Page 7 of Mister 3: The Prelude

Damien was so distracted by the waitress he couldn’t catch Nevaeh as she briskly walked away. At this point, he didn’t even have an appetite. He did, however, order some food to go for Vanessa, in hopes that not showing up empty handed would keep her from questioning him about last night or being in a bad mood.

“The fuck?”Damien cut his car off and quickly hopped out. He couldn’t park in his garage because there was a moving truck in the driveway. Jogging into his home, he yelled, “Vanessa!”

She didn’t answer, but Damien headed to the bedroom they shared. The first big purchase Damien made when business started taking off for him and his brother was a home for him and Vanessa. Up until that point, he’d been content in his apartment… But she wanted a yard for her garden, and he was more than willing to give her that.

He found Vanessa tossing her clothes into a large brown box while three men left the room holding her luggage.

“What are you doing?” he asked, closing the bedroom door and locking it.

“What does it look like?” she replied, not bothering to look up at him.

“I see what you’re doing, but I don’t understand why.”

Vanessa chuckled with a shake of her head. “I told you if you lied or cheated again, I was going to leave you, didn’t I?”

“Nessa,” he called softly, walking over to her. When Damien tried to take her hand in his, she jerked it away. “Why are you so upset?”

“Are you going to act like you didn’t spend the night with another woman, Damien?”

Damien exhaled a hard breath. “Where you get that shit from?”

Vanessa finally gave him her eyes as she looked at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you going to lie to my face, Damien, or finally tell the truth?”

Damien’s breath came out shaky as he massaged the space between his eyes. “Vanessa, baby…”

“Just say it!” she yelled before laughing. “You didn’t give a fuck about me while you were sleeping with the bitch, so don’t give a fuck about me now! Say it!”

His head shook as he took careful steps in her direction. No matter what his actions said, he’d never say anything to hurt Vanessa. His cheating ways never had anything to do with her or any other woman he was with. While Damien prayed Vanessa understood that, he also knew there was a chance she took it personally.

“No.” Damien tried to hold her hand again, and again, she pulled away. “I’m not going to say that, baby. Of course I give a fuck about you. I love you.”

“That’s bullshit.” She laughed again as her eyes watered. “And if you really think you can love me and treat me the way you do, you’re fucking delusional.”

“Vanessa…”

“I don’t know what the hell happened to you to make you so…” Her hand flailed in his direction as she looked him up and down with disgust. “So you… but I pray you heal and stop hurting women soon. Now unlock the door so they can finish getting my things.”

“I’m not letting you leave me.”

“You don’t have a choice! I deserve better, Damien. It’s over.”

As much as Damien wanted to fight for her, he couldn’t. Vanessa was right—she did deserve better, and he didn’t believe he was capable of giving it to her. Not at this phase of his life at least.

“Fine. I’ll let you go, but I’m going to get my shit together and come back for you.”

She chuckled and shook her head, returning her attention to her clothes. “I’m never giving you access to my heart again. You’ve broken it so many times even I don’t deserve it.”

If there was anything Damien knew to be true it was that you couldn’t heal where you’d been hurt. He didn’t start healing until long after he left home and the church. Vanessa deserved that chance too. But he also deserved the chance to right his wrong… didn’t he? He did. And no one was going to be able to make him believe otherwise.

Now, even more, he needed to handle this situation with Nevaeh. If Damien was going to get his woman back, he didn’t need anyone from his past making things even harder. It was going to take some work, but he’d heal and fix his own issues to make himself better for Vanessa. Most of all, Damien was going to learn how to be a one-woman man…

6

Jue

Kendrick Lamar blastedas Jue pulled in front of Kimisha’s mailbox. She was one of the few women he’d met and had a sexual relationship with on his route. Because of his appearance, women often threw themselves at him. For that reason, the young lord had learned early on the power of pussy and how not to fall victim to it. There were, however, certain women who were worth the risk of falling in lust—and Kimisha was at the top of that list.

She didn’t nag him, have unrealistic expectations, or switch up on him. She fed him well, sucked the soul out of his dick, and didn’t ask for more when it was time for him to dip. For that reason alone, Jue kept Kimisha in heavy rotation. Only twice had he fucked around with her while on the clock, and both times were worth the risk of him being off schedule. Jue didn’t make a habit out of doing anything to jeopardize his job, though, because it made it easy for him to make his real money.

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