12. Vanya #2
“More than twenty-four hours, and my ass is over here feeling like a fiend. This food is good as hell, but I don’t really have an appetite. And I don’t want to get irritable and start snapping on people.”
I didn’t want that either. Cabo was too beautiful for the trip to be wasted with negative energy.
Breakfast grew quiet, and I hated that Tasha’s presence had turned our trip so…
awkward. I couldn’t even be certain if Pearce was actually fine or just pretending really well. It shouldn’t even matter. But it did.
“You good?”
“I wanted to ask you the same thing.” I sat back with a sigh.
“I know what you told me, but are you really okay? I know you want answers. Even if you think you don’t need or want it, closure might be good.
” I swallowed down a lump when I thought about the fact that a conversation could very much give them resolve. The closure might not happen.
“And I said not here.” His response wasn’t hostile or aggressive. But I knew that the question had irritated him a bit, so I was going to let it go.
“Okay.”
My anxiety would be on ten while waiting and wondering when the conversation would take place once we got back from Cabo and if he’d ghost me.
Why does it matter? Even if our union wasn’t real and even if I knew the situation would end one day my very short marriage to Pearce had been fun.
I was scared as hell of his father yet awakened at the same time.
Pearce had activated the parts of me that I never thought would be activated again because most of these men were trash.
Pearce stood up and walked out onto the balcony.
My eyes closed as I cursed internally. It was little shit like that.
Every move he made every word that left his mouth had me searching for clues if he wanted to say fuck me and go find Tasha.
I made a promise to myself to let it go and enjoy the rest of Cabo.
I finished my food and washed it down with orange juice. Pearce walked back into the room. “The butler is on the way up to get the food trays. He’s cool as hell, so I’m gon’ ask him if he knows where I can get some weed. I’m sure we’ll have to go off the resort to get it.”
“Okay.”
“Come here.”
I hated how that one command made my heart lurch.
The fact that I wanted to run to him was sickening.
The way his tone activated my coochie muscles was absurd.
Pearce was dangerous as hell for all the right reasons.
Except for the fact that the main reason he was dangerous was because whether he wanted to admit it or not his heart belonged to Tasha.
I couldn’t compete with that. Shit I wouldn’t try to compete with that.
I’d only end up hurting my own feelings, and I was good on that.
When I was in front of Pearce, he smirked at me before cupping my chin. “Don’t think I forgot to wake you up with this dick in you. As soon as we get back from riding ATV’s and take showers, I’m doing something real disrespectful to you. Got it?”
His promise had me dizzy. Shit, I was ready now.
Rather than saying that I simply nodded, and he pecked my lips.
The buzzing of Pearce’s cell phone interrupted our moment.
With a sigh, he released my chin and went over to get his phone from the table.
I watched his brows furrow, and my heart drummed hoping that it wasn’t Tasha.
“Hello?”
With bated breath I waited to see who was calling. Pearce’s brows rose, and he glanced over at me.
“You don’t know any details?” He listened while keeping his gaze trained on me. “Damn. Keep me posted.” Pearce ended the call, and my throat bounced as I swallowed painfully hard. I wanted to know what the caller told him, but he was clearly taking his time repeating the information.
Between him and his damn father my heart wouldn’t be any good the way they’d stressed it. “Pearce who was that?” I finally asked with wide eyes.
“My father was arrested. For the murder of Tequanna Boyd, Talik Jones, and the attempted murder of you and Marlon Boyd.”
“I didn’t say anything.” My body grew so warm, it was physically uncomfortable. If Kalim thought I had snitched he would kill me for sure, and I doubted that Pearce would be able to stop him. Just as I became lightheaded, I was hit with a revelation.
“Wait, you said attempted murder of Marlon. He’s not dead?” my phone rang on cue. Glancing over at it I could see that my mother was calling me. I was sure the answer to my question was one that she knew, but I wanted Pearce to tell me.
“Nah he’s not. Turns out he was an informant.
He’d been working with the police trying to get some charges he got dropped.
He gave them a little info but then started bullshitting them.
They started following him watching his moves and who he was dealing with.
Seems my pops realized Marlon and Talik were following him that night but didn’t peep that Marlon and Talik were being trailed by the Feds.
When they realized Marlon was alive, they got him to a hospital and put him in protective custody.
While he was there in a coma, they began investigating my father.
And I’m pretty sure these charges won’t be the only ones he gets hit with. ”