4. Toni Mensah #2
“‘Lo, I ain’t got nothin’ to do with who my cousin date. That’s her life. If she wanted everybody to know, she would’ve told everybody. I wasn’t about to make that decision for her.”
He nodded like he heard every word I said, but I could tell he still wasn’t buyin’ it.
“So you really think that was the right move?”
“I do.”
“You don’t see nothin’ wrong with keepin’ somethin’ from me ‘cause somebody else asked you to?”
“I see it as respectin’ my cousin.”
He looked at me for another second before pushin’ himself away from the dresser. The closer he got, the more I had to tilt my head back to look at him, and I hated how fine this man was when he was aggravatin’ me.
His shirt still fit him like it had been made just for him, and the chain around his neck kept catchin’ my attention every time he moved. If we wasn’t standin’ here arguin’, I probably would’ve wrapped my arms around him.
Instead, I folded mine tighter across my chest.
He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear before lettin’ his hand fall.
“So you think you just gon’ do what you wanna do?”
“It ain’t about doin’ what I wanna do,” I answered. “It’s about me not betrayin’ somebody that trusted me.”
“I ain’t ask you to betray her.”
“That’s exactly what it would’ve felt like.”
He held my eyes for a long second before givin’ a slow nod.
“A’ight.”
The way he said it made my stomach tighten.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What that mean?”
“It mean I heard what you said.”
“That’s not all it mean.”
A light smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.
“I’on know what it mean yet,” he said. “But we gon’ find out.”
I stood here lookin’ at him for another second, but he ain’t give me nothin’ else.
I shook my head, grabbed my towel off the chair, and headed toward the bathroom. Right before I walked in, I looked back over my shoulder.
“You keep sayin’ a’ight like that, and I don’t like it.”
The corner of his mouth lifted just enough for me to notice.
“I told you,” he said calmly. “I’on know yet… but we gon’ find out.”
I held his eyes for another second before turnin’ toward the bathroom. I still ain’t know what the hell he meant, but I knew my husband too well to pretend this conversation was really over.
I closed the bathroom door behind me and leaned against it for a second while lettin’ out a slow breath.
Most wives probably would’ve taken that silence as a win, but I knew better. Kay’Lo wasn’t the type to keep arguin’ once he made his point. If he stopped talkin’, it usually meant he had already started thinkin’, and somehow that always made me more nervous than the argument itself.
I pushed myself off the door and reached for the shower knob, but his last few words kept playin’ over in my head.
Whatever my husband had planned, I had a feelin’ he wasn’t nowhere near finished with me.
Another day went by and Kay’Lo was still movin’ around me quiet, like he was really tryna decide what he wanted to do with me.
If I was in the kitchen cookin’, I could feel him before I even saw him. He’d circle me slow, not sayin’ shit, but just watchin’ me like he was studyin’ me. I’d feel his eyes on my back, on my ass, on my hands while I moved, and it would make me nervous in a way I couldn’t even explain.
And if I was gettin’ out the shower, he’d already be in the room, laid back on his side of the bed with a blunt in his hand, watchin’ me walk around like he had all the time in the world to stare.
He wouldn’t say nothin’. He would just sit there and look at me like he already had somethin’ planned and I just ain’t know what it was yet.
When I finally asked him if I should be worried, he ain’t even hesitate.
“I’on know yet.”
That was it. That one answer had been sittin’ on me ever since.
I knew Kay’Lo was mad at me for not tellin’ him about ‘Nelle dealin’ with another nigga, but at the same time, I felt like I was put in a position I ain’t even ask for.
How the hell was I supposed to go against my own cousin?
That wasn’t no easy spot to be in, and the more I thought about it, the more I got irritated with myself and her for even puttin’ me here.
I loved my husband, and I loved my cousin, and that shit had me stuck in the middle like I was the one who did somethin’ wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Renza to death. That was family forreal. But ‘Nelle was a grown woman, and if she felt like she needed somethin’ different, that was her decision. I wasn’t about to step in that and start pickin’ sides like I had control over it, ‘cause I didn’t.
And truth be told, I ain’t have no problem with Couture. From what I saw, he was cool, and if he made my cousin happy, that was enough for me.
But somehow… I was the one dealin’ with the consequences of that shit.
‘Lo had already said what he said when we got back home from My’Love’s party, but it was clear as hell he wasn’t over it. He ain’t bring it up again, but the way he was movin’, and the way he was watchin’ me… that shit told me everything I needed to know.
It was almost eight at night by the time I got back to the house after chillin’ with ‘Nelle and Couture. Usually, Kay’Lo would meet me at the door with My’Love, already smilin’, but this time, it was quiet.
I ain’t panic, though, ‘cause one thing I never had to worry about was my baby or my husband bein’ straight. If anything, that silence just told me he was in one of his moods.
I shut the door behind me and headed upstairs, already knowin’ he was in the room. But when I walked in, they wasn’t there either.
“The hell?” I muttered, my brows pullin’ together as I made my way to the bathroom.
I ain’t think too much into it. I just started my shower, slidin’ my jewelry off and settin’ it on the counter before takin’ my hair down and lettin’ it fall down my back. When I got in the shower, the hot water hit my skin, and I washed up quick, tryna shake off that weird feelin’ sittin’ on me.
Right when I was reachin’ to turn the water off, my phone started buzzin’ on the counter.
I cut the water, stepped out, and grabbed my towel, dryin’ off just enough to reach for it. When I saw Kay’Lo’s name on the screen, I let out a light breath I ain’t even realize I was holdin’.
“Hey baby,” I answered.
“Get yo’ ass downstairs.”
That was it. There wasn’t no extra words or tone switch. It was just… that.
I paused, my fingers tightenin’ around the phone for a second, but I already knew what time it was. I knew that tone, and I knew exactly where he was at in the house.
Before I could even respond, the line went dead.
My heart started racin’ so fast it almost pissed me off. I wrapped my towel around me and left my phone right there on the counter, then stepped out the bathroom and headed downstairs.
The closer I got, the heavier that feelin’ sat in my chest.
By the time I made it to the door, my hand hovered over the knob for a second before I finally grabbed it and walked in.
Kay’Lo was standin’ in the middle of the room with a thick black rope in his hand.
He was shirtless, wearin’ nothin’ but black slacks that sat low on his waist. The red lightin’ in the room bounced off his skin, catchin’ on the ink across his chest, stomach and arms, and that shit alone made my stomach drop.
The room itself was quiet, clean, and laid out in a way that made everything in here clear without nobody havin’ to explain it.
The walls was dark, the lightin’ was low but not dim to the point where you couldn’t see, and the mirrors was set up around the room so you could catch every angle no matter where you stood or how you moved.
Right in the center was a black leather bench that was shaped to hold yo’ body in place once you got on it.
Off to the side was a padded chair with straps already attached to the arms and legs.
There was a swing set up toward the back, hooked to a heavy metal frame that ain’t move no matter how much weight was on it.
A low table sat along the wall with restraints built into it, and right next to that was a section where cuffs was already fixed in place if ‘Lo wanted me standin’ up.
Everything else was organized. Ropes coiled up neat on the table, leather cuffs lined up beside ‘em, a couple straps laid flat, bottles of oil, folded towels, and drawers that stayed closed unless Kay’Lo was the one openin’ them.
Nothin’ in here was thrown around or out of place. It was all clean and all set.
Of course, none of this shit was new to me.
Any time I cut up or pushed him too far, Kay’Lo brought me in here and handled me the way he felt like I needed to be handled. And no matter how it started, no matter how much I thought I was gon’ stand on whatever I said, I always left out this damn room feelin’ different.
“You already know what you ‘spose to be doin’ right now,” he said with his eyes locked on me.
I ain’t argue. I just nodded…
I walked over to the bench, lettin’ the towel fall from my body before I climbed up and positioned myself how he liked it; my knees spread, my ass lifted and my hands braced in front of me while my ankles lined up with the rails.
The leather was cool against my skin, but my body was already heatin’ up, and my breath was comin’ out heavier than I wanted it to. I felt that wetness startin’ to build between my pussy lips before I even realized what was happenin’.
“Oh my God…” I muttered under my breath.
Kay’Lo ain’t say nothin’ as he walked up behind me, his hands firm as he secured my ankles to the rails, spreadin’ me open exactly how he wanted me. Then he moved to my wrists, tyin’ them down just tight enough to remind me I wasn’t goin’ nowhere.
“‘Lo baby—” I started.
“Toni… I ain’t tryna hear that shit.”
His voice was low, and it sent a shiver straight down my spine. He walked off and grabbed the gag, and I ain’t even fight him on it. I licked my lips and opened my mouth, watchin’ him while he placed it between them and secured the straps behind my head.