10. Six
Six
One month later…
“ I am full!” Leni tossed her napkin on the table and reached for her glass of lemon water.
We’d had brunch at Napal Café, and I think we were both stuffed like fat rats now.
I skimmed through my phone, checking notifications on my IG page, when I got a text from Brick asking me what I was doing.
I had a guard on me, so I don’t know why he was acting brand new.
Ever since all the shit with Skully, he’d been extra protective though, which was understandable.
I’d been super cautious since, but for the last two weeks, Leni and I had been spending time together.
At first, I was torn about letting her back into my life, and skeptical as hell.
Eventually, I gave in after deciding not to let the past dictate our future.
Since neither of us had heard from Darlene, I took it as a sign that she’d found another meal ticket and moved the fuck on.
“What’s got you smiling all big?” Leni rested her chin in her hand and leaned forward with a grin. “Is it Brick?” she teased, batting her eyes playfully.
I couldn’t help but blush. Yeah, the nigga had me turning different shades of red when thinking about him.
Lately it was hard being around him. Not because of anything he did, but because of how he made me feel.
When we were in bed or he would kiss me, it took a lot of restraint to not throw the pussy at him.
He’d been so patient and attentive, but he hadn’t been putting any kind of pressure on me, which was also turning me the hell on.
The fact that he was letting me take the lead on this meant that he respected me.
Now I was just in my own head about giving up the cookie.
“It is,” I answered after typing a quick message to him, letting him know I’d be back at the house soon. I set my phone on the table, and Leni shook her head.
“I don’t know how you’re not fucking him yet. He’s rich and fine. You would have to pull me off that nigga if I were you.”
“It’s not all about sex, Leni.” I grabbed a tortilla chip and dipped it into the lobster dip on the table. I claimed I was full, but the shit was so good I couldn’t stop eating it.
“Well then, enlighten me, baby sister.” She eased back in her chair and tucked her arms across her double Ds sitting up in the tight V-neck top.
“It’s more than that with Brick. He listens, he’s attentive, and we have something more between us than sex. I like that we’ve built this foundation with each other first. We’re friends, and we enjoy each other’s company. How many people you know in relationships with people they don’t even like?”
“Girl, most of that shit don’t matter if a mothafucka is financially set. You can fake everything else.” Leni waved the notion off.
“Well, it’s not like that with us,” I argued sternly, watching her hike a brow with interest.
“Let me be real with you here, Six. Men are men. They are all the same. Especially after you give them some pussy. Right now, you have an advantage. Brick is being all loving, doting, and charming because he hasn’t smashed. You’ll find out who he really is when you give him some,” she insisted.
I didn’t want to buy into it, but I knew there was some truth to it because I’d seen it happen to girls in high school.
The boys would get praised for it, but the girls would get called fast little hoes if they gave it up.
The double standard was something I could never get behind.
Swallowing the last of my tea, I left cash and a tip for payment on the table, and Leni and I left the café together.
We climbed into the front seat of the G Wagon I’d been pushing around, and she checked her reflection in the visor mirror.
“Don’t cheat yourself, baby sis. Just give him what he wants and keep playing his ass like the meal ticket he is.
Nobody is going to blame you for that. It doesn’t hurt that he’s sexy, funny, and has a huge social media following.
I mean, you’re basically dating a local star.
No need to play the background. Use that for yourself so when and if the time comes, you can break away and still figure out a way to make it on your own. ”
“I’m not worried about that.” I started the car and gave some serious thought to what she was saying.
Brick had never been anything but good to me, when he wasn’t being a complete asshole.
He never pressed me about sex or got mad when it didn’t happen.
I didn’t even think he was going out getting his rocks off with other women.
We spent too much time together for him to be trying to play me like that.
“Don’t be na?ve, little sister,” Leni warned after applying a coat of MAC gloss to her lips and pouting them together. “On another note, this little shindig should be fun tonight. I hope there are some more ballers there. I’m looking for a new sponsor,” she joked.
It was the night of Marcella’s event, and the estate had been crawling with caterers, floral companies, decorators, and more.
The entire house was covered in maroon, rose gold, and cream décor, making it even more elegant than it already was.
Some of the horses had even been arranged out front with colorful bows on them and saddles arranged in case anyone wanted to take them for a ride.
It was supposed to be some kind of charity function so that money could be raised for Guardian Lodge, along with a few other small, nonprofit businesses around the hood.
It was all for a good cause, and even I donated five thousand.
With the money Brick was having deposited into my account, I wasn’t hurting or in need of anything.
I didn’t even mind spending the day shopping with Leni and paying for everything.
She was my sister, and if I had it, so did she. It was nice having her around.
“Listen, I wasn’t trying to be mean or make judgments on your relationship.” She got all serious when she saw me focused on the road and not very responsive. Gripping the wheel a little tighter, a small smile turned up the corners of my mouth, and I glanced her way.
“It’s cool.”
“No, it’s not. I’m not trying to get into your head about this.
I just know you’re a virgin, and the first time can be .
. . intense. For many reasons. Take it from me, as a woman, we tend to get caught up romanticizing that and latching on to whoever the person might be.
You’re inexperienced, and it’s obvious he isn’t.
You would be making yourself vulnerable to him in many ways, and he could take advantage and use that against you.
It’s the last thing I want, but it happens.
You think something is more than it is only for your bubble to get busted down the road when you’ve already become invested. ” She mumbled that last part.
Maybe she was right. Brick and I hadn’t even known each other that long.
The entire basis of our relationship was to make him look good for the public and help him with the inheritance his father planned on leaving him.
Somehow, through the course of that, it had become a lot more.
I didn’t think I was alone in that view though.
“I’m not trying to get in your head?—”
“Yeah, little late for that,” I scoffed. “But I needed to hear it. No sugar coating. It’s still up to me whether or not to let Brick in. Either way it’s a risk, right?”
“True.” Leni half shrugged as an alert went off in her phone in her lap. She picked it up and examined the screen. “Ugh, it’s Darlene.”
“What does she want? You been talking to her?”
“Not really. She texts, but I don’t respond, and now I guess she’s resorted to calling repeatedly even though I made it clear if you’re not fucking with her, neither am I,” Leni huffed.
“You don’t have to do that for my benefit.”
“Six, she’s toxic as hell. We both know that. Our brothers know it.”
Just the mention of them had my heart anxiously thudding while my grip tightened on the steering wheel. I wanted to be rid of Darlene so bad, and I damn sure wasn’t interested in looking over my shoulder for Skully the rest of my days.
“Have you talked to any of them?” I glanced in her direction before maneuvering the whip onto the expressway so we could head back to the Marek estate.
“Who, Lester and the boys?” Leni kidded and cackled to herself. “Nah. Not in some years. He tried to reach out last year, but I blocked his ass. What about you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Hell no. Not after everything.”
“They were troubled little boys, Six. With Darlene as a mother,” Leni expressed.
“Doesn’t make it right.”
“No. It doesn’t. We were their sisters, and they were supposed to be our protectors. I think they all projected their anger at Darlene onto us. It was easier since they felt helpless when it came to her.”
“It’s that easy for you to make excuses for them?”
“I choose not to be angry all the time. I can’t let them have that kind of power over me. Why should I?”
When she put it like that, it made it hard not to see it.
I’d spent a lot of time holding in aggression and hatred toward all of them, but who was it helping?
Damn sure not me. Leni had a point there.
Shaking my head, I was just about to steer us onto the ramp for the expressway when she gripped her phone and sat up.
“Oh shit!” she hissed.
“What?”
“Darlene said she found Skully’s stash at one of his houses!” With eyes stretched to the size of two saucers, she looked over at me.
“So what?” I turned up my nose.
“Six, we have to go!” Leni encouraged.
“I’m not going all the way to Omaha. You want to do that, you go right ahead. I don’t give a fuck about that money.”
“Oh, that’s right, because you’re already set up behind this whole fake relationship with Brick Marek,” she let slip off her lips as she looked out the window. She said his name mockingly and I didn’t like that shit.
“What are you talking about?”