Chapter 16 #3
LeLe shrugged. Her honey blonde knotless braids were pulled up into a messy bun and the gold dress she wore hugged every inch of her curvy body.
She and KC looked more alike than Fabian.
He had two family photo albums in his closet.
That’s where I saw the pictures of all of them when they were younger with their parents.
Fabian looked like his father had spit him out, while KC and LeLe favored their mother.
“Girl, I am the youngest and the only girl of two of the most overprotective men you will ever meet. Not to mention my daddy did not play about me. So, I’ve had guards since I was fourteen and started traveling without my mother. And even then, she had guards.”
I groaned.
“I can’t believe you never had them,” she said. “I mean, you’re a—”
“Don’t say it,” Mo interrupted. “She’s gonna tell you she’s a Mathias now. I’m tellin’ you she’s been disgusting with all this marriage shit. And just last week she was running around here keeping that ring in her purse.”
She slurred those last words, and I rolled my eyes at her drunk ass. “Haters gonna hate,” I said jokingly.
Mo picked up her glass again and waved me off.
She wasn’t wrong though. I felt so much lighter since telling my family about this marriage.
I’d spent so many months worrying about how they would react, if they would treat me differently, or if my father would try to kill Fabian.
When I asked Fabian about their meeting, he only said that no weapons were drawn and they each left the study breathing. I took that as a good sign.
“Y’all two are so funny,” LeLe said standing up. “Let me get back here. Some of these folks see me sitting down and think it’s time for them to slack off. I’ll come back through but if I don’t make it before you leave, call me tomorrow. We need a spa day.”
“Faaacts!!” Mo slurred again. “That’s exactly what we need.”
LeLe and I shared a look. “Don’t worry, I got her. I’ll drive her car back to the city or we’ll ride with Tor or Stan and have someone bring her car back.”
“Good, ‘cause she’s not gonna make it through another margarita.” LeLe chuckled as she left us and another song came on.
“That’s my shiiitt!” Mo said, raising her arms and swaying to the music.
I was just about to tell her she was moving way too slow to be dancing to this song, but a flash of light caught my eye. When I turned to see what it was, I met the gaze of a woman aiming her phone at me.
She was about five seven, close to Mo’s height.
Her weave was expensive and looked amazing as the wavy curls fell almost to her elbows.
She wore a strapless black dress and heels with those annoying ass straps that wrapped all the way up her calf.
I hated those damn things with a passion.
I either had to tie them so tight that they felt like they were cutting off my circulation, or they ran right back down my leg two seconds after I tied them.
“I wonder if I can sell this picture to Eyz on U and get me a nice check. Oh, wait, only the pictures of hoes caught in the act of being a hoe are selling nowadays.”
Eyz on U was the podcast and social media page that had published the pictures of me and Fabian last week.
I looked around trying to figure out who the hell she was talking to, because I was not the one.
“Did this bitch just call us hoes? Or you a hoe?” Mo asked. “Either way, I’m beatin’ her ass.” She tried to stand but must have felt dizzy because she dropped back down into her seat.
The woman laughed as she stepped closer to the table.
“I don’t see it,” she said. “I mean, I was trying. I enlarged those pictures as much as I could trying to see what the attraction was, but I just couldn’t see it.
” Putting a finger to her chin and tilting her head she stared at me.
“I mean, I guess you’re pretty enough and your breasts are commendable.
Fury loves to suck on some titties. But your fat ass could never be me. ”
“Look,” I said, already over this exchange and her lame ass insults. “I don’t know you and you don’t know me. That means you can stop all this chatter and go on about your business.”
“Oh, is that how the mighty Donovans talk? Well, I guess since you’re not off somewhere marrying another trust fund baby, you have to blend in.”
“No ma’am, you’ve definitely got me twisted. I am one of one. And in about two seconds I’m gonna be the one that smacks the shit out of you.” I was usually the calm one in our little duo, but since Mo was feeling every one of those drinks she had, it was on me to handle this trash.
Besides, I didn’t miss her mention of Fabian and his preferences. That meant she had either fucked my husband or wanted to fuck him. Either way, I wasn’t about to entertain this any longer.
Rolling her eyes she dropped her phone into the leather tote on her shoulder.
Then she stepped closer to the table. The area had gotten much busier in the moments since LeLe left and I recalled her saying the girls were about to take the stage.
Private dances were offered in this area while the main performance happened on the lower level.
So, I guessed more VIPs were getting in place for the entertainment.
Our uninvited guest placed her hands on the table as she leaned over so that her face was closer to mine. “I’m not staying, just wanted to deliver a message.”
“And what message is that?” I asked. The nostrils on her pert nose flared and I wondered if she was really just pissed from seeing the pictures of me and Fabian or if something else convinced her to make the dumbest move of her life.
I’d never been one to fight over a man, or even the boys in school.
If the one I wanted to be with also wanted to be with me, that was fine.
If they wanted to be with me and someone else, they could move the fuck on because I was the prize all by myself.
If they needed a spare, then they definitely didn’t need me.
But what I would not tolerate, on any given day, was disrespect.
Her anger and disdain were palpable, still a lovely smile spread across her face. “I had that dick first. And I can have it again if I want it. But what I’ve got for him this time is so much sweeter than the pussy he loved to eat every night before you came along.”
If she was going to say something else, I halted those words when I brought my gun across the side of her face with crushing force. She yelled, wobbled to the side where the other half of her face crashed into the edge of the booth, then fell back on the floor.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout!” Mo got to her feet beside me. “Knock that bitch on her ass!”
Holding her face now the woman screamed as somebody she’d fallen against, pushed her ass out of the way. Another person pushed her and for a second, she looked like a human pinball going back and forth. That is until Tor pushed through the small crowd that had gathered.
My hand still gripped the gun I’d fished out of my purse the moment she mentioned my husband’s dick.
“Let’s go!” he boomed over the music and reached out for my hand.
Stan was at the other side of the booth scooping Mo’s drunk ass up from the seat.
I dropped my gun into my purse, then hurriedly grabbed that as Tor—obviously tired of waiting for me—took my free hand and helped me out.
Casino security swarmed the area now and as we were making our way through the crowd, LeLe appeared.
“This way,” she told Tor. “Take the private elevator.”
Then her eyes met mine. “You good?”
Still pissed about the altercation and annoyed as fuck by that bitch’s words, I could only nod at her.
She nodded too, then said, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Tor whisked me out of there and onto that elevator so fast I hadn’t thought to check on Mo. But Stan stepped onto the elevator with her in his arms seconds after us. When I saw her curled into him like a grown ass baby, I could only shake my head. This was not how I envisioned this night ending.