Chapter 25 #3
Eventually I returned to my seat and used one of the square napkins to wipe my forehead then reached for my drink.
When I checked my phone again, I noticed a notification from Yosiah, checking on me.
I couldn’t stop the smile from forming on my face.
He had his reservations about me going out tonight, but I assured him he had nothing to worry about.
I didn’t plan on drinking and we always got a section, so I would be away from the mass crowd of chaos.
He’d never checked on me when I went out with my friends before, so seeing his text made my stomach flutter and my heart skip.
I didn’t think I’d ever had someone check on me like this and knowing my husband was the person sent me over the moon.
The two of us had yet to address my slip of the L word, which I wasn’t upset about.
I actually hoped he didn’t realize what I’d said and continue to skip right over it.
I was lost in my own world when the seat next to me was taken and I suddenly felt someone looking over my shoulder.
“Can I help you?” I locked my phone and side eyed Aaliyah.
She grinned at me. “Can’t a girl just check in on her friend?
As we all said earlier, it’s been a while since we’ve seen you.
I just wanted to make sure all was well.
” The fake smile on her face annoyed me.
Honestly, I’d never figured out Aaliyah’s issue with me.
I chalked it up to jealousy. Over the years, it always seemed like she was in some one-sided competition with me that she always lost, I must add.
“I’m great, as you can see. Living my most fabulous life as always!” I matched the grin on her face with one of my own.
She attempted to size me up. “I see. How are you and Yosiah? I noticed you posting a lot more of the two of you.”
“Why wouldn’t we be anything but great?” I crossed my legs at the knee and cocked my head to the side.
She shrugged. “Just checking on my friend. God, loosen up, Xylina.” She released a fake laugh and lightly slapped my arm.
“Well then I should return the favor. How are you and Prince? I notice you still don’t have a ring on your finger.”
Her face dropped and her jaw twitched before she cleared her throat and quickly straightened up. “Yes, well, we agreed to wait. He’s in the middle of some important business and planning a wedding would only get in the way.”
I stifled a laugh. “Mhm, interesting.”
Aaliyah cut her eyes at me. “What do you mean by that?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. I just never expected you to be someone to wait on a guy to agree to marry you, but who am I?” I shrugged. “Hopefully one day soon he’ll finally get down on one knee.”
I could practically see the steam coming from her head.
Tiara walked over and shouted over the music, “What are you two over here talking about? We’re supposed to be celebrating.” Both me and Aaliyah ignored her, continuing our stare down.
“Yeah, well, when you’re building an empire sometimes you have to make sacrifices. You know all about that, right?”
I held my hand out in front of me and examined my nails. “Do I?” I glanced back at her, uninterested in her words.
“Of course you do. Your dad sacrificed your family’s reputation to build his empire, but wait, he did it all wrong, didn’t he?
I recently heard he skipped out on his court date and now is a wanted man.
” She faked a pout. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Daddy Dearest is, would you Xylina?
Harboring a fugitive is illegal, you know? ”
I hadn’t been keeping up with my dad’s court stuff since meeting with him.
I’d mentally cut him from my mind. The few times he’d continued to reach out to me, I deleted and blocked the numbers without responding.
So I wasn’t aware that he was on the run right now.
It oddly didn’t bother me as much as it would have months ago.
My life was starting to look up. I was no longer worried about money and what my dad had going on no longer affected me and my life.
But still seeing Aaliyah getting satisfaction from it all caused my blood to boil.
I was tired of her indirect shade and constantly being on the end of her attacks.
Tiara attempted to intervene. “C’mon, Aaliyah, this isn’t the place for that conversation.”
“Why are you guys crowded around here? Let’s take another shot,” Angel came over suggesting.
“Yeah, why does it feel so tense all of a sudden?” Savannah followed up.
Ignoring all them, I continued my stare down with Aaliyah, refusing to let up. “No, I don’t. My husband and I have too much to lose to be involved in my dad’s affairs.”
“Right, your ‘husband’. Rumor has it the marriage between you two isn’t even real.” That struck a nerve. Fire exploded throughout my body as it tensed with fury.
“Aaliyah! C’mon, you’re killing the mood!” Tiara objected.
“What! I’m just repeating what I heard. Her mom has been seen around town with a new man and no cares in the world and not being very quiet about the Foxes' inner affairs after one too many drinks. It’d be a shame if the rumors are true and we all learn your marriage has been a lie.”
“God, Aaliyah, you can be such a bitch.” Savannah walked over and grabbed me. “Let’s go to the bathroom, Lina. Aaliyah, sometimes you need to learn when to shut the hell up!”
Since Savannah was the only one who knew the truth behind my marriage and what was going on, I appreciated her trying to deescalate the situation, but there was no way I was going to continue to let this slide.
I didn’t care what rumors Aaliyah spread about my parents.
In my eyes, that part of my life was dead to me, my marriage, however?
I refused to allow her to speak on it and taint the good space we were now in.
I allowed Savannah to pull me up. Just as she started to drag me toward the opening of the section, I yanked away from her, turned, and snatched Aaliyah by her hair, yanking her head forward. The section became a chaotic mess with everyone yelling and attempting to loosen my grip on her hair.
“Get her off me!” Aaliyah shrieked.
“Xylina, let her go!”
I blacked out, ignoring those around me and continuing to yank. I let too much shit pass with Aaliyah and now it was time for her to see I wasn’t going to keep going shade for shade with her.
“Next time learn not to speak on my marriage, bitch!” I finally released her, thrusting her head back.
I laughed as I finally allowed Savannah to pull me away while bringing a few pieces of Aaliyah’s extensions with us.
It might not have been the brightest decision but it felt good to do.
“Bitch!” Savannah laughed when we were steps away from the section. “I can’t believe you just did that?”
Flicking my hand to get the hair off me, I shrugged and tilted my chin upward. “She had it coming.”
“I agree, but damn, I didn’t expect that at all.”
The moment we were in the bathroom, I went to the mirror to check myself out. I no longer was in the clubbing mood and was ready to go home and cuddle under my man. Even though she was disappointed that I was calling it an early night, Savannah didn’t fight me on it.
While up until this point I’d enjoyed being out and having a good time, I was sure this would be the last time I came to the club while I was pregnant at least. It definitely was the last time I planned to be around Aaliyah’s jealous, miserable ass.
After spending the next morning handling business with Simone, I was surprised to have a text from Yosiah asking me to stop by his office before I headed home.
When I arrived, he was on the phone and locked into whatever was on his computer screen. His assistant gave me a nod while leaving the office as I stepped in. His staff wasn’t exactly welcoming, but they no longer gave me the runaround when I tried to get in contact with Yosiah.
My left eye twitched seeing the mass of papers scattered on top of his desk once I was inside the room.
Shaking my head, I walked to the couch, pulled my purse off, and sat it down then walked to Yosiah.
He took his eyes off his computer screen and watched me as I slowly approached his desk and started straightening it.
His brow rose and his mouth twitched watching me.
It didn’t take me long to organize the papers on top since they were mainly blueprints and developmental things.
Once satisfied, I moved around the desk, lifted his arm, and slid into his lap.
The arm I lifted slid around my waist, resting peacefully while I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heart beat.
Since becoming pregnant, I had become clinger than before.
I knew it but Yosiah didn’t complain, so I had no plans to stop.
Whatever he was talking about seemed important. He was rapidly typing away on his keyboard, his voice stern, and I tried to listen in but somewhere along the way I dozed off.
“Xylina,” Yosiah called out, waking me out of the short slumber I had fallen into.
“I’m woke.” I covered my mouth, yawning and fluttering my eyes open.
He chuckled and gave my thigh a squeeze. “Of course you are.”
Lifting my head, I noticed his assistant had returned and was sitting on the couch typing on her laptop and sorting through files in front of her.
“How long was I out?”
“About twenty minutes. You feeling okay?” His hand smoothly moved back and forth across my thigh.
I nodded. “Yeah, just sleepy.” Another yawn fell from my mouth.
“I won’t keep you here too long, but I am glad you were able to stop by. I have a surprise for you.”
That caused me to perk up. I always enjoyed surprises.
“What is it?”
He smirked then tapped my thigh. “Get up and follow me.”
Doing as he said, I climbed off his lap and stretched before brushing hair out my face and walking to grab my purse. When I walked to the door, Yosiah went to his assistant and the two spoke lowly before he turned toward me.
“What do you have planned?” I asked once we were out of the door and walking down the hall. He had told his secretary to hold his calls, so whatever it was must be important.
“Have you spoken to your dad lately?”
I frowned. Not the direction I was expecting the conversation to go.
“No. I’ve been blocking him when he reaches out.
” Last text I got from him was him blaming me for losing his lawyer and now he needed a hundred grand or he was going to jail.
I looked him up after Aaliyah’s claims of him being on the run and she wasn’t lying.
He’d skipped out on his bail and his last court date and now the FBI was looking for him.
“Good. Things aren’t looking too good for him and I don’t want you caught up in any of it.”
“Trust me, you don’t have to worry. I’ve washed my hands with both him and my mother.” My frown deepened thinking of my mom spreading gossip about my marriage.
We stopped in front of a closed door. I was confused about what was going on.
“I’m glad to hear that. That’ll make this easier to do?”
Just when I was about to ask what he meant, he pushed the door open. I stepped inside a conference room, and to my surprise, there was Phillip Fox, who looked like he had seen better days and wasn’t very happy to see me.