CHAPTER 40
Antonio looked at the scene before him. The trays from room service were on a bench at the foot of the bed, just a few truffle fries and bits of Wagyu burgers leftover from their midnight meal.
A marathon of Women Who Kill was on the television.
But the cherry on top of his sundae was Jackie snuggled up in his arms. It was his perfect night personified.
Well, more like early morning. Despite Jackie’s stomach rumbling, they hadn’t ordered room service after the first round on the chaise.
As soon as they’d moved to the bedroom, another spark was ignited, and they had to put the flames of their desire out once again. And again. Then, again.
Okay, Antonio thought to himself. So, they were basically fucking frantically as if they were in their twenties on a twin XL mattress of a dorm, not taking their time like grownups in a luxury suite.
Antonio wasn’t sure what had come over them, but he was digging whatever this fresh, new energy was between them.
Jackie was engrossed fully in the episode, about a mother who basically offed a dude for scamming her son out of millions of dollars. Antonio understood the sentiment. If someone scammed PJ, he’d burn it all down. The image triggered another thought he’d been having for a while.
He kissed the top of Jackie’s forehead before he spoke. “Can I ask you something?”
“If it’s about those boozy milkshakes, then yes, I definitely think we should have ordered one.”
Antonio shook his head. “I don’t know where your short self puts it away, but that isn’t what I wanted to ask you.”
“Ask away.” Jackie slowly rubbed his nipples. The sensation of her nails grazing his sensitive skin felt so good, but he knew he had to focus.
Antonio cleared his throat. “Do you want kids?”
Jackie scoffed. “Hell no.” She paused, then looked at him carefully. “Let me rephrase: I’ve never wanted to physically birth children. The stats on Black women and birth are horrifying.”
“Oh, I feel you on that.” Antonio swallowed, hesitating a little. “A better question is, does it bother you that I have a son?”
“It doesn’t. What does bother me is the fact that this son is my client, and you are my coworker.” Jackie raised a brow at that last statement.
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“PJ is a good kid. Disciplined when it comes to the game. A little undisciplined when it comes to letting Marilyn in his pockets,” Jackie said. “But he’s a good kid. You got lucky, Steele.”
Antonio smiled. “I told him he was a happy accident, indeed. A blessing. Just realized that a little too late, it seems.”
“Never too late.” Jackie gently nudged him in the side. “You all still have a lot of time. PJ has a parent who cares about him. Some of us aren’t so lucky.”
“But you had a great dad when he was here,” Antonio said, holding Jackie a little tighter.
Jackie sighed. “He was amazing, but I wasn’t talking about him.”
“You weren’t?”
Jackie sat up, pulling the sheet up to her bare shoulders.
“I never had an example of what a mom should be like. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to be a mom.
Mine wasn’t the least bit maternal. Before my dad’s injury, it was all about appearances and looking good for the cameras.
But once the cameras were off, she was so cold.
She couldn’t be bothered with me, like I was a nuisance.
Our housekeeper did my hair, picked out my clothes, fixed my scraped knees when I fell off my bike.
When my dad stopped playing baseball, and the money dried up—mostly due to her lavish spending and mismanagement—she was gone.
She never looked back at her old life, which included me.
She was off to find her next meal ticket.
” Jackie straightened her shoulders, which she hadn’t realized were slumped.
“I realize now,” Jackie spoke, her voice stronger and more confident, “I never deserved that treatment from her.”
Antonio took Jackie’s hand, gently stroking her knuckles. “Sorry, Lucky. I didn’t know it was that bad with your mom. I know you said you all didn’t really communicate.”
“We are completely no-contact. I see what she’s doing on social media, though.
Her old ass is still out here boppin’ and thottin’ around.
She’s damn-near sixty and finessing men for money.
Last I checked, husband number four—or is it five?
—is a soccer player in Turkey that’s like fifteen years her junior. ”
“Moms is a cougar, huh?” Antonio chuckled. “She could be on one of those reality TV shows or something.”
“I’m sure she’d be great television,” Jackie groaned. “Jacqueline is something else.”
“Wait,” Antonio said. “Is your mom also named Jacqueline?”
“Yeah, I’m a Junior. Jaqueline Angelica Miles Jr. The lady was so self-centered she didn’t even bother to give me my own name. Literally, my driver’s license has Junior on it. The folks at the DMV are always puzzled.”
“So…can I call you Junior?” Antonio teased.
“Don’t be a fool, now. The last guy who called me Junior got punched in the nuts. My cousin Gideon still flinches when I ball up my fist.”
Antonio howled with laughter. “Yo, that temper on you is something else, ma. You need something to cool you off.” He was starting to think a round of boozy milkshakes might not be a bad idea.
But Jackie’s eyes looked at him with so much heat, they could have melted ice in the Arctic. “Cool off?”
Antonio bit his lip, staring down at her. “You trying to get heated again?”
Antonio watched as Jackie slowly slid under the covers, totally hidden as she positioned herself right in front of his dick. “Oh, you trying to burn the place down, huh?”
As soon as Antonio felt Jackie’s slick mouth on him, he lost all sense, reason, and rational thought. He gripped the sheets and prepared himself for the three-alarm fire that was Jacqueline Miles Jr.
“No, I NEED ANOTHER ONE,” ANTONIO WHISPERED AGAINST Jackie’s lips.
Antonio had always loved kissing. Sometimes, he loved kissing more than sex itself.
He especially enjoyed morning kisses, which was why he wanted to get as many as he could before they departed Savannah. He grabbed a handful of Jackie’s ample ass and pulled her on top of him, all while not breaking his kiss. “Just give me five more minutes, Lucky. Then I’ll let you get up.”
“Ant, please, I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,” Jackie said, still giving in to the kisses that he was giving her. With Jackie, Antonio didn’t give a damn about morning breath. That’s how he knew he was in too deep.
“Your mouth and mine have been in some very intimate places; I think we’ll survive not brushing our teeth for a few kisses,” Antonio said, smiling.
Jackie undulated her hips against his growing erection. “True. I can think of one place mine has been that I wouldn’t mind saying good morning to again.”
“See, I just wanted to kiss. You’re over here starting stuff,” chuckled Antonio.
“I promise I’ll be good,” Jackie said, her lips pouting playfully.
“For now,” he teased, kissing the tip of her nose. “In the shower, you can be as bad as you want.”
Just as Antonio was preparing to kiss Jackie again, his cell phone began to ring.
He ignored it. He assumed it was the driver, reminding them he was on his way.
But as soon as his phone stopped ringing, Jackie’s began to ring too.
They stopped mid-kiss and looked at each other.
Jackie grabbed her phone; it flashed, Cobb County Jail.
Jackie stared at Antonio, who looked puzzled.
Who in the world could be calling her from jail?
Antonio nodded toward the phone, encouraging Jackie to answer. She put the phone on speaker.
“Hello?”
The recorded message began, “You have a collect call from an inmate in the Cobb County Jail. Will you accept the charges? Press one.”
Jackie pressed it, and before she could say anything, she heard PJ’s voice. “Jackie?”
“PJ! What the hell!” Jackie screeched, sitting straight up in bed. “Why are you calling me from jail? What happened? Oh my God, don’t tell me you got in a fight or something.”
“Nah, it’s some bullshit.” PJ paused. “Wait, you still in Savannah, right? Shit, is Antonio there too? Am I on speaker?”
“I’m here,” Antonio cut in. “What the hell is going on, PJ?”
“Listen, they say I was drunk and some other stuff. I don’t have my credit cards or nothing. Shit, I think they’re with my phone in the glove compartment of my ride. They better not have gotten a scratch on the Lambo. Can you all come bail me out?”
Antonio felt panic rising rapidly. He looked at the time on his phone.
If he called the car now and headed to the jet, they could get to the jail in two hours.
“Listen, don’t speak to anyone. Don’t sign a thing.
Not even a fucking autograph, understand?
We’ll get there as soon as we can. I’ll see if I can arrange bail. ”
“And I’ll call an attorney friend,” Jackie said. “They’ll be down there too.”
“Aren’t you an attorney?” PJ asked. “Why can’t I just wait for you?”
“I’m not a criminal law attorney,” Jackie reminded him. “Shit, how the hell did this happen? Don’t answer that. Hang up. We are on the way.”
Jackie and Antonio stared at each other in disbelief.
“We gotta go,” they said in unison, hopping out of bed in a fury.