Chapter 8 #5
“Lying ass bleach bath bastard!”
My arms flinched outward, and my fingers jerked like I was trying to throw something I didn’t even have in my hand.
I stared at him like he’d just unzipped his skin and revealed something monstrous underneath.
Imanio leaned back slightly and calmly said, “Chill, Naji.”
“No! I won’t chill! If you knew all that, then you knew about me, too!
Moldy mattress pimp! God, I’ll break your teeth with a Bible!
I hope your mama’s Wi-Fi go out during her stories!
You tell me to chill after dropping some human-trafficking horror story on me like we’re discussing how horrible I’ve s-s-s-slept these last three nights! ”
My eyes watered.
Not from sadness, but from rage .
I felt like I’d swallowed fire and it was clawing its way back up.
“Prison roaches, mother—mff ! Are you in on it, too?! D-Don’t lie to me! You knew who I was this whole time, didn’t you? And this is just a p-prettier trap!” I hollered.
“I don’t involve myself in shit that has to do with underage girls or trafficking,” Imanio fired back, almost offensively. “That ain’t my lane. That kind of desperation? That kind of sickness? That shit is for men who ain’t got no backbone or honor. Blu was that kind of nigga.”
I sucked in a breath but didn’t speak.
He continued, tension carved into his face.
“I knew of Blu well before he ever came to me asking for a favor. I found out what he was into when one of the girls went missing a few years back, and one of my sources pieced it together. I didn’t go digging for that info—it landed on me through the grapevine.
So, yeah, I knew he had girls staying there before you, and that he told people it was an older woman living there to keep suspicion low.
But the lie he fed the girls—pretty, desperate, looking for somewhere to stay—was different.
That was his way of reeling them in. But the last I heard of him being tied up in that type of shit was at least two years ago.
And even then, I only knew because it was brought to my attention—not because I went out seeking answers. ”
Imanio looked me dead in the eyes.
“So no… I didn’t know you staying there until that night. I didn’t know shit about you. I didn’t know you had Tourette’s, or that you love peppermint tea. You were innocent in all of this. But I knew Blu… and I knew he wasn’t shit. That was enough for me to make a decision.”
I stared at him, breathing heavy.
“ Go to hell—wait, come back—I ain’t done yelling!”
He didn’t react.
“If I was involved, Naji,” he said low, “you wouldn’t be in my crib living your life like it’s golden. You’d be in a cage somewhere heading across the country.”
That stilled me. I hated that he was right. I hated that situation, as twisted as it was, might’ve saved me from something worse.
My breath caught somewhere between panic and exhaustion as the words tumbled out, barely above a hush.
“I… I don’t know what to believe anymore. Pickles and pipe bombs!” I grumbled. “I…I lived there for three years… three years! Why wouldn’t he try something with me?”
“Maybe he had a soft spot… maybe your condition made you unpredictable… or maybe he actually liked you; not enough to protect you, but enough not to cross a certain line.”
My body twitched—shoulder jerking upward sharply as I blurted, “ Sick bastard Sunday soup!”
I refused to look at him.
“I swear… I’m not trying to be difficult,” I said, voice small. “It’s my brain! It’s like... it gets l-loud when I need it to be quiet… especially around you.”
“It’s cool. But what I told you is valid… all of it.”
I lifted my head and met his gaze. “You… you really think he would've done that to me eventually?”
He shrugged. “I think if the right buyer came along and he was broke enough… maybe. But he didn’t, and he won’t. That chapter is closed.”
I pushed my plate back and sat there stunned.
Everything I thought I knew about Blu—about that little rundown building—felt like a lie wrapped in drywall.
“I—I used to tell people I felt safer there than anywhere else.”
“That’s the first trick,” Imanio commented quietly. “Real predators don’t hunt in the dark; they build the light around you so you stop looking for shadows.”
I leaned back, staring at the remaining food on my plate. I let my fork clatter against the plate.
“So Blu was another predator, huh? I lived next to the boogeyman for three years, and now I’m forced to live with another one— serial killer hospitality ! What’s the difference?”
I didn’t apologize for what I said that time; I just stared him down.
Imanio’s jaw flexed. “I never said I wasn’t,” he replied. “I’m just not the pedophile-trafficker kind.”
“And what i-if I tried to run… from you?” I whimpered.
Imanio’s stare dropped to his glass. He took a sip—slow, savoring it like it was wine instead of water.
When his eyes returned to mine, they were colder.
“Then I’d become the version of me you should be afraid of. Not the man feeding you breakfast… not the man answering your questions… but the one I keep locked in a cage deep enough I don’t even like visiting it.”
He leaned forward slightly, voice lowering to something lethal.
“ That version of me, doesn't explain, doesn’t negotiate, and damn sure doesn’t leave bodies behind intact .”
Imanio didn’t smile nor gloat. He just sat there like he was reading off facts—like he wasn’t threatening me, just warning me.
“Lying sack of expired cereal milk!” I exclaimed.
My face pulled tight, nerves prickling just beneath the surface. But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him—like something in me needed to see how he’d react, even if I wasn’t ready for the outcome.
“Finish your food,” he instructed, not demanding, in a charming way. “I pay Ms. Shirley good money for her services.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes out loud. Internally, though? They spun like a slot machine.
Imanio dabbed his mouth with a cloth napkin, set it down, then leaned forward, elbows on the table like we were having brunch and not a psych-eval-slash-interrogation.
“So, since you clearly know a little about my personal life, let’s talk about yours for a minute. What do you do for work? Do you work?”
“I work at the aquatic center,” I replied.
His brows lifted, slightly intrigued. “What’s your position there?”
“Stocking,” I answered. “I’d… I’d love to be out front g-greeting guests or giving tours or something. But… with my condition, it’s probably not the best idea. So, I stay in the back—quiet, solitary.”
Working in the stocking room at the aquatic center wasn’t glamorous, but it brought me peace.
I handled inventory, restocked filters and chemicals, prepped food for the reef and predator tanks, logged water tests, and double-checked the environment settings before anyone else clocked in.
I liked the quiet hours, the hum of the tanks, and the routine of it.
He nodded slowly, watching me. “Were you supposed to work this past weekend?”
“No. I have weekends off. I supposed to go in today, though… and if I don’t show up, I’m sure they’ll be looking f-for me.”
“Do you like working there?”
My shoulders rose a little. “Y-Yeah. It’s peaceful. Nobody bothers me. The animals don’t care if I twitch or blurt random things; they just swim.”
“If you’d said no, I was going to tell you that you weren’t going back.”
“Hell no—fuck a sea sponge sandwich!” My hand flinched off the table, nearly knocking over my cup.
“Still thinking on it. But I will make sure you get this week off. Don’t ask how.”
“But—”
“No buts.” He cut me off without raising his voice. “Also, if I do allow you to go back to work, there’ll be conditions. You’ll have security and you won’t be going anywhere alone.”
“Go in this pussy!” I snapped without meaning to, blinking hard as my body jerked again. “Shoot! Sorry! T-t-t-t-t-ic!” I waved it off quickly, cheeks heating like a furnace.
And for once, I caught it—an annoyingly sexy smirk ghosted across his face, slow and sinful. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but something simmered there.
Amusement? Intrigue? Lust wrapped in restraint? I couldn’t tell.
Imanio tilted his head just slightly, his fingers tapping slowly against the table. “Interesting tic.”
I opened my mouth, probably to apologize again or dig myself deeper into a pit of embarrassment, but he held up a finger.
“No need to explain. You nmcall it a tic… I call it honesty with bad timing.”
My eyes widened. “That was not a?—!”
He cut in, tone cool, unbothered. “Mm-hmm. Eat your food, Naji.”
I scowled and stabbed my fork into the eggs like they had disrespected me personally.
Imanio smirk lingered as he reached for his phone again, but even as he looked down, I could feel his attention hadn’t left me.
“I’m serious, though, Naji,” he resumed talking. “Your freedom is still your own… mostly. But your safety? That’s mine to handle now. So if you think I’m letting you wander around unprotected after what you saw, you’re mistaken.”
The way he said it—calm, firm, and final—made my spine tingle. Part of me—a very stupid , confused , horny part of me—was turned on again.
“Why does it feel like you’re making d-d-decisions like we’re al—already married?” I asked, forcing the words out between nervous fidgets.
My hand twitched, thumb flicking against my index finger under the table.
“Because we are… you just haven’t said the word yes yet.”
This man.
Confusion, curiosity… and something more dangerous—all wrapped in his tone like a loaded weapon I wasn’t trained to handle.
Imanio mentioning me having security meant I’d no longer need Daphnee. I made a mental note to call her. I couldn’t let her think I ghosted her the second a fine, grumpy, dangerous billionaire with murder in his past and secrets in his pockets stepped into my life.
That wasn’t me.
And even if I couldn’t explain whatever this was, I owed her that much.
Imanio leaned back in his chair, watching me intently.