Page 6 of Objection

Serenity

W hen my best friend, Nessa, asked me to go out tonight, I happily agreed.

We met my first day in Rose Valley Hills.

I’d gotten lost and couldn’t decipher which of the apartment buildings was mine, and she pulled over and helped me.

She also helped me unpack. We talked and got to know each other and had been inseparable ever since.

While I was in building C, she was further back in building G.

I loved the apartment complex because it had amazing amenities, but I was also ready to have my own home.

I already knew the only downside to the move would be not being as close to Nessa but spending time together would always be an easy fix for that.

We didn’t really have a true destination in mind, but we were sitting in my apartment sipping wine while we tried to figure it out. If we were going to go somewhere to drink, we’d Uber or get a town car.

“We could try that new jazz club,” Nessa suggested. “I’m not into that, but I heard that’s where some of the fine, rich niggas be at.”

I laughed. “Montgomery loves jazz and he mentioned that he was looking forward to their opening. If he’s an indication of the kind of men that will be there, you’re right about that, friend.”

I half listened to her response as my phone vibrated on the table.

Confusion filled me when I saw the person calling was Ashley.

We didn’t really talk often because we didn’t have that much in common.

She was a wild party girl whose main priority was enjoying her life, and though I respected that, I was more laidback.

I’d pop up at a lounge or venue for some live music occasionally, but I hadn’t gone to a club since I was in college and didn’t see that changing any time soon.

Meanwhile, Ashley was in somebody’s club literally every weekend.

“Hold on, girl. Ashley calling me.”

“Ashley?” she repeated as her face scrunched up, causing me to hold back my laughter as I answered.

“Hello?”

“Serenity!” she yelled before laughing. “Girrrlll, somebody beat the fuck out of Mario’s ass.”

I wanted to ask her why she was telling me because we weren’t together anymore, but I was curious about what happened to him . . . and concerned.

“What? When? And why? Do you know who?”

“Last night. He went live talking all this shit about getting jumped, but his neighbor went live too and said it was a lie. That it was just one person who did him in. He posted a video from his camera but removed it a few minutes after. Apparently, the man who beat him up don’t play that shit and had him delete it expeditiously. ”

“Hmm . . . that’s odd.”

“You know what’s even odder?” she taunted, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“What?”

“I saw the video, and I would swear I heard the man that beat him up tell him not to call or text you anymore. He said if he did, the last words he said to you would be the last words he’d ever say.”

My heart dropped as I walked toward the island in the kitchen and sat down. “That can’t be right. I don’t even know any men here that would—” I immediately stopped as thoughts of my conversation with Kaos yesterday filled my mind. “Do you remember what he looked like?”

“I couldn’t see his face, but he was tall and wide like he worked out a lot. He had a deep, sexy voice, and I think he had tattoos on his hands.”

Sighing, I shook my head. I refused to believe Kaos had attacked Mario. There was no way for him to even know who he was and where he lived. Still, who else could it have been?

“I’ll uh . . . talk to you later.”

Absently, I disconnected the call. Licking the corner of my mouth, I looked over at Nessa as she scrolled aimlessly on her phone.

“What she want?”

“To tell me someone beat Mario up last night.”

“Oh shit,” she muttered, setting her phone down on the island. “What happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I know how I can find out.”

I pulled up Kaos’s contact and dialed his cell number. When he answered, I heard loud music in the background.

“Hey,” he answered, and as much as I hated it, his voice made me smile.

Squeezing the back of my neck, I paced the kitchen. “I don’t know why I’m even asking this because I know it’s not possible, but did you attack my ex last night?”

Kaos didn’t respond immediately. A while passed, and I knew he was leaving wherever he was when I no longer heard music in his background.

“Yeah,” he disclosed casually, causing my heart to skip a beat.

“Wait, what? Why would you do that?”

“You told me he wouldn’t stop calling and texting you, so I handled that. Has he called or texted you today?”

My movements stopped as I twisted my mouth to the side. “Well, no but—”

“You’re welcome.”

Scoffing, I pulled my ear from my phone to look at it, as if I could see him. “I’m welcome? Are you insane?”

“Nah. I’m just a man that don’t play about the women in his life, and whether you believe it or not, you at the top of that list.”

My emotions were all over the place. While a part of me was pissed that he’d done something so reckless, another part of me was aroused and flattered.

I didn’t know how to express or even process that, so I didn’t bother trying.

Instead, I hung up the phone and groaned.

As I headed to my bedroom to put on my shoes, I told Nessa, “Forget the jazz club. We’re going to a bar.

I need something a hell of a lot stronger than wine. ”