Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Zander
I battled with whether I’d honor the end of the year tradition me and Navy had or not.
Even though I didn’t mind showing up, spoiling her, and congratulating her on another successful schoolyear, I didn’t want to feed any conflict she may have been feeling.
Navy told me we’d talk after she broke up with Ian.
A part of me wanted to wait and see if she’d really do that.
So as hard as it was for me to stay away, I did.
I hoped Ian would do something to make her feel special today, but I knew that likely wasn’t going to be the case.
To distract myself and keep from going up to the school, I busied myself with going through my client list for everyone I currently had on retainer and checking in with them.
I considered my capacity, estimated my potential trial cases for the rest of the year, and determined I’d open myself up for new clients starting in the fall.
The great thing about working on retainer was that I got paid regardless of if I had to go to trial or not.
My goal was to represent every family within Rose Valley Hill’s secret society.
Most of my clients from the secret society paid to have constant access to me for advice, conversation, and legal representation when garnering deals.
The bulk of my work for them was done over the phone or via email.
So far, I’d only had two cases that actually went to court, and seeing as they paid six figure retainers, that was more than okay with me.
By the time I was done with that, I made my way down to the records room.
I saw Carson on the way, and I could tell by the smug grin on his face that he was about to be on some bullshit.
They all knew what today was, but Kaos was out of the office for an appointment with Serenity, and Tristan and Taj were out of town looking into another potential land development deal in Memphis.
I thought I’d be able to make my way through the day without any of them trying to get into my head about Navy, but now I knew that wouldn’t be the case.
He made his way next to me, striding as if he knew where I was going and had to be there too. I chuckled and remained silent, not bothering to give his ass anything to work with.
“Sooo, we just gon’ act like you ain’t tryna keep yourself busy to avoid going to ya girl?” he asked, and I sighed immediately, making him laugh.
“She’s not my girl.”
“If Navy isn’t your girl, Venus isn’t mine either.”
I looked over at him, and his serious expression made my shoulders sag. “It’s not the same.”
“Close enough. Just like you urged me to go after Venus, I’m urging you to go after Navy.”
My head shook. “Navy and I are just friends, bruh. I don’t know why y’all acting like that ain’t been the case.”
“Nigga, ain’t nobody acting like that ain’t been the case. We just sick of ignoring the truth.”
I didn’t respond to his ass as we stepped onto the elevator. Eventually, curiosity got the best of me and I asked, “And what is that supposed to mean? What truth?”
He sighed, like he was annoyed just having to have this conversation with me.
“Everyone knows you love her. Everyone knows she loves you. You’ve practically run away every man she’s had, and you haven’t been in a serious relationship since you met her.
Now you can say it’s because no woman has been worth it, and I believe that to be true.
However, I also believe you know Navy is the only woman worth that to you. ”
When the elevator opened onto the basement floor, I didn’t step out.
Instead, I blurted, “Well why y’all ain’t been called me out on the shit?
Had me walking around looking like a damn fool knowing I was in love with the girl.
I done told her I love her and she ain’t even say it back ’cause she with that big shoe, red nose, long body, clown acting ass nigga and I’on know what the fuck to do. ”
My frown slowly relaxed into a smile when he laughed heartily. He fervently pushed the button to close the elevator doors, then hit L for lobby. By the time his laughter died down, we were on a different floor. As we stepped out, he composed himself.
“Okay. Let’s break that down. When did you tell her that you loved her?”
Shrugging, I recalled the last time we saw each other. “I don’t know. Two or three days ago. I pulled up on her and told her I missed her and that if she called things off with him I’d come back into her life and we’d be more than friends.”
“And she didn’t say it back?”
“Well, she said we’d have to finish the conversation after she broke up with him. She did kiss me though. I guess it wasn’t really a full ki—”
“Hold the hell on! I’ve been asking your ass every day what’s new and you didn’t think to tell me you told her you loved her and that she kissed you?” he reprimanded, grabbing my arm and stopping me from walking.
“I needed to process it first. It didn’t feel like a rejection, but it also didn’t feel like a resolution. Quite frankly, it left me more confused yet determined to get her if I ever had the chance.”
“That’s why you aren’t at her school today?”
“Hell yeah,” I confessed. “I feel like the next time I see her, things are either going to be really good or really bad. I’m trying to wait until she ends things with him.”
“I’m honestly surprised you’re being a gentleman about this shit. I figured when you finally accepted how you felt about her that you’d take her . . . whether she was in a relationship or not.”
With a sigh, I squeezed the back of my neck. “Trust me, I would. I’ve been wanting to beat his ass for a good lil minute now. The only reason I haven’t is because she seems to actually like him. I don’t want her to be mad at me because I beat his ass.”
Carson chuckled. “I’ma tell you straight like this.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
You’ve always treasured and valued Navy more than anything.
Even without the romantic element, she’s been it for you.
I can’t imagine how hard you will come for her if you did commit to her.
She has your heart, and I believe you have hers as well.
I can’t imagine how difficult it has been to watch someone else have access to her heart, especially knowing there’s a chance they will fumble it.
Be for her what you’ve always been for her.
Be her safe space and her protector. Let that include her heart.
Go get ya girl, brotha. You’ve let that nigga play with it and her long enough. ”
Before I could respond, the sound of heels clacking gained our attention. I looked up and saw Quartney heading in our direction with fear in her eyes.
“Um, Attorney Gough, Ebony is here. She said she knows she technically isn’t supposed to be around you, but there’s something you need to know.”
“Aw hell. That crazy bitch out there again,” Carson said, and I couldn’t hold my laughter in because he sounded just like Day-Day’s daddy on Next Friday.
“If you don’t shut yo’ ass up,” I damn near pleaded through my laugh.
I headed in Ebony’s direction because I was curious about what she had to say that was so important. When she saw me walking toward her, relief relaxed her frame. She met me halfway and started talking immediately.
“I know technically I have to stay away from you, but this man is playing with my money, and I need to know what you’re going to do about it.”
I was exhausted by this shit already but that didn’t stop me from asking, “What did Chandler do?”
“Not him,” she said, waving her hand. “Okay, so it’s kind of a long story, but I’ll try to make it short.
” I nodded for her to continue. “My cousin put me on you. He told me he wanted to keep you away from his girl until he was able to propose. He said you were in the way of their relationship. I’m all about my money so I agreed.
Things were going well until Chandler caught us.
I told my cousin I didn’t think you’d deal with me after that, and he told me to do whatever I had to do to keep you distracted and away from his girl.
“Long story short, I told him that both you and Chandler are going to pay me to get me out of The Hills but my cousin wants me to stay here until after they get married. He’s really threatened by your ass, Z.”
She chuckled and pushed her hair off her shoulders.
“Anyway, I told him I was supposed to leave today and he asked me how much it will cost for me to stay and make your life a living hell. He’s willing to pay more, but I wanted to see how much you value your peace.
If you are willing to pay me more, I’ll still leave as we agreed. ”
“Nah, you gon’ leave regardless because you signed both agreements,” I almost yelled, feeling my anger rise as I closed the space between us. Carson grabbed my arm and gently pulled me back. His arm stretched around my chest as I said, “Now who the fuck is your cousin?”
“Ian. Ian Hawkins.”
“Oh shit,” Carson muttered as my head tilted.
“Wait.” Chuckling, I ran my fingers down the corners of my mouth. “You’re saying Ian paid you to distract me and keep me out of the way so he could propose to and marry Navy?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Apparently you stepped back on your own, but she’s been acting weird lately and he’s concerned it’s because of you.
He’s pushed the proposal up to tonight and he wants me to stay and do some crazy shit to distract you, so you won’t think about her until after she says yes.
His logic is, once they are married, he’ll be able to control her and get you out of her life for good. ”
She paused, and for a moment, there was a brief flicker of sadness in her eyes.
“Even if you don’t pay me, I’m going to be honest and say your friend will not be safe with Ian.
He has a habit of isolating women so he can use and abuse them.
Once he gets them away from their family and friends, the abuse starts.
I don’t know why he likes doing that shit.
He’s truly crazy as hell.” I scoffed, feeling like I was hearing the pot call the motherfucking kettle black.
“If she does marry him, he’s going to ruin her, Zander. ”
“Say less,” I said before heading toward the exit doors. “Keep your phone on in case I need you to bail me out,” I told Carson over my shoulder, because a nigga never gave a fuck about catching a charge. I would defend myself, and if I couldn’t, one of my brothers would defend me.
“Got you,” he replied, as Ebony said . . .
“Hey! Are you going to pay me more money or not?”