Chapter 4 Naijhel
NAIJHEL
Ismiled when the Mercedes pulled up to the dock. I knew that if she refused to get in the car, Shane wouldn’t have driven here, but he would have called instead.
I watched as he stepped out of the car, walked to the rear door, and opened it for her.
My eyes lit up when I saw her delicate foot, encased in a gold, strappy sandal, emerging from the back seat first. Slowly, her calves and then a thick thigh was revealed.
I was pleased because that meant she was either wearing a short dress, skirt, or shorts.
I saw that I was wrong when she exited the car completely, but I was not disappointed.
Delaney wore a long, floral wrap skirt that blew open in the wind, exposing those thick, glorious thighs.
She wore a yellow silk tank top with a matching yellow silk sweater.
Her long, luxuriant hair that had been flowing in waves to the middle of her back on the two previous occasions that I saw her, was now pulled up in a high, playful ponytail that swung sideways and brushed her shoulders.
If he wasn’t a happily married man, I would have been jealous at her reaction to Shane versus her reaction to me.
She gave him the most beautiful smile, but the minute her eyes met my gaze, they were spitting fire, and her full, heart-shaped, pink-glossed lips turned down.
I maintained my smile because I intended to do everything possible to make her smile again.
Delaney Synclair was a gorgeous dark-skinned, voluptuous woman—a woman who Clayton Settles hadn’t known how to handle for the life of him. Her smooth, rich, mink-brown skin glowed underneath the afternoon sun and radiated with health and vitality.
Her almond-shaped, chocolate-brown eyes regarded me with boredom and disinterest as she approached me.
Her long, curly eyelashes gave her eyes a seductive, bedroom appeal.
The woman definitely knew how to play up her greatest assets because besides the mascara that she applied to her beautiful lashes, her candy-coated pink lips were outlined in a deep burgundy color.
Thick, arched eyebrows lifted when I greeted her with, “Good afternoon, gorgeous.”
She turned her heart-shaped face away from me when she asked, “Is it?” and looked around the dock at the other boats.
“It is a very lovely afternoon, and I presume it’s about to get even better.”
“You shouldn’t make those presumptions,” she replied in a sultry, Southern tone.
At five-three, she was roughly 250 pounds, and her curves were distributed appropriately. Her large breasts were barely contained in the tank that she wore, but she had applied a bronze glitter to them that shimmered in the afternoon sun.
I turned my gaze away to avoid disrespecting her by licking my lips, but God knew that I wanted to taste her. The wraparound skirt that she wore hugged her thick thighs, curvy hips, and ample ass. Her belly was round, and she hadn’t even bothered to wear a girdle like most women might.
I loved a thick, beautiful, confident, dark-skinned sister.
God, how had she wasted so many years on a fool like Clayton Settles?
The thought of him had me grinding my teeth.
I had taken my time to come around to the evidence that was given to me a year ago.
It wasn’t easy, but after diligent research and knowing where to look, I was able to corroborate everything the investigator had given me.
I had yet to implement retribution on Clayton Settles for lying to and manipulating me, but it had nothing on what I would do to him for making this beautiful woman suffer.
“Welcome aboard,” I stated, taking her hand and helping her onto my catamaran.
“What are you doing?” she asked, looking around.
“What does it look like? I’m taking you on that date that I promised you.”
“You didn’t have to promise me anything. You could have pledged the money, and the museum would have been just fine.”
“I could have, but that would have defeated the purpose of the auction, now wouldn’t it?”
“Where did you get that type of money from anyway?” She was still looking around the catamaran.
“Delaney, just as it’s not polite to ask a woman her age, it’s also not polite to inquire into a gentleman’s bank account.”
“That doesn’t apply here. Unfortunately, you know more about me than you should, thanks to how we met. Therefore, since you know my age and everything else, I can ask where’d you get the money from to bid on me like that and then turn around and have me on this boat. Drug money?”
“Absolutely not! You’ve made a valid argument, but—”
“No buts. I get it. You make a killing ripping off unsuspecting women who are being schemed by their slimy, snake in the grass ex-husbands.”
I turned my lips down. Her smoldering resentment toward me wasn’t surprising or even unexpected, considering that I represented the man who took her for everything after making her live in hell for eight years.
But I wasn’t going to allow her to maintain that attitude throughout the rest of our date.
“How about before we judge, we get to know each other?”
“I have no interest in knowing you. Besides, I already know more than enough.”
“That remains to be seen. You only know what you were exposed to during the court proceedings. You don’t know me as a person. You know nothing about me at all, and unfortunately, you’re judging me by the man I represented.”
“Don’t you also mean by the company you keep?”
“Contrary to popular belief, your ex-husband and I are not friends. My brother and my best friend knew him. He’s never been a friend of mine and even more so now.”
“As it relates to this boat, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I promise that I’ll have you back before sunset. We’re just going for lunch.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t trust you. As a matter of fact, I’m not even sure why you chose to bid on me and how you came to be there that night.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and navigated to Sociogram while I explained to her.
“I am good friends with Charles and Amanda, as you heard that night. He sent me an invitation and encouraged me to attend. In the past, I have always sent donations through my nonprofit, but I seldom show up for events. It has been more than five years since I last attended one, and I thought it was time to do that.”
“Or you figured that was a way to get to me.”
I shrugged as I started a live video. Winking at Delaney, I spoke to my phone.
“What’s good, my people? Listen, I’m about to take a lovely young woman onboard this catamaran for an afternoon of sailing and lunch,” I explained, turning the camera around to show off the catamaran but avoiding exposing Delaney without her permission.
“And here’s the registration number.” I pointed at the hull.
“We are riding with Captain Omar Pierce. I just want her to know that I can be trusted taking her away. We will be away for three hours, four tops, but I need her to feel comfortable going away with me. Should she go?”
I kept the camera focused on the boat as I moved beside her and showed her the comments that were flowing in.
“What?”
“Read them.” I held the phone out so that she could read what my followers were saying.
She shook her head, refusing to look at my phone. I muted it. “Log into Sociogram on your phone and read if you don’t want to look at mine. The name’s ‘By_the_Law’.”
“I somehow doubt that,” she muttered, pulling her phone from her purse. I waited until she had logged on to the app.
“Guys, keep those comments flowing. She’s reading now.”
She shook her head. “This doesn’t mean anything. They’re your followers. Of course, they’re going to be on your side. Even if you were a serial killer, they’re going to support you, as long as it entertains them.”
“My boat has a tracking device on it. I’ll give you the information to share with someone you trust.”
I could see that she was wavering, and I took advantage of it.
“Alright, everyone. Thanks for coming on, and yes, we will have a wonderful date. I appreciate you guys. Who knows? I may have just met the future Mrs. King. After all, I need a queen by my side who can carry this heavy crown.” I winked at her and ended the live.
“I don’t know who you think that queen will be, but I can assure you, Mr. King, it’s not me.”
“Give me your phone,” I commanded, holding my hand out expectantly.
I could see the wariness in her eyes, but she gave it to me anyway. I sent a text to my phone number and then pulled out my phone and responded to it with the link to the tracking device on the catamaran.
“Share that link with anyone you want to.”
She eyed the text closely and tapped the link. I watched as she checked it out to see how it worked and looked at the location on the map.
“Are you satisfied?” I asked as she tapped some keys on the phone.
“Hey, Aria. Hold on for a sec. I’m about to put you on three-way with Daddy.”
I lifted an eyebrow, wondering where this call was going. I hadn’t met anyone’s dad on the first date, but I wasn’t afraid of whatever she brought my way.
“Daddy? I’ve got Aria on the phone, and I’m placing you both on speaker.”
“What’s going on, baby girl?” A man’s gravelly voice greeted.
“I’m on a date. Aria knows all about it, Daddy, but she doesn’t know the details, and I’m calling to give you all those details.”
“Who is the gentleman you’re going out with? I presume it’s a gentleman, and I hope it’s not some other trifling ass nigga like that ex you called a husband.”
I couldn’t help but smirk at her father’s commentary.
“Daddy, we’re going on a lunch cruise on his catamaran. I’ve just texted you and Aria the boat’s registration number along with a tracking link so that you can follow our location. Please test it now before I end the call.”
We both waited while they did as Delaney instructed. She kept her gaze trained on me, and she appeared to be challenging me as she stared at me.
“Big sis, it says that you’re down at the docks on the North Side.”
“Thanks, Aria. Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby girl. I got the same information your sister got. Does that jive with where you’re at?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Anytime you have to do all this because you don’t trust a person, you should go with your gut and stay away from them. I don’t give a damn if they do got a boat. Tell that nigga if anything happens to my baby girl, I’ma fuck ’im up.”
She smirked at me and replied, “He hears you, Daddy.”
“Yes, sir. I have nothing but the greatest intentions toward your daughter. It’s why I asked her to send you all that information and shared it with my followers on Sociogram.”
“You heard what I said.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Del and Daddy, you both need to relax. At some point, Delaney’s got to get out there again, Daddy. She deserves to have happiness and find a man who’s good to her too. She can’t let Clayton’s past behaviors impact her future.”
I felt a twinge of guilt about that, but I kept my mouth shut.
With the way that Delaney was glaring at me, I didn’t need to say anything.
I thought about everything that I had discovered as well as what had been shared with me, but I chose to keep quiet for now.
There would come a time when I needed to share that information with her, and I would know when it was the right time.
“All right. I’m about to end the call now. I just wanted to make sure that you guys knew where I was and what was going on.”
“Baby, you didn’t tell me who he was.”
Delaney looked uncomfortable as she cleared her throat. The smirk was gone.
“It’s Clayton’s divorce attorney.”
“What the fuck you just say to me?”
Her dad was really on one, but I couldn’t blame him. If I were in his shoes, I would react the same way.
“Sorry, Daddy. Gotta go.”
She ended the call abruptly and then glared at me. Inhaling and slowly exhaling, she tucked her phone away and then looked back up at me. With her eyebrows lifted, she asked, “Well, aren’t you going to give me a tour?”
I chuckled and replied, “You’re something else, you know that?”
“As long as you know.”
Her tone was sassy, but I loved that. It let me know that despite all Clayton had taken her through, he had not killed her spirit. She didn’t seem to believe in love or trust men anymore, but I was on a mission to change all of that for baby girl.
“Delaney, meet Captain Omar Pierce. He will be sailing the catamaran this afternoon.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Delaney. I hope that you enjoy the cruise.”
We turned to the woman standing beside the captain, and I introduced her. “And this is Skylar Pierce, his wife, and our private chef for the afternoon.”
“Hello, sis. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ll be serving shrimp, catfish, grits, parmesan roasted green beans, a squash casserole, slow cooked sweet potatoes, and drop biscuits. If there is anything else you would like in addition to or in place of that, just let me know.”
“That sounds delicious, and I think what you’re serving is perfect,” Delaney replied to Skylar, with a beautiful smile.
They both nodded, and when I took Delaney’s hand and led her away, her stomach growled loudly.
I smiled and winked at her. “Don’t worry. You’ll have a good time and a delicious meal,” I promised.