Jaheim
My date with Liana had finally arrived.
If I thought my nose was wide open before I was wrong. It was open for eternity now. Finally being able to date her and fully step into the role of her man had a nigga on cloud nine all week.
I floated through every day of it. Liana helped with that, keeping the conversation going, the vibes right, even though we had agreed not to see each other until Saturday.
That was the dumbest suggestion I had ever made in my life.
I said it, she agreed, and neither of us was going to be the one to break first. So I spent the week texting her too much and counting down the days, hours, and minutes.
I pulled up to Liana’s home at five thirty on the dot. I noticed her Jeep and a truck parked behind it. I cut the engine, checked myself in the mirror once, straightened my chain, and got out.
The porch light was on. A soft vanilla scent drifted through the screen door from a candle burning somewhere inside. I inhaled and tried to settle my nerves. It wasn’t like we were strangers. We were well past being strangers. This date was only the first of what I intended to be many.
Tonight, I just needed to confirm what I already felt in my gut.
I knocked.
The door opened, and as I suspected, it wasn’t Liana.
“Daddy, I got it,” I heard her say as she came around the corner, hopping to slide her heel on. She smiled when she saw me and rolled her eyes when she clocked her father. “I told you about opening my door.”
I smirked.
Lawrence Bloom filled the frame with the kind of presence age, reputation, and hard years built into a man. It probably intimidated other people. It didn’t do shit to me.
He put his pants on the same way I did. The respect between us would be mutual or it wouldn’t exist at all. I was prepared for either outcome.
Still, family meant everything to Liana, so I intended to do my part.
Lawrence looked me over once from the doorway, quiet and unreadable, before finally speaking.
“Who’s the prize here, son?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“She is, sir. Always has been. Always will be.”
Lawrence held my eyes for a moment. Then he nodded once and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you again, Jaheim.”
“Should I have her back by a certain time, sir?” I asked, cutting a look at Liana, who smirked and kept putting things in her bag without looking up.
“No, you will not. I’m an adult, ain’t that right?” she asked.
He scoffed before a laugh finally broke loose from somewhere deep in his chest. “Well. My job here is done.”
His attention shifted to Liana. “Be careful, baby girl. Call me if you need me.”
Then his eyes landed back on me, and every trace of humor disappeared.
“Jaheim. I speak four languages, know hand-to-hand combat, and can bury a body so deep it’ll make the mob look amateur. Do with that information, what you will.”
“Heard. Nice to meet you, sir.”
We shook hands again and he walked out like he hadn’t delivered the smoothest threat I’d ever received in my life. I stood there in the entryway watching him over my shoulder until the front door finally closed behind him.
“Hey bae.”
Liana walked into my open arms. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“Don’t be.” I held her for a second. “I didn’t expect anything different.”
She pulled back and looked up at me.
“Let me see you,” I said.
She stepped back and turned slowly, showing off thick hips, toned calves, plum stretched over an ass that had been distracting me for weeks.
My whole train of thought disappeared as I continued to take her in.
The freckles across her cheeks lifted when she smiled. Soft curls framed her face while gold jewelry stacked at her collarbone and wrist made her look like a queen.
Lawrence Bloom could’ve buried me under the damn garden and it still would’ve been worth it.
Her soft brown skin against that deep color had me ready to risk it all.
“You look…” I exhaled slowly. “Good enough to fuckin’ eat.”
“I thought so too,” she replied, walking toward the door.
I slapped her on the ass. “Yeah, let's get out of here before you become the plum, gahdamn.”
She laughed and pointed at the door. “Out. Now. Before I change my mind about this whole thing.”
“I mean it, Trini.”
“I know you mean it. That’s the problem. Let’s go.”
I held the door for her and watched her walk out onto the porch. I told myself we were going to make it to Meridian before I said anything else that was going to get us sidetracked. We had a reservation. I was going to be a gentleman.
I opened the car door for her.
She paused. Eyes on the door then on me. “You meant that,” she said, getting in.
“What?”
“Me being the prize.”
“Always have and always will. I’m not a liar, baby.”
Her smile went so wide I leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth before I closed the door.
We headed toward Coupeville. Music low, the highway opening up in front of us, her hand finding mine and resting it on her leg. I lifted it and kissed it.
“I hope Meridian is okay. I know uhm.”
“Coupeville is fine.” She looked out the window. “I’ve reclaimed my time and peace.”
I squeezed her hand and let that sit because it deserved to. She had come a long way to be able to say that and mean it. I wasn’t going to insert myself into that moment. This was years of work. Her work.
I had arrived just in time to watch her finally appreciate everything she’d built. She had been so focused on surviving and rebuilding that she barely recognized how far she’d already come.
I recognized it even when she didn’t.
We rode the rest of the way with the music low, her hand in mine, and by the time Coupeville came into view she was singing softly and rocking in her seat.
Happy. Relaxed.
I took quiet pride in knowing she felt safe enough to be that version of herself around me.
That was cocky. It was also the truth.
Meridian sat on the rooftop of a building in the heart of the city. When we stepped out onto the terrace the whole skyline spread out below us, lit up and alive. Liana put her hands on the railing and took it all in. I stood behind her and took her in instead.
“This is the best view,” she said, turning to look at me. “Better than The Vue.”
“The best view is in you.” I held her eyes. “Rare gem. Beauty all around it. I know that now.”
She smiled and looked back out at the city.
We were escorted to our table, wine poured, appetizers and entrees ordered, and by the time the city settled below us, we had loosened up enough to start giving each other the real things.
“What happened at Palio’s?”
“You won’t put it in my name on some get back if I tell you, will you?”
“Pretty lady, I make no promises. Tell me what happened.”
“It was Odeal’s favorite spot. It was how he showed off and impressed people. Not me, though. He almost killed me at Palio’s.”
I sat up and leaned closer. “Come again?”
“Not on purpose. Well, at least I don’t think.
He had a business meeting. I joined as the doting wife while he performed for the table and ordered for me like he always did.
” She picked up her wine. “Jambalaya. He said I needed to expand my palate and stop ordering the same small-town shit every time we went somewhere nice.”
I frowned.
“I didn’t realize there was shellfish in it until after I took a few bites.
My throat closed up right there at the table while he sat there looking stupid.
” She shook her head slowly. “That was our marriage though. Constant little moments that made me feel like he was trying to turn me into somebody else.”
“Is that what scares you about love and all that?”
“No,” she said flatly. “Not even close.”
She hesitated, and I let her take her time because I had learned Liana needed space to find the door before she could walk through it.
“I’ve never told anyone this part before. Not Noeva. Not my daddy.” She looked down at her glass. “The baby is what did it. That’s what caused me to black out. That’s what made me afraid of love.”
She laughed once, but there wasn’t any humor in it.
“I loved that man completely, Jaheim. Then one day I found out all that love didn’t stop him from building something with somebody else while I was home trying to be the perfect for a man who wasn’t being perfect for me.” She shook her head slowly. “That’ll make you question everything.”
“The lamp.”
“Yeah, the damn lamp.” She looked way too pleased with herself suddenly. “I’d crack that nigga over the head again without hesitation. I got bond money now. Thanks to you.”
I watched her try to deflect and laugh it off. I wasn’t letting her slip out of this one that easily.
“Liana.”
“Hmm.”
“You said the baby is what did it.” I kept my voice easy. “Evelyn’s baby.”
She looked at me.
“Or yours?”
Silence stretched between us for a moment.
“Both, if I’m being honest.” She set her glass down carefully. “Losing the child I wanted was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. Going through it alone was worse.” Her voice softened. “Sometimes I wonder if he was with her while I bled on our bathroom floor.”
Rage and tenderness hit at the same time. I wanted to hurt that man a little. Hold her a lot more.
“Aye.” I reached across the table. “We don’t have to do this tonight. This is supposed to be a night that puts a smile on your face.” I squeezed her hand. “Tell me about The Bloom. The real story. Your grandfather.”
Her whole face changed when I mentioned The Bloom.
Pride settled into her features so naturally it made me wonder how many nights she’d spent sitting at that kitchen table listening to family stories.
She leaned back in her chair, picked up her wine, and smiled softly.
“My great-great-grandfather, Eugene Bloom. He came to that land with nothing but a mule and a plan. His tenacity built everything you see from the ground up.”
She tipped her glass toward me.
“But The bar specifically was my grandfather Bernard’s vision. Back then, it was mostly music, dancing, and bootleg liquor for the workers after long days on the farm. Now it’s like a rite of passage.”