Page 33 of Obsessive Love

I moved my arm from my face and watched her walk to the ensuite.

After she gave me that fucking head, I showered, then watched her rinse her hair, blow dry it, then straighten it.

The process took nearly four hours, and by the time she was done, I was setting her up an appointment with Corinthians to get her hair done biweekly.

Corinthians was a licensed barber and cosmetologist, but mainly cut hair and did retwists.

Her saying that she’d take care of Fable on the strength of our friendship meant a lot.

“I’m up.” I pushed the cover off my legs and got up from the bed. I grabbed my phone, checked my messages, and returned it to the side table. I had a meeting with Xayne St. Thomas later today, but my time would be spent with Fable for now.

After brushing my teeth, washing my face, and changing into my workout clothes, I went downstairs to the gym.

Working out at home was new since the arena was closed, but I had a home gym for a reason.

It was leg day, and I hated that shit, but I never wanted to be one of those niggas you saw whose upper body looked good as fuck, but his lower body was skinny and dumb looking.

After an hour of working out, I returned to the room, showered, and dressed.

“What did you cook today?” I asked Fable when I walked into the kitchen. I cut my eyes at Starburst, who was standing on top of his cage and watching me. “Nigga, you can’t speak?”

“Bitch nigga!” he yelled, and I flipped him off. He threw open his wings, and I laughed. His ass swore he was tough until I pulled out that twine, then he was flying away like a bitch. “Bitch nigga!”

“I’m not going to feed you if you keep talking shit.” I went to the fridge, grabbed the premade food bowl, and then took it to the cage. Watermelon sat at the bottom of the cage, watching us. “What’s good, pretty girl?” I scratched the top of her head and then walked away from the cage.

“Bitch nigga!” Starburst yelled, and I flipped him off.

I approached Fable and pulled her to me. “You didn’t answer my question, Itty Bitty,” I said, then slapped her ass. “You ain’t got no manners like your punk ass bird?”

“Technically, you were in the wrong,” Fable laughed, and I reared back, confused. “The person who walks into the room is supposed to speak to the people in the room first, not the other way around.”

“I spoke,” I said, letting her go. A plate of croissants was on the counter next to a fruit bowl. “These from scratch?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I don’t eat store-bought or premade bread of any kind.”

“I noticed, but I wanted to make sure.” I grabbed a croissant from the plate and pulled it apart. It was still hot and smelled good as fuck. It was sticky like she’d already buttered it and everything. I took a bite, which was so good I stuffed the entire piece in my mouth and chewed it.

“Your greedy ass is going to choke,” Fable laughed as she walked around the island. Her notebooks sat near her iPad, which was already open, and a partial drawing started.

“You’ll save me,” I said, then coughed. “Especially since I gave you some dick last night.”

“Not,” she said, shaking her head.

“Oh, you trying to say my dick game is weak?” I asked, nodding. “Cool, let me get some water, and then I can rectify that.”

“That’s not what I said,” she laughed.

“So, I gave you good dick and head, and you’d still let me die?” I grabbed a water from the fridge and downed half of it. I could feel my eyes watering and my throat getting itchy. When Hood returned from his vacation, I would have him prescribe me some allergy medicine.

“When the Lord calls you home, who am I to tell him he’s wrong?” she replied, and I stared at her. She returned the look, which made me throw my piece of bread at her.

“Fucking childish,” she laughed, then picked up the bread from the counter and threw it back at me.

I caught it, took a bite, and laughed. “You want to go with me? Or are you staying in the house today?”

“You’re going to let me out of this prison?” she sarcastically said and batted her lashes at me. “What did I do to deserve this luxury treatment?”

“That thing with your mouth,” I shrugged, and Fable rolled her eyes. “You trying to roll or not?”

“Yeah, I’ll go,” she laughed. “Do I need to change?”

“Nah, you look good.” I looked over her outfit and nodded in approval. She wore black pants, a pink tee, and a pair of black and pink Dunks.

“Let’s go then,” she said as she grabbed her notebooks.

I took her hand, intertwined our fingers, and led her out of the house and into the garage.

“We’re taking the white car,” I said, unlocking the white Porsche’.

I hardly ever drove it, but today, I felt like speeding.

I always gave Amethyst a hard time about driving so damn fast, but I understood the rush and needed it from time to time.

I helped Fable into the car, closed the door, rounded it, and got in.

“Put your seatbelt on, cuz I’m about to drive the fuck out of this car. ”

“Xoey said you fell for his sister,” Xayne St. Thomas laughed as he leaned back in his seat. “I didn’t believe her, but now I see my daughter was telling the truth.”

“Xoey plus twelve is a lot of things, but a liar ain’t ever been one of them,” I said, shaking my head.

There was no denying how I felt about Fable, especially to a nigga like Xayne.

He was old-school, having spent years building an empire, and could spot a lie a mile away.

I leaned back in my seat, stretched my legs out in front of me, and crossed them at the ankle. “Fable is it for me, big dog.”

“I can tell,” he said, nodding as he rolled his blunt. “You ain’t stopped watching her since you walked out here.”

“Shit is addictive,” I shrugged. Xoey and Fable sat outside on the patio, talking. Fable was showing Xoey her recipes. “Is this how you felt about Xia?”

“Probably,” he replied. “When I met my wife, I knew I was going to marry her; she just didn’t know it.”

“Same,” I laughed. “I knew Fable was mine when I saw her at her bakery. And when I heard her voice?” I wiped my hand over my face. “That shit had me on lock. I didn’t care about shit Javien Sr. or Jr. did or didn’t do. I just wanted her.”

“My daughter has Javien Jr. hanging from the ceiling in my warehouse right now.”

“That nigga still alive?” I was surprised. Usually, Xoey worked quickly and knocked niggas off without hesitation. Xayne nodded. “Why?”

“She said he said something about having a baby due,” Xayne said, shaking his head. He stopped rolling his blunt to stare at his daughter. “You know how Xoey is when it comes to kids. She may hate that nigga Javien for everything he’s done, but him having a kid on the way changes things for her.”

“Who is his baby mama?”

“He won’t say,” he answered. “I know at one point he had that reporter pregnant, but from what I heard, Mercy stomped that baby out of her.”

“She did,” I confirmed. “I don’t know who else it could be.

” Even though Javien played for me and owed me money, I didn’t know every aspect of his personal life.

I allowed him to live his life because, at the end of the day, he would come to me for more money.

I’d pay for I don’t know how many abortions because of him.

He was careless in every aspect of his life.

“My daughter will get the information out of him, one way or another,” Xayne shrugged. “Until she does, she’ll use him as a pinata.”

“Is that what she’s doing?” I chuckled, and Xayne nodded. “How bad does he look?”

“I stopped going to see him two weeks in. Does that tell you anything?” Xayne lit his blunt and took a pull. “She said she had some anger to work out, and I’m letting her.”

“What’s she mad about?” In all the years I’d known Xoey, I’d never seen her upset, annoyed a few times, but never angry.

“Don’t know, she won’t tell me,” he answered. “Which has me worried.”

“Why?”

“Because her head isn’t fully in what she’s doing,” he replied, blowing out smoke. “She can’t afford to be off her game.”

“A killer off her game is bad for business.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, young blood,” Xayne said, shaking his head.

“I don’t care about the killer side of her.

I’m concerned about her mental state. As her father, I know I fucked up by letting her get her first taste of blood.

If I could do it all over again, I would never let her pick up a gun or knife.

I would’ve had her in ballet or something safe. ”

“You regret making Xoey a killer?” I was surprised as hell that Xayne was admitting his failure as a father.

“I regret creating the monster that everyone fears like they do,” he said, taking another pull of his blunt.

“You’ll be a father eventually, and then you’ll understand what I mean.

My daughter has never wanted for anything, and that’s cool, but she also will never trust anyone to protect her.

I failed to give her the ultimate gift.”

“Which is?”

“A sense of peace,” he answered. “She uses those voices as a barrier of protection. No one knows how she will act, so they steer clear of her, which is what she wants.”

I watched as Xoey threw her head back and laughed a real laugh. As relaxed as she was with me and the rest of our friends, she had a different bond with Fable. One that I’d only ever seen her have with Mercy, Legacy, and a few of the other women. It dawned on me then how guarded Xoey really was.

“If I could give my daughter anything, I would gift her peace,” Xayne said. “She deserves it more than anyone I know.”

“You want to go on a date?” I asked Fable as we left the St. Thomas’. It was still early, and as crazy as it sounded, I wasn’t ready to go home yet.

“A date?” she asked, and I nodded. “To where?”

“Can it be a surprise?” I asked as I switched lanes.

“Do I have a choice?” she replied, and I shrugged.