Chapter 27
"You keep popping up like this beautiful and I'ma have to put you on payroll," I said to Gianna as we closed out dinner service for the evening.
We had been spending a lot more time together and I was loving every minute of it. The more time she spent with me and Melo, the less she spent at the brothel. She was close to leaving—I could feel it.
She was seeing what the other side of life could be with a man who offered her stability, security, and love. I just needed to stay the course and she would all mine. Right where she belonged.
She gave me a half-smile, the gesture not quite reaching her eyes. I watched her carefully as she began to wipe down the menus with antiseptic, scrubbing them harder than needed.
"Hey—" I grabbed her hand gently holding the rag. "You know you don’t have to do that, right? That's why I have staff."
"I know," she sighed. "But it's okay. I don’t mind."
"But I do." I took the rag and menu from her hand setting it on the table. "I don't want every time you come here, you end up helping out." I pulled her towards my chest by her wrist. "I just want you to relax, okay?" I smiled looking down at those beautiful brown eyes.
She exhaled against me and nodded with a soft smile. "Okay," she replied softly.
"Okay—?" I dipped my head, brushing my lips against hers.
"Yes," she whispered kissing me gently.
My arms moved from her wrist to wrap around her waist. "Now—tell me what's on your mind? You were good earlier but now you seem distracted."
Her lips pressed together tightly, and she let out a sharp breath. "I don't want to lie to you Remy," she whispered.
"Then don't," I replied gently. "I can take it."
Kissing me again she gently removed herself from my embrace. "Umm—" she exhaled, eyes dropping down for a moment before lifting back again to mine. "Bishop is…a client of mine." Another deep breath. "Former."
I blinked slowly. "What?"
Her eyes closed briefly. "He was a client of mine. Came to see me a few times a week."
My mouth opened and closed but no words came out. Finally— "Did you know he was married?"
She nodded. "It's not my place to question what the men do outside of the house. I'm just there to fulfill a fantasy. Create an 'experience'—" she air-quoted. "Nothing more, nothing less."
I stared at her, trying to make sense of the words that were coming out of her mouth, but my mind wasn't catching up fast enough. This man had sat at my table in my restaurant, eating my food while his wife sat, smiling obviously.
Was that why he asked about the dessert?
Of course it was. Shit like that wasn't a coincidence.
"Remy?" Gianna's soft voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked over at her. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Her apology surprised me.
She clasped her fingers tightly in front of her. "I'm sorry that my other life keeps intruding with this life. " Her shoulders dropped slowly. "You're a great guy. I know this shit isn't what you need in your life." She shook her head slowly looking down.
"Yeah," I shrugged. "But—it's what I signed up for."
Her head lifted.
"Come here." I held out my hand.
Taking it, she allowed me to pull her back towards my chest. "I know all this is…weird. For both of us," I admitted. "And I can't lie—that shit is uncomfortable when I think about running into another client of yours."
Her eyes flashed with sadness.
"But—" I cupped her chin gently with my fingers. "It doesn't change anything with us. Not my feelings and not my plans to keep you in our lives. I still want it all with you. I've never walked away from what I want, Gianna and I won't start now."
Her chin trembled slightly in my chin, as her eyes shimmered with tears. "How are you this…perfect?" she whispered.
"I'm not perfect, baby." I thumbed the tears under her waterline. "I just think you're worth fighting for."
I guess that did it, because her face twisted and the tears started zig-zagging down her cheeks.
"You jerk—" she hit my chest playfully. "You made me cry." Chuckling, I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tight. "Goddamn Disney prince," she mumbled into my chest making us both laugh.
Pulling back, I held her face in mine staring into her eyes. "You coming home with me tonight?"
She nodded. "Nowhere else I'd rather be," she smiled.
Kissing her forehead I nodded. "Let me go let the staff know I'm leaving and then we can head out."
"Okay." She nodded.
Threading her fingers through mine, we said our good-byes to the staff and headed out. The ride to my parents was quiet, R&B filling the space. My hand periodically resting on her thigh to ground her. The weight of the night on our minds but I wasn’t going to let it hinder me.
When we pulled up to my parents' house and I parked, I looked over at her. "Come inside with me," I said quietly.
Her eyes widened slightly. "You sure? It's late."
"I know…but I want you too. They're probably still up anyway."
She looked hesitant. "You sure they won't mind?"
"They won't. I promise," I assured her.
She paused a moment before nodding in agreement.
Walking over to her side, I helped her out and kept her hand in mine as we walked up the walkway.
Once we hit the porch and I took my keys out, I felt her hand tighten around mine.
I lifted our hands quickly to place a reassuring kiss on the top of hers before opening the door.
The glow of the TV greeted us as soon as we walked in. My parents were sitting together, robes on, sharing a bowl of popcorn with an open bottle of wine on the table.
"Hey, y'all," I greeted gently closing the door behind us.
Mama reached over and clicked on the side table lamp. "Oh my—hey." She greeted us. "We weren't expecting company. Remy, you should've told us." She fussed standing, and pulling her robe tighter around her body. "I would've prepared better."
"You don't need to prepare, Ma," I smiled, leading Gianna over as Pops stood as well.
"I'm so sorry if I'm intruding. I can go wait in the car." Gianna offered thumbing towards the door.
Mama waved her off. "Nonsense. You're here now, sweetheart," she smiled. Her warm gazed looked her over. "It's good to see you again."
"You too," Gianna replied politely. "And you as well, sir." She turned towards Pops.
"Stanley will do," Pops responded in that gruff but kind tone of his. "We're happy to have you."
"Have a seat." Mama pointed towards the couch. "Gianna, you sit next to me."
Gianna nodded and sat down next to her.
"You know you could've picked him up in the morning, son." Pops spoke, taking a seat in his favorite armchair. "He's knocked out now."
"I know." I sat next to Gianna. "But tomorrow is Saturday and we always make pancakes together in the morning."
Pops smiled in understanding.
Gianna looked around with a smile. "Your home is lovely by the way. I love the color scheme." She turned her head to Mama. "You do all the decorating yourself, Ms. Betty?"
"Believe it or not—" Mama began with a smile. "My husband did a lot of it. He has a good eye." She leaned in. "Secretly loves interior design but don't tell anyone."
"Oh wow—" Gianna laughed. "That actually makes sense."
Pops chuckled. "You think so?"
Gianna nodded, eyes scanning the room again. "Yeah. Remy told me you do construction. You can always tell when a man understands structure beyond just putting things together. Everything in here feels balanced. Nothing is competing with anything else—it all flows.”
I could tell Pops was impressed by the way he leaned back in his chair. "Most people assume that men in my field aren't capable of much outside of assembly."
"And they would be wrong," Gianna replied. "But people often assume they understand a person based on their career and status until they take the time to explore the inner workings of what makes a person."
Oh shit—she was going there already. I wasn’t expecting it at all. My eyes flicked from my parents, and I could see that they had caught on too.
"I don’t ever want to be misunderstood or judged by my work—" she looked between them. "And because I've never been a woman to shy away from tough conversations, I won't now." She exhaled slowly. "I know Remy told you all what I do."
Mama exhaled slowly, her hands resting on her knee. Pops leaned forward more. The silence was thick.
"I know it's late and I kinda just busted into your home while you two were enjoying your evening," she continued. "But since I'm here—I want to put it in the air so that the next time we meet, we can really get to know one another without any feelings of awkwardness."
She turned to me, eyes holding mine for a minute as my heart started going crazy in my chest at her boldness and strength she had to have this conversation. Taking my hand, she placed it in her lap.
Eyes still holding mine she continued, "You two have raised an incredible, loving, gentle, patient and open-minded man. A man who sees past stigma's and biases and sees me. I care about him deeply."
My eyes misted over and I all could was smile at her.
She turned back to my parents. "If Remy is a testament to the kind of people you are, then I can't wait to get to know you both."
The room went quiet for a moment. Mama’s hand stilled on her knee, her eyes fixed on Gianna like she was taking her in all over again. Pops didn’t move either, his elbows resting on his thighs, his hands clasped together as he studied her closely.
I could feel my pulse in my ears. Gianna’s thumb brushed lightly over the back of my hand in her lap, soothing me even though she was the one who had just laid herself bare.
Mama was the first to speak. “Well…” she exhaled softly, shaking her head once as a small, almost disbelieving smile touched her lips. “You certainly don’t lack courage.”
Gianna let out a quiet breath. “No, ma’am. I don’t.”
Her eyes dropped briefly to our hands before lifting back to Gianna’s face. “I appreciate you saying it yourself instead of letting us form our own conclusions.”
Pops nodded slowly. “Takes a certain kind of woman to walk into somebody else’s home and stand in her truth like that,” he said. “Most people would’ve waited. Or avoided it altogether.”
Gianna sat up a little straighter. “Avoiding it wouldn’t change it. And I don’t want to build anything on miscommunication.”
Mama leaned back slightly, her fingers lacing together in her lap as she let out another slow breath. “I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I don’t have feelings about it,” she said honestly. “Because I do.”
My stomach knotted.
But Gianna didn’t flinch. She just nodded. “I respect that.”
Mama’s eyes softened. “But what I also see, is a woman who is self-aware, respectful, and kind. And that matters to me more than anything else."
Relief washed through me so fast it almost made me lightheaded.
"Besides, my grandson adores you. Can't stop talking about you.” She grinned nudging her softly. "Is it true you flipped off the swings?"
"Damn near," I cut in, looking at her.
Gianna laughed lightly. "I jumped off them," she corrected. "But I adore him too. He's the sweetest thing," she sighed fondly.
Pops glanced over at me briefly before looking back at Gianna. “My son doesn’t move lightly,” he said. “If he’s standing beside you like this, bringing you around, then that tells me something.”
Gianna’s grip on my hand tightened just slightly.
“And I trust my son and his choices,” Pops added simply.
I swallowed hard, blinking a few times as I looked down for a second before lifting my head again.
Mama leaned forward, placing her hand gently over Gianna’s where it rested on mine. “We’re not going to get everything figured out in one night,” she said softly. “But you’re welcome here. And we can take the time to learn each other the right way.”
Gianna’s eyes shimmered, but her smile was steady. “That’s all I could ask for.”
Mama squeezed her hand lightly before pulling back. “Good,” she said with a small nod. “Now…since you done opened the door, we might have some questions later.”
Gianna laughed softly. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Pops leaned back again, a faint smile on his face now. “Yeah…you'll fit just fine,” he muttered. "My daughter is going to love you. She always wanted a sister."
"Me too," Gianna replied.
I looked over at Gianna in awe and wonder. This feeling in my chest growing so big it felt like I would explode. I realized in that moment that I did love her.
Not falling anymore.
I loved this woman.
We chatted for a little bit longer before I went up to get Melo.
At the door, Mama hugged Gianna warmly. "Me, you, and my daughter—let's do lunch, okay?"
Gianna agreed smiling. "I would love that."
They exchanged numbers while Pops looked over at me with that look of knowing. The same look he had when I brought Dri around. Once we left and I buckled my son in, I reached over and grabbed Gianna gently by her throat shocking her as I kissed her deeply.
When we finally pulled apart, she was breathing heavier. "Well damn," she chuckled.
"As soon as I put Melo in bed, I want you on my bed, spread eagle," I whispered against her lips. "I'm about to eat the shit outta your pussy."
She gasped lightly. "Then let's hurry up and get home." She kissed me.
Home. Not my home. Just…home.
This was happening.