Chapter 10 New Friends and Family #4
“Where did you get my measurements from?”
“They were in your file.” She spoke so bluntly about this file that I was questioning myself on whether I’d known about this file and simply forgotten it.
“My file? What file?”
“The one that they have on you. That they have on all of us. That’s how this works.
How do you think the dress you’re wearing right now fits so well?
Now, as I was saying, what color do you want the embroidery to be on your gown for the traditional gown?
I know that you’re still doing a regular western ceremony. ”
I was speechless my eyes looking down at the dress that did in fact fit like a glove and then back up to her. “And how do you know that?”
Jada rolled her eyes not enjoying me giving her a taste of her own medicine.
“Because everything about you is a blend of traditional culture and modern-day style. Your clothes are traditional but they are also bold. You focus more on well-tailored pieces and combine them with how you feel. So are we going with blue or—”
“Red. Like flames.”
“Bold, I like it.” She smiled and I couldn’t fathom where I pulled that color out of my head but I wasn’t going to change my mind.
“My sister needs one as well but make hers a bright pink. Just like mine but the color is the only difference.” Despite Sasha not being part of this organization, I wasn’t going to leave her out of this. If something was being custom made she would need to have a version of her own.
She ran through a few more details and I couldn’t deny that I was impressed with what she’d come up with so far. Her ideas might even keep my mother off my back since it would be too beautiful to complain about.
“You are really good at this.”
Jada beamed so brightly that I was glad I’d shut up and let her tell me what ideas she had. “I am. They let me plan these things to keep me out of trouble.”
“Does it work?”
“Nah, but I love to let them think so. I don’t have any blood on my hands yet but there’s only one more wedding to go after yours and since she doesn’t look like she’s going to want to get hitched then they’re going to have a real problem soon since I’ll have idle hands.
” She held her hands up and wriggled her fingers at me with a devious look on her face.
“You enjoy this don’t you? Keeping people guessing about which way you’re going to go.”
“Of course I do. I can’t behave like you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean how you’re always so composed until you finally decide to explode.
Fractured minds recognize other fractured minds.
Mine was never normal so this is just how I am.
But you have a basis of normalcy that you can draw back to.
The person who you were before the break happened.
That makes you far more dangerous than me.
Me? I mimic. You? You remember. Can don that other persona like a second skin.
You really would be a great spy.” She eased back in the chair probably able to relax for the first time today since she’d been handling so much with the wedding.
“I highly doubt it.”
Jada nodded and finished taking her locs out of the pins, letting them cascade down her back. “You’re right. Ori wouldn’t be a good spy anymore. He’s too noticeable.”
I stopped toying with the knife I’d been idly touching now confused as to why she was bringing him up. “Why are we talking about Ori?”
“Because that man isn’t going to let you out of his sight.” She took way too much joy in dropping that information in my lap.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“You’re really not understanding what is going on are you?”
“No. Enlighten me.”
“Oh, oh no. I’m not gonna do that.”
“So you’re a tease?”
She shrugged making it clear she wasn’t going to say anything.
“I’ll be that. It’s clear the two of you are too happy to dance around each other and y’all need to stop it.
I was worried that you were going to be too uptight for this but you seem to fit into this life with no problem.
” She waved her finger around the room and we looked at the people who were clearly connected to something unspoken.
Powerful.
“My mother has been a bully my entire life. No one is going to get under my skin after dealing with her. I promise, these rules would be a cakewalk compared to everything that I’ve already endured.”
“Do I need to kill her for you?” The way her tone turned gleeful I almost felt bad for telling her no.
“Now why would I let you do that?”
Her eyes brightened, and her grin could only be described as diabolical joy. “Ahhh, you want the kill for yourself, understood.” She nodded as if she were checking a task off her to-do list and I had to set the record straight. Even if it meant lying.
“Jada—”
Her finger went up stopping me from what I was going to say. “Nope, plausible deniability.”
I kept my mouth shut because she was right and I didn’t need to express my feelings about a situation that I wasn’t sure was going to work out the way I wanted it to.
I had mixed feelings about what was going on in my head because, despite having zero issues with ending her life, I wasn’t going to take her away from the rest of my family.
Their attachment to her was the only reason I had left her alive this long.
“Having fun?”
I was no longer startled at how easily he could sneak up on me.
I glanced behind me and then up almost craning my neck from the place at the table where we’d eaten dinner.
I’d come here to regroup after the time I’d spent with Jada.
My mother was heavy on my mind and the realization that this would be me before the end of the year, causing my need to retreat.
Leave it to Ori to invade that solace but I didn’t want to immediately send him away.
Funny, the one who got me into this mess being my only ally.
Seeing that he looked hopeful I gave him a smile which seemed to ease whatever worry he had about how I was feeling. “I’m not miserable. Is that the same thing?”
His nod was curt before he averted his eyes to the couples dancing. “Close enough. Want to dance?”
I watched him watching them and couldn’t believe he was asking me this. “You’re asking me that?”
Instantly my brain traveled back to Nev’s words of Ori’s voice sounding like he spoke from his dick. Her words were spot on and I squirmed slightly thinking about what that dick could and would do.
He bent down his face coming over my shoulder so that he could speak in my ear. He was so close I swear I could feel his dick pressing against the back of my arm. My mind reasoned that it couldn’t be that long but my pussy was remembering the depths he reached and happily refuted it.
“Yeah. It’s a wedding. Eyes are on us because ours is next—”
“Speaking of which, when is this supposed to happen?” The way Jada was being pushy there felt like an unspoken urgency I hadn’t been privy to. It felt like this collective was deciding on my life and I was supposed to simply go with what they wanted without protest.
“Before the year ends.”
“You say that so casually as though it’s not already May.” That left little time to plan a wedding or for me to wrap my head around what was actually going on.
“Timeframes don’t really matter with us.
We solidify a date and everyone makes sure it works.
” He spoke like a man who was used to having things fall into place and had the money to ensure they did.
I didn’t doubt that to be true and having watched my father work similarly I wasn’t unfamiliar with it.
But I wasn’t exposed to living that way on a daily basis.
Not anymore. My life had been quiet and despite the opulence I lived in and the spending power that ensured I never had to think about money, my life was relatively quiet.
“That’s a lot of pressure on everyone just because we decided to get married on short notice.” I wasn’t stalling because it was clear that this was happening no matter what I said but I couldn’t just gently agree to whatever he said. My spirit wouldn’t allow me to be so biddable.
That pained smirk crossed his face as he stood fully and put his hand on the back of my chair. “Maybe, but they’re well compensated for it.”
I rolled my eyes at his assumption that money would ease all ills. Capitalist. “That doesn’t make up for stress.”
“Trust me, they’ll make us pay well for the privilege of their talents.” His fingers were caressing my back almost mindlessly the motion sending chills through me.
“If you say so.”
“I do. So the dance? Will you?”
“Yes.”
I took his hand and he helped me up from the table and toward the dance floor. I’d been observing the room and lost sight of him when apparently he’d been watching me.
When Ori led me to the floor I could tell that eyes were on us. I wasn’t sure if they were eager to see us together or hoping that we’d fall but I was going to ignore all the looks and focus on the moment.
When I looked up I met the eyes of Jasmine as she danced with her husband.
It was odd to see them together. They were a stunningly beautiful couple but she was so tiny compared to him.
Yacouba and Ori were the same height and Jasmine along with both of her sisters couldn’t have been more than five and a half feet.
Even with heels, she barely reached her husband's mid-chest. Neither of them cared much about the difference and judging by the way he held her close to him he didn’t care at all.
She gave me a wink as he picked her up by her ass, sliding her up his body and giving her a kiss.
Okay, that was sexy as fuck.
Ori led us to a spot on the floor and pulled me closer into his arms, like we’d done it a million times before.
His hands slid down the planes of my body resting on my hips and I couldn’t help but inhale deeply.
Ori’s scent was so uniquely him and I had never smelled the combination of notes on anyone else.
Or if I had, it hadn’t smelled as intoxicating on them as it did with him.
There was something so perfect about how the different combinations of scents mixed in with his pheromones that I had to wonder if the attraction between us would’ve been this intense even if he wasn’t as masculinely beautiful as he was.
You’ve truly got to stop complimenting this man.
“Are you good?”
Yep. Straight from his dick.
“Yes.”
“I’m glad you came.”
“I didn’t think there was much of a choice in all of this.”
His shoulders lifted beneath the side of my face as he shrugged, and I laughed at his indifference. “Some choice, but not a lot. It would be better for you to see how all of this is supposed to go so that you’re not overwhelmed with our day.”
“You speak about that with such… calm. Resignation. I don’t know if I’m there yet.”
“You don’t have to be. You can be as unsure as you want to be. I’ll be the calm one.”
I leaned back and found he was already looking down at me.
That same intensity was in his eyes keeping me trapped in his depths unable to look away.
“It seems like taking on the responsibility for other people is what you’re always doing.
I’m a big girl and I can handle working through my emotions.
I simply need time. The ability to work through how this will work and look for me.
There’s no need for you to carry this load by yourself. ”
“It’s a familiar place for me to find myself.”
“Carrying burdens?”
He corrected me quickly. “Alone.”
The look was the same between us: the desire to have to say something nice battling with the sharp retort that would tell him to stop falling for his own self-importance. What came out was something in the middle.
“I would think you bullying your way into my home and us working together would be a clear sign that the alone thing has run its course for you. You’re about to take a wife so… yes, Lone Ranger status gone.”
The left side of his mouth lifted his normal signal that I’d amused him but not enough to be granted a full smile. “You're saying that you’re going to be my partner.”
“I’m marrying you.”
“That’s a formality. You’re talking about carrying loads and easing burdens that sounds very… communal.”
I scoffed to ensure he didn’t think that feelings were somehow coming into play with my offer of partnership. “I’m a misandrist. Of course, I’m going to advocate for a matriarchal style of leadership.”
“Matriarchy focuses on community and specifically the children of said community. We don’t have that.”
I wasn’t about to touch that comment with a ten-foot pole. “Well shared goals is something that we can always work together with. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Agreed.”
“See, there’s nothing wrong with letting me decide. Life can be easy that way.”
His stare lingered again searching and finding what he was apparently looking for, by the way the corners of his eyes relaxed.
Apparently, it didn’t soothe him the way I thought it would almost like he couldn’t trust himself to believe what he’d seen.
Instead, he pulled me close so that I couldn’t see his eyes any longer.
“Yeah, I’m seeing.”