Page 14 of Still Forever

Jax

I sat in the dark, the engine humming. With my big ass stuffed in a small car that I knew Kennedy couldn’t recognize.

My detail said that she had been working well into the night, so I decided to come to make sure that she was okay.

Imagine how shit went left when I saw who Judah calls “the car salesman” pull up with some flowers.

He rang the doorbell of the office and stood there for a minute before he disappeared behind the door.

My fingers gripped my Glock as I called Judah.

“What’s up, G?” He answered.

“I need you to intercept KD’s cameras at her office and share the live feed with me,” I demanded.

He didn’t even ask why, just told me to hold on while he went to his computer.

Until now, I had avoided having access to her cameras myself.

I knew that it would run me crazy if I could watch her every day.

But this was different, nigga was visiting at night with flowers.

All I could think about was all the shit that we had done inside that same office.

So if I saw anything that I didn’t like, I was kicking the front door in.

“I’m in, I sent it to you.” He said when he came back.

My mind was too fucked up to even say that I appreciated him, and I hung up the phone and clicked the link.

I saw her sitting at her desk, her hands under her chin, while this square ass nigga in a tie was talking to her.

At first, I was cool because he kept his distance, and he gave her space while she worked.

Then he leaned down to her and kissed her.

It wasn’t nasty, it wasn’t deep, but it was enough to piss me the fuck off.

I tapped my gun on the steering wheel impatiently.

When he backed away from her and her face came back into view again, it wasn’t the Kennedy that I knew. That wasn’t mine. She was holding back. She was giving that nigga the version of herself she wanted him to have, because the real KD belonged to me.

The only thing that kept me sitting in the car was that I knew her well enough to see that the smile on her face was forced. She didn’t like this nigga at all. He was only there because I wasn’t, but I couldn’t be. I gritted my teeth so hard I think I cracked one.

They talked for another minute before she led him back outside.

Once the door opened, I put the phone down and looked through the parking lot.

I could see her pull his tie and kiss him again.

I wanted to send a bullet through his skull and remind her who her nigga was.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t take her into her office and make her forget what soft ass kisses felt like.

I couldn’t grip her hips and remind her one inch at a time why no nigga could ever make her feel the shit that I could.

I hit my steering wheel. The fucking elites.

“Liability” was what they described my girl as.

They couldn’t have been more right. Because the longer I went without her, I was liable to crash the fuck out.

After he turned onto the main road, I peeled out of the parking lot behind him.

I reached for my Glock, and I could feel myself blacking out.

Then the phone rang beside me, and it was Trouble’s name on the caller ID.

As soon as he heard the phone connect, he didn’t even give me the opportunity to say what’s up.

“Nigga come to my house now!” He barked from the other side of the phone.

I blew a frustrated breath, but I didn’t even argue with him. Just smashed the brakes and headed in the direction of his compound. I was so pissed, I probably ran every stop sign and light on the way there.

Once I made it through the gates of his estate, I didn’t even have to call him back to let him know I was outside. Underneath the nights, I could already see that he was already waiting, pacing. I got out of the car, and his head snapped toward me.

“The fuck were you about to do just now? I shouldn’t have to have muhfuckas watching my underboss because you moving reckless,” He barked. Trouble had to be pissed, nigga hardly ever raised his voice, but he was heated.

“You ever had to watch Storm kiss another nigga? If the shoe were on the other foot, you would’ve got us killed weeks ago.” I challenged him. He stopped pacing and looked at me. I knew he wanted to tell me that I had made my point, but for the sake of being in boss mode, he couldn’t.

“Aight, you got that. But nigga you ain’t me!

You move better than me, Jax. I know you love Kennedy, but you gone end up getting her killed.

You already know how the elites are coming, I’ll stand ten toes beside you against anybody, and I swear I mean that shit.

But we ain’t gone win. It’s three of us, and three hundred thousand of them.

If your mental wasn’t fucked up, you would have found a way out of this shit already.

You’re the negotiator in the Mafia. Act like it. ” We stood chest to chest.

What he just said hit me because I knew that he was right.

Had I been thinking clear, I could’ve had KD back home already.

I really didn’t expect it to hit me as hard as it did, and I had been fucked up since.

I took a deep breath, backed up, and leaned against the small car that my body towered over.

He took a deep breath, too, as he studied my face.

“She got you fucked up, bro.” He chuckled.

“Remember when you went on that rampage and killed damn near everybody that said Storm’s name in the three days she was gone? I’m on that type of time.” I admitted.

Being apart from KD woke up a monster. I used to think that I was just cut differently from my brothers. But since she left, I realized that she kept me grounded. My deals took a hit, my patience was thin, and if niggas thought shit was sweet, they found out the hard way that I don’t like candy.

“So, you really think she's going to be serious with ole boy?” He asked as he leaned against the car, too.

Just the mention of it had me back on a million.

I thought about it for a second.

“Nah, she won’t,” I said confidently.

“Then why you tripping?” Trouble was coming from a good place, but he wasn’t the nigga to offer this kind of advice. He crashed out for less.

“Cause she’s forcing it, trying to feel something with him.”

He nodded. Understanding. Silence fell between us, and I was lost in my thoughts, trying to figure out a way to undo this deal.

I couldn’t offer the elites anything; they already had their hands in every operation we owned.

A greater percentage in the place of an alliance would be like spitting in their face.

“Get out your head, Jax. You’ll figure it out, bro; you always do. Take your ass home and stop watching those cameras, or I’ll tell Judah to revoke your access. And how the hell do you fit in that little ass car? Whose car is that anyway?” He scoffed.

“Remy,” I laughed as I blew out a deep breath and slid into the seat. On the drive back to my new estate, my mind continued to race a mile a minute. I had to think of a plan, and quick, because every second KD was gone, it was another second I was closer to getting my entire family wiped out.

“Good morning, Jaxon. You don’t look too well,” Remy joked as she came downstairs and saw me sitting in the recliner.

It was our first night in the new house as an “engaged” couple, and I hadn’t slept all night.

Not only was I used to sleeping in my own bed, but I didn’t want to be in the house with anyone other than my girl.

I had made it perfectly clear to the elites that Remy wouldn’t be living at my estate.

That was Kennedy’s space, and regardless of what happens, no one else would step foot in that house.

So they bought us another place on the south side of New York to live in.

“Nah, I’m fucked up,” I admitted. Remy was cool.

We spent the whole day together yesterday, during the move to the new house, and I got to know her better.

She even gave me her car so I could go pull up on KD.

We had been bouncing ideas off each other, and she was really trying to help me get out of this, and I appreciated that.

“You want some coffee? How did it go last night?” She walked over and opened the cabinets while she waited for me to fill her in.

“I didn’t talk to her,” I kept it short, not wanting to vent to her and tell her everything that actually happened. I kept that shit for my moms and Trouble. They were the only two who got to see how fucked up I was.

“You know what? I think I’m living through you. I think it’s so romantic that you know what’s at stake but you refuse to let her go. That’s deep.” She smiled as she got out two cups and placed them on the island.

“Rem, why you so cool about this shit? You don’t feel offended?” Not that it would make a difference if she were. But I wanted to know.

She sighed and took a seat. “This situation is new to you, but it’s not new to me.

In the South, arranged marriages happen every day between Mafia families.

This is not my daddy’s first time agreeing to create an alliance.

The first arrangement was with this guy named Karlos.

From the Weston Mafia Family in Louisiana.

A piece of shit. I was so glad that he got killed.

” A smile slowly crept across her face, which made me chuckle.

Then she continued. “Anyhow, that arrangement caused me to lose who I thought was the love of my life. Bishop Blake, a man who could do no wrong. We had been together since college. When he was summoned, his scary ass didn’t even blink when they told him that we had to break up.

Just tucked his tail and did as he was told.

So, in a way, I think it’s just beautiful how you’re willing to fight for her.

I can only respect that. It’s what I would have wanted someone to do for me. ”

I could see the sadness in her eyes when she said it. Like it still fucked with her till this day, but she didn’t want to admit it. Whether she knew it or not, that made me realize that I never wanted KD to be sitting at a table telling some random nigga the same thing about me.

“Damn, that’s fucked up. When the nigga died, your ex didn’t try to reach back out?”

“Reach out to who? Remy Cross? Absolutely not, my number was changed and so was my attitude,” she laughed as she went over to fix us cups of coffee.

“Now he’s married, two funny-looking kids, and a dog with diabetes.”

She held one of the cups out for me to take. I took it, but I wasn’t going to drink it. Regardless of how cool she seemed, I didn’t know her that well to take anything from her.

“That’s tough,” I said lowly.

“That’s what I respect about you, Jaxon. If you can’t get out of this deal, you might lose Kennedy, but she’ll never have to wonder if you loved her for real.”

Hearing her say that hit me in my chest. It was a reminder that I couldn’t afford to lose. Even though losing was a possibility, it wasn’t an option.

She stirred her coffee as she sat in the chair quietly, deep in thought.

I read her expression, and I knew she was brainstorming again.

I knew she was trying to find an out for me.

I realized yesterday that she had always been trying to find a solution.

It made me wonder if she played a more significant role in her organization than I had thought.

“You say that this wasn’t your pops' first deal, right?”

“Yeah, why?” She asked, blowing and then sipping again.

“Nothing,” I said. I had a clue about the direction I wanted to go, but I didn’t reveal my hand just yet. Again, I still don’t know if I could trust Remy, and I didn’t need anything to fold the plan that I had just come up with.

“I’m here to help you however I can, Jaxon.

I’m in this, too. It doesn’t feel good being tied to a person who’s longing for someone else.

If it’s anything that you need that doesn’t cause me to directly betray my family, then I’m all in.

Just say the word…. And give me this coffee back.

” She reached over and took the mug from my hand, put her cup down, and sipped from the one I was holding.

“I’m not going to poison you, Jaxon. We were brought together to be an alliance; they can’t tell us how that looks. ”

I nodded. I was gaining more respect for Remy by the second.

I was glad that she was the one going through this shit with me.

Since the day I met her at her crib, she played her role.

I told her it’d be best to act like a couple in public when I knew the elites were watching, letting them think that their alliance was working.

She did that, but behind closed doors, she kept her distance.

She never overstepped her boundaries and never once suggested I didn’t fight for KD.

After what I saw on those cameras last night, and the way I was feeling, if I had to come home to anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have made it through the night.

She sat at the counter and sipped her coffee quietly, scrolling on her phone. The next thing I knew, she was waving her hands in my face.

“Jaxon!” She yelled.

“Yeah,” I cleared my throat. I didn’t realize I had zoned out until she was bringing me back.

“What’s on your mind?”

I decided that this would be the moment I would put Remy to the test.

“You think you could get the alliance document between your pops and the elites in the next week?”

Her face changed, “I’ll do you one better, I can send it to you now. I hold a law degree; I review all the family's contracts. What is it that you want to know?”

“Who proposed the marriage?”

“The elites approached him with a deal to relocate and combine with a more powerful family. They took 80% of his business in Louisiana but moved us here. I’m going to air-drop the document to you now.

Topping eighty percent isn’t possible for you.

But you find something you can actually use; you didn’t get it from me. ”

I nodded.

“Preciate you, Rem,” I said as I rose from the chair and clicked on the document she had sent me, then exited it.

I went up the stairs to find the room where I would be sleeping.

I hadn’t closed my eyes all night, and I was tired as fuck.

I needed to sleep off my adrenaline and recharge my mind because I had moves to make.