Hassan
SHE WAS GETTING to’ the fuck up.
And if the news that had been traveling ‘round the Grove was accurate, I couldn’t blame her.
To find out that your man had cheated was one thing.
But for the bitch to have smiled in your face and have been one of your kid’s teacher?
Whole other kind of violation. I had to admire her for the way she didn’t give a fuck about any of the rumors and was sitting her pretty ass at the bar enjoying herself.
I’d only been back in Beacon Grove for a little while and honestly hadn’t planned to stay as long as I had.
My return was to ensure that one of my brothers hadn’t needed back up but his ass had upped and fallen in love.
He’d been the main assassin on the most recent mission but we always had someone watching our backs in case something went wrong or incase we went rogue.
It was a failsafe to ensure The Order was always protected.
I’d wondered why Priest had sent my ass to cover Smoke but I could only assume it was because this was my home town.
My attempting to go undercover even with a disguise would’ve been too difficult so I showed up as myself and blended right in.
Questioning my boss and his decisions was something I would never do.
That nigga Priest might know the word but he wasn’t wrapped too tight.
He was much better than his damn daddy though.
Working for a righteous psychopath was much better than working for a man who was happily depraved.
I was different from the others in The Order.
I’d come in much older and was recruited because of my military career.
When the assignment came up to work security for a wedding for the head of another family I had no problem coming back home.
I’d gotten the penthouse suite in the hotel after the newlyweds had left and had finally reconnected with my people once the heads of each Consortium family left town.
They’d caused a huge buzz that I felt would be the talk of Beacon Grove for weeks but unfortunately, Sylvia Montrose, well Thompson now, was who had everyone talking.
My cousin Cass wanted me to meet him here for a drink tonight but he’d apparently found someone lonely enough to accept his crumbs on Valentine’s Day.
I was already headed down when he said he’d need a raincheck.
It might’ve been a blessing since the girl I’d crushed on since second grade was sitting at the bar looking like her world had fallen apart behind her smile. Probably because it had.
I assessed the situation noticing that she’d thrown on something cute probably to save face for anyone who saw her. The slump in her shoulders and the way she was solely focused on her drink gave away the turmoil she was battling.
Instead of wasting anymore time thinking or even worse talking myself out of speaking, I moved toward the bar and leaned over so I was slightly in her space.
“Is this seat taken?”
She looked up at me her annoyance clear and I was struck by how fucking beautiful she was.
It was easy to be pretty when you were young.
The whole youth thing did a lot of heavy lifting with some muthafuckas.
But not Sylvia Thompson. She had deep brown skin that always smelled like cocoa butter and looked so soft.
A broad, rounded nose and bone structure that was a testament to her ancestors being very proudly Black made her look like a deity.
Even now her arms were still toned as they were when she wrestled.
I loved a woman who was athletic and Sylvia had been my type then and was even more so now.
Age and I’m sure kids had rounded her hips which made her look like a grown ass woman.
“All the seats that are here and you want this one? I swear today is just trying to piss me off something serious.” Sylvia muttered that last part but I heard her and her annoyance brought a smile to my face.
“You doing okay?” I was sure she couldn’t tell who I was but I wanted to see how far she would open up to someone that she thought was a stranger. It had been a minute since I’d called the Grove home so I guess I was a stranger again.
She scoffed and picked up the heavy crystal glass that we served all of our drinks in. She swirled the amber liquid around unhurriedly. “I’ve beat two people’s ass today, one of which was a man I was with for almost twenty years. Please do us both a favor and leave me the fuck alone.”
She tossed back the rest of her drink and shot me a look that screamed I’d be victim number three if I kept bothering her. Since I was a man who loved combat, verbal and physical, I had no problem with risking it.
“You don’t remember me, Sylvie?” I let a playful smile ease onto my face knowing I looked a hell of lot different than the last time I’d lived here. I’d put on over eighty pounds and grown six inches so she could no longer look me in the eye when we talked.
To her credit, I could see her immediately go on guard as she began to catalogue my features. Either her memory was fuzzy or I had changed just that much.
“No, why would I? Didn’t you hear me say I’ve had my fill of fuck niggas for the day? Why are you still over here talking to me?”
“Because fuck nigga ain’t a way to describe me. Real nigga is more like it. You can be rude all you want to, that shit ain’t about to faze me at all.” Her slick ass mouth kept the grin on my face and it irritated her further.
“Is this your good deed for the day? A way to get some ass from a woman whose life has been torn apart on Valentine’s day?
” Her arms folded defensively across her chest highlighting the handful of breasts she had in this sparkly crop top.
A long matching a-line skirt that was probably silk completed the look.
She must’ve been mad as hell leaving the house and her anger kept her warm because this was not an outfit for this time of year.
I sat down ignoring the daggers she was shooting my way and tried not to laugh at her annoyance.
The lighting in the bar and restaurant was dim giving it an intimate and warm look.
The bar had the same Art Deco style as the rest of the hotel but was covered in floral arrangements because of the holiday.
I was sure my cousin was responsible for the floral sculptures that greeted guests when they entered the hotel.
“Nah. Because if we take it there it’s to take your mind off bullshit. You’re too smart of a woman to let a nigga run game on you so I’m not worried about that. Besides, you know me and you know I’m not on bullshit.”
“That’s a whole lie. I’ve been with the same man for decades and it’s clear I didn’t know him at all.”
“I gotta call you on that one, Sylvie. You knew that nigga wasn’t about shit when we were younger.
Everybody did. But you thought that he was a good person just misunderstood.
Now you just see what everyone else saw and you decided to ignore.
Tell me, did your grandaddy ever stop calling that nigga Radio? ”
When she busted out laughing something in my chest loosened up. I felt warm and it wasn’t like when I got a fever. It felt like the type of warmth you felt when you ate homemade soup.
“Nah he didn’t. He still can’t stand him. How do you even know that?” Her smile had faded softly, the laughter now replaced with suspicion since she couldn’t place my face.
“You really don’t recognize me, Sisi?” I was still smiling knowing that she might feel some kind way when realization hit.
Her eyes tracked my features again and I knew that she was trying to parse out who the hell I was.
“You’re not the type of man that would escape my memory so, no, I don’t know you. And now I find it suspicious that you’re sitting here knowing so much about me.”
“I was born and raised here. You sitting in my hotel but you don’t know who I am?”
Recognition dawned then and she shook her head. This time it was more light-hearted than before and I hope that meant she was gonna relax around me. “The eyes. I should’ve known. Of course you’re a Beacon. But which one? I know all of them.”
“You sure? Your memory seems to have gotten worse over the years, Sy. But with the day you had with Radio I can understand it.”
“Wait, San? There’s no way this is you.” Her eyes had narrowed like she couldn’t believe it was really me.
“In the flesh.”
And there was way more flesh on me than the last time I saw her.
Back then my ass was like fifteen and scrawny as fuck.
Sylvie was a fucking brick house even in high school but niggas back then were tripping because she was tall and strong as fuck.
She’d mostly kept to herself and since I hadn’t hit a growth spurt yet, I felt like we would’ve looked funny together.
I didn’t want to shoot my shot and be turned down so I stayed quiet about her.
She somehow fell in love with Dave’s stupid ass.
I moved away not too long after they got together but I never thought he was good enough for her.
He’d been a fuckboy since he was kid. The kind that thought he’d make it out of his small town based on his talent but he lacked the work ethic.
My folks had moved to Atlanta to run another of the family’s hotels when we expanded but news of what was going on in the Grove still reached us.
With social media and everything I’d been able to keep up with most of my friends.
I’d admittedly ignored what was going on with Sylvie after she got with Dave because I’d always hated his ass.
He tried to tease me one good time because I was smaller than him and I put him on his ass.
Part of me wondered if he’d gone after Sylvia because he knew I liked her.
It was a childish thought but the way he treated her the last twenty years had it resurfacing as a possibility.