Chapter Nine
Xyleek
The moment Gabriae opened her eyes, I was liable to choke her simple-minded ass out.
I knew she was unconscious, so she didn’t know how many times those stupid ass nurses called me, but that was beside the point.
The damn point was that she had me in a fucked up predicament with my shorty, and I wasn’t feeling that.
I had to get my mom to lie and fake like she had been in the hospital just to cover up the truth.
Lucky for me, I had a mom that was always with the shit when it came to me, even if she didn’t like it.
How the fuck was I supposed to tell Drek about Gab?
I wasn’t. Gab was supposed to be in my past, yet, she had weaseled her way into my present.
And if she didn’t have a damn good reason as to why I was listed as next of kin, then she was gon’ end up in a grave.
I didn’t like having to lie to Drek after I told her I wasn’t on bullshit anymore. Thanks to Gab though, I had already spun an intricate web of bullshit and hoped it stayed far away from my front door. I wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with anything besides bliss and happiness.
I watched as Gab slowly blinked and looked around the hospital room before her eyes landed on me. “Xy.”
“Gab,” I returned, short and cold.
“I feel like I’ve been hit with a boulder,” she groaned, attempting to move around in the bed.
“You gon’ be hit with a bullet next,” I whispered under my breath, standing up and moving to her bedside. “Why do you have me listed as your next of kin, Gabriae? We’re not family.”
Blankly staring at me for a moment, she turned her head and gazed out of the window. “You were a good friend to me, and I don’t have anyone else, Xyleek. My parents are dead, and my sister doesn’t talk to me. I figured if something happened to me, at least someone knew.”
I heard the words coming out of her mouth but none of them amounted to a good enough reason to have me on her paperwork. The thought of killing her right where she lay was pressing against my brain. I didn’t need that kind of attention at the moment though.
“Listen, I’m glad you straight, but I can’t be up here, Gabriae. I can’t explain this bullshit to my lady, understand me? I can’t, and I don’t even want to try. Call your sister or one of your friends or anybody but me to be up here with you because I can’t.”
“Really, Xy?” Her head snapped in my direction, causing her to wince in pain. “We’ve been friends for three years! I could’ve lost my life, and you can’t explain to your lady why you’re at the hospital making sure your friend is okay?”
Sucking my teeth, I flicked the tip of my nose and exhaled deeply. “You’re not a regular friend, Gab. My dick has been inside of you, so no, I can’t explain that shit to her. She wouldn’t be cool with that.”
“Then you need to re-evaluate your relationship. Just…get out, Xyleek. I’ll be fine,” she spat, turning her head away from me again.
Shrugging, I walked out of the room where Dean was standing, waiting on me.
Without saying a word, we got on the elevator and departed from the hospital.
My other bodyguard, Ashaun, was at my jewelry store with my phone in his possession.
I needed it to look like I was there so that Drek didn’t check my location while I was at the hospital.
I told her I had an important business meeting with a client, so I’d be tied up for the next hour or so.
I knew that was enough time for me to slip in and out of the hospital after they called to tell me that Gab had woken up.
If I told Drek I was in a meeting, then she’d wait until I called her so that she didn’t interrupt business.
See? Intricate web of bullshit that I wished I didn’t have to spin in the first place.
“Everything cool?” I asked Ashaun the second I got back into my office.
He pushed my phone in my hand. “As ice. She didn’t call.”
“Bet,” I plopped down at my desk, dragging my hands down my face. “Fuck, man.”
“Is that a problem we need to take care of? The girl in the hospital?” Dean questioned.
Dean and Ashaun had been with me for almost six years, so they were privy to a lot of the situations I got myself into with women. They were my bodyguards but also trained assassins, which meant they moved and thought as such.
I shook my head slowly, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Nah. She’s not a problem right now, more of an inconvenience than anything.”
“Inconveniences very easily turn into problems, X. You know that,” Ashaun warned as if I didn’t know that.
“I’m aware, A,” I shot him a look that told him to tread lightly.
My nerves were already on edge simply because I lied to my woman…again. I don’t know why I felt like shit was about to get hectic, and I was lowkey reconsidering Dean’s offer. There was a potential for this to come back and bite me in the ass, and that was the last thing I needed.
“You’re gon’ have to tell Dreka, or let us handle ol’ girl,” Dean advised after a moment of silence.
“These bitches never know their place with you, Xyleek. That’s always been the problem and the reason you get caught up.
If you’re gon’ be serious about her this time, come clean now and let us handle the rest.”
Dean was older than Ashaun, so he was always coming across like a father figure whether I wanted him to or not.
Ashaun was like an annoying older brother being that we were only six years apart.
We regularly bumped heads, but it was never ‘bout shit, so we bumped heads and made up in the same day. That nigga Dean though? Oh, Dean was always tryna school me, and as a fatherless child, at times, I appreciated that. Now wasn’t one of those times, but I was listening anyway.
“I’m not coming clean about a fuck ass thing. I’m lying to protect her.”
“You’re lying to protect yo own ass, nigga, don’t say it’s for her,” he fired back.
Dean never did agree with all my cheating, and he was very vocal about it.
He wasn’t a yes man like most niggas in my life.
He didn’t tell me the shit I wanted to hear; he told me what I needed to hear, but that didn’t mean I always took heed to his words.
He told me how bad I was running Drek into the ground back then, it just went in one ear and out the other for me.
“Miss me with that moral compass bullshit, Dean. You act like I’m looking for a way to hurt her…I’m not. I’m just tryna keep the peace, that’s all.”
“Your peace is built on a gahdamn lie,” he folded his arms across his broad chest. “You’ve done it enough times to write a book on it.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back to get comfortable.
Clearly, this conversation wasn’t gonna be over anytime soon.
“And what exactly would you like me to do, Dean? Hm? Sit my shorty down and say hey, I lied, a bitch I used to crack has me listed as next of kin, so I really went to go see her in the hospital?” I tapped my ear.
“Do you hear how fuckin’ crazy that sounds? ”
He dryly chuckled, shaking his head. “You know what’s gon’ sound crazier?
The silence in yo crib when Dreka leaves you for good.
You claim you love her, and then turn around and do shit that’ll make her question it.
X, you…you have this fucked up pattern to you when it comes to her.
Instead of trying to control the damage you cause, control the fuckin’ problem… you.”
“You done?”
There was another pause before he mumbled something under his breath and walked out.
Ashaun looked at me like he didn’t know what the fuck to do, so I nodded towards the door, silently dismissing him from my presence.
Once I was alone in my office, my thoughts started beating my ass.
I tried to weigh the pros and cons of telling Drek the truth but thinking of how hurt and disappointed she was gon’ be made me want to keep up the charade.
I should tell her the truth simply because that’s what a man does when he loves somebody, even if it hurts.
Picking up my phone, I stared at my lockscreen that was a picture of me and Drek chilling on my couch.
She was laughing in the picture and looked so damn happy.
I couldn’t ruin that happiness again just to look more trustworthy in her eyes.
Dragging my hand down my face again, I squeezed the sides of my eyes and gnawed on my top lip while trying to decide what the best option was.
Either way, I was fucked, but the chances of her finding out I lied were slim to none as long as Gab stayed in her lane.
Me: Hey Angel, just wrapping up this meeting. You okay?
Sweet Angel: I’m good. The meeting went smooth?
Me: Yeah, we can talk about it later. I miss you and can’t wait to cuddle.
Sweet Angel: I miss you too, Mr. Chambers. I’ll see you soon, the contractors are almost done with the shop.
I blew out a deep sigh of relief as my shoulders finally loosened a little. Her texts were exactly what I needed them to be, normal and unsuspecting. For now, the charade had to continue.