Chapter 35
We settled on them coming to visit around Christmas since the league gave us a three-day break during the holiday. Ishmia and I had finally moved into our new place, a penthouse apartment at the St. Louis Sable Residences, and things seemed to be calming down. Smoke hadn’t fucked with her since she got the restraining order, and the narrative he tried to spin, pretending the order was an attempt by her to ruin him, quickly fizzled out, but she and her lawyers were still putting together her strategy for truly exposing him and the other industry creeps who’d taken advantage of her.
“You ready for this?” Ishmia asked.
I sighed into her hair, pulling the back of her body closer to the front of mine. I was as hard as Roman concrete, but that wasn’t a surprise seeing as my shit was pinned to her soft ass.
“Absolutely not, but I don’t think I ever will be,” I admitted. “This is a form of ripping the Band-Aid off. I want to meet him in person. I…a part of me is excited about it. Another part is afraid I’ll be disappointed.”
“You think it’s worth the possible disappointment, though, right?”
“I think I’d rather be disappointed than never know him at all. I want to know him…I think. Shit.”
“It’s okay not to be sure. You can play it by ear, open the door right now and close it if you need to. Just remember, Mr. Rapp, you call the shots. The boundaries are yours to set.”
I grasped her soft breast, kissing her shoulder. “Yeah.”
“What time will they be here?” she inquired.
“Around noon.”
“You want you some of this pregnant pussy to take the edge off?”
Lifting her leg, I slid inside her from the back, smiling when she gasped before moaning, “That’s some shit you didn’t even have to ask.”
* * *
I knew the plan. I knew my father, his wife, his brothers, and their families were all coming to see me. I knew my aunt and her husband and daughter were coming to see me. None of that was a surprise, and I welcomed the idea of being in the presence of a whole crowd of people who shared my blood, but as the hour of their anticipated arrival approached, I moved closer and closer to losing my entire mind, vacillating between excitement and abject fear. Ishmia and I sat side by side on our new sectional sofa, a white leather one she’d picked out. She held my hand as we waited in silence, and when the doorman called to let us know our guests had arrived, I damn near shit all over myself and that couch.
“Shit, I’m about to pass out, Ish,” I muttered. Something about knowing the only thing between me meeting my family was an elevator ride and the few steps it took to get to our place was fucking with my ability to stay upright.
“Breathe, baby. This is a good thing, and I’m right here with you. If need be, we can sneak into another room and I’ll give you some head to calm your nerves,” she offered.
Shaking my head, I replied, “Don’t make me laugh right now. I might piss myself.”
She giggled. “But seriously, if at any moment you feel uncomfortable, they can leave.”
“Yeah—fuck!” I yelled when the doorbell rang. “They’re here! What do I do?”
“Answer the door?”
“Oh…right.”
When I didn’t move, she did, standing and informing me, “I’ll answer it.”
Thank god, I thought, but found it impossible to speak. I watched her, that familiar feeling of time slowing down overtaking me. Ishmia opened the door, and in he walked, tall and big, like gigantic, an uncertain look on his face until his eyes fell on me.
“Shit,” he said, his voice shaky. He looked like he was about to drop, too. Seeing him like that calmed my own fears, and I stood, making my way to him on rickety legs as others filed into my home. I stopped right in front of him, staring at his face. I was only a couple inches shorter than him, but he was way bulkier. I could see him appearing menacing to people when he wasn’t in his current state.
Extending my hand toward him, I managed to say, “Hey. I’m Orlando.”
He took my hand, gripping it firmly. “Orlando…I’m Jah Mitchell, and I’m so fucking sorry I’m just now finding out about you. If I’d known, if I’d only known, I would’ve been there for you every damn day of your life. I promise you that.” It sounded like he tore the words from his soul, and when his tears came, I was helpless to stop mine.