Page 27 of Objection

Serenity

“ O kay, what’s the surprise?” I asked as soon as we left home, and Kaos laughed at me.

It didn’t take us long at all to pack because we were only staying one day. Mama said they were having a party tonight and brunch tomorrow, but I wasn’t sure we’d go to the brunch. It would depend on Daddy’s mood. Kaos still booked a room just in case.

“Oh shoot! Babe, you have a deposition—”

“It was handed off to someone else. That’s why it wasn’t on my calendar.”

Relief immediately washed over me, and I relaxed in my seat. “Thank God. I thought I’d forgotten about it until just now.”

“Nah, princess. It was intentionally taken off the schedule. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about when we left the office.

I do want to reward you for going to see your parents, but I kind of already had a trip planned.

Now, you’ll be able to use it to unwind if this shit goes left field. ”

“Okay, I’m intrigued. Tell me more.”

“I’m taking the rest of the year off from the office.” My head immediately jerked in his direction, but he tightened his grip on the steering wheel and kept his eyes on the road. “I’ll still do small things from my home office, but I won’t be taking any more cases until January.”

“Is everything okay? You’re not sick or anything are you?”

His chuckle was light as he looked over at me and grabbed my hand.

“I’m fine, and everything’s okay. Everything’s great actually.

That’s why I want to take some time off.

” He paused and dropped a quick kiss on my lips.

“I want to travel and enjoy you. I want to help you start your business. I want to focus on something other than my crazy ass clients. I need a break, princess.”

“I understand, and I’m proud of you for taking the time you need. I’m also honored you want to prioritize getting more out of your time with me. That’s not to say we have an expiration date. I’m just glad you’re putting forth effort and being intentional about us.”

“Yeah, I know what you meant, princess. And you’re right—I’m being very intentional about us.

Now that you’ve finally given me a chance, I’m going to make sure you never regret it.

This isn’t just a phase either. I won’t change.

Not for the worse at least. The same pressure I’m applying now, I’m going to apply ten years from now. ”

Kaos was the first man that gave the validation and clarity I needed without me even having to ask, and I appreciated him so much for that.

I told him that, and our conversation shifted to how he planned to spend his break, which led to me thinking about it too.

If he wouldn’t be at the office, neither would I.

I was looking forward to prioritizing finding a building for my business and traveling but also spending more time with my sister and best friend.

When Kaos’s workload was hectic, I had to be there to help him carry the load, so I intended to take full advantage of having the rest of the year off from the office.

“Do you know any other languages?” he asked.

“I learned Spanish in high school, and I learned some French in college, but I want to learn more. I want to learn Italian too. What about you?”

“I know Spanish and French as well. How fluent is your French?”

“Hmm . . . I’m not too confident but say something to me.”

His chuckle was sexy before he licked his lips. “Tu mérites le monde, et c'est le début de ma facon de vous le donner.”

“Okay, I understood the words you, world, and giving.”

We laughed. “I said, you deserve the world, and this is the start of me giving it to you. Our next trip is to St. Barts.”

“Ah!” I clapped and bounced in my seat. “Babe! No way! Are you seriously taking me to Saint Barthelemy?”

“Of course. I’ll never tell you a lie, Serenity.”

“Yayyy I’m so excited! When are we leaving? Will I have time to brush up on my French? I know they speak English, but I want to be able to speak in French if and when I need to.”

“We can go as soon as you’d like. It’s your world, girl.”

“Baby,” I cooed before leaning to the side to hug his neck and kiss him. “Thank you so much. I’m so excited. I cannot wait ! It’s going to be so much fun!”

I’d never been to the French-speaking Caribbean Island before, but I’d heard a lot about it. A lot of wealthy people vacationed there, and it was known for its luxury, which was why it appealed to me.

Our conversation topics continued to shift before we fell into a comfortable silence and let the sound of music fill the car.

That gave my mind time to process the fact that I’d be seeing my parents in two hours.

I told Taylor but she didn’t want to come.

She was still feeling some type of way about Daddy trying to keep her from coming to see me.

His plan backfired, clearly, because now she was here permanently.

If only he hadn’t poked that bear, she would still be there.

I was glad he did, because now she was in school pursuing her degree, and that’s what she should have been doing all along.

By the time we made it to Jasper Lane, my intuition was telling me this wasn’t going to end well.

I told Kaos not to even bother with checking into the hotel.

It was only a three hour drive, so if he didn’t want to drive back, I would.

I didn’t even have the confidence that we’d make it through dinner.

As he pulled onto their street, my heart palpitated. I started sweating and rocking in my seat. When he noticed, he held my hand.

“You’re really nervous about this huh?” I nodded. “If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to, Serenity.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. I do want things to be better between me and Daddy, and I don’t want Ma to be in the middle of it. I just know him, and unless I apologize, I don’t see us making any progress this evening.”

His head shook as he parked the car. “I’m all for being the bigger person when the situation calls for it, but I’m not for stroking a nigga’s ego just because.

You didn’t do anything that you should apologize for.

” After cutting the car off, he used my chin to turn my head in his direction as he said, “Look at me.”

“Yes, sir?”

A low groan escaped him. His eyes lowered as he tugged his bottom lip between his teeth. As his hand went from my chin to my neck, Kaos pulled me closer and gave me a deep, passionate, wet kiss.

“You distracted me. Now I done forgot what I was about to say.” I cackled before giving him another quick kiss.

“Oh yeah, if at any point you want to leave early, just let me know. I’m not going to let anyone disrespect you—not even your father.

He might have helped bring you into this world, but if he hurts you in front of me, I have no problem taking him out of it. ”

“Oh God. I’m going to forget you said that.”

“You ain’t gotta remember. You gon’ see it if he try you.”

“Kaos, please. That’s my father. You can’t kill him just because he hurt me.”

He frowned as he looked at me before scoffing and opening his door.

My head shook as he muttered something about me not knowing who he was as he got out of the car.

Now I really didn’t want to be here. Maybe this was why I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

I’d forgotten what he’d done to Mario. There was no doubt in my mind if Daddy said something disrespectful that Kaos would address it.