and out and what was going on.

Typically, she could hear Natavia’s laugh or her voice over the crowd, but in this instance, it was everyone else but her.

Eden roamed through the space, hoping to be undetected in a corner.

After all, she was only here to fulfill her “contractual” obligations.

Eden knew how the public perceived her, and she knew one photo of her was bound to go viral.

Natavia was going to capitalize on that.

Especially since she’d been struggling to bring the type of buzz Eden had.

For Eden, it was effortless. Her team could upload a video at two p.m., and by four p.m., it had half a million views; by the morning, the numbers might’ve tripled.

Part of it was because Eden was a mystery and only revealed what she wanted the public to know. Unlike Natavia, who told everything.

Plopping her tired body down in an armchair out of sight, she watched the women wanting all the attention grin and gleam in the faces of the ballers.

Some married. No wonder Rico was doing whoever he wanted to, these women were accessible.

Eden couldn’t count on two hands any more how many times Rico had cheated on Natavia.

The fact that it was more than five times and she took him back was embarrassing. And telling.

It was telling.

She could control everything and everyone else but the man she pinned herself to.

It was sad. When Eden envisioned love, it was raw and passionate and could be felt throughout her entire being.

It was respectful and exclusive. If it came, it would be hers – all hers. It would protect her and cherish her.

A bitter huff left her lips. “Who am I fooling?”

Back to her people watching, she watched the women twerk to the music while the men enjoyed the views.

On the back terrace under the cabana, Eden found Natavia snorting lines of powder off the table.

That was her cue to leave, an out she was happy to have.

Just as Eden stood up to make her exit, Rico appeared.

“You didn’t wear my dress,” he stated.

All the running around Eden had done tonight, she’d forgotten about the dress. She wasn’t going to wear it anyway, but she’d most definitely forgotten about it. “Yeah, I didn’t have time to go home and change. Busy night.”

Eden attempted to step around him, but he blocked her with his size.

“Eden,” he buzzed her name. “Why you always running away from me? I know you see me looking at you. I bought you a dress and some shoes and you still act like a nigga don’t exist.”

“You’re Natavia’s man. I don’t snake my friends out, and I don’t play the role of a side chick well. Can you-”

Eden couldn’t get the rest of the words out of her mouth before Rico backed her into a corner. Too big for her to see around him, all she could do was hope someone witnessed whatever he was trying to do, or some sense would bring him back.

“Nah, you ain’t leaving until you thank me. You see your girl down there getting high? By the time she comes back up here, she’s going to be down for whatever, and you are too.”

“Rico, move,” Eden said forcibly, attempting to shove him away from her.

“I know you want me, Eden. You ain’t never had a nigga like me.

Rich and can tear that little pussy out the frame.

It’s not like you letting nobody hit it.

I know how to break a bitch who thinks she’s better than everyone else.

How you think I got your girl to fuckin’ listen?

” Rico quizzed, holding Eden’s jaw while she still squirmed.

There were only a few things she was afraid of.

Even when she was hustling and running game on men, she wasn’t worried about them accosting her.

But then again, she had always been in control of the situation.

She couldn’t control or fight a man coked up.

By the glossiness of his eyes, she knew what he was on.

She didn’t stop trying to wiggle out of his hold, though. “Get off of me, Rico!”

He forcibly kissed her, shoving his unwanted tongue into her mouth that she tried to clamp shut. The squeeze of her cheek was too tight not to open her mouth and relieve the pressure.

“What’s going on over here?” Natavia’s voice came through in a silly cadence.

Like Eden was fire, Rico jumped back. “I told you about this bitch, Tavi! I told you she wasn’t your fucking friend. She tried to seduce me.”

“Excuse the fuck out of me, nigga?” Eden popped off. “You were trying to fuck me. Talking about I needed to thank you for that cheap ass dress and how you were going to have both of us. Natavia, I’m telling you I didn’t do shit he’s saying.”

Natavia, too high to fully comprehend, bounced her eyes back and forth between the two. “Rico, what is she talking about?”

“Tell her, Rico! Tell her,” Eden urged.

Rico threw his hands up. “I told you, baby, she was trying to get a taste of your dick.”

“Eden…we’re best friends,” Natavia spoke. “Why would you do that?”

Rico moved over to Natavia and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I told you she would do this. The fucked-up part is she did it right in front of everyone. She’s jealous of you. Always has been. Look at your life and look at hers. She was a fuckin’ stripper for God sakes.”

Natavia looked at Eden with hate in her eyes. The veil had been pulled back, and Eden was seeing what Staysha had been warning her about. Her eyes darted around the space, finding the phones out recording. There was no need to argue. This situation alone had muddied her clean brand.

“I’m going to go.”

“You should do that,” Rico stated, standing behind Natavia like he was holding on to a check.

Eden gathered her things and skirted around the pair, her head down to evade the cameras and onlookers.

Even through the hour ride back home, a hot shower and a replay of events, she couldn’t believe what was happening.

She powered down her phone and laid her head on her pillow, hoping to find peaceful sleep.

But peace wouldn’t come; throughout the night, she was haunted by the evil in Rico’s eyes and the hate in Natavia’s.