Chapter 1 #2
Emmon held out his arm to block him from coming closer.
“I keep telling you to slow your roll, homeboy. Ask the lady if you can touch her. Consent, muthafucka.”
“E, it’s okay,” I said, lowering his arm.
JacQues looked between the two of us. “I think you should hire new security. This one is very unprofessional.”
I waved him off. “He’s just passionate about his job and takes protecting me very seriously.”
Emmon smirked. “Yeah. You never know when a nigga will get too handsy and I’ll have to chop them muthafuckas off.”
JacQues gave him a side eye before turning back to me. “May I hug you, beautiful?”
“That’s better, nigga,” Emmon said, slapping his arm so hard that the stumbled a bit.
I tried not to laugh as I answered. “You may.”
I put on my fakest smile and went into his arms. He squeezed me tight and kissed me on the cheek. Behind us, my mother and DaVinchi got out of their car. She smiled, and he winked at me as they headed inside.
“You look beautiful tonight,” JacQues complimented, as he released me.
“Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself.”
“Thank you. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Starving.”
“Well, let’s not keep you waiting.”
He linked our fingers and led us into the building. The hostess seemed to recognize him right away. She smiled and grabbed two menus.
“Right this way, Monsieur DuPont.”
She led us to a private table in the back.
Emmon walked past us and claimed a seat where he could survey the entire restaurant.
JacQues pulled out my chair and waited for me to sit before pushing me in.
As he was taking his seat, the server came over to get our drink orders.
While he ordered wine, I ordered a sparkling lemonade.
“Still not drinking?” he asked once we were alone.
“Nope.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing. That wine is the best in the city.”
“I’m sure you’ll have enough for the both of us.”
He chuckled. “I probably will.” He reached out and grabbed my hand, then kissed it. “Did I already tell you how fucking beautiful you look?”
I have a playful smile. “You did. But tell me again.”
“You… look… so… muthafucking… good.”
He enunciated each word with kisses from my hand all the way up to my cheek. He turned my face to his and kissed my lips. I tried not to gag because this muthafucka disgusted me.
He pulled away and smiled at me.
“You tempt me so bad, Celeste. I just want to taste you.”
“I know you do. But as I’ve stated, I don’t play were I make my money.”
He kissed his teeth. “A woman as beautiful as you deserves to know pleasure.”
I smirked as I propped my head on my hand.
“I know pleasure very well, love.”
He grabbed my hand and examined it with a smirk on his face. “You must put these pretty little fingers to work, huh?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
He placed a hand on my thigh, slowly inching it up.
“Give it time. I’ll know you inside and out. I’m not a man that’s accustomed to hearing no. Eventually, I always get what I want.”
He kissed my neck as he squeezed my thigh. Someone cleared their throat, and I was so fucking happy to see our server.
“My apologies, Mr. DuPont,” she said, setting our drinks down. “There’s a phone call for you.”
He sighed heavily. “Okay. Please excuse me, love.”
He removed his hand and stood from the table. The warm smile I offered dropped as soon as he walked away. I dug into my clutch and grabbed my hand sanitizer and travel-sized baby wipes. I couldn’t get the feeling of his touch off me fast enough.
“Nasty fucker,” I mumbled.
“I’m shooting that bitch if he touches you like that again,” Emmon threatened in my earpiece.
I shook my head, grabbed my sparkling lemonade, and gulped it down.
“You’re doing good, baby,” my mother said in my ear.
“Mommy, I’m gonna throw up the next time he touches me.”
“I’m ready to shoot his ass for you,” DaVinchi muttered. “Son of a bi— oh shit.”
I touched the earpiece discreetly hidden by my curls.
“What? What is it?”
“Uh, sis. You got company.”
“What do you mean?”
I heard footsteps approaching, and my hand instinctively went to the gun beneath my dress. When a figure walked past me and claimed JacQues’ seat, my eyes widened.
There was Titan, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit with matching loafers.
The suit fit so well that I could see his well-defined muscles.
His tall frame had always towered over me.
His brown skin was flawless, and that handsome face always held a mixture of mischief and arrogance.
Those thick, clit-sucking lips curved into a smirk as he stared at me.
His jewelry glistened even under the dim lighting.
His locs were freshly re-twisted and styled into one braid hanging down his back.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I whispered harshly.
Titan smiled as he looked at me. His diamond encrusted bottom grill sparkled in his mouth. Lifting the wine glass, he gulped it down.
“Good shit,” he mumbled.
“Titan, now is not the time for this shit.”
“No, now is the perfect time. Why the fuck does this nigga have his hands on you?”
“I’m undercover and you know that.”
“What I know is I don’t give a fuck.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “He touched you, and I don’t like that shit. Do you want me to air this bitch out?”
I inhaled deeply. “You need to leave. Why the hell are you even here?”
He sat back dramatically. “Where do I start? Number one, I told your ass you weren’t going on this mission with my baby in your stomach.”
“Baby!” my mother and DaVinchi exclaimed in my ear.
“Number two, you hopped your ass on that plane and came anyway. Number three, you aren’t answering my calls when you’re carrying my child.” His voice rose. “And number four… this might be my favorite one… I can be anywhere my fucking wife is.”
“Wife!” my mother and DaVinchi both whisper yelled in my ear.
I closed my eyes, knowing I was going to get an earful when I left here. It was true. I wasn’t this man’s baby mama. I was his wife. We got married one drunken night in Vegas a year ago. Nobody knew. It was a secret I planned to take to my fucking grave.
I told him we should have it annulled, but he said, fuck that.
To him, this was permanent and not the mistake I called it.
This man bought me a ring that I refuse to wear on my left hand.
It was sitting pretty on my right ring finger.
Anytime someone asked me about it. I lied and said that it was a gift I bought for myself.
I could not be married to this man.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
He laughed. “My best friend is married to your sister. Do you really think I wouldn’t have found you?
I gave you time to do the right thing, but clearly, I forgot who I was married to.
You see, Quaid is my brother. And Jaeda and I have grown very close since they’ve been together.
They held onto the secret of your exact location for as long as they could so that I wouldn’t come over here and compromise your progress.
But when I told your sister that my pregnant wife was out of the country on an unauthorized mission, she was all too happy to help me. ”
I was going to kill my sister… well, that was if she didn’t kill me first. She or Quaid could’ve given me a heads up. Instead, I’m sitting here listening to my husband spread all my secrets.
“Mia, you pregnant?” DaVinchi whispered in my ear. “Ima be an uncle?”
“DaVinchi, please shut the fuck up,” I muttered.
Titan chuckled. “Vinchi, I’ma kick your ass too.”
“Titan,” I said firmly. “You need to—”
“Shut the fuck up,” he said, just as firm. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to tell this nigga that you don’t feel good. You’re gonna hop your pretty ass back in that SUV and Elum is gonna bring you to my hotel. I’ve already sent him a location.”
I frowned. “You don’t get to come in here and interrupt what the hell I have going on.”
“All I know is there better not be a muthafucking thing going on between you and this nigga. You got him kissing you on the neck? Kissing you on the mouth and shit? You must really want me to turn up in here.”
“What I want is for you to leave.”
He chuckled, but there wasn’t shit funny. “People in hell want ice water. I want you out of this restaurant and at my door in the next thirty minutes. Don’t make me have to come find you because you know I will.”
He stood from the table to walk away, but turned back and cupped my chin.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he said softly.
I don’t know why that warmed my damn heart and made me blush as he walked away from me.
In my ear, my mama and DaVinchi were asking a million questions.
I could see Emmon in the back, shaking his head.
For once, I was happy to see JacQues approaching the table.
I quickly slipped into character, putting on my best pained face.
“I do apologize. Something’s come up and I have to leave. I’m sorry, Celeste. I’ll come by this week so we can discuss business.”
I wanted to jump for joy, but I composed myself.
“It’s okay, JacQues. I wasn’t feeling well anyway.”
“I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
I offered him a smile, but didn’t say anything else.
He extended his hand to help me up from the seat, then walked me outside with Emmon right behind us.
As we waited for our cars to pull up, I checked my phone.
There was a message from Titan stating he left me a key at the front desk.
I rolled my eyes, knowing that if I didn’t appease him, he would find me.
My car pulled up first, and I was all too happy to get away from JacQues. He opened my door and kissed my cheek as I got in. There were no other words spoken before he closed the door and walked away. I expelled a breath of relief and settled into the seat, mentally preparing myself for this fight.