Chapter 21 Javier
Twenty-One
Javier
The event was a success, and I was thankful for that. Large crowds were not my thing, but they came with my career, and I often had to make sacrifices to keep it running smoothly.
It was one thing to play in a stadium, but it was another to attend events such as the one at Element, with so many people around. It didn’t feel like I had a shred of privacy with all those admiring eyes around, so when it was time to go, I was relieved.
Aleesa and Octavia had left long before I had. I could not stop looking for either of them. Of course, I would always be on the lookout for my daughter. But I kept searching for Octavia too. I did not know what it was about her that had me so drawn. Perhaps what we had done had changed things.
Perhaps it had changed me.
What I knew for a fact was that I had not gotten enough of her.
I wanted more, and that felt wrong to want.
But it was true. Wanting more with her was all I could think about, even during my drive home.
And this wasn’t just about the sex. This was beyond lust. With her I felt a true connection.
I felt a vulnerability that I had not felt in a very long time.
Along the way, my phone rang. Octavia’s name appeared on my car’s dashboard.
“Hi,” I answered. “I am just on my way. It took a little longer to—”
“Javier, I need you to get home as quickly as you can, please.” Octavia’s voice was filled with panic.
I straightened in my seat. “What do you mean? What is wrong?”
“There’s . . . well, there’s someone here who shouldn’t be here. I’m driving away, but . . . please hurry. I called the police, but I don’t know when they’ll show up. Oh, God.” Her breathing became erratic, blowing through my car’s speakers.
“Okay, I am coming. Hey, relax. Okay? I am on my way.” I wanted to ask her who this person was that had gotten her so worked up, but asking questions probably would have caused her more anxiety, so I kept them to myself.
“Okay,” she breathed, calming herself just a bit.
“Is Aleesa okay?”
“Yes, she’s fine.”
“Okay. Find a safe space to wait for me. I will text you when I have arrived.”
“Okay.”
I added pressure to the gas pedal. It would take me at least another twenty minutes before making it to my house. I drove fast, glad that I did not get pulled over for it.
When I made it to my street, I noticed a silver Mercedes parked at the curb near my property’s gate.
A man sat on the hood of the car, dressed in ripped jeans, a button-down tan shirt, and a pair of loafers.
His inked arms were folded, and when his head turned and he locked onto my vehicle, I could tell he was nothing but trouble.
Octavia said he wasn’t supposed to be around. She must have known him personally to say that. Was he one of those men she’d met on that dating app?
I parked directly across from him, sent Octavia a text, and then climbed out of my car.
The man stood up, dropping his arms and raising his chin to size me up.
“Can I help you?” I asked. It came out as more of a demand.
“Just looking for Octavia Klein. She works for you, right?”
I frowned, not liking her name on his tongue. “Why? Who are you?”
“I told her I would stop by so we could catch up.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That is clearly a lie. She called me less than thirty minutes ago and said you were not supposed to be here.”
“Did she?” The man stroked his beard, smirking. “So that was her. I knew I wasn’t trippin’.”
I clenched a fist.
Car tires rolling on sleek pavement sounded behind me, and I looked over my shoulder. Octavia had pulled up again. She parked right behind my car, a good distance away from us.
“Ah. There she is.”
“Stay where you are.” I grimaced at him before walking toward Octavia’s car. She rolled down the window, but not without tossing a wary glance his way.
“What the hell does he want?” Her voice was trembling. I did not like seeing her like this.
“Who is that man?” I asked.
“My ex.”
“Do you still talk to him?”
“No!” she exclaimed, gripping the steering wheel so tight her knuckles prodded through her skin. “I didn’t lead him here, I swear. I haven’t talked to him in years. You have to believe me, Javier. I would never—”
“I believe you, amor. I believe you.” And now I was pissed off. I did not know a thing about her ex, but he clearly had no respect for her. And one thing I absolutely hated was a man who did not respect a woman’s boundaries.
I looked at Aleesa, in her car seat in the back seat. She had an orange lollipop in her hand but was curiously looking between me and Octavia.
“Hi, Daddy,” she said. “Tava got me lollipop.”
“Hola, princesa,” I murmured. After having so much cotton candy at the event, the last thing she needed was another lollipop. However, it was good that she had it, because I needed her distracted for what I was about to do next.
My eyes shifted to Octavia’s again. They were welling with tears.
“O!” the man said, now a few steps closer, with his hands in the air. “Come on, it’s me!” I did not like that he was smiling, as if he was enjoying how distressed she was.
“Oh, God. Please.” Her bottom lip quivered, and she closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. “One . . . two . . . three . . .”
I touched her arm mid-count, and her eyes opened wide, connecting with mine.
“Has he hurt you before?” I asked.
She nodded, then lowered her head with shame, as if it were her fault that he had hurt her.
Bottling my anger, I pressed my forefinger under her chin and tipped it back up. “I will take care of him.”
She tried to smile—truly, she did—but the expression wavered, then collapsed.
“Roll the window up,” I said, stepping back and looking at the shithead standing next to my gates. “I do not want Aleesa to hear this.”
I heard the window roll up as I stormed toward her ex.
“She does not want you here,” I snapped, getting in his face. “Leave now, or I will make you leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I talk to her,” he shot back.
“Get off my property.”
He looked around, as if searching for something. “Last I checked, I’m on the street. This road is considered a public area.”
He was annoying me now. I did not like to be annoyed, especially by grown men who knew exactly what they were doing. Closing the gap, I grabbed handfuls of his shirt in both of my hands and rushed forward until his back slammed against the side of his car.
The man smirked as a deep growl rumbled in my throat. “I said, if you do not leave, I will fucking make you.”
“Go ahead, man.” He chuckled. “So I can sue the fuck out of you.”
“You will not be able to sue me if I break your fucking neck.”
“Threats from an NBA player. Bet I could get millions for this.”
“Do you think threatening me with that legal shit will stop me? I don’t give a damn about any of that.” I tightened my grip. “You came onto my property trying to hurt someone who works for me.”
“I wouldn’t hurt her,” he grumbled.
“But you have before.” I jacked him forward by the shirt, then slammed his back against the car again. This time, that smug smile of his disappeared. “Tell me why I shouldn’t break your fucking nose right now.”
As I stared him down, I heard a siren wail. A police cruiser drove past Octavia’s car and mine, and parked on the opposite side of the street. I glared at the shitty ex in front of me one more time before releasing his shirt.
I was relieved they had shown up. The last thing I needed was an assault charge for blackening this man’s eye. And, trust me, I was very close to doing that. Attacking him any more would have been all over the press, and I did not want that kind of negative attention.
“We received a call about a disturbance,” one of the officers said, looking between us warily. He was male, White with a clean-shaven face. The other was a Latina officer. She walked around the passenger side, looking between me and Octavia’s ex with an inclined brow.
“This man showed up at my property unannounced, and I do not know how long he has been parked here,” I told them. “All I know is that he is a threat to me, my child, and especially to the woman in the car back there. She said that he has hurt her before.”
“He’s tripping. I was just about to leave.” Octavia’s ex started walking toward his car, but the male officer raised a hand.
“Sir, we need you to stay here until we get a grasp of the situation.”
He sighed.
“Do you know who this man is?” the female officer asked me. Her pocket had the name Amara.
“He’s her ex. The woman in the car.”
That seemed to annoy Officer Amara. She frowned at Octavia’s ex before saying “I will speak with her and see what’s going on and confirm if what you’ve told me is true.”
“Sure,” I said.
Officer Amara walked to Octavia’s car. Octavia saw her coming and rolled her window down before she drew near. After the officer said something, Octavia nodded and climbed out of the car.
“Do I have to go over there?” I heard her ask as she cut her eyes our way.
“No, sweetie. We can talk right here.”
Octavia nodded, rubbing her hands up and down both of her arms. I could not hear much of what she was saying to Officer Amara, but she looked frazzled. Almost broken. Never had I seen her like this.
I looked at her ex, who had his arms folded again. His eyes were harder as he zeroed in on Octavia, looking her up and down. I wanted to gouge his fucking eyes out. I stepped to the left, blocking his view.
After Amara said a few words to Octavia and gestured back to the car, she marched toward us. Octavia slunk her way into the driver’s seat again.
“Luther, right?” Amara asked, eyes pointed at Octavia’s ex.
Luther nodded. “Yeah.”
“The young woman back there said you emailed her a few weeks ago saying you moved to Atlanta.”
“Yeah, I did. So?”
“Did she ever respond to you?”
“No.”
“And why do you think that is?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Probably because she was busy. That’s why I wanted to come here and surprise her.”
“She said she never told you where she worked or that she was in Atlanta at all. She never gave you her email address and hasn’t spoken to you for years. So explain to me how you received her address?” Amara’s tone had a little fire in it.
Luther’s nostrils flared just a little. “I saw her on TV. I knew she was into being a nanny or whatever, and I saw she was working for this man’s kid.” He pointed at me.
“So she never spoke to you personally or invited you here?” the male officer asked. His pocket had the name Graham. “Seems to me you don’t know how to read the room.”
Luther said nothing in response.
“Sir, I’m going to ask you to leave. Right now,” Amara said, taking a step closer to him.
“That young woman just explained to me who you are and what you did to her, and in my opinion, you are a threat and a danger to this family. If you don’t leave, I will arrest you for trespassing. Get in your car and go. Now.”
“Man, whatever,” Luther muttered, heading to his car.
We watched him climb into his Mercedes, start the ignition, and drive away. He stopped his car next to Octavia’s and rolled his window down. I started to walk her way—my daughter was in that car—but he yelled “I still love you, O!” Then he peeled off.
Officer Amara scoffed when his vehicle was out of sight. “I can’t stand pieces of shit like that.”
“Neither can I,” I grumbled.
“If he comes back, let us know,” Officer Graham said.
“Yes. And in the meantime, I suggest you and the young woman back there file a restraining order on him.”
“Okay. I will let her know.”
Officer Amara nodded and walked away.
Officer Graham smiled as he took quick steps backward. “Big fan, by the way.”
I smiled back. “Thanks.”
I reached Octavia’s car just as the police cruiser drifted down the street.
“You okay?” I asked after she rolled the window down.
She avoided my eyes. “I think so. Maybe? I don’t know.”
“I get it. I think you need a moment. Take Leesa to the house. I will meet you there.”
She started her car’s ignition and maneuvered around my vehicle to reach the gates. I did not miss the way she trembled as she went.