Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
CRASHOUT
“Kong.” Phoebe’s firm tone stopped him when he reached the bottom of the large, winding staircase of their family home.
He was dressed for this whole date thing with Ayla, very casual, but still debonair.
“What’s up?” He paused mid-stride and faced her.
“Nay told me what happened at the park today.” She locked her fingers together in front of her.
“What that got to do with you?”
“That’s my daughter.” Her brows cinched together as her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “I want what’s best for her, and I thought you did too.”
“Look, this was never some exclusive relationship, and she knew that. I told her I wasn’t ready for that.”
“Oh, but you’re perfectly fine allowing her to take space in your bed when it’s convenient for you?” Phoebe surmised.
“She’s a grown ass woman. I never led her on or made her believe anything was coming from this. I fucked her. Maybe I fucked her a little too good if she’s this delusional about what this is.”
Phoebe’s mouth split open at his harsh revelation, and she let go of a sharp breath.
“She has been nothing but a friend to you while you sat around here brooding over that… basic little wife of yours! Don’t talk about my daughter like that!”
“If you ever want to step foot in this house again, don’t ever mention my wife!” Kong barked, making her flinch.
“Kostner!” Audiemar bellowed from the doorway to the kitchen.
Bringing his bottom lip between his teeth, Kong’s dark eyes never budged off Phoebe as his father approached.
“Phoebe is a guest.”
“I live here too. She doesn’t get to come in here and talk about anything she doesn’t know shit about.”
“And you don’t get to use my daughter then toss her aside when you find something else to play with!” Phoebe spat venom at him.
Ayla. That’s what this was all about. Nayelli was feeling the heat of having another woman so closely to Kong and his children lately.
It was obvious she was carving a space in their home, and Nay couldn’t stand it.
It was bad enough he had children; she didn’t want to share him with the help too.
Twyla being out of the picture meant that they finally had the chance she thought they deserved.
Kong wasn’t in that same space, or he hadn’t gotten there yet.
Seeing him slowly lower his guard with a stranger left Nay scrambling for his attention, using sex as her primary weapon.
“I’ll head out and pick up the food we ordered.” Phoebe cut her eyes in Audiemar’s direction, grabbed her purse from the hanging hook near the entrance, and let herself out. Kong’s pulse raced with anger.
“What was that about? I thought you were a little more grateful than that, Kong.”
“She don’t get to come in here and speak on my wife because her daughter got her fucking feelings hurt!”
“Are you telling me you haven’t been using Nay to ease your pain?” His father suggested.
“So what if I have?” Kong shot back with a hard glare darkening his features. “I didn’t lie to her. She wasn’t left unsatisfied. What the fuck else am I supposed to do with that? Have her believe some fantasy that one day I might be ready, so she can hold on to some delusion?”
“Looks like she’s already living one,” Audiemar summed up.
“And that ain’t my problem.”
“I warned you. I’ve always told all of you, don’t put your dick in these girls if you’re not prepared to deal with the emotions that come after.
I don’t care if you both agreed it was just physical.
Sex changes everything, and if you can’t take accountability for how you make a woman feel, you need to fall back.
” Audiemar poked his shoulder, and Kong’s nostrils flared.
He knew he was right. It was why it took him almost a year back in this house to fuck Nay.
She was throwing it at him every chance she got and eventually caught him in a moment of weakness.
It was never supposed to turn into anything else, and he’d allowed himself to get comfortable with her.
Now that he wanted or needed to nip that shit in the bud, things were complicated.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a breath.
“Now what’s going on with you and Ayla?” His father pressed.
“Nothing.” Kong was quick with his answer.
Too quick, which is why Audiemar’s brow hiked immediately with concern.
“We’re meeting Mozzi and Moose for dinner and drinks. That’s it. Boundaries. I’m not trying to take it there with her. She’s cool, and she’s good at what she does. You like her, right?”
“She’s driven, ambitious, and innovative.” Audiemar listed her qualities. “She’s also very young and green. Not used to a man of your caliber. We are lucky to have her here. The kids even seem to like her a little bit. Keep it professional.”
“It’s just dinner and drinks for a good cause,” Kong assured him.
“You might want to think about a marriage of convenience, son.” Audiemar slipped his hands into his slack pockets with his eyes briefly on the ground before lifting them to Kong’s. “I understand being a man and having needs—”
“Is that what this is with Phoebe? You catering to your needs?”
“We’re not talking about me,” Audiemar declared, tone low and even.
“Why? Because you’re exempt from analyzation? We don’t speak on you or Phoebe and whatever the hell it is going on with you two, so do me a favor and stay out of my situations.”
“If you establish boundaries from jump, then you won’t have to worry about lines being blurred. An arranged marriage benefits you and your potential wife. You do what you want to do with that.” Audiemar left him with those words and moved past him into the informal family room.
Kong had nothing else to say. Mozzi was usually the defiant one, but Audiemar telling him what to do with his life was rubbing him wrong. Shaking his head, Kong padded down the hall toward his destination.
Ayla had changed three times, and none of the outfits gave what she wanted.
Standing in the mirror in her bedroom, she examined her figure in the asymmetrical halter dress and heels.
It was simple, with a ruffled skirt that stopped mid-thigh.
She’d accessorized with gold hoop earrings and a few bangle bracelets.
After she got the kids settled after coming home from the park, she showered and washed her hair before putting it in curl rods and sitting under the hooded dryer for a while.
Now, she had a head full of spiral curls and a full, natural glam beat, but something still felt off.
Plopping down on the edge of the queen-sized bed, she sighed and reached for her phone as someone tapped on her bedroom door.
“Come in!” She nervously shot to her feet as Kong poked his head inside.
He made her heart skip a beat. She’d kicked off her shoes and was about to get undressed and say screw this whole thing, and Kong saw the weariness on her face.
“Something wrong?”
“This whole thing is wrong. I work for you. We shouldn’t be going out together. It’s unprofessional,” she concluded.
“Why don’t you let me worry about that? I was coming to see if you were ready. Moose hit me up and said he was heading over to the restaurant.”
“Kong, you really don’t have to do this. It was for charity, and that’s all it has to be—”
“Ayla, put your shoes on, mama, and let’s roll. I’m sure you could use a break. Maybe have a few drinks, so we can celebrate the trial period being over.”
“Is it?” she asked with wide eyes.
“If you’re willing to stick around. I’d say you earned your spot dealing with us this week,” he jested, then laughed, trying to break the ice.
“I kind of like it here.” Ayla scrunched up her nose. “The kitchen is amazing, and your family isn’t as bad as you think.”
“You’re lying.” Kong chuckled. “But thank you. I’m sorry about earlier, too, with Nay at the park.”
Ayla’s big brown eyes drifted to the carpet before she raised them to Kong once again.
“It’s none of my business.” She shook her head.
“I told you I wouldn’t allow the disrespect, and I meant that.
She knows her place with me now, and it’s not in my bed.
I appreciate her being a friend in a time of need the last few years, but I’ve been using her as a crutch.
” Kong sighed, and his shoulders slumped.
“Somebody to take comfort in because I still don’t want to deal with what I’ve lost.”
“I won’t hold it against you. I can’t imagine losing the person I love. Must be even harder looking at your kids every day,” she empathized.
Bobbing his head, Kong swiped his beard before slipping his hand into the pocket of his navy slacks.
Ayla’s beauty was alarming. The kind that made him pause when he stepped into a room, just to watch her breath or smile.
In the last week, when he’d found her in the kitchen, he’d hover so he could see her in her element.
During the day when the kids were at school, she would film her segments in the kitchen that she wanted to share with her audience for Palate Pleasures.
It was in those moments that she was most confident.
He’d found himself falling down a rabbit hole watching her cook in nothing but boy shorts and a wife beater.
The homemade deep-dish pizza looked like it was bussing too.
Men followed her more than women, leaving all kinds of crazy comments on her platforms. Some thirsty, others borderline perverts, and a few that genuinely enjoyed what she prepared and saying they were sharing her recipes with their girlfriends and wives.