Chapter 29 Tariq “Reek” Horton
TARIQ “REEK” HORTON
Everybody was at the Cartier private club, dancing, drinking, and laughing.
I had brought Sienna with me for the celebration because she and Langford had pressed that tonight was not the night to play games with optics.
Politics were even more heavily involved in this project’s success now, and Langford was supposed to show his face tonight.
If any photos emerged from this celebration, onlookers needed to see that me, Sienna, Langford, and the Cartiers were a big happy family.
Sienna stood right beside me all night like she was my woman. She kept her hand on my arm, and she would lean in close when she talked to me.
She looked too comfortable on my arm.
I played my part too. I laughed when I had to and stayed where cameras could catch us. But my eyes kept drifting. Ava was across the club in a different section, posted up with Zahra and some of the other women.
She looked too fucking good to ignore. That long hair fell down her back in soft waves, and those light eyes made her stand out in the room.
The dress she had on was black and tight, short enough to make a man stare, with cutouts that showed just enough skin to be a lil’ disrespectful.
The neckline was so low that her perky breasts threatened to spill out.
I wanted to think shorty had put that shit on for me. Ever since I’d flirted with her outside of Sincere’s crib, she’s been so timid around me. I could smell her pussy leaking every time I spoke to her. But she knew, just like I did, that I was no good for, so she kept her distance, as she should.
Her eyes often met mine. I could tell how her expression hardened when Sienna touched me. I saw the way she stared at Sienna’s hand on my shirt like she wanted to move it herself.
Langford walked up right when I felt like I was watching Ava too hard. I thought he’d caught me, until he slid in with that politician grin, shook my hand, and kissed Sienna on the cheek. “Hi, baby girl.”
Sienna smiled. “Hi, Daddy.”
Langford looked at me again. His smile stayed, but his eyes got serious for half a second.
“We’re entering the implementation phase now.
This is when people start watching closer.
This project still needs city cooperation, and city cooperation needs a clean story.
You and Sienna are the bridge. People need to see that bridge every time they look at this project.
You disappear, she looks abandoned, and my support looks questionable.
Then the board starts asking questions again.
So, don’t do no dumb shit and embarrass my daughter.
Not while we still need favors. You want this development to keep moving, you keep her close. Period.”
I nodded once. “Understood.”
He patted my shoulder, then he moved on to the next group of people he wanted to holler at.
Sienna turned to me and kissed me on the cheek. “This vote most likely wouldn’t have turned out in the Cartiers’ favor had my daddy’s connection to them not been so obvious. Thanks for obliging.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “It’s business, and I always handle my business.”
She smiled. “True. But I could actually see something real with you, Reek.”
Before I could respond, somebody lifted a phone for pictures. Sienna pulled me in close, and her hand pressed flat against my shirt as the camera flashed. She leaned in and whispered, “We make a good team.”
I stared straight at the camera and posed for the picture.
After a few more photos and too many people speaking to me, I slipped away toward the back of the club to get some air.
The back patio was quieter. The spring air felt perfect. A few people stood off to the side smoking weed and talking shit. I walked to the edge and looked out over the edge towards the tree line.
“Look at you, Mr. Politician.”
I turned around to see Ava smirking up at me.
“Mr. Politician?” I chuckled. “Come on, Ava, you know what it is.”
She giggled, shrugging. “I don’t know. You get any closer to her and her father, people might start to wonder what side of the game you’re really running with.”
“Fuck what others might wonder. I’m wondering what you've got hidden under that dress.”
I scoffed lightly to play it off, but my eyes lingered on her full and inviting lips, the way they curved when she teased me. Damn, she had no idea what she did to me, stirring up that attraction I tried to ignore. Her body was a distraction I didn't need, curves that begged to be touched.
“Looks like you care more about what’s under Sienna’s dress.”
“Stop looking so hard.”
“I wasn’t looking. I was just…observing.”
Her eyes flicked back toward the club, then back to me, and I caught the spark between us, the one that made my pulse do something that other women never made it do.
I stepped a bit closer, close enough to catch the faint scent of her sweet and teasing perfume, matching the way her dress hugged her curves.
“Observe all you want, sweetheart. I love when your eyes are on me.” When she swallowed hard and flushed red, I decided to take her out of her misery and change the subject.
“Me and Sienna are a business arrangement. That’s all it is.
We are an item on paper. That's it. You know that.” I held her gaze, letting my tone turn playful.
My hand brushed lightly against her arm, and I knew it sent a little jolt through both of us.
“But if you're jealous, baby girl, just say the word. I'd love the chance to show you how I’ve been thinking about wrecking that pussy, and Sienna and any arrangement won’t stop that.”
Ava's cheeks flushed and her breath hitched as she stood there, eyes wide and locked on mine, like my words hit her right where her clit was pulsating.
She shifted her thighs together, and I could smell the sweet, musky scent of her juices leaking from her pussy, soaking through whatever she had on under that dress, her body betraying how bad she wanted me despite everything.
Seeing her vulnerable like that made me want her even more.
She was too good for my world, too pure for a nigga like me who chased thrills but never settled.
I got any woman I wanted with a wink and a line, but Ava was the one I craved.
Her innocence made me hard just thinking about corrupting it, teaching her to moan my name, but I couldn't.
No strings, no future—that was me.
Ava blinked hard, straightening up quickly, forcing a cool smile as she tossed her hair back, trying to play it like she was some tough big girl, not the innocent little thing I knew she was underneath, all wide-eyed and aching for what I could give her.
“Well, that can’t happen, because you’re involved…
on paper.” She took a sip of her drink like she didn’t care, but she cared.
I could feel it. And the worst part was I cared too, more than I should.
Her lips on that glass had me imagining them wrapped around something else, something thick and ready for her.
She stepped around me. “Enjoy the party, Reek.”
“Ava—” I reached out and my fingers grazed her wrist and turned her back toward me with a gentle tug.
God, she was beautiful, and it took everything not to pull her close right then, to whisper how bad I wanted her, how she'd be the exception if only I could be the man she deserved.
But I wasn't. I'd ruin her with my ways, leave her wanting the family life I could never give.
Still, the temptation burned, making me want to taste her, claim her, even if just for one night.
Zahra’s voice cut through my thoughts and our tension. “Everybody, come here real quick!”
I blinked like I’d forgotten where I was. Ava jumped out of her skin and scurried away.
I followed the small crowd from the patio back inside. People moved toward the center of the club, trying to guess what Zahra was up to. She stood there waiting with a gift bag in her hand, trying to keep it cool, but failing. Her eyes looked shiny like she’d been crying already.
Saint was across the room, watching her with a confused look on his face.
Zahra looked around until she confirmed everybody was paying attention, then called for her husband. “Saint, come here.”
He walked over slowly, suspicious as hell. “What’s going on? It ain’t my birthday. It ain’t our anniversary.”
People laughed.
Zahra smiled, but her hands were shaking a little when she held the bag out. “Just open it.”
Saint stared at the bag. “Zahra, what is this?”
“Open it,” she pressed, giggling nervously.
I glanced to the side and saw Ava with her phone up, recording with a huge smile on her face. She looked excited like she’d been waiting on this moment all day.
Saint finally reached in and pulled out a tiny black onesie. It had the Cartier crest on the front, and under it in gold letters it said BABY CARTIER.
Saint froze.
The club gasped in that split second everybody realized what it was before he did.
He stared at it, then looked up at Zahra. His eyes went wide, then grew teary. “Stop playing with me,” he said, and his voice cracked hard. “Stop playing, bae.”
Zahra shook her head, already crying. “I’m not playing.”
Saint looked back down at the onesie like he didn’t trust his own eyes. His mouth opened, then closed. His hands started shaking, and the tough act fell right off him. “You serious?” he whispered. “You serious, baby?”
Zahra nodded, crying harder. “Yes.”
Saint sucked in a breath like it hurt. Then he grabbed her fast, pulling her into him like he needed to feel her to believe it. He kissed her face, forehead, and cheeks.
“Damn,” he whispered again. His eyes stayed on her, shining, stunned, almost scared to believe it. “You’re having my baby? I’m going to be a father?”
Zahra held on to him, laughing and crying at the same time. “Yes, Saint.”
He pulled back just enough to look at her again, eyes full of love I wished I knew how to feel for a woman. “I’m about to love you so good for this. You hear me? I’m about to take care of you. I’m about to take care of both of y’all.”
Zahra nodded, wiping her face. “I know.”
Saint looked down at the onesie again and then held it to his face for one second like he couldn’t help it. Then he looked around the room, eyes still glassy, and said, “I’m a father, motherfuckas!”