Chapter 14 - Relic
“What’s on your mind, Larenn?”
Relic stole a glance at Kennedy before he tapped the volume button on his steering wheel, lowering the music she had turned on as soon as she’d hopped inside his car.
Outside of greeting him, she hadn’t spoken, and he could tell that her mind was elsewhere because she hadn’t even mentioned Aura.
He’d been driving for the better half of an hour, and she’d spent most of it with her pensive stare aimed out his passenger window.
Relic knew she was lost in her head when she didn’t respond to his question.
“Kennedy!”
She jumped like she forgot he was with her and then angled in her seat to glare at him.
“Why are you yelling like we aren’t in arm’s distance from each other?”
“Because I called you, and you didn’t hear me. Where is your head at?”
She spun to face the front and answered, “Nowhere. I just had a long day. Hell, days, because it’s like everything has been nonstop since we got home. I haven’t gotten the chance to slow down.”
“And you won’t. You know what is about to happen, and what’s at stake. Every minute is of the essence, so we don’t have the luxury to waste time. That’s what the vacay was for.”
“I know that, Relic. You asked what was on my mind, so I told you.”
“Had I known it was complaints, I would’ve ignored your ass over there, drifting in another world.”
“My own world. You’ve gotten so used to me being in yours that you forgot the shit I have going on isn’t always about you.”
Relic frowned and directed his attention back onto the road instead of feeding her statement for it to grow into an argument.
If he did, he’d have to acknowledge that he was aware of her actions not revolving around him since if that was the case, her audacious ass wouldn’t creep around his home on her prepaid phone whenever he was gone.
Even with her knowing he’d found out, and that there were cameras in his home, neither detail stopped Kennedy from skinning, grinning, and snickering more than he had ever witnessed while that fucking device was glued to her palm.
He watched every night from the surveillance on his phone.
The days she seemed happiest while doing it were the days he allowed Aura to post him on her close friends, hoping it’d get under her damn skin.
Kennedy’s late-night sessions had gotten so frequent that he’d stooped to a new low and snooped through her phone like a simp ass nigga to find out who she’d become more invested in than him.
Relic was tempted to choke her out of her sleep after he’d noted she scrubbed it so fucking clean, it was like she had done a factory reset on it.
“I scheduled our meeting with Morrone.” He resorted to telling that lie to gauge her reaction, but made a mental note to do it ASAP since it seemed like him and time were in a close race.
“Oh, so you finally set up a meeting you’d made seem so time sensitive on our trip. That’s nice.”
Relic burst into laughter. “The fuck is your problem? I feel like you’re trying to start an argument.”
“I’m not doing anything but pointing out how you’ve been pushing our situation aside. You must want to find a bitch to do what I won’t.”
“What the hell are you going on about, Kennedy?”
“A baby. You were waiting it out to see if I’ll change my mind, and since I haven’t, you don’t really want to go through with our contract.
You know, you can find some other bitch who’d spread eagle and let you nut in her for the hell of it.
You’re probably thinking about paying Aura to do it since we both know she would. ”
“I wouldn’t let Aura suck my nut out of your pussy, let alone bust inside her. Wherever you’re getting this shit from, give it back. You sound dumb.”
“I’m not getting it from anywhere, and I’m not dumb. You always have another plan, and now you need one for me because I’m half assing my position. You finally found the one thing I can’t deliver on, so that means I’m useless. You said it yourself—”
“Joseph said that shit,” he cut in, making her shut up. “If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been trying to make my own rules when it comes to us. And since you remember every damn thing else, what did I say about the position I gave you, huh?”
She blew out a stream of breath before muttering, “It will never be useless.”
“If you know that, then why are you sitting over there trying to fuck up my mood? And since you brought it up, I have a question. Do you not want children, or do you not want one with me?”
“I don’t know what I want because the first time I was pregnant didn’t turn out how I expected.”
Relic’s features immediately twisted, and he hoped he heard her wrong, but knew he didn’t.
His insides knotted, but he played it cool since Kennedy was trusting him with a secret, no games attached.
He’d just cracked into a steel, concrete reinforced vault that had been impenetrable since he found it.
“So, you were pregnant before? What happened with that?” he asked as casually as his disbelief allowed.
Kennedy cursed under her breath for having diarrhea of the fucking mouth and letting that personal information slip out.
Her shoulders sank, and she shrunk into her seat because it was a topic that pained her to talk about, mainly because the decision to terminate hadn’t been hers.
A part of her wished she had kept her baby versus giving Ezekiel what he wanted like she’d done too many times to count.
The other side was glad she wasn’t trapped and attached to a fuck ass nigga for life.
“I got an abortion.” She uttered so lowly; it took Relic a moment to catch it.
“It was earlier in the same year Koda passed, and when I thought about it later, I realized Zeke must’ve gotten me and his girl pregnant around the same time, so he talked me into getting rid of mine.
I was barely twenty and thought he knew best. Maybe he did because I don’t want a baby with anyone except my husband now. ”
“So, y’all were pregnant together, and he chose her to have his child.”
She winced at the harsh reminder, but replied, “Pretty much, yes.”
“So, you got knocked up for a nigga who didn’t deem you worthy of his child, yet you’re giving me a tough time because I see what he didn’t.
Because I can’t picture giving my seed to another woman who isn’t as sharp, resilient, or steadfast as you.
Bold and fearless like you. That dumb ass muthafucka underestimated your worth, so I’m paying for his loss, literally and figuratively. ”
“I guess, and as unfair as that sounds, you knew I was fucked up when you met me, Relic. Just like you.”
The muscles in his jaw trembled at her comeback, and he clenched his teeth to stop the telling tick before firming his hold on the steering wheel.
Relic contemplated jerking the car around and doing what she’d assumed—finding a woman who was easier, compliant, and too thirsty to deny him whatever he craved.
There were thousands of women waiting on him with open arms, and a roster he’d kept on the bench for years, anxious to hear him call them into the game, but those were runner ups and second strings.
To Relic, they were all useless. They couldn’t think or breathe for themselves, and he didn’t have the time or the patience to do it on their behalf. None of them could stand by his side, or get in his head, like the immovable woman in his passenger seat.
The biggest but most useful distraction he’d ever met in his life.
“I figured out an alternative to pushing the wedding up.”
After a period of rapid blinks, he glanced at Kennedy, whose keen eyes were accessing him like she knew he had drifted elsewhere, so she found a topic worth him coming back for.
He started to ignore her but wanted to hear what she’d come up with since he wasn’t able to change Shabu’s wedding date because it raised too many red flags.
He’d run the idea past his brother, who agreed, but as soon as Shabu suggested it to Savvy, a cross-examination followed that made them give up. Relic chose to leave well enough alone since his arrest was something he was dead set on keeping private.
“I’m listening.”
“What about a Jack and Jill party?”
“And what do two clumsy ass kids have to do with a wedding, Larenn?”
She laughed before explaining, “It’s basically a co-ed bridal shower.
Instead of us throwing it just for Savvy, we can include Shabu, so all of us can be there, and you’ll get to experience something with them.
We can do it as big as we want. Food, games, doves, a five-tiered wedding cake.
No limit. If you want, we’ll make their ass a fake alter and have them walk down it. ”
“Can you make it happen in the next few weeks?”
“Yep. We already started planning, so I’ll find a larger space and then incorporate Shabu into it. Maybe get Titan involved since I know you’re super busy.”
“Do that, and we can throw it at my crib. I have a date in mind, too.”
“The budget is switching out of our pocket into yours, so it’s your world, daddy.”
Relic chuckled with a head nod, loving their idea. He planted a hand on her thigh and gave it a squeeze to show his appreciation, and his stomach twisted at the light smile she returned that didn’t compare to ones he’d seen during the surveillance checks on his house.
“You still hate me?” he asked with a cursory glance at her. Shock covered her face before she shrugged.
“Less than usual. You haven’t been around to piss me off much lately.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you missed me.”
“Sometimes,” she admitted softly, and Relic hummed while that fucking flittering in his chest commenced.
“I’m not used to being in that big of a house alone, and your ass is gone more than you’re home.
It’s too quiet and empty. I used to think I wanted a huge house like that one day, but not if I’m by myself. It’s pointless.”