Chapter 13 #2
“You better,” he replied, tapping me on the ass again and sending me on my way. I shook my head as I reentered the coffee shop and found Jeremiah at the table, sipping his coffee and going through his phone. I checked my watch as I approached him.
“Ready?”
“Oh, yeah. You were out there so long, I almost finished my coffee.” He grinned and stood.
Jeremiah was extremely handsome. With cropped curls on his head, thick eyebrows that weren’t too wild, bedroom eyes that weren’t of his own volition, full, kissable lips, and skin the color of copper, he was more attractive than I’d assumed.
I wasn’t checking for him, but I could admit that he was easy on the eyes.
“Yeah, the call was important.”
“Boyfriend?” He smirked at me.
“Yes.”
“I figured. I saw him come into the office a few times. He hadn’t come in a while, so I assumed you all weren’t together anymore.”
I frowned. “Are you clocking me, Mr. Smith?”
“No, I was just making an observation. You’re a beautiful woman, Yumi.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t give him anything else but a soft smile and turned, heading out of the shop.
Jeremiah or any of the other male colleagues had never made a pass at me before, so maybe Emery was right. All I knew was that he’d better keep a lid on his attraction to me around Emery, or I had no doubt that he would come up missing.
“This is bullshit. Them motherfuckas are wasting their time,” Ellis expressed, shaking his head.
“Why do you say that, Mr. Aldana?” Jeremiah asked.
“Because we don’t associate with niggas that’s low on the totem pole. This Demarcus nigga, or whatever his name is, for sure ain’t never seen none of our faces. Like, who the fuck is he?” Emil asked.
“Let’s find out, shall we?” Emery stood and walked through a door off to the side of the meeting room.
He returned two minutes later with a thick folder in his hand, then sat down to begin going through it.
It didn’t take him long to locate what he was looking for as he pulled a paper from the slot and looked it over.
A subtle chuckle left his mouth as he passed the paper to Emil.
“This fuck ass nigga?” Emil laughed, then also passed the paper to Ellis.
“Yeah, tell them clowns to try again. This man don’t even know what the fuck we look like, let alone know if we’re the ones he works for.”
“So, you guys do know who he is?” I asked.
“A local distributor who we don’t associate with at all,” Emery replied.
Emil looked at us. “And before y’all ask, we make it our business to run background checks on anyone who works for us.
It’s the only reason we know who his ass is.
He would literally have to talk to one of our managers to know who we are, where we’re getting our shit from, and what we look like to pin anything on us. ”
“How are you sure your managers aren’t discussing things with him?” Jeremiah asked.
“Because they’re solid, and we trust them,” Ellis replied. “If someone is talking, we’ll find out who.”
“Well, we’ll have a chat with him to see how much he knows about your family before the trial on Thursday,” I told him.
“Sis, I need you to eat they ass up on Thursday so we can go free. I’m sick of wearing this bullshit ass bracelet and having a curfew,” Emil said to me.
“I’m going to do my best.”
“Sister?” Jeremiah asked, confused.
“Mind your business, homie. Focus on defending my brother and cousin on Thursday and not what he’s calling your colleague.
” Three sets of dark eyes were stapled to Jeremiah as if they were itching to wring his neck if he said another word to combat what Emery said.
I watched Jeremiah literally shrink in his seat at the intimidating looks they were giving him.
“Gentlemen, let’s be nice, okay. We’re only here to help,” I said, trying to settle the rising tension.
Emery looked at me. “You good, baby, but this nigga is fired. I don’t want no nigga that’s paying too much detail to what anybody is calling you instead of focusing on their fucking case.”
Jeremiah tossed his hands up and shook his head. “That won’t be necessary. My apologies, Mr. Aldana. I can assure you it won’t happen again.”
“Emery,” I called out to him. His gaze slowly roved from Jeremiah to me.
“It’s okay. Please.” I needed him to know this wasn’t the time to be cruel.
We had to end this damn trial, and I didn’t need or want Salah to have to find another damn DA to assist me.
“I will call you all tomorrow with updates on what the witnesses know and will see you all in court on Thursday.” I closed the folder and put it away as Jeremiah and I stood.
“Let me talk to you, Yumi. Ya mans can go wait in the car.”
I could see Jeremiah look between both of us and give me a subtle smile before walking out of the room.
“Be nice, Emery,” I told him.
“Was I not? Nobody told him to say shit about what we call you.”
“It was harmless. He doesn’t know that I know you all outside of being your lawyer.”
“Doesn’t matter, love. I didn’t ask you last night, because I could tell you were restless, but do you know this man?” He handed me a paper with a photo of a gruff-looking man and all of his information.
“No. Can’t say that I do.”
“I figured. If your colleague got the same thing, then this is someone who’s targeting us. But I’m not singling out anyone who knows you either.”
“I’ve never had any enemies, and I’m sure my family wouldn’t want to harm me, no matter how upset they are that I’m defending your family.”
His eyebrow lifted in question. “You sure?”
“As sure as I can be.”
He nodded and stood, coming around the table and kissing my lips.
“Aye, don’t do that shit in my house. Take that shit somewhere else,” Emil fussed as I tittered.
“You better hope I don’t bend her over this desk in this motherfucka.”
“Emery!” I exclaimed, mushing him. “I’ll see you guys later. I’m going to do everything I can to set you all free.”
“’Preciate that, cuz.” Ellis nodded.
“Mina’s birthday is this Saturday. Prayerfully, we can celebrate her day of birth and us being free men. You’re welcome to come if you’re available,” Emil said to me.
“Nigga, she was already going to be my plus one. She didn’t need your invite.”
Emil waved Emery off as I snickered.
“Thanks for the invite. I would love to.”
“Always.”
Emery placed his hand on the small of my back. “Let me walk you out.”
I said my goodbyes to the fellas and then headed for the door. Before Emery opened it, he attacked my lips. We kissed for a minute until he pulled away.
“I may be a little late getting home tonight, so don’t wait up.”
I shook my head and sighed. “Okay.”
“Hey,” he said, lifting my chin. “You’re safe with me, baby. Always remember that.”
“I know. I’m just ready for this all to be over.”
“It will. Trust me.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more, baby.” He pecked my lips again and sent me on my way.
“Oh, yeah, since you won’t be home until late, I was going to invite Carmen and Chanel over for drinks later. If that’s okay with you?”
“It’s your home too, Yummy. You can invite whomever you like. Just make sure you trust them.” That eyebrow lifted again as I smirked and nodded.
“Okay. See you later.” I walked out the door and headed to Jeremiah’s BMW and got inside.
“Everything okay?” he asked once I was settled.
“Of course.”
“Those guys are intense. Sometimes, I hate knowing our clients are guilty and getting them off. I should have been a prosecutor instead,” he said, pulling out of the roundabout.
I knew Jeremiah felt some way about how Emery had spoken to him, but what he just did made me realize I might have to keep an eye on him.
It was clear he didn’t like being spoken to that way, and I agree, but he should have stayed focused on why we were there in the first place.
“I know them, Jeremiah,” I decided to disclose. “It’s why he called me that.”
“You do? Like know them, know them?”
“We all went to high school together.”
He blinked a few times before he let out a low ‘shit’. “Well, that explains why they were ready to pounce on me. Knowing what we know about them, we should be careful with this.”
“We’re good, Jeremiah. I’m just ready for it to be over,” I told him truthfully. This case was giving me anxiety and putting me on edge because of that death note. I didn’t know the man in the photo Emery showed me, but I knew this didn’t have my family’s name on it.
“Were you dating one of them?”
I frowned. “You can’t ask me things like that, Jeremiah.”
“Right. You’re right. I’m sorry. That was way out of line.”
“It’s okay. Let’s focus on making sure they walk on Thursday. Winning this case will be beneficial to both of our careers, no matter if they did the crimes or not.”
“You’re right. I’m trying to make junior partner, so I need to lock in.”
“I’m sure you will,” I said, giving him a soft smile. He smiled back, and I could see him subtly checking me out. I turned my head to look out of the window because I refused to give him any indication that I was attracted to him.
I knew what Emery did to people, and I didn’t want Jeremiah to be on the nightly news.