Chapter 12 #2
Kennedy’s resolve diminished as she allowed his words to settle in her gut, easing her reservations. It was in her nature to remain tough until a man proved that she could show her soft side with him. Lomar had shot himself toward that goal line. Kennedy had done it twice—with her ex-boyfriend who’d left her after the fire, and her first love who’d shattered her heart beyond belief. Both relationships had gone to shit. She was hesitant to take that risk a third time, so her situation with Lomar was taking some serious adjusting.
Instead of telling him that and ruining the mood, she gripped his face with both hands and leaned in for a kiss. His hand went right to her ass, cuffing it as she pressed against his firm body while exploring his mouth with her tongue. Lomar fought her for control before he pulled back with a smirk.
“See what I mean? A nigga. I was supposed to initiate the kiss,” he muttered against her mouth, and she grinned.
“You were too slow, and I like going for what I want when I want it.”
She nibbled his lip and fed her tongue to him again, which he eagerly accepted. Lomar guided her in a rocking motion on his lap as they made out like horny ass high schoolers, not giving one damn if anyone saw. After a few heated minutes, Kennedy unlatched their mouths for a breather before her eyes downcast to his dick bricking up between her thighs. She tried not to express her relief at the fact, Lomar was packing.
“Stay over tonight,” she told him more as an order than a suggestion. When Lomar raised a brow at her calling the shots, she rolled her eyes. “Look, if you don’t want any pussy, that’s on you.”
“Hold up! I didn’t say all that.” He laughed while wrapping his arms around her waist. “I’ll slide through, but I can’t stay. My boy got a family situation going on, so the nigga is stressing. I told him, I’ll kick it with him tonight.”
“So, you’d rather sit up under your homeboy than fuck me? Got it.”
“That ain’t what the fuck I said, mama. Kennedy!” he called, trying to hold her in place as she wriggled out of his hold and back into the passenger seat.
“It’s fine, Lomar. We’ll link another time.”
“Why can’t we link tonight? I said I can slide through.”
Kennedy cut her eyes at him and laughed, grabbing her food as she pushed open the door to climb out. Before leaving, she stuck her head inside to tell him where he’d fucked up.
“I know I gave off the impression of being insecure, but please believe me when I tell you, I know how bad of a bitch I am. I’ll be twenty-seven soon, so I’m also grown as hell. I’ve learned what I like and dislike. With that being said, when you can make time for this.” She pointed at her pussy and cocked her head. “When you can make time to fuck me the way I love being fucked, put me to bed like medication, and roll back in it to wake me up, then we can talk. I’m not a fan of quick, half-hearted ass sex, or niggas leaving just as fast as they nut.”
Lomar rounded his eyes and reared back. “Damn, it’s like that?”
“Just like that. Call me if you can get free, or I’ll see you another time if not.”
Kennedy shut his car door and strutted to the salon since there wasn’t much else to talk about. She wouldn’t trip if Lomar didn’t change his plans because it’d mean he wasn’t pressed about pussy. By the same token, it was in his best interest to accept her offer while it was on the table before the thought of allowing another man to see her flaws convinced her to back the hell out. Kennedy was still shocked with how fast she’d let her insecurities go to fuck Relic.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise since she was well aware from the gate that he turned bitches into easy licks. Relic was the type of formidable man who could con the panties off a nun and then manipulate her into believing her decision was forgivable since it was him. He was the exception. Kennedy hadn’t stopped beating herself up for throwing the pussy at him, earning a top spot on his collectibles shelf of gullible bitches. Her only solace was her salon and the money she’d woken up to in her account a couple days after their dinner. She doubted he left the others with more than a few trinkets and a wet ass.
Her eyes swept the room once she entered the salon, and she smiled after seeing her client already in her chair while Ryell blow dried her hair. One of the best decisions Kennedy had made was hiring that girl on a whim. Not only did Ryell pull her weight around the salon by assisting the stylists and keeping up with inquiry calls as well as walk-ins, but she’d also hooked Kennedy up with a fire ass bob she couldn’t have done better herself. Ryell easily put bitches with years of experience to shame, and Kennedy couldn’t wait to offer her a booth.
“Ms. Kennedy, you’re back! I hope you don’t mind that I started her for you. She said, she was just getting a silk press, so I went ahead and washed her.” Ryell gave her an update, making her smile.
“You’re fine, boo. I appreciate you getting her started while I ate.”
“Ate what? Because the only thing we saw you eating was that man’s mouth off his face,” her hairdresser, Tammy, cracked. The room erupted into shrill laughter while Kennedy set her food on her station and rolled her eyes.
“If y’all weren’t so damn nosey, you wouldn’t have seen anything.”
“I mean, it wasn’t hard to miss, but I don’t blame you. He’s a cutie.”
“I’m not gon’ lie, I thought you were dating the salon owner,” Jennifer chimed in, fanning her face as she swooned. “Now, that man is fine. I would’ve shot my shot had I known he wasn’t yours.”
“Oh, hell yes! He was in and out too fast the day of our grand opening, but I saw a picture of him online and damn!” Tammy lifted both hands in prayer as their laughter elevated. “He was with that pretty rapper girl whose hair you did, Jenn. They looked good together, too. I saw someone mention they’re dating when she posted them on her page.”
“He’s not dating anyone.”
Kennedy made that clear as she tossed her head, directing Ryell out of her spot to take over since her client’s hair was dry. She plugged in her flat irons and grabbed her products to busy herself, so she could tune out the gossip that was steering toward topics that would have her cursing her stylists out. The side eyes that the girls gave one another at her expense weren’t missed, although she couldn’t care less.
“Well, excuse me. I was just relaying what I saw online, but since you got your degree and know everything,” Tammy clowned, making Kennedy cut her eyes toward her while brushing up her client’s hair to hold in place with an alligator clip. “Is it true that his chained got snatched at the club?”
The room quieted as every set of eyes landed on her, anticipating an answer she couldn’t give them because she didn’t know any more than the information that they’d found out online. Her conversation with Savvy had been vague. Kennedy didn’t hold it against her friend because they’d been taught the same rules—to know everything and speak nothing. If permission wasn’t given to address it, then family business remained in the vault.
“I don’t believe it. You’re telling me that people got everything on camera that night but that ? It was too many bodies in there to not see it happen,” Jennifer reasoned, taking Kennedy out of the hot seat. Tammy fanned her off.
“Nobody saw three niggas get killed either, but that happened. It was the exact chain he had on in the live that Titan’s sexy ass posted and took down like people aren’t fast as hell with the screenshots.”
“Well, if he did get his chain snatched, three people died behind it, so it probably wasn’t a good idea.” Ryell joined in the conversation. She leaned against the station and added, “I’m not saying he did it, or that the incidents were even related, but the person who posted the chain is hiding their face for a reason.”
“I know that’s right. I heard Playa P be with the shits, too, but people have him on video coming out the front. It couldn’t have been him.”
“It wasn’t any of them.” Kennedy spoke up, tired of the ladies bouncing theories off one another. “I’d bet any amount of money, he lost the chain when everyone was rushing out of the club because some young niggas were shooting at each other for no reason. Some clout chaser found it and posted it to start up the rumor mill ‘cause that’s what they do best. As far as I know, they didn’t even try to sell it back, so they’re scary as hell like Ryell said.”
“You know what?” Tammy pointed her curling iron at Kennedy with a bob of her head. “That makes the most sense out of everything I’ve heard.”
Hums of agreement sounded around the salon before the topic changed, and Kennedy parted a thin row of her client’s hair to press with a discreet sigh of relief. She didn’t believe a single word that’d come out her own mouth, but if it took the spotlight off Relic and his family; she’d lie again. Kennedy couldn’t call why she was protective over them all of a sudden.
Conversation continued around her, but she zoned out to focus on finishing her customer’s hair so that she could call Savvy. The simple update from her that everyone was fine had sufficed for Kennedy until it didn’t. She had warned Relic that he’d been reckless, and the fact that someone got close enough to steal his fucking chain proved her right. Her stomach knotted and coiled at the reality that Relic could’ve lost his life.
She tried steadying in her hands as she pressed the last strand of hair and then sat down her flat irons to wrap her client’s tresses into a beehive. Her heart constricted and vision blurred because she couldn’t help but think about if the call from Savvy had been like the one that she’d gotten about Koda. She’d spent two weeks ignoring it and being pissed with him to not dwell on it, but hearing the stylists gossip about the ordeal as if it meant nothing summoned emotions she tried containing.
It was the very reason she’d steered clear of drug dealers since Koda’s death. Even more so, the reason she’d avoided Relic to fucking begin with. Kennedy hoped he kept his distance and never said a word to her again.
No sooner had that inane thought crossed her mind, the salon’s door chimed, causing her head to lift. Her heart stuttered when Relic barged inside with his piercing eyes free of shades and stoned on her like she’d done him wrong instead of vice versa. The murmurs that filtered throughout the room didn’t help matters as Relic stopped at her station with a tense jaw and threatening posture like he was teetering on doing the one thing she’d warned his ass never to try with her. Kennedy played it cool, refusing to sweat it as she brushed down her client’s hair and then tousled it to check its bounce. The fleeting fragrance of citrus and patchouli sent her pussy in a frenzy as she tried to tune it out.
“We need to talk. Now.”
That request went ignored as she removed the smock from her client’s neck and then proceeded to take her payment as if Relic hadn’t uttered a single word. Kennedy grabbed her phone to ensure it went through, but it was snatched from her hand so fast that her heart tried leaping out her damn chest. Screams followed when Relic cocked his arm and pitched it at her mirror, sending glass flying everywhere.
“Oh, hell no! This nigga is crazy!” her client shrieked, hopping from her seat and dipping past Relic for safety. Kennedy did the opposite.
She was in his face in a split second, standing toe to toe with him like he wasn’t twice the size of her average frame. Kennedy matched his eye contact, causing her lower extremities to throb in need while her knees weakened, making her understand why Jessica stuck around although he wasn’t shit, and why simple ass Logan would’ve jumped on his dick in front of her man if he snapped his fucking fingers. Relic was the worst addiction a bitch could have, and Kennedy was jonesing from withdrawals. That harsh truth fueled her anger. Her searing gaze bore into his before every emotion she’d bottled up exploded in an uncontainable rage.
“You gotta be out of your fucking mind! This is a business, Relic. Your business! Yet your emotional ass is breaking shit because I didn’t move when you said so? I’m not on your damn time!”
“Emotional?” Relic repeated the one word that caught his attention most.
“Yes! Anger is a fucking emotion in case you didn’t know it. The same emotion that convinced you to stroll inside this salon and act an ass. You want to talk? Come on, because I got a whole fucking lot to say.” Kennedy strutted toward her office, stopping short to peer over her shoulder when she didn’t feel him following her. “Nigga, bring yo muthafuckin’ ass!”
Level ten didn’t come close to describing her boiling point as she stomped into her office and clenched the doorknob, waiting for his ass to enter. As soon as he trekked inside, she slammed the door shut before screaming when her back crashed against it so hard that she thought she’d fly through the hollow wood.
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to, Kennedy?!” Relic barked in her face with a hand fisted around the collar of her shirt. Her heart dropped into her ass, but she refused to back down.
“You! And let me the fuck go! You want to hit me, Relic? Do it. I fucking dare you to try it!”
Relic’s free hand balled into a fist at her challenge. His lids fluttered in hasty blinks while he tried to close that playbook from his father that instructed him to knock her head off her fucking shoulders. Joseph would already have Judith on the ground in fetal position, stomping her out for trying to grow a backbone and defend herself. Relic could see fear and boldness battling in Kennedy’s eyes, but she didn’t react. She waited like she was giving him the benefit of the doubt. If she were Harmony or Savvy’s bitch ass ex-best friend, she’d have tears streaming down her face while ineffectual apologies fell from her quavering lips. Jessica would’ve swung first since she knew crying didn’t help, and she’d rather have the upper hand.
Kennedy did neither because she was playing the fucking game; she was testing him to see how far he’d go, so she could make her next move accordingly. Relic loathed how good she was at fucking with his mental. His fingers unclasped from her hoodie before he backed away and placed both hands behind his back.
“That’s what the fuck I thought!” She popped off the second he gave her an inch of distance. “I can’t believe you came in here, acting like a little ass boy having a fucking tantrum! You broke my mirror and probably my damn phone.”
“It was either break those or break your fucking jaw, Kennedy. Be glad, I made the choice I did.”
A rebuttal sat at the tip of her tongue, but his subtle foreshadowing shoved it back down her throat, and she allowed it. Relic had gone from irate to calm too fast, and she’d seen those signs before. Kennedy had witnessed her brother and first love go still before flipping the fuck out. She’d learned there were times to stand up for herself and other times to shut up and stand down because she’d have to accept the consequences of pushing someone to their limits. Koda had schooled her that she was in control of her actions but couldn’t dictate how a person responded to them.
“Why are you here, Relic?” She tamped down her emotions to talk to him with sense. “You’re showing your ass and embarrassing me like I did you foul somehow.”
“I hate when people play dumb, Kennedy. It’s an insult to my intelligence. Why the fuck did your manipulative ass put it in my brother’s head that I needed protecting? How did you know some shit would pop off, huh?”
“Manipulative!”
“That’s exactly what the fuck I said. I know me when I see it. You’re just better at hiding that shit, Kennedy, but we’re one in the same. Stop fucking deflecting because it only makes you look guiltier.”
“I cannot believe this bullshit. Are you accusing me of setting you up?”
The incredulity and mild hurt in her tone didn’t go unnoticed, but Relic refused to let it sway his opinion. He stared at her on mute until she tossed her hands in the air.
“I can’t fucking win with you! If I set your paranoid ass up, do you think I’d still be here? You vanished, but I still ran the salon and checked in with Treasure to keep up with the label’s blogs. I arranged the security training classes for the boys you sent to me through Savvy. I didn’t touch a dime of your money either! Two weeks, Relic,” she stressed before holding up three fingers to shove in his face. “And you haven’t fucked me in three, but I still handled business on my end. How the hell are you pointing the finger at me?”
èske ou vle yon dick gwo anndan ou anko?” Relic’s accented tone thickened like molasses as he asked her a question she couldn’t understand, but it still managed to knock her off her square. Kennedy’s brain muddled as he summarized, “Do you need to get fucked? Because if that’s what it is, we can get straight to that and skip you running your fucking mouth.”
“I’m convinced you need a check. You’re the one that came here spazzing and accusing me of the worst thing a person can do!”
“You know why, Kennedy.”
“And you know why the fuck I did it, Relic!” Her voice croaked, and she hurried to swallow the frog in her throat since emotions would get her nowhere with Relic. He didn’t care about those when logic was his first language. “You want someone to blame for your slip up, but it’s not me. You know why I did it. You know what happened to my brother, so I took extra precautions. I had your back!”
“I didn’t need you to have my back, Kennedy! I run this shit! It isn’t your place to change a goddamn thing.”
“As your partner, it is, especially when you can’t see your board clearly. Two eyes are better than one, right? That’s what you said, and I did what I had to do, so you wouldn’t end up like Koda.”
Relic raised a hand to his chin, tugging at his overgrown hair strands while assessing the determined expression Kennedy wore. He’d blown up, manhandled her, and accused her of being the opposition, yet she stood before him like none of that shit had moved her. Relic scoffed at the blatant reminder that Kennedy loved a challenged, while he despised them yet loved to win. That single difference was the reason she’d spotted the hole in his play, but he’d missed it and hadn’t figured out where he’d gone wrong.
“What’d I miss?” He gritted out the question his pride had prevented him from asking her for weeks. “What made you shift around my board?”
“Come here.”
Relic tensed when Kennedy grabbed his hand, guiding him to the opposite side of the office. His heart swelled like it only did for his brothers when he noticed the glass encased chessboard he’d bought her stationed on a display stand, while her roses were split between two ceramic floor vases and positioned on each side. Relic shifted his eyes to Kennedy after she led him there, released his hand, and pointed at the front line.
“Pawns. I’m sure you had them lined up, but they tend to be useless if they’re not big in numbers. Their focus isn’t as on point. They aren’t as efficient,” she stated, moving her finger to the second line. “The knight and bishop are your best bet and where you fucked up. You made Pierre your knight when he isn’t anymore.”
Relic laughed and folded his arms cross his chest. “Bullshit. Shabu is—”
“Your knight. My brother told me, he had to think without emotions because if he based someone’s position off love, some pieces would end up with more power than they should have. You did that with Shabu.”
“So, you’re telling me, my brother ain’t worth shit?”
Kennedy pushed out an exasperated breath and said, “Look at it like this. If your brother were arrested or died today, what would happen to you?”
Relic stared at the board, calculating the weight of Shabu ending up in a jail cell or six feet deep. He would lose his fucking cool if anything happened to his brother, but outside of that, life wouldn’t halt. His money wouldn’t stop flowing, and he’d adjust to living without one third of his heart because it was what he did best. He adjusted. The same applied for Shabu in the event Relic met his demise.
If Pierre got caught slacking and lost his life, their family and his business would take a huge hit. Relic’s label would lose its money maker. If the nigga got locked up, it’d send up red flags and bring unwanted attention on his company. Both were things that Relic couldn’t afford.
“Fuck!”
“You see it, now?” Kennedy turned to him and explained in an empathetic tone, “Pierre is your capital, your business’s image, and he can handle shit on the backend if Shabu can’t. Their positions are close, but Pierre’s has more reach. You may not have intended to put P in that position, but it happened, so that’s what you work with. He needs to be protected and a last resort. Shabu is your knight, which in my opinion, is a good thing.”
“How the hell is my brother being demoted a good thing, Kennedy?”
She crossed her arms and demanded, “Tell me what happened?”
Anger surged through Relic at that request, but he shook it off and copped a seat on the edge of her desk. He’d save his pent-up aggression for the pussy ass nigga who’d earned it.
“Short story shorter, I was leaving out the club through the back. I had the gang near my car to scope shit out, but Sojourney’s ex and his people were already back there waiting to hit up P.”
“Wait, that’s who took your chain? Does she know? The bitch is still on the label?”
Kennedy shooting off questions while her face balled made Relic crack a smile while his remaining suspicions about her dissipated.
“I told her recently, and she’s still on the label since I doubt she had anything to do with it. We’ll see soon. Either way, they weren’t there for me. Shabu was paranoid, thanks to you, so he went through the front and came around back to check on me.”
She scoffed before saying, “You’re fucking welcome.”
“I’m not thanking you for shit. My brother could’ve died because I wasn’t on my A-game since I didn’t expect him to be there.”
“The same applies for you, which is why I’m glad Shabu is the knight. He listens, and he’s alert. You like Pierre because he’s reckless and does what you say, but Shabu thinks for himself. He’s levelheaded, and he’s—”
“What I made him,” Relic finished, and she smirked.
“Basically, he’s you but less crazy. He’ll risk his life for you and vice versa, which makes it likelier that both of you will come home. Anyone else will choose themselves, but you and Shabu will choose each other. It’s a win, win.”
Relic wiped a hand down his mouth before he stood, accepting her modification with reluctance. He couldn’t argue with logic. It was the second time that Kennedy had made a move for his benefit, but he still couldn’t grasp how to receive it.
His eyes flitted to the chessboard, staring at the queen piece that hadn’t budged throughout her speech. It was fixed and positioned to protect the king, which was what Kennedy had done. She’d studied his board and then adjusted his pieces without alerting anyone to her position. A glaring truth struck Relic; her skills were past what he assumed she held the potential to become.
“Don’t do it again.” His eyes coasted to her as he warned, “I let you slide twice, and I’ve never given a third chance in my life. You run shit past me, and I’ll decide if it’s best. Any other way makes you sneaky, and I can’t trust you.”
Her lips pursed. “You wouldn’t trust me either way, Relic.”
“You’re right, but don’t make me trust you even less. Konprann?” When she nodded her understanding, his mouth quirked in appreciation before he responded, “Good. We have somewhere to be tomorrow morning. I’ll pick you up from your place around ten, larenn. Be ready.”
“Queen.”
That weighted word shooting from Kennedy sent Relic’s tongue gliding across his bottom lip as he stared at her, waiting. He wouldn’t give her more than she could decipher for herself.
“The note you left with my gift said, for my queen . Larenn is queen. Right?”
Kennedy was certain her translation was accurate after she’d used a million sites to figure it out, but Relic’s empty stare caused her doubt. It wasn’t as simple as when she’d asked Savvy about cheri. That basic term of endearment wasn’t nearly as loaded as her new moniker.
“Queen is right, but what does it mean beyond that, Kennedy?”
She bit her lip and hunched a shoulder. “I’m waiting for you to tell me.”
“Wrong answer.”
Relic left her where she stood because if she preferred to play dumb, he’d let her. Kennedy was smart—she was witty, manipulative, resourceful, strategic, and a fucking spitfire with her tongue. She didn’t mince words or play coy.
Relic wasn’t an idiot, so he was certain of one thing; if she didn’t tell him what that title entailed, it was because she didn’t want to carry the responsibilities that came with it. His larenn held the skills but lacked the courage to stand by his side.