Chapter 19 #3
Samari settled on the sofa, dropped her head back, and smiled, fully processing the moment.
It was surreal. One man had changed the course of her life and she still didn’t fully understand how she was so lucky.
She wouldn’t question how she’d gotten here or why.
That meant questioning whether or not she deserved it.
She did. Samari had worked for her place, survived the broken heart and devastation from having it all snatched away, and suffered in silence, never praying on the next person’s downfall.
Not even Cobra’s, because as horrible as he had been to her, she had to take accountability for her actions.
Being na?ve only got her so far. She’d fucked up, wanting it so bad, she’d taken it however it came.
Just so happened the success she wanted got delivered with a hefty price attached.
She would be smarter this time around. The past lessons learned were very hard, devastating, but lessons nonetheless.
“Ohh, let me get this too. This is the ‘I just fucked ’em up with my voice and my songs, now I need to nap’ type of footage…”
Sheree removed her phone from her small crossbody but her elation dissipated the minute her eyes danced across her screen.
She had back to back texts from Cantor and her heart dropped.
Sheree’s mind immediately went to something terrible happening to him or their daughter, which had her fingers moving across the device until she had a call in progress.
Cantor had Jomie for the day, spending time while giving his wife the ability to support her closest friend and now she was fearful that there had been a problem.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Is Jomie okay?”
Samari’s eyes flew open. She sat up, looking at Sheree, feeling the same panic coursed through her system from the concern in her girl’s voice. She listened, picking up details that had her brows pinching.
“No, is it bad?” Sheree asked before she cursed under her breath. “Okay, let me call you back. Thank you. No, I’ll let you know after we figure this out.”
“What was that? Is Jomie okay?”
“Um, yes, she’s fine,” Sheree said quietly, but quickly lowered her eyes and swiped at her phone again. This time she pulled up Baller Alert and her stomach knotted.
“Then what’s going on?”
Sheree didn’t respond because she was too focused on reading the headline. Samari Janaé, fully exposed.
The video was blurred but there was no denying it was her friend. It was also very clear what she was doing and who she was with. Sheree nervously lifted her eyes…
“Sheree, what’s going on?”
“Um…”
“Please stop saying um and just tell me?” Samari began to panic because she felt dread settling in the pit of her stomach. Whatever Sheree was looking at was about her.
“It’s a video…of you…”
Samari’s mind began to spiral.
“With someone…”
The first thing that came to mind was the night she had been with Asao in the booth. They’d had sex and it was recorded but he promised there weren’t any cameras.
Please, please, please don’t let that be it, she thought as she extended a hand, requesting the phone Sheree held. Betrayal from another man she allowed herself to trust would kill her spirit and crush her soul.
“Maybe we should…” Sheree started but Samari shook her head.
“Let me see. Whatever you’re looking at is already out there. You keeping it away from me is not protecting me.”
Sheree’s eyes dropped to the device before she leaned forward and handed it over. When she had the phone and realized what was on the screen, every muscle in her body locked tightly and her brain moved at a lightning speed.
How? Is that why he reached out, to tell me he was leaking that video.
Was he trying to give me a chance to stop him?
Did he want money? How many people have seen this?
How many people were watching it while I was on stage?
How many people who knew that video was out there had commented their thoughts and were judging me?
“I…I have to go,” Samari rushed out and stood at the same time.
“What? No. Let’s just…”
“I have to go. I can’t be here. This is out there. I’m out there. People here have seen it. He has probably seen this and I can’t…” Samari began shaking her head. “I can’t…”
“Mari, you don’t need to leave.”
“I do need to leave, Sheree, please. I don’t want to see him. Not right now. Not if he’s seen this. He’s not going to understand and I can’t...” Her eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. “I can’t, Ree.”
Sheree loved Samari. She wouldn’t dare judge her friend.
If she needed to leave, they would be leaving.
The reasons didn’t matter. They could talk about it later.
Her girl needed her and Sheree was going to step the fuck up and do whatever was necessary.
Right now that was getting Samari off the tour bus and away from this damn festival.
Niles stood a few feet from where Asao was doing his interview with Beauty, smiling at the way she went in on him. The two had an easy banter going but what was supposed to be a ten-minute highlight had turned into a twenty-minute interview.
Beauty gave Asao shit about dodging her show for years before she navigated to talking about Track Killaz, how successful the festival has been so far, and now Beauty was trying to be the first to get confirmation about what everyone had already assumed based on his performance with Samari. They were a couple…
Niles’s phone began going off just as Asao danced around the topic of him and Samari. He chuckled when Asao blatantly told Beauty if she was willing to share details about the last man who’d shared her bed, he would hand over who shared his.
She gracefully bowed out.
When Niles realized Dom was calling and he'd missed multiple calls prior to that one, he answered with a frown.
“Why the fuck are you blowing me up?”
“’Cause we got a problem. Where’s he at?”
“Sao?” Niles asked, automatically assuming he would be the only person Dom was tracking.
“Yeah, he’s about to spazz the fuck out. So watch the link I just sent you and get him somewhere there aren’t any microphones or cameras.”
“Shit, what happened?” Niles mumbled, lowering the phone he’d put on speaker after glancing at Asao heading his way.
“Look at what I sent you now, Niles. Shit is about to get crazy.”
“Aight, let me hit you back.”
“You owe me for that,” Asao said as soon as he reached his boy.
The interview with Beauty hadn’t been all that bad but the way she stayed on his ass trying to get him to cosign a relationship with Samari he wasn’t ready to put in words to the public yet worked his nerves.
He had done his little thing about a king needing a queen and their energy was flirtatious as hell while performing.
Their lyrics were damn near confessions but he wouldn’t put a label on them just yet because Samari had asked him not to.
He was already pushing it with how he’d pretty much told the world she belonged to him with the verse he spit, claiming a woman while performing “Fuck Love, Get Money” had not been the plan, it just happened.
“We need to head back to the tour bus.”
“The fuck is wrong with you?” Asao frowned hard at his boy, sensing something was off, but Niles didn’t let up.
“Not out here. Let’s go,” Niles muttered.
Their years of friendship granted Niles grace others wouldn’t get.
Asao turned and walked off, needing to get to the tour bus for multiple reasons.
The first being the person who was waiting there for him.
He wanted to congratulate Samari on her performance, because although he missed the last two songs, there was no doubt she’d represented.
He climbed the stairs and his senses kicked in, alerting him to the fact that the bus was quiet. No sounds, no Samari, but he wasn’t able to focus on that because a phone was shoved in his direction. Regardless, the question left his mouth…
“Where she at?”
“Don’t know and it’s probably better that she isn’t here.
Look at this.” Niles’s mood had Asao accepting the phone.
His brows immediately slammed in when the video began to play onscreen.
The post was from Baller Alert. One they shared after Tattle Tales broke the story.
Tattle Tales didn’t give a damn about exposing secrets.
It was how they made their money and remained relevant, but as he watched what they’d shared today, his body flooded with rage.
He was mentally going through a list of ways to handle the situation.
The reason behind what he was watching currently didn’t matter.
The past was the fucking past and whether or not he understood how she’d ended up there, he would bet every dime he owned that it wasn’t her choice.
His protective nature pulsed in a dangerous manner.
“What the fuck is this?” The question left his mouth while he was well aware that Niles didn’t have the answers.
The video played for a third time while he studied every visible detail, as if it would provide the answers to the questions circulating in his head.
Who the fuck put her in this position?
Who the fuck leaked it to the media?
Who the fuck am I going to check first?
Kill…
Murder…
Kill…
Murder…
The first person on that list was Mase Davidson.
Asao recognized him. Hated that he was granted the ability to dim Samari’s light.
Asao checked those feelings, because now that Asao was her keeper, Mase wouldn’t touch Samari again.
Asao was fucking pissed because he had been wrong.
Mase was touching her. His hands didn’t have access but her character was being assassinated in the media so that muthafucker had access.
The video was out there. Samari was with Mase and another woman whose face was blurred in sexually explicit scenes that didn’t fit. He knew her faces, her reactions when he was exploring her body. What he was watching didn’t match.
Asao handed Niles his phone just as Dom stepped onto the bus with his eyes darting between his two most trusted friends.
“What you wanna do?” Niles asked. Dom waited.
“Call Raaj. See what he can do about that.” Asao motioned toward the phone before digging his out of his pocket. “Y’all got this?” he asked, dialing Samari’s number which went straight to voicemail seconds before he was dialing again.
The festival…
“Yeah, we’ve got it,” Dom responded. “Go do what you need to do.”
Even if Asao no longer gave a fuck about the festival, there were people counting on him who did. He wouldn’t let them down but he couldn’t give them his attention. His boys could. With a toss of his chin, he sent a text to Samari.
Asao: I’m gonna fix it. We have a deal. You have a problem, I’m the solution.
She needed to know he didn’t give a fuck about any of what was happening beyond making sure she was good. Right now he needed to find her.