Chapter 13 #3
Coast came over from the table where she sat with Kong and Ayla was right behind her. Her drooping eyes and the fact that her daughter was sleeping soundly in her arms indicated that she was also ready for bed. Mozzi, on the other hand, was only getting more faded by the second.
“I’ll come by this week with Prez and do measurements,” Kong assured him, draping his arm around Ayla’s waist. “How much of an addition you trying to do to your house?”
“At least four more bedrooms.”
“Four!” Coast exclaimed. “Moses, the hell we gon’ do with four extra rooms? I ain’t cleaning that shit.”
“You gon’ clean it ’cause you don’t want me hiring no bad bitch to come up in there and do it.”
“I will shoot your fucking balls off,” Coast threatened, and Moose reached for his nuts in his shorts.
“Gahdamn, Coast! You can’t just be saying shit like that in the presence of men,” Moose voiced.
“I’m going to put her to bed.” Coast bypassed her man and used her foot to nudge him.
His drunk ass slipped, making a splash on Inari and Moose when he hit the water. Coast continued to stroll along like she hadn’t done shit, and everyone else laughed.
“Payback is a bitch, wife!” Mozzi swiped his hand down his face to get rid of the excess water as he swam to the edge of the pool.
“That’s for even suggesting another bitch come in my house and clean a damn thing!” she yelled at him on her way inside.
“Ohh, you in trouble, Uncle!” Kara called from her position under Audiemar.
“We heading out,” Kong announced. “Kyro, Kara, get your stuff so we can go.”
“Okay! We having a sleepover at Ayla’s again!” Kara quickly scooted away from her grandpa, and Kyro was right behind her, racing inside.
Ayla paused long enough to kneel and kiss Audiemar on the cheek. His eyes lit up in surprise when she pulled back and smiled at him.
“Thank you for everything. I hope you have a good night,” she told him, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze.
He returned both gestures as Desiree sailed outside with a joint burning in her hand.
“The hell, Des? Where you get some weed?”
“Like I ain’t got the hook up?” Her face balled up, and she exhaled. “I got it from Moose’s stash.” She waved a hand in his direction.
“Just rude.” Moose shook his head. “Old ass shouldn’t be smoking anyway.”
“Ain’t nobody come at you like that when you was going around here snow blowing for months,” she accused, watching Moose’s face fall as Inari snickered into her hand.
“What’s snow blowing?” Tiara questioned.
“Something you won’t ever know nothing about if I can help it,” Audiemar told her.
“We gone.” Kong grabbed Ayla’s hand and pulled her toward the door.
“I’ve arranged brunch tomorrow. I expect everyone here around noon. I loved seeing you all here today, but these old dogs are tired, and I’m going to bed.”
“Goodnight!” Everyone called to her as she swirled around and sauntered behind Kong and Ayla.
“Pop, you need to check your mama.” Moose shook his head. “Who she think she is?”
“Please, Des is, has, and always will be that girl,” Inari declared.
“And you better know it!” their grandmother shouted through the open sliding doors from the kitchen.
Moose swung his head toward Inari, and she tipped hers to the side and pushed her lips out as if to say, ‘See what I mean?’
“Moose, race me in the pool,” Mozzi challenged, still swimming near the edge where he and Inari were seated.
“Nigga, no. I’m high as hell.”
“So was Michael Phelps.” Mozzi sniggered. “Come on. A band says I can beat you to the other side.”
“A band?” Dane spoke up. “Yo, sign me up!”
“You ain’t got it,” Inari quipped.
“Ma, I got the stamina, though.”
“And what you gon’ do if you lose, Dane?”
“I’ll work off my debt,” her son replied, bringing himself to his feet.
“Bet.” Mozzi grinned and pulled himself from the water.
It was nearly midnight, but he was wired.
He knew Coast was more than likely showering and climbing in bed with their baby girl.
He planned to join them after beating Dane, but him and Moose sat up smoking until the wee hours while everyone else ducked off.
Audiemar went to bed, Dane’s friends were taken home, and he and Inari decided to crash after showering in the pool house.
Moose got quiet, though, so Mozzi knew he had some shit on his mind.
“How you feeling about that shit with Jane?” His brother intruded on his thoughts.
“Why you asking me that shit?” Moose licked his blunt closed that he’d just rolled and grabbed his lighter from beside the pool.
“Nigga, ’cause I want to know.”
“Trying to let that shit go, Mozzi.” Moose sparked his lighter and used it to carefully dry the blunt.
“How the fuck we supposed to let this shit go when the muhfuckas who did that shit still breathing?”
“Kong said he was handling some shit.”
“Yeah, but we both know Kong likes to play the long game,” Mozzi reminded him.
“You want to do something, find some shit on Donahue and Riddle that we can use, so we can move this shit along. I’m tired, bro. Tired of war and always looking over my shoulder. Worried about who’s coming for us next.” Moose listed off.
“That shit ain’t ever gon’ change,” Mozzi mumbled.
“Maybe not, but that don’t mean we can’t tighten up and do everything we can to prevent any type of bullshit from ever touching our fucking family again.”
“True,” Mozzi agreed.
“They’re done,” Kong announced after getting Kyro and Kara tucked in.
The car ride from the estate to Ayla’s condo put them right to sleep, and neither of them budged when he picked them up to carry them inside.
A day in the sun filled with food and swimming had them damn near comatose.
Ayla kicked off her sandals and stood, putting the food away in the kitchen that Desiree insisted they take with them.
Her phone buzzed against the counter as Kong slid up behind her and kissed her bare shoulder.
“Wow,” Ayla said after picking up her phone and screening the notification.
“What’s up?”
“Sarah just sent me a link. Our podcast is live.”
“That’s what’s up. Let’s watch that shit.” Kong pulled back as her doorbell rang.
“You expecting someone?” she asked, watching him move toward her front door.
“Yeah. Just real quick, though,” he assured her.
Clue waited patiently on the other side of the door when Kong pulled it open.
He nodded to him, professional, dark eyes skimming Kong carefully.
Clue was sharp. He didn’t do much talking.
He felt like the only time you should talk is if you had something to say.
Kong had never known him to be the kind of nigga who did small talk.
He went into his pocket to retrieve the items he’d secured in plastic bags, all separated.
“I need you to run this. Privately. Don’t tell nobody about this and put a rush on it.”
He took the items securely in his hands and gave Kong a nod before turning to walk away.
There were few that he trusted for anything, but Clue had been solid since they were teenagers.
He closed and locked the door to Ayla’s pad, and when he turned, she was standing there with a bottle of water in her hand and curiosity on her face.
“What was that about?”
“Just some shit I’m working on. Come on. Let’s go take a shower. I’m glad you made the kids do that before we left. That probably helped put them to sleep.” He kissed along her neck and rested his arms around her waist.
Ayla’s gaze moved past him, but he wasn’t sure what she was looking at as he hugged her closer.
“Aye, what’s wrong?”
“I just can’t stop thinking about Darcy.”
“Baby, you can only do so much for people. I love that you empathetic as hell. It’s one of the best things about you, but… sometimes you just gotta let shit play out.”
“You’re right.” Ayla threw her arms over his shoulders and stood on her toes to kiss him.
Kong picked her up bridal style and carried her up the stairs to her room.
Ayla sent a message to her sister and Coast with a link to the podcast, letting them both know it had gone live before setting her phone on the charger.
Kong undressed down to his boxers and let the shower steam up the bathroom as he brushed his teeth.
Ayla joined him momentarily, only wearing her panties and a strapless bra.
He soaked up all the changes to her body, appreciating all the extra curves and blemishes. She was still the prettiest to him.
Once they both handled their oral hygiene, the two climbed into the shower together.
Kong didn’t want to rush into anything. Everything with Ayla had always been organic.
He didn’t want this to be anything different.
By the time they reached the bedroom, the dim lighting and stillness of the house had calmed them both significantly.
All the tension had eased right out of them from the last twenty-four hours.
Ayla moisturized and Kong did the same before pulling the covers back.
She sat on the edge, and he inched closer, stepping between her legs.
She didn’t wear any panties, and the only thing she’d changed into was a soft pink silk gown.
There wasn’t anything uncertain in his eyes as they raked over her intensely.
He pressed his thumb against her lips before leaning in and smothering her with a kiss.
“Mmm,” Ayla moaned.