Page 126 of I Stop Somewhere Waiting For You

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Making our way down a series of hallways we come to stop at a large ballroom displaying a sign outside the door.

Devoreaux – Burke

Party

“Try not to shoot anyone, okay?” J looks up at me with those big, beautiful baby blues, and while I want to grant her every wish, I also refuse to lie to her.

“I make no guarantees.”

We push through the oversized ornate doors to find the room bustling with bodies. Not overly crowded, but still, more than I’d expect for a rehearsal dinner. There has to be close to fifty people here.

“I thought rehearsal dinners are like… the bridal party? You practice, eat, and go home, right?”

“That’s normal people.” J pats my arm, her eyes scanning the room. “This is a Burke event, which means an opportunity to showcase how important they are by flashing their wealth.”

“Joanna!” Daphne’s cunt of a mother screams across the room for her. “We need you! We have to run through the ceremony. I need all the girls first to the front of the room!”

Jones groans alongside me, turning to press a kiss to my cheek. “Duty calls. Hopefully, I can talk to Daphne soon so we can just call this bullshit off.”

“We’ll figure it out, baby.” I offer her an encouraging smile as she heads up toward the front. However, the truth is, if we don’t have this wedding then God only fucking knows when I’ll finally be able to get out of this game. This is our best shot, but I also see where Jones is coming from. Daph is family, and she deserves to know what’s going on.

Jonsie approaches the others, casting an intimidating glare at Maddison as she passes, who in turn shrinks away. I snicker. I may have stopped the fight, but that dumb bitch got what she deserved. And fuck was it hot to watch Jones rock her shit, especially considering what happened after in my office.

My train of thought is broken by someone approaching me from behind. I can feel their eyes on me, the hair on the back of my neck standing at attention. Straightening my posture, my arms come to rest across the front of my chest. At last, he enters my peripheral just before he speaks.

“She’s stunning, isn’t she?” Cabir addresses me, yet his eyes remain fixated on J ahead.

“You need to take your eyes off my fucking woman before I remove them altogether.” My head swivels toward him, pinning him with a glare. “Yours wouldn’t be the first I’ve taken. Trust me, it hurts.” His face is still pretty fucked up from when Nicky beat his ass, which appeases me somewhat.

He snorts. “You act like I haven't seen her naked... fucked her.”

My jaw clenches as I flex, struggling to maintain composure. Steadying my emotions, I take several deep breaths before addressing him once more. “You know, Caleb, Kabob, whatever the fuck you call yourself, me and my girl have no secrets between us. Good, bad, or indifferent, we share it all. Which is how I know that while you may have been inside her, what you did could hardly be considered fucking. My girl came running back to me first chance she got because you obviously weren’t getting the job done.”

Cabir tenses, eyes glaring as he turns to face me. “You waited ‘til we were in the middle of a fight and made a play for her while she was out drinking. Some fucking honor you have.”

“Wow, if you’re mad about that, then you’re gonna be really pissed when you find out where my face was buried about ten minutes after you and I had words on the street that day.” His eyes slightly bulge at my confession, his jaw ticking in anger. “By the way,” I continue, “are you really able to pull the honor card when you’ve been lying about, oh, I don’t know, everything since the day you met her? And how about the fact you tried to kill her outside my fucking club?”

“We didn’t take a shot at her.” Cabir stares at me like I’m insane for even suggesting such a theory. “That was your psychotic little girlfriend that set that up. I would have never approved the hit. Little bitch expedited her fate once she pulled that shit. Which begs the question, how the fuck are you even out of jail?” he seethes.

I smile wide with the knowledge he’ll be behind bars soon, though for now I have to play it cool. “See, the thing is, douche, if you’re gonna frame someone for murder, you should probably ensure they weren’t caught on video elsewhere at the time of said murder.”

“Bullshit,” he spits, “you didn’t leave that building all night.”

“You’re right. I didn’t. But I did take the elevator down to the parking garage to get something out of the car, you dumb fuck,” I lie. “On camera, clear as day, same time I was supposedly murdering my ex. Honestly, it’s like fucking amateur hour over here.”

Cabir scowls at me and I go in for the kill shot. “I should probably be thanking you though. A week away from J? She was all kinds of worked up by the time I got home. I barely made it through the door before she was peeling the clothes off me, climbing me like a fucking tree. That welcome home made the week away worth every second.”

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m just going to let you have her.”

“Let me be perfectly fucking clear.” I step into his space, my frame overshadowing his. “You touch my woman, speak to my woman… fuck, if you stare at my woman longer than I deem appropriate, I will gut you like the pig you are and mail your body back to Yuri gift-wrapped using your intestines as a bow.”

“You talk a big game, Bishop.”

I’ll give it to him, he doesn’t cower. However, neither do I. I lean in even further, a low menacing chuckle escaping me. “Fucking try me, motherfucker. Because when it comes to her? I am not wrapped too tight.”

“Problem here?” the familiar, yet unwelcomed voice interjects from my right.

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