Chapter 4
Neptune
From the moment I woke up propped against my car, I thought about how I would handle Kannon.
The first day we were together, I swore I would kill her.
Day two, I thought about fucking her, then slicing her throat.
Now, I was stuck between the two. As strange as it may have been, I had more flashbacks of Kannon licking and biting her lips than of her talking to me like she had lost her mind.
I had been back home for twenty-four hours, and though I had taken three showers, none of them felt like they’d cleansed my skin.
Forty-eight hours in a damp room, in damp threads, left a stain on more than just my clothes.
Arrogance may have played a part in how shit went down, but I had a reason to be chill when I was in the streets.
My family’s name held weight in Slyde City, so the idea of someone shooting me with a fucking sedative never crossed my mind.
Boom!
The bathroom door slammed against the wall.
“Look who came home.” Chrissy’s heels crashed against the floor as she marched toward the shower. “That’s what we’re doing now, Neptune? Staying out for days at a time with no communication?”
“You haven’t been that worried. You only called me twice.” I turned off the shower water and yanked the door open. “Move, woman.”
“Where have you been, Neptune?” she asked, gripping her nonexistent hips.
“I wasn’t somewhere I wanted to be. Know that.”
I wrapped a dry towel around my waist and went to my room with Chrissy on my heels. She complained and tossed out accusations while I oiled my skin and put on a pair of sweats. I surveyed the room as she went off, and I spotted shopping bags she must have brought in while I was in the shower.
“Neptune!” She slapped my shoulder. “Why are you ignoring me like I’m the one who went missing for days?”
“We’ve been together for a year, and unless I’m out of town for business, I’m in bed before you get out of it. Instead of accusing me of the worst, think about that.” I mugged her from the edge of the bed. “Since you want to press me, where the hell did you sleep while I was gone?”
Her eyes chased the floor. “I was here the entire time. Don’t turn this around on me! I thought you left me.”
I didn’t bother calling her out and revealing that it was impossible since I got home yesterday.
Chrissy stood in the middle of the room with her bottom lip touching her chin, but I didn’t feed into her pity party.
I searched my nightstand for my pouch, then I grabbed a bottle of water near my bed.
Not only had my time away kept me from my spoiled girlfriend, but I also could not feed my body the fuel it needed.
No matter how much I maintained a solid front when in Kannon’s presence, my irregular heartbeat and labored breathing had me more spooked than the lady with the cat-like eyes.
By the time I consumed the last pill, Chrissy was on the bed with me. She snaked her hand down my shoulder, allowing her short nails to glide over my skin. Relief urged a slow breath to slip from my lips, and with ease, my eyes closed, and my head fell back against her big breasts.
“I’m sorry for being insecure, Neptune. You’re right.
I called you a couple times, and when you didn’t pick up, I thought you were ignoring me.
I should’ve known better.” She massaged my shoulders.
“Do you want to talk about what happened? As a matter of fact, I don’t want to be an accomplice to some street shit.
Are you feeling well enough to go with me to my parents’ place for dinner? ”
I grimaced, though I shouldn’t have expected more. Chrissy was a brat from the North Side of Slyde City, who only knew the difference between Crips and Bloods because of YouTube videos. She came from old money, and no amount of time together took the selfishness out of the black Barbie.
“All right,” I stated. “Give me twenty minutes to get myself together, then we can head out.”
“Perfect! That will give me time to change.”
She scurried out of sight, giving me the chance to hit my blunt while I looked for something to wear. I used every minute I asked for and met Chrissy at the front door at seven on the dot. As soon as we made eye contact, I detected the disapproval in her gaze.
“Are you wearing that?”
I peered down at my khakis, loafers, and Purple Label polo. “I put it on, didn’t I?”
“Don’t get offended. You know how my parents are.”
I wouldn’t gain anything from telling her the truth about her parents and hurting her feelings, so I kept my response dormant.
“If I take off these clothes, it’s a wrap for dinner, Chrissy.”
“Ugh.” She stomped in place like a temperamental toddler. “All right. You don’t want to listen. I don’t want to hear you complain when my father goes on a rant about you not wearing a tie.”
“I don’t complain, baby. That’s your job.” I smacked her ass, urging her out of the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
Chrissy was adamant that I drive the most expensive car I owned instead of my first choice—my Audi.
The request was on brand for Chrissy’s uppity attitude.
None of that bothered me more than the way she consistently tried to change me.
Chrissy put on a front for her folks, and too often, she asked me to join in on building the facade.
Mindful of her feelings, I let her lie about my occupation, but that was all I lied to them about.
When we ran into traffic, I turned up the music to calm my nerves.
A one-note laugh rocked my chest when a song Kannon hummed around the house poured through my speakers.
Memories of conversations she had when she stepped out of the room drifted to the front of my mind.
I wondered why she wanted to play in the streets so badly.
I wondered if she had a man I would have to kill to get to her.
Flashbacks of the crushed expression on her face carried a smile to mine.
I tried to warn her early on in her mission that it would fail, but the kidnapper was hardheaded.
Once we arrived at the White’s estate, Chrissy and I couldn’t make it up the steps before her father opened the door.
“Baby girl!”
“Hey, Daddy. How did you know we were here?”
“The guard at the gate called as soon as your friend sped up the hill.”
Chrissy giggled instead of correcting him on my position in her life.
When she fell into his big belly, he grimaced at me over her shoulder.
A look of repulsion penetrated his blue eyes, and his thin lips gathered into a ball.
Tall, round, and white, Chrissy’s father looked like a gray-haired John Goodman.
“Hello, Mr. Sinner,” he said when they separated.
“Neptune is fine.”
“Not as fine as you think. Dinner is ready.”
Mr. White grabbed Chrissy’s hand and guided her in front of him so he was walking between us.
As someone who found solace in standing alone, I chuckled at his attempt to exclude me from some shit I never wanted to be a part of.
Chrissy and I met in my family’s underground casino, and I fucked her on the first night.
I never asked her to be my girlfriend, but after a few months, we fell into a routine.
Anytime I thought about calling it quits, the idea of starting over changed my mind.
My father’s opinion also swayed my decision.
He despised marriage and commitment, but he believed having kids was a requirement to be a solid man.
When we entered the dining room, my eyes landed on a long, wooden table covered in Thanksgiving dishes.
Next, my focus fell on the matriarch of the family, watching us from her seat.
She wore enough diamonds for her appearance to be tacky, and her blonde wig looked as dry as the food.
The warmth Chrissy received from her father was drastically different from what her mother offered.
Mrs. White didn’t bother to abandon her seat, and her gaze rested on her personal Peter Griffin instead of her daughter as we all sat down.
“About time you returned. I thought you forgot about me.”
Chrissy cleared her throat. “Hello, Mother.”
“Hello, Chrissy. I see you and your friend finally joined us. We told you to be here by five. Were you trying to starve us to death?”
Chrissy cut her eyes at me. “Of course not. Neptune got held up at work.”
“Next time, call and say something. The world doesn’t move when you and yours say so.”
I swallowed my defensive nature, remembering who the slick-mouthed broad was to Chrissy.
“Neptune,” Mrs. White bellowed. “I’m surprised to see you at dinner. It’s been at least six months since you came to the big house. I assume work is going well since it keeps you so busy.”
“Something like that,” I replied in a low tone. “I appreciate the invite to dinner.”
“Don’t thank me. Chrissy insisted on bringing you.” She lifted a shoulder. “I guess that’s necessary since she has to keep you on a leash. My daughter told me you disappeared for days.” She shook her head. “You can’t ensure she’s taken care of if you aren’t around.”
My brows twitched at her audacity. “You should have taught her how to take care of herself. If something happens to you or me, Chrissy should know how to map out her next move.”
Her father sat back and pushed out a belly-rocking laugh. “When I leave this earth, Chrissy will have enough money to last her a lifetime.”
“Not with the way she spends cash,” I declared. “Every time I go to her place, she has a new bag or a pair of shoes she bought just for show. There isn’t anything wrong with splurging, but you have to make money to keep it flowing. It’s obvious you failed to teach her that.”
Mrs. White slammed her wine glass on the table. “Cut the shit! Do you plan to marry her?”
“Chrissy isn’t ready to be a wife. Those were her words.”
“That’s funny, considering she was engaged to be married six months before you walked into her life.”
“She walked into mine. I didn’t approach her.”