Page 12

ADIR

“You look nervous,” I said to Pretty.

We had just arrived at Fountain Manor, a mansion I owned on Destin’s coastline.

The drive here had been quiet with Pretty twiddling her thumbs most of the ride.

Apprehension was written all over her face, and we were just standing in the driveway.

“I’m not sure if leaving Quilo was the right thing to do.”

“Adrian is staying with the boys, and Russ knows how to handle anything that pops off,” I assured her.

“That’s just it. I don’t want anything to pop off.”

“Pretty, my baby.” I took her hand.

“This weekend is gon’ fly by. I wanna make sure we enjoy every second of it. If I thought leaving Quilo was gon’ be an issue, we wouldn’t have left. I promise you, he’s good.”

She took a deep breath, then released it.

Doubt was still written in the slight frown on her face.

“You’ve been raising Quilo all alone. So I understand ya need to shelter and protect him. Believe it or not, my job is to shelter and protect him, too, now. Let me. Allow me to take the load off of you.”

She drew in another deep breath and released it.

“Okay.”

Her eyes roamed the outside of the modern style house surrounded by sago palms and tall palm trees.

The coast of Florida was always a breath of fresh air when I came out here, which was almost never.

I bought the house for the boys to enjoy their spring break and summer vacations.

If it weren’t for either of those, I would’ve forgotten the place existed.

To get Pretty more comfortable with me, I knew bringing her here wouldn’t have been so bad.

Inside the house, she stood in the foyer, awestruck.

“This place is incredible,” she stated.

“It’s nothing compared to where we’ll spend our actual honeymoon.”

Her cheeks darkened, and I found that shit attractive as hell.

“Let’s go inside and work on our lunch.”

She looked like she wanted to hop back in the Ghost and haul ass.

“If I gotta chase you, you gon’ owe me somethin’ you’re not ready to give me right now.”

Her attempt to keep a straight face failed.

She burst out laughing.

From that moment on, hesitation fled her mind.

We made lunch together, then sat down on the balcony overlooking the beach.

The waves were so close that small droplets of water made their way to Pretty’s rosy cheeks, causing her to giggle cutely.

“Oh, my! This is absolutely breathtaking,” she gushed.

Sail boats floated in the distance out over the water.

If we listened hard enough, the squeals of people enjoying themselves on the beach could’ve been heard.

I wasn’t concerned about any of that though.

My eyes were on the woman seated across from me, beaming brighter than the sun.

She’d showered, moisturized, and changed into a flowy yellow dress that popped off her skin like that color was made just for her.

The dress was strapless, showing off her dainty shoulders.

There was nothing holding up her perky breasts other than the fabric around them.

I could see how hard her nipples were, and I had to remove my eyes quickly before I said something crazy.

“What are you thinking about?” she questioned.

My head tilted on my shoulders.

“I asked is this your personal property.”

“Oh.” We both chuckled.

“Yeah. The boys love it here.”

“I can see why. Haven would love this place.”

“Poor Jabari. I’m sure the two of you are trouble together.”

Her giggle was proof that I was right.

Holding out her hands and dangling her fingers, she demanded playfully, “Say grace.”

The rock on her left ring finger shined brightly under the sun.

Because it gave me a chance to feel her skin against mine, I eagerly took her hands and prayed over our food.

“Tell me more about Tilda,” she requested as she started eating.

Tearing my eyes away from the way she slid the fork into her mouth to remove the shrimp from it, I cleared the clog from my throat.

Every fucking thing she did turned me on, and it was just crazy as hell.

I was on her tough as shit.

What was scarier is that I was cool with it.

“I met Tilda my freshman year of college. She was mean as hell and used to tease me because she said I would never smile.”

“I can see that,” she mumbled and held back a grin.

“You’ve met my pops. Does he seem like the smiling type?”

We both laughed as she emphatically shook her head.

“Your dad looks like he can fight really good.”

I threw my head back and laughed.

“The fact that y’all are practically twins is scary,” she added.

“He stopped aging after thirty.”

“Ooh, don’t let him hear you say that. That nigga’s head is big enough.”

She cackled, and the sound was mesmerizing to say the least.

“Anyway, after that first year of dealing with Tilda, I would just randomly visit her classroom.”

“Can you recall what drew you to her?”

I loved how Pretty was so invested in knowing about someone I cared for dearly.

As I ate and thought about Tilda, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Tilda was an older woman who bragged about her kid all the time. She kept a picture of Humble on her desk and talked about him often. I could tell some days were harder than others for her, but she just always seemed so fuckin’ happy. She had the type of joy that anyone would be envious of. I was drawn to that.”

“She sounds like she was amazing.”

“She was. Even in her seventies, she didn’t take any shit off anyone. There were a couple of times I had to check a nigga ‘bout her.”

Pretty smacked her teeth, then laughed. “Figures.”

“Mane, what you talkin’ ‘bout. I had muhfuckas terrified to ask her questions during class.”

The arch of Pretty’s neck as she laughed stirred the pit of my stomach.

“You’re a menace,” she said.

“She loved me,” I countered.

“I’m sure she did.”

“Let’s fall in love, Pretty.”

Stunned, she glanced at me under her long lashes, and everything seemed to move around her as she froze.

Her hair flowed in the wind, the seagulls sang in the distance, and the waves pounded the shore.

All the while, she was stuck staring at me.

“I’m serious as fuck. Let’s do it. Over and over, every single day. I want you to look at me and say damn, that fine muhfucka belongs to me .”

She giggled hard.

“This is a lifetime for us. Let’s do this shit big, baby.”

Her face relaxed with a tender smile.

“What did you say to cause this to come to what it is now?”

I inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and replied, “I recognized favor the moment I laid eyes on you, Pretty. Shit hit me so hard, I knew settling for anything less than you being my woman wasn’t the play.”

Her cheeks never failed me.

They flushed again as she looked out over the water.

“What if that night wouldn’t have happened? What if… we never saw each other again?”

That was a thought I never wanted to have.

“I’m a man who believes in divine orchestration of things. We would’ve definitely met again, my baby. My mind wasn’t letting you go so easily.”

Demurely, her lashes fluttered.

“If you say so.”

“I do,” I replied.

“Now, back to Tilda. She would’ve loved you, too.”

Her smile stretched across her face, crinkling her nose in the process.

I poured Pretty another glass of wine, then handed it to her.

We’d spent part of the day walking the beachline and the other part relaxing on a blanket under the sun.

She dipped her toes in the water, but that was it.

Neither of us had much to say.

We were literally making love to each other with just our eyes and our touch.

The amount of times she allowed my hands to be on her today had me too giddy for a nigga who wasn’t used to this shit.

Her power to bring it out of me was why I was falling so damn quickly.

We’d both showered after being in the hot sun.

She changed into a white tank top and short ass fleece shorts.

Her feet were bare, showing off her manicured toes.

I swallowed hard while thinking about sucking on them.

Across from her, I sat shirtless, with a pair of ball shorts on.

Her eyes dipped to my tattooed chest more than a few times.

“Thank you.” She smiled graciously and tipped the flute to her lips.

“Aht, aht…” I stopped her.

“Let’s make a toast.

She waited for me to pour my own flute, then we brought the two stemmed glasses close to one another.

“This is to crazy ass new beginnings.

”

That caused her to giggle as our flutes clinked together.

She took her first drink and lightly moaned.

“This is delicious,” she praised.

I couldn’t focus on shit but the way her voice sounded when she moaned.

If I thought that tiny sound was something, the way she moaned after taking a bite of her succulent steak caused me to warn her.

“Careful now. I’m tryna be on my best behavior.”

Tickled, she cracked up.

“I’m sorry. This is the best steak I’ve ever had.”

Mikey, a private chef I used often, came through to cook for us.

He made steaks, Caesar salads, roasted asparagus, and homemade garlic mashed potatoes.

Couldn’t anyone cook better than him except my mama and Auntie Maddie.

“Fill me in on the niggas who thought they had forever with my wife.”

She snickered.

“Are you serious?”

“Definitely.”

“Well, if you must know, I’ve only been in two serious relationships. They both ended because some men don’t know how to keep their dick exclusive to their woman. The last one ended over a year ago. His excuse was that I worked too much, was too busy taking care of Quilo, and didn’t have time for him.”

“The man in me wants to be mad, but the husband in me is happy as fuck.”

She playfully smacked her teeth.

“Tell me more about your family,” she requested.

“You don’t wanna know about my past?”

Her nose turned up.

“I do not want to hear about your trysts with other women.”

“I can assure you that the man you married is not the same man they had.”

She groaned and shook her head.

“Get to talkin’.”

Doing as my woman requested, I said, “Allistair and his homeboys were called The Black Alligators.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep.” I chuckled.

“They were ruthless and had to be in order to deal with the different battles they faced. Whenever anyone threatened their community, they would dead that shit without blinking an eye.”

“They were killers?” she whispered.

Her eyes were big and round as saucers.

The astonishment in her voice caused me to grin.

“They were protectors, my baby. They were providers and leaders. Sometimes taking on those roles require you to do shit that is immoral. When it comes to family and bonds, nothing is off limits. You do what you gotta do to maintain order and control.”

“How long have you been in your…position?”

“Six years. I was twenty-eight when I took over as head of my family.”

“And before that?”

“Before that I was second to my pops.”

“Wow…”

“Wow,” I parroted.

“Does that scare you?”

“It terrifies me,” she stated honestly.

“Why?”

“Because someday one of your… our sons…will have to take your place.”

I ducked my head, pleased that she not only referred to my sons as hers, but she acknowledged that she understood some parts of how my family worked.

“If there’s one thing I’m most happy about, it’s Quilo having a healthy relationship with Humble, Peace, and the twins. He needs the type of camaraderie your family exudes.”

“ Our family, mama. Our ,” I stressed.

“Our,” she repeated.

“And Quilo will be fine.”

She dove back into her plate and didn’t stop until nothing was left.

Once we got everything cleaned up, we retreated to the balcony to take a look at the big ass moon in the sky.

I brought Pretty close, hoping she didn’t mind.

We stood so close together that I knew she felt how hard I was.

Still, she didn’t run.

Her arms banded around me as I cupped her face and leaned down to join our lips.

I kissed her slowly, deep, and thoroughly.

Neither one of us wanted to end the kiss.

I broke it only to kiss across her cheek and down her neck.

I wasted no time going back to her lips though.

They were too succulent and tasted too good, and I had to have more of them.

The more she let me suck on her tongue the more my dick jumped.