Chapter 7
Ijumped up, realizing I’d fallen asleep and was late for my meeting. I didn’t have time to shower, but I changed into clothes that didn’t smell like sex. When I got there, I was an hour and a half late and knew Ward would give me a hard time. I walked into the bar to see Ward and Domino sitting at a table, laughing and talking. I sat at the table, waiting for them to take a break in their conversation.
“What’s her name?” Ward asked.
“Who?” Confused, I tried to recall what they were talking about.
“The woman who makes you show up late to meetings, smiling like a busted fool.” Ward joked.
“It’s all over your face, Caesar. I almost thought that you were Tavi walking in here.” Domino said teasingly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I lied, hoping they’d drop it.
“Don’t make me call Tavi.” Ward pulled out his phone.
I hated that she’d made me vulnerable in this way. Sure, I liked Sam, but I didn’t need to be so into her, and we’d just started this thing. Whatever it was. I needed to play it cool and not get my hopes up.
“Sam,” I mumbled.
“Samantha… Sam?” Ward leaned forward. “How in the fuck did you pull that off?”
“What’s that mean?” I turned to him.
“Sam doesn’t date. Or at least, she’s told most of the men I’ve ever seen approached her. That woman is more dedicated to her bookstore and her grandmother than anything else. It surprised me she’d even taken off after she messed up her arm. I understood when she took off all those months to take care of her grandmother, but she’s not the type of person that pities herself by taking a few days to rest her arm. How’s it healing up?”
“Sam’s okay. She stays medicated and sleeps a lot. She’s better than she was last week.”
“How long will she be down?” Domino asked.
“About eight to ten weeks. She broke it in three places, so they wanted to give her more time because of the locations of the breaks. She’s also going to go to physical therapy when the cast comes off to learn how to use it again after all this time.”
“I’m glad that you’re seeing her. I hope it works out.” Ward smiled sincerely.
“Me, too,” Domino responded. “Now, to business. We figured out that these feens came from downtown. When we saw that Rocko’s boys were down there, we put two and two together. Somebody has been after the Kings for a while, and we think this is just another play in their scheme.”
“So, what are we doing about it?” I looked between them.
“I’m going to send a little ‘thanks for fucking with us’ party to go say hi. Then we’re going to see what happens next. If we’re right, they’ll go away for a bit and return with a new plan. If they don’t, we’re going to Plan B.” Domino folded his hands in front of him.
“What’s that?”
“I’ll just blow everything until something shakes down. I prefer Plan A, but sometimes, you don’t get a say in which plan works out the best.” Domino stood up. “You make sure that no more dead bodies show up here. If they do, you need to deal with it quietly.” He gave me an assessing stare. “I don’t need the cops sniffing around anything we do. Legit or not. They’re bad for all of our businesses.”
I understood and nodded back to him. “No problems from here on out,” I reassured him.
“Good. I’ll see you, fellas, later. I have a doctor’s appointment to get to. Time to see how big my babies are getting.” Domino smiled and walked out. Family life looked good on him.
Honestly, I was jealous. I’d seen how happy they were, and I wanted something like it for myself. Until then, I needed to control myself. Especially if Sam wasn’t ready for a relationship, if she had wanted nothing before us, I didn’t want to pressure her into things now. I just wanted her safe and doing well. I”d keep my distance until I could control my need to fuck her into submission. We were all better off if I did. She could figure out what she wanted, and we could get her out of our system. I had bigger things to work on, like keeping dead bodies from surfacing.
Sam was a distraction I didn’t need. She could take her sweet ass home while I learned to cope with the withdrawal symptoms I will surely have. I looked down and saw the text from Torin and a vacuum sucked all the air out of the room. He’d signed that damn marriage decree to his ex. That blew this entire plan of getting him to like Sam out the fucking water and into the scorching fire.
Tonight at the bar went well. No incidents and I increased security at the entrances. The pat downs were more intense since they knew what they were looking for. Ward didn’t allow drugs inside at all. So either smoke what we offered or get lost. The day still weighed heavily on me. I knew the risks in what we did, but the good thing about washing money was that you didn’t have to worry about the drugs. They never mixed. Now, things are changing. It kept me guarded and my eyes everywhere. Let’s not talk about that fucking text from Torin either.
I walked inside the house, greeted by silence. Though I’d wanted Sam to surface and kiss away the heaviness, I knew it was best that she didn’t. Going to work off some of the steam, I went to one of my favorite rooms in the house. Inside hung a punching bag I wanted to take a go at. I stripped down to my boxers and put on my sneakers from the corner of the room. Prepping my hands for the gloves, I let the music pounding in my ears motivate my actions, pumping me up to do damage.
Stretching my neck, I took my first hit. Adrenaline soared inside, making more blows land against the bag. Left, right. Right, right, left. Uppercut, side swings, face shot, body. I roared when I zoned out everything that wasn’t in this room. I swung until my hands hurt, my body dripped in sweat, and the fog cleared from my head. Still charged, I jumped in place, bouncing that energy around. I imagined a rope was in my hands while I jumped. When exhaustion kicked in, I slowed, winding down. I stretched my tired limbs out and enjoyed the sounds in my ear.
A tap on my shoulder had me about to kick ass until I saw Sam standing there trembling. I’d stop my fist from connecting with her face right on time. Shit! I took the earbuds from my ear and put them on the bench.
“What in the fuck were you doing in here?” I shouted. “I could have hurt you!”
“And that’s enough reason for you to shift the blame on me! Hot and cold! I’m sick of this with you. Why can’t you own your shit like a normal person instead of berating other people? I came in here because I heard you shouting while I was in the kitchen. If you want us not to hear it, how about closing the damn door next time!” She spun around and stormed out of the room.
I counted in my head so that I wouldn’t go chasing after her. The plan was to stay away from her, not to get wrapped up in her even more. I wouldn’t run through my house to explain to her why I’d done things my way in my house. As far as almost hitting her, I hadn’t meant that, but she hadn’t exactly given me time to apologize.
I put my earbuds back on the charger and took a protein drink from the refrigerator. Drinking it, I peered up to see Tavi charging into the room like something was on fire.
“What’s your problem?” He demanded in my face. “You say you want this. Said that you wanted her. But then you turn around and almost knock her head off and blame her for it? What the fuck, Caesar?”
“First off, it was an accident. Why don’t you ask questions before you accuse?”
“Did you yell at her about it being her fault that you almost hit her?”
“I asked her why she was in here.”
“You’ve been shouting and going on here like the rest of us can’t hear it with the door open. You soundproofed it. That means we won’t hear it if you close the door. You left it open because you wanted to be found. Don’t give me your shit about blaming her for your shortcomings. All she asked of us was to prove that we were serious about a relationship. Instead, you do the exact opposite. You should have just been honest about what you wanted. With her and with me.” Tavi squinted at me while he waited for an answer. When I didn’t bother, he sucked his teeth at me and walked away.
“That makes for two of y’all jumping to conclusions.” I scoffed at the situation and wished that I had the energy to go for a run. He acted like he hadn’t received the same very text message that I had.
Going to my shower, I took a long one and let the heat relax me. I didn’t bother going to talk to them. I let them simmer on the other side of the house while I stayed here. Eventually, sleep won, but it didn’t come easy.
We have to let her go before anything even gets started.
It was in my mind on repeat. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I’d wanted this to work. So why was the universe working against us?
I got up early and made breakfast. She’d wanted pancakes, and because we’d chosen sex, I hadn’t gotten around to it the other day. Eggs, sausage, and bacon were served with it. I went to retrieve them, only to find Sam’s room empty and Tavi asleep alone in his bed.
“Where’s Sam?” I asked him.
“What do you mean?” He sat up.
“She’s not in her room.”
“I wouldn”t be either if you’d talked to me the way you talked to her.” Tavi got up wearing PJ bottoms and a wife beater.
We searched the house only to find her outside next to the pool.
“It’s too cool to swim.” I joked as we neared.
“Then it should be perfect for you.” She didn’t even look in my direction.
“Ouch.” Tavi chimed in.
“Listen, Caesar. I appreciate you trying to make this work. I can’t disagree with us working well together when we’re together. But when you shut down or put your walls back up, it makes me think you don’t want it or are not ready. And that’s okay. We can cancel altogether. I’ll be okay either way.”
“So you don’t want a relationship.”
“Right now, I don’t know what I want. I explained before that I have a lot on my plate. Like I said, I’ll be okay either way. I won’t let your issues become mine and vice versa. Tavi asked me to take a chance. You gave me these visions in my head about what it would be like to be with you. Then you turn around and shatter them like I don’t matter. I’m not a child. I don’t need to be chastised for your emotions. Talk to me about them or don’t. I’ll only give you what you give me. I won’t allow myself to get so invested in you that I lose myself. However, if you’re all in, so am I. When I’m all in, I mean it. The past two weeks have been amazing. And maybe it’ll be easier for you when I’m gone, and you don’t have to see me every day. This is where we are now, though. So, what’s it going to be, Caesar? Figure it out, or let me go?”
“Are you still going to the club later?” I asked Tavi.
“Yes. I was going to work the entire night. Why?”
I squatted down next to Sam. “Go on a date with me?” Against rationality, I knew I was pulling myself in further with her. I still hadn’t responded to Torin’s text and the thought was killing me. We’d never let a woman get between us.
“Is this your way of saying keep me?” She wasn’t buying any bullshit that I could have been selling.
“I’m saying, let’s go on a date. Afterward, I’ll answer your question.”
“Your fucking answer better be yes.” Tavi kneed me.
I know how he felt about Sam, but I needed to try again. I wasn’t giving in that easily. Maybe there was a way to talk Torin out of his arrangement. Or maybe it was time to let him do his own thing and we’d do ours. A lead ball formed in the pit of my stomach while thinking about splitting the three of us up. It was true that Torin traveled a lot for work, but that never wavered his ability to make our relationships work. I needed to talk to him to see what he wanted to do. Tavi seemed pretty transparent about what he wanted.
“I will give my answer at the end of the night. Not before. I want to date you. I’m asking for you to date me, too.”
Sam looked for the chink in my defenses. “This better not be a hot-cold trick.”
“It’s not. I’ll get something delivered for you to wear. Be ready by six?”
“Where am I going?”
“Just be ready.” I tilted her head upward and gave her a lingering kiss. “Six p.m. Don’t be late. I’ll meet you in the living room.”
“Okay. Until then?”
“You’re on your own. Breakfast is set up for you in the kitchen. I have plans to make.” I walked into the house and hoped this worked out in my favor. If it didn’t, I would be letting a wonderful woman go, and checking in on Torin’s plan for us. That”s not the ending I was hoping for.