Page 47 of Perfect Rhythm

SHADE

“Damn, so you and Nyx are a thing now, huh?” King said as he leaned against the railing of the VIP section.

I shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

“It didn’t look too complicated when y’all walked in here. Y’all looked happy as hell. I bet Eli’s on the other side of the club punching the air right now.”

He laughed.

“I don’t give a fuck what his bitch ass is doing. As long as he ain’t doing it over here.”

“I hear you.” King nodded. “I’m pretty sure he’ll keep his distance tonight.”

“After the lame ass shit he pulled, he better.” Waving all that off, I changed the subject. “But hey, what’s up with you? I saw something on the blogs about you and Brookia trying to work things out.”

He shook his head, then tossed back what was left of his drink.

“Don’t believe everything you hear. That shit is a wrap.

Not only did she get pregnant by another nigga, but she chose a crazy motherfucker at that.

” King sucked his teeth. “This fool really out here putting hands on a woman because she’s not down with his bullshit. That’s crazy as hell.”

“Yeah, I know. I still can’t believe Mecca tripped out like that.”

“Honestly, I’m not even surprised. People get psycho when they can’t get what they want.

Brookia’s been calling my ass nonstop, begging me to talk things out.

But we don’t have shit to talk about.” He shrugged.

“Before we got engaged, I told her if I ever caught her cheating again, I would be done. She swore to me that I had nothing to worry about, and she was done with that life.” He shook his head slowly.

“She was really going to let me think that baby was mine. Pumping my head up about how good of a father I was going to be. Telling me that she was so glad that we were about to have a child together. Man, she was kicking all kinds of bullshit my way.”

My head dropped.

I knew how foul some men could be, but coming from a woman? That shit hit different. I couldn’t even imagine.

“Well, at least you found out before the baby was born.”

“Hell yeah! I would’ve lost it had I found out down the line.”

“Yeah, I know.” I turned my head just in time to catch Nyx smiling, her hand lifting Jassi’s arm to get a better look at her charm bracelet. She traced one of the charms with her eyes like it was the prettiest thing she’d seen all night.

I had to admit, seeing Nyx mesh so well with my sister gave me a good feeling. I could already tell she would fit right in whenever she met my parents.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I stepped away to answer it.

“What’s up, O? Yo, how your ass throwing a listening party at your club and you not even in town?”

“Some shit came up,” he shot back. “Everything straight though? My staff handling shit like they supposed to?”

“Yeah, everything’s running smooth.”

“Aight, cool.” He cleared his throat, hesitating a little. “Skye still staying with Nyx? I tried hitting her up earlier to check on her, but she didn’t answer.”

“Yeah. She’s good. I saw her before we came here.”

“Cool, cool. Her ass probably fell asleep.”

I smirked, wanting to say something slick about him having so much concern about a woman he’d only fucked. But I let it slide.

“I still can’t believe Mecca’s bitch ass waited until I left to put his hands on her like that,” he snapped. “I wish he would’ve pulled that shit while I was there. His ass would’ve got the full experience of these hands.”

I sucked my teeth. “You wouldn’t have stopped at just your hands.”

“Damn right. They’d still be wiping brain fragments off the walls.”

“And I would be talking to you from a jail cell right now.”

“Oh well. That’s just the way shit goes sometimes.”

I froze, caught off guard by the way he was talking.

Ocean? Talking like that over a woman he barely knew? That shit was unheard of. Something deeper was brewing under the surface. But I didn’t dare ask. If he was feeling something for Skye, he’d never admit to it. He’d choke it down until it disappeared.

“So, are you heading back this way this weekend?”

“Nah, it’ll probably be a minute before I get back down there. Got too much shit to take care of here.”

I didn’t bother asking for details. I knew he was purposely keeping his distance.

“Bet. Well, I’ll catch up with you later.” I glanced down at the stage as the lights kicked on. “I think shit’s about to get started.”

A wave of noise erupted from the main entrance. At first, I thought it was because Noni G had hit the stage, but I was wrong.

Dead wrong.

My eyes widened at the sight of Mecca strolling into the building like he was everything the party had been missing.

“What the fuck is this nigga doing here?” I growled.

“Who?” Ocean questioned.

“Mecca.”

He went silent for a second.

“What the fuck? I thought his ass was in jail.”

“Shit, so did I.” I dragged a hand down the back of my head and looked at Nyx.

Her face said everything. Eyes burning with a rage I could feel from across the room.

Before Ocean could get another word in, I ended the call.

This wasn’t just bad…it was dangerous .

If I didn’t get to Nyx before she got to Mecca, all hell was going to break loose, and nobody was going to be ready for it.