Chapter 30
CASH “MONEY” BANKS
The smell of bacon woke me up. Jasmine snored softly next to me, her leg tossed over mine.
It was a habit she developed when she started staying over my house.
I moved carefully, wincing as pain shot through my ribs.
My face was also sore, but manageable. If I were home, Dr. Middleton would’ve patched me up, but I had to thug it out here.
We were only staying at CJ’s safe house for three days. It would’ve been too hot to fly immediately after the gala. The police were probably reviewing flight records, and our quick trip in and out of New York would’ve raised a red flag.
Jasmine stirred, stretching before blinking up at me with sleepy eyes.
“Hi,” she murmured.
I gently stroked her cheek. “Hey,” I replied. This woman pulled a softness out of me that I didn’t know existed. I’d been with plenty of women before and cared for a few deeply, but Jasmine had me ready to hand over my whole heart to her.
“Why you looking at me like that?” she asked with a furrow in her brow.
“I’m trying to figure out how you manage to look so pretty even though you got crust in your eye and your hair’s all fucked up,” I smirked.
“Oh, whatever,” she laughed as she shoved me playfully.
My face twisted as pain shot through my side. “Shit,” I muttered, closing my eyes until it passed.
“Oh my God!” She sat up. “Shit. I’m sorry! I forgot!”
I let out a low chuckle. “You tryna put me on the sick and shut-in list, huh?”
“Stop! I’m serious!” she fussed. “What do you need?”
I ran my fingers up the length of her thigh. I felt goosebumps rise on her skin. “I need you to sit that pussy on my face,” I deadpanned, my fingers trailing between her legs.
“Cash!” she squeaked.
“You asked what I needed.”
“But you’re hurt,” she argued.
I bit down on her shoulder hard enough to make her gasp. “I’m a grown ass man. You forget the first time you saw me, I’d been shot?”
She rolled her eyes and sat up with a huff. “You’re ridiculous.”
”I know,” I grinned, adjusting myself on the pillows. “Now take them shorts off and feed me my breakfast.”
She bit her lip. Slowly, she raised her hips, slid her shorts off, and tossed them off the side of the bed.
I took in every inch of her smooth brown skin. My dick bricked up painfully against my boxers. She hesitated, eyes scanning my face for any sign of discomfort.
I didn’t care how needy I sounded. “Jas…” I pleaded.
She straddled me carefully, bracing her hands against the headboard as she lowered herself over my mouth.
“Good girl,” I murmured, wrapping my arms around her legs. I pressed soft kisses along her inner thighs and let my nose graze her clit, smirking when her breath hitched.
“Stop teasing me,” she whispered, her body trembling slightly.
“You mean like this?” I asked, nipping at her again. She bucked against me and whimpered softly.
Her gasps filled the room as my tongue slid between her slick folds.
“Don’t hold back, baby,” I groaned against her. “Ride my face. Give me that shit.”
She gripped the headboard tighter, her thick thighs quivering as she settled her weight on me. She rolled her hips slowly and dragged her pussy over my tongue, while I lapped up her essence. I swirled and flicked my tongue over her swollen bud before sucking it into my mouth.
“Money!” she cried out hoarsely. “Oh my… fuck!”
I held her steady and gripped her thighs to keep her right where I needed. She trembled above me, her breath coming out in shallow gasps.
“Come on, baby,” I murmured. “I know you’re close. ”
Her head tipped back as she cried out, her body shaking uncontrollably as she came and coated my beard.
“That’s how you start the damn morning,” I said, my voice husky.
“You really are ridiculous,” Jasmine laughed. She brushed her fingers along my jaw before kissing my cheek. A dreamy, satisfied smile spread across her face.
She wrinkled her nose. “Wait… is that bacon?”
On cue, her stomach rumbled loudly.
“Alright, I guess it’s time to feed you for real,” I teased.
She squealed happily and hopped out of bed.
I got up slowly, gritting my teeth as my body reminded me just how banged up I was. A sharp huff escaped me before I could bite it back.
Jasmine’s head snapped in my direction, concern etched across her face.
”Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered. I grabbed a clean shirt and made my way to the bathroom.
“You don’t have to be hard all the time,” she called after me.
I ignored her and started to brush my teeth. Jasmine came in a few moments later.
“I’m not acting like anything,” I said, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
She sighed and grabbed her toothbrush, brushing her teeth in silence next to me.
When we finished, she reached over and wiped a stray drop of toothpaste from my chin.
I kissed her. “Your thoughts are written all over your face. Stop worrying.”
I let her finish freshening up while I headed downstairs to the kitchen. The smell of eggs, bacon, and coffee hit me the moment I reached downstairs.
Jelani was at the stove, scooping crispy potatoes into a Pyrex dish while Slim scrolled through his phone.
Jelani glanced over his shoulder and smirked. “Y’all finish kissing and making up?”
“Shut the fuck up,” I flipped him off and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. “Where’s Fontaine and Nai?”
“They went to get Jasmine’s stuff from Marcus’s condo,” Slim replied, loading food onto a plate.
“Wait a minute.” Jasmine’s voice cut in as she entered the kitchen. “Jelani cooks? Since when?”
“Don’t let the handsome face fool you, nurse. I’m full of surprises.” He winked and turned back to the stove.
“Does Monica know you can cook?” she asked, swiping a piece of bacon.
Jelani’s smile faltered before he masked it with a smirk. He placed the home fries on the island. “She’s still learning about me,” he said lightly.
Jasmine frowned. “That’s very vague, but okay.”
I shot Lani a look, but he shrugged and went back to cooking.
“Aww shit!” Nairobi walked into the kitchen, rubbing her hands together. “Lani blessing us with breakfast?”
Fontaine followed behind with two suitcases in tow. He set them down, then looked at me. “Damn, Money, you look like shit.”
I rolled my eyes and took a sip of juice. “I’m aware. Y’all ain’t gotta keep telling me.”
Nairobi walked over to Jasmine and handed her a phone.
Jasmine’s face lit up.“My phone! Thank you!” She threw her arms around Nairobi, who stiffened before awkwardly patting her back.
“The hospital probably fired me, but at least I can call Monica and Amber,” she said.
Fontaine cut her enthusiasm short. “I’d hold off on calling your people until we get back to Atlanta. Your name was on the guest list, and you were Marcus’s date. There’s some chatter on the police lines about them wanting to bring you in for questioning.”
Jasmine’s smile faded. “What?” Her eyes darted anxiously between Fontaine and me.
“Can’t you just scrub her from the system?” I asked Fontaine.
He grabbed a plate and sighed. “Theoretically, yeah. But I’ve been busy cleaning up the shit show from the Reapers. They had fucking rocket launchers, remember?”
“We’ll rap about it after breakfast,” I said, glancing at Jasmine. I still wasn’t ready to talk business in front of her.
Thankfully, the mood lightened as we settled into our meal. Jasmine held her own—she was cracking jokes like she hadn’t just been holed up with her psycho ex for nearly a week. Her bright energy was contagious, and even Nairobi’s hard-ass demeanor seemed to soften around her.
After breakfast, Jasmine volunteered to clean up so I could talk with the others privately.
“Get a fucking room,” Jelani grumbled as Jasmine went to kiss me. It was a quick peck, but since he wanted to talk shit, I reached around and grabbed her ass.
“Cash!” she fussed, swatting at my chest. Her brown cheeks flushed as she turned toward the sink.
In the office, Slim was already stretched out in one of the armchairs. He got straight to it. “Marcus’s whole shit is a mess now that he's dead,” he said. “CJ said the Reapers started hitting up his stash houses, and they’re finna sell off his shit. They promised to keep it out of Atlanta, though.”
I leaned back in my chair. “I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”
Slim nodded. “But CJ wants the Reapers to be our only weapons supplier from now on.”
I mulled it over. We’d always gotten our guns from the Cubans in Miami, but the Reapers had come through in a major way last night. If my pops trusted Big Creed in the past, that had to count for something.
“Whatchu think, Lani?” I asked.
“I don’t see why not. If what they pulled out last night is any indication of what they’re working with, we already up,” he said.
“True,” I nodded. “Talk to CJ and see what the prices look like. Let’s make sure it’s worth our while before we lock anything in.” It was time my brother had more responsibility, and there was no better time than now.
Fontaine leaned forward. “We can probably get out of here in another day or two. There’s a small private airport in White Plains we can fly out of. I’ll change the names on the flight logs so everything’s clean. West can meet us there.”
“Good.” I was itching to get back home and put this shit behind us.
Jasmine still hadn’t given me an answer about staying after her contract ended, but we’d cross that bridge eventually.
After tying up a few more loose ends, we headed back to the living room.
Jasmine was sitting on the couch, flipping through TV channels.
Her face lit up when she spotted Nairobi.
“You look like you can handle guns,” Jasmine said, throwing an arm around Nai’s shoulder.
I snickered as Nai looked at Jas like she had three heads. “I can…”
Jasmine perked up. “Think you can teach me how to shoot when we get back to Atlanta?”
“I could teach you just fine,” I offered.
Jasmine put a hand up. “Uh, no thanks,” she shook her head. “You probably gonna be too extra with it and piss me off. I wanna learn from the Black Lara Croft.”
I sucked my teeth. “You don’t even know what she does forreal.”
Nairobi glanced at Fontaine. He had an amused look as he waited for her response. She cleared her throat and chuckled nervously.
“We’ll see,” she said. “Depends on my next contract.”
Jasmine was oblivious to the shift in energy and handed Nai her phone. “Here, give me your number so we can keep in touch.”
Nai quickly entered it and passed the phone back. Jasmine turned her attention to Jelani and smacked him upside the head as he plopped down next to her.
“You think Monica knows how to use a gun?” she asked.
“Fuck if I know. Ain’t that your friend?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Ain’t that your girl?”
Nairobi used their bickering as an opportunity to slip out of the room. Fontaine’s eyes tracked her, and after a beat, he pushed off the wall and followed.
Slim nodded toward the hallway. “So that’s a thing, huh?”
“Been a thing, but I guess they’re done hiding it,” I mused.
Slim snorted. “Well, good luck to that man. Nairobi is a runner.”
I cut my eyes at him. “How you know so much about her?”
Slim shrugged. “You work with someone long enough, you figure out their habits. That woman’s all about her bag and nothing else. Fontaine might complicate things, but shorty finna hit the bricks on that nigga.”
He had a point. Nai’s ability to slip in and out of lives made her an asset, but a liability for someone like Fontaine.
“They’re grown, they’ll sort it out. Ain’t got shit to do with us unless it affects business,” I said.
“True,” Slim replied. “But you already know that nigga’s in for a rude awakening if he hasn’t prepped himself.”
He was right. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t our business, and it was another reason why I never mixed business with pleasure. There was too much potential for mess.
“Ay, Money!” Jelani called from the couch. “Get your girl, she doing too much!”