Chapter 28
Bahati
“So… Where did you say we’re going?”
I was giddy as hell. I’d been pissed that Shio came home around four in the morning when that was usually the time he’d get up to work out.
My attitude was short-lived when he told me we were going out today.
Shio had driven me to a hair salon not far from his home earlier, since I still showed no interest in driving, where I’d gotten a full-on treatment.
Braids were my signature, but since he’d insisted that the place where we were going was fancy, I had the stylist remove my braids and give me a weave.
We agreed on a thirty-something color, and the brown was a perfect contrast with my dark skin.
I’d decided on fringe bangs and thirty-inch virgin bundles.
Now that I had gone this route, it was going to be hard for me to go back to braids.
Thankfully, I had access to Shio’s unlimited funds to afford the expensive weaves.
Shio activated the left turn signal before merging into that lane.
I felt like a princess riding as a passenger.
When I got home from the salon, I felt like a million bucks.
I had gotten my entire body waxed, a full set, and a pedicure in the color milk bath, which was a cloudy white with hints of chrome that looked amazing on my nails.
It was going to be my new signature color and design.
“I didn’t.” Shio’s deep voice seemed to shake the car and land in the seat of my panties.
Three plus years, and Shio had only gotten sexier.
Back then, I felt like I hit the lottery when I came across him.
He looked so damn out of place in the library, all thugged out and rugged.
I thought he was there for the second-chance program that the library hosted weekly, but I got the shock of my life when one of the librarians led him to me.
He wanted to learn a new language. I wasn’t fluent in the language he requested, but I knew I wanted him in my space, so I convinced him to learn Swahili.
It took nine months for him to become fluent, but after about three months, he had the basic language down.
By month ten, I was riding his dick. At first, he wouldn’t give in.
Shio was very clear on not mixing business with pleasure.
He almost slipped through the cracks until I figured out what it was I could do to hook him.
Sometimes during our sessions, he’d step outside, and me being the nosy girl I am, I noticed he was serving customers or his cousins were dropping off product to him.
One day, I overheard them complaining about an inconsistent plug and knew that was my chance.
My father had always been into drugs. It was how he put himself through school, being a low-level dealer.
It took nothing for me to convince my papa to add Shio to his list. But like all good things, it came to an end when I let my jealousy get the best of me.
This time, I was doing things the right way.
I’d thought Shio was going to kill me. I could see it in his eyes all those years ago.
Life was slipping from my body but then he stopped.
This time, I was not letting anything stop me from making him mine, and this spontaneous date was proof that I was doing things right.
There was a dress laid out on the bed when he picked me up from the salon.
I’d always looked good in red. The dress was short, felt nice to the touch, and draped at the shoulders.
The gold Christian Louboutin heels and gold accessories added the perfect touch.
I was so excited that I dressed early and spent two hours taking pictures and videos of myself.
When Shio knocked on my door, I almost fainted at the delicious sight before me.
I had mostly seen him in black, but tonight, he was in tan.
Tan slacks that were wide at the leg but not in a feminine or bell-bottom style, a shirt made from the same material as the pants that hugged his abs just right, and Cartier frames on his face.
He looked so incredibly good and smelled marvelous.
He’d been rejecting my advances, but I knew tonight was the night.
Shio’s dick was huge. I knew because I’d never forgotten.
Even when he was choking the life out of me while pumping his dick in and out of my pussy, I found myself fighting pleasure and the will to live.
I’d never been with a man who was as blessed as he in the sex department.
Tonight would not only be the night I would have him again, but tonight would solidify our future forever.
He was mine after tonight, and no one could stop us.
Flipping the visor down, I checked my lipstick.
The MUA at the hair salon had done her thing.
The matte-chocolate lip was perfect with the dress and gold accents.
A red lip was a little too bold for me, and I was going for elegant class tonight.
When I was satisfied with what I saw, I went to flip the visor up and caught a glimpse of the back seat.
The baby’s car seat was back there, but it was empty.
Now that I thought about it, he’d had her when he dropped me off at the salon, and when he picked me up, she wasn’t there.
I had been so happy to be baby-free for a few hours and to not hear constant screaming that I didn’t think much of it.
“Where is our daughter?”
Shio turned the wheel, looking sexy as ever. We were in his Maybach, and it was fitting for the occasion. He was pulling out all of the big guns tonight, and I was so ready to end the night with him on top of me.
“Bahati, you just now noticing she’s gone?”
Turning my head to hide the embarrassment on my face, I watched as the bright city lights zipped by. I could feel the heat of his glare and knew I had to turn things around before the night was ruined.
“Of course not! I thought maybe you took her to your mother for a meeting finally. I was just wondering if she was staying the night. I wouldn’t mind having the house to ourselves.” I placed a hand on his thigh, hoping to cop a feel, but my hand hadn’t landed in the right spot.
“She’s not with my mother.” He looked down swiftly before removing my hand.
“Oh, okay. It’s your kid, too, so I won’t question you further.”
I left the subject alone. I didn’t need anything ruining our moment, including Shya.
Thirty minutes later, we pulled into a restaurant on the outskirts of downtown.
I knew that because I could see the tall buildings in the background, and I’d seen enough posts on social media to know what Jagoda Bay’s skyline looked like, even at night.
Cars that were in the same price range as Shio’s were being valeted as young Black couples stepped out.
While Shio wore a diamond chain with a Jesus piece dangling from it, the other men wore two or three diamond necklaces stacked against their collars.
It was gaudy, but since the beginning of time, that is what our people have done—wear our gold and jewels on display.
When our car reached the front of the valet line, it didn’t take me long to realize that the restaurant had been rented out, and the people in front of us were Shio’s family and members of the mob.
I recognized the twins and Ezio at once.
My door opened, and a young, brown-skinned boy stood aside so that I could get out.
I turned my nose up because he was supposed to help me out of the car, but from the smell of weed wafting off his clothing, I knew this must have been his first day.
Once I was out of the car, I pulled my dress down and could feel the valet boy’s eyes land on my ass.
The dress was almost too small for bottom, but the way it wiggled as I stepped in the heels, I wouldn’t have chosen a more perfect dress.
“Gaaaaddamn, cuh! Dis baby mama?” A light-skinned boy, who I’d seen park the car in front of us, slapped hands with Shio. He looked familiar but I couldn’t place him.
“Yeah. Bahati, this Italian. And this Ro.”
Ro didn’t speak but it was fine; I didn’t like the way he was eyeing me, anyway. The light-skinned teenager, on the other hand, was drooling at the mouth.
“Wait! Italian as in your little mannish, twelve-year-old cousin, Italian?”
He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “In the flesh, love. Except I ain’t twelve no mo’.”
“Park the car, Italian. But aye…” Shio pulled his cousin aside, turning their backs to me. “They good?” I heard him ask Italian.
“They straight, Big Cuz. Baby cousin was chilling with my Goddaughter all day.”
I mumbled under my breath. “Goddaughter?”
“You nosy…” The valet boy, Ro, interrupted my eavesdropping.
“I’m not. Why are you watching me anyway? And who valets cars dressed like that and smelling like that?”
He was in a black T-shirt and black joggers with black Air Force Ones. Given how all the guests who had entered the restaurant were dressed, he could’ve at least worn black slacks and a collared shirt.
“The nigga that signs my paycheck ain’t complaining, love. You enjoy your night.” He gave a tight-lipped smile while I rolled my eyes in response.
“You ready?” Shio came up next to me to escort me inside.
With a smile on my face, I didn’t pay the peasant a second glance.
African American boys were carefree and often into drugs.
That is why they stayed at the bottom of the barrel.
Shio was not African American. His blood touched many bloodlines with his mixed heritage.
With an Italian father and a Soliman and Melanesian mother, he was a made man before joining this mob.
He didn’t fit the stereotype of a man with dark skin living in America.
He had a work ethic that went back to his ancestral roots.