Chapter 2
The dressing room was filled with my family and friends.
The make-up artist, nail tech, and hair stylist were busying themselves, getting my wedding party and me together.
The content creator I hired took photos and videos of the wedding party and me as we got ready for one of the biggest days of my life.
I was set to marry one of the most high-profiled actors in the movie industry—Akeem Spivy.
I couldn’t lie and say I wasn’t nervous.
There was this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I always got when something was about to happen. Sometimes it was good things, but this insurmountable tugging had me fake-smiling, fake-laughing, and waiting for something to go wrong.
I knew the reason I felt this way.
The night prior, I was immersed in a lovemaking so passionate that I think I left my soul back in that house.
Guilt was what I surmised.
I had been preparing for this day for over a year.
Being on Akeem’s arm looked good to the public’s eye.
To them, we were the ideal couple, with hashtags featuring our names as couple goals.
We were the young, get-money couple, who everyone idolized and aspired to be like—the new Ciara and Russell Wilson.
Though Akeem was a tad bit controlling sometimes, it wasn’t overpowering, and he always showered me with love since I’d met him.
The night we met, my sisters, Junipher and Jessica, two best friends, Aniya and Lauren, and I were at Sexy Steak in downtown Detroit.
It was a highly upscale restaurant that used to be the place where civil war vets used to frequent back in the early 1900’s that had become popular in the millennium.
I was there, celebrating my thirty-fourth birthday with my sisters and friends.
When we asked the server for our bill, she told us not to worry about it and that it had been taken care of.
Confused, I questioned her, and she replied that it had already been taken care of by one of their celebrity guests.
She then handed me a note with a number on it and the name Akeem written in fancy cursive, telling me to call him.
Everyone knew who Akeem Spivy was because he had seemingly blown up in the industry overnight.
Stunned, I decided to go and personally thank him since he paid the almost seven-hundred-dollar bill.
I knew it was probably nothing to him, but the gesture was nice.
Plus, I felt it would be rude not to thank him personally.
When I approached his table in the back, he was there with his security, eating alone and looking every bit of fine. When we locked eyes, he smiled and offered me a seat. I declined because my girls were ready to go, but I thanked him and he made me promise to call him, or he’d find me.
The next day, I called, and the rest was history.
That was three years ago.
There wasn’t a day or night that went by that I didn’t think of Zion. The stronghold he had over me was insane, but he was the first man to capture my heart and show me a love I hadn’t experienced since his going away.
I tried to be there for him.
I told him I would wait for however long he had to do time, but he refused.
When he sent me away and blocked me from seeing him, it broke my heart even more.
I loved that man with my soul, and he just pushed me away as if his leaving me didn’t affect me.
I tried to get over him.
I tried to keep him in my past, but he warned me that he was coming back for me. I didn’t think he was serious.
Fifteen years was a long time to still be in love with someone, but while life had moved on for me, it didn’t for Zion.
Now, my past threatened my future, and I didn’t know what to do.
When he pulled up at the Airbnb, I was both shocked, overjoyed, and confused. There was no way the man I fell deeply in love with was finally free. There was also no way I wasn’t going to do as he asked and kick my girls out.
He had aged well and looked so fucking good that, in my drunken state, I was already anticipating us having one last fuck before I married someone I didn’t love as I loved him.
The way he fucked me like he had a purpose and point to prove, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t going to be the end of us. Zion was adamant about having me, and I was afraid that once I married Akeem, Zion wouldn’t stop pursuing me relentlessly.
The wedding was going to be on every blog site and social site known to man, so I couldn’t back out.
My phone buzzed on the vanity, just as the make-up artist sprayed the matte finish on my face. I looked at the unsaved number, already knowing who it was, and my heart froze in my chest.
Zion Sullivan—the past that threatened my future.
“You okay, Sis?” Junie asked, leaning down to whisper so only I could hear.
I nodded. “Yeah, of course.”
“Are you sure? You look like you’re about to break out in hives. And judging by what happened last night, I’d think you were having second thoughts.”
I looked over at her, wanting my big sister to help me with this dilemma. I wanted Zion as much as he wanted me, but I knew I couldn’t stop this wedding from taking place. We were there now, so I knew there was no turning back without embarrassing Akeem.
My phone buzzed again.
I swallowed deeply and swooped it up to silence it. That did nothing but make him call right back.
“Excuse me. I have to take this,” I said, getting up from the chair and hurrying to the bathroom. I locked the door and answered the call.
“Zi, please—”
“Dinny. You really ran off to marry that nigga?”
I could hear the frustration in his tone, and my heart was in my ass now. “Zion, don’t do this,” I whispered.
“Do what, baby? You promised me, Dinny.”
My eyes closed as I felt a conviction in my heart that forced my eyes to water. The knock on the door made me jump slightly.
“Jordin, it’s time to put on your dress, Sissy,” my sister, Jessica, called through the door.
“I have to go.”
“Dinny, don’t fuc—”
I hung up before he could tell me not to, and with a heavy heart and a fake smile, I opened the door to go marry a man I wasn’t sure if I wanted to marry anymore.
Once I was dressed in the Vera Wang gown with the sweetheart neckline, Junie handed me my bouquet of purple and white roses and smiled at me.
“You look so beautiful, Sissy.”
I could see her eyes misting. She and Jessie were probably the happiest out of everyone in our family.
I wouldn’t say my parents weren’t happy, but they weren’t ecstatic either.
They felt as if Akeem’s lifestyle was ruining me and my dreams because I had to dim my light a lot so he could shine.
But they let me choose my own path in life and supported me in whatever decisions I made.
I smiled lightly. “Thank you, Junie.”
“Okay, let me stop before I ruin my make-up!” She giggled. “Let’s go.”
Junie and Jessie hadn’t said much about last night. The only thing they said was to be careful with the way I played this. They knew how broken I was about Zion going to prison, and they also knew how much we loved each other—and about the baby I lost due to the stress of his leaving.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell Zion about it, because he was already stressed enough behind those walls.
I couldn’t tell him that I had lost the only thing connecting us together.
Our baby would have been fifteen now, and that was another reason I jumped into this shit with Akeem—just being mindless and reckless due to stress and depression.
I stepped out into the hallway of the extravagant venue with my wedding party, videographer, and photographer in tow. I let out a ball of air, straightened my shoulders, and plastered a fake smile on my face.
Zion’s voice kept replaying in my head, and I scolded myself to get it together.
Over three hundred people were waiting to witness Akeem and me say our vows to one another.
Although I loved Zion with my entire heart, I knew Akeem loved me, too.
I loved Akeem, too, just not in the way a woman was supposed to love a man.
The only reason I said yes to his proposal was that he helped me build my career as a media representative, so I couldn’t hurt him like that after three years of being together.
The doors opened, and the music queued for the wedding party to walk down. My father walked over to me, smiled, then dropped a kiss on my forehead.
“You look beautiful, baby.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“Make You Feel My Love” by Adele queued, alerting me that it was time. My father and I walked down the aisle as I watched Akeem smile brightly. He was happy, while I was beating myself up inside.
Once the music stopped, my father handed me off to Akeem as cameras flashed, and the pastor began his speech. I looked into Akeem’s eyes, looking for any signs that he didn’t want to do this, but I saw none. My face displayed happiness, but internally, I was breaking.
Pretender.
I had become good at pretending since I got with Akeem—pretending to love him and to be a certain way for the cameras. Hell, I had become so good at it that I should have been cast for some of the movies he played in.
“. . . If there is anyone who feels that these two should not be married, speak—”
The doors burst open, and my fucking heart dropped to my feet at the sight of Zion and his goons—his best friends—entering the room.
No! Please, God, no!
It was too late to pray.
Zion had entered the building.
There was a hush that settled over the room, and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of Zion’s hard-bottom shoes on the marble flooring. Even with the carpeted runner, I could feel those angry footsteps hitting my chest with each step he took.
When he finally made it to the altar, he gave me a look that I knew all too well.
It was the look that made me fall in love with him when we were kids.
That you belong to me, look.
“Aye, my man. We’re sort of in the middle of something,” Akeem said.
Zion’s eyes never left mine as he stepped up onto the platform, moving Akeem to the side as if he was an extra in the cast for this crazy-ass movie we were starring in.
“What the hell?” Akeem yelled. “Jordin, what the hell is going on?”
I couldn’t find the words to speak. I was fucking flabbergasted as I stood with my mouth open in shock. I could see Akeem’s security team moving in, and I watched in horror as Meeko and Kasey brandished their guns.
“Back the fuck up before I paint this floor red with your blood, my nigga,” Kasey warned.
“Kasey, don’t!” I yelled.
Zion placed his finger under my chin to bring my attention back to him. “I’m not leaving here without you, Dinny. You’re either marrying me today, or leaving here, and we plan our own shit, but you won’t be marrying this nigga when you’re still tied to me.”
My eyes skirted around the venue as everyone was tuned into this shit show. My family stood with their eyes and mouths wide open, just like me. I felt the room spinning, my heart pounding, and sweat beads filling my forehead before I looked back at Zion, and everything turned black . . .