Page 73 of Disrespectfully, Relic

“So, you stopped fucking with him just before that shit popped off with your brother. Why?”

“That’s not how this works, Relic. It’s my turn, and asking a follow up question of one you’ve already asked is against the rules.”

He burst into laughter before quizzing, “Since when the fuck was that a rule?”

“Since I just made it up. How many bitches do you have me twinning with?”

“If we’re being specific, none. Their bags are twenties and twenty-fives. You’re the only one with a size thirty-five, and your pussy upped you to a forty, but I didn’t have one on hand.”

Her eyes rolled as she bit back a smirk. “Well, I want my upgrade, but you know that’s not what I meant, Relic.”

He scratched at his brow, swirling the melting ice in his glass while counting the women he used for his convenience. There weren’t many since they grew useless faster than he could recruit them.

“Logan. She used to tell me the sneaky shit Jessica was doing and then I put her on Tolliver when that opportunity presented itself. Felesia is a CO that takes care of my team whenever they get jammed up. Milan is my realtor. She’s found every home and building I have to date, and Amil is a young bitch that works at the marina. She keeps an eye out for anyone getting near my shit. Taylor gives me dibs on who to approach for business ventures at my country club.”

Kennedy scrunched up her face at Relic passing out dick and designer bags like free samples at a supermarket. “Five bitches, and you’re actively fucking them all?”

“No follow up questions. You made that rule. Have you ever had to set someone up, Larenn?”

The mood shifted with his question, and Kennedy shivered when a chill prickled down her spine. She wasn’t certain if the water’s breeze or Relic’s intense gaze was the culprit, but it was obvious there was more to his prying.

“Are we back to you thinking I had something to do with what happened at the club? If so, I’d rather take my chances doggy paddling with sharks than arguing about it again.”

“If I thought you set me up, you’d already be overboard but with a bullet in your head. Here.”

Kennedy balled up her face at the half full glass of liquor that Relic held out for her to take. The last time he’d offered her a drink; he’d forced her to explain how Koda died and confessed to killing his mentor as their secret exchange.

“I don’t want it. What the hell are you getting at with this, Relic?”

“I need your help.” He leaned to set his glass on the boat’s ledge before latching the same hand on the side of Kennedy’s neck. Her nipples pebbled as his cool fingers dug into the tender area while his thumb grazed her marred skin. “You asked if I had a plan to handle Slim, and I do, but it won’t work without you. I’m using Sojourney to smoke him out, but I need you with her.”

Kennedy grew rigid while her stomach hollowed, leaving her nothing but empty space to fill with immediate contempt for Relic. Her brother had done a lot of shit in her presence, but he’d never once placed her in the line of fire. It dawned on Kennedy that her value to Relic was measured by her capabilities to help him stay out of a pine box or from behind prison bars.

Relic had brushed her aside and then popped up when she was needed—when she was useful to his scheme because he toyed and manipulated women at his leisure like marionettes. Relic had warned her, but Kennedy made the dire mistake of believing there was more to him beneath the surface when his ass was exactly what he’d shown her. That miscalculation was on her for allowing good dick and traumatic confessions to warp her brain.

Lexi’s sound advice to get the money and get out... to not waste time trying to change him popped in her head. Kennedy hadn’t planned on doing either, but his foul request that proved how little she meant in his eyes had altered her stance.

“What do you want in exchange?” Relic guided her mouth toward his, arousing her pussy and anger in tandem. “You want money wired to your account? Done. You want Aura’s contract amended? You got that. Hell, do you want a new car?”

“I don’t want a new car, Relic.”

“I’ll buy you one anyway. Do this for me, and I’ll make it worth your while, Larenn.”

“Secret for a secret?” She nudged away his hand, disgusted with his touch. “If you didn’t need me for what you’re cooking up, would you have reached out? Would you have pressed the issue of me signing the contract? Would I even have this fucking card in my pocket?”

“No to all of the above.”

His honesty knocked the wind out of her, but she recovered and spit out a laugh. Kennedy expected nothing less, but hearing that harsh truth gutted her all the same.

Relic anticipated an explosion of emotions but received nothing except hard eyes and a blank expression that told him, she’d done what he hoped. Kennedy had checked out. He’d slipped up when he made the mistake of exposing her value to him, and that could lead to issues he’d prefer not to deal with. The only way he could think to rectify his blunder was to relevel the playing field.

He hadn’t lied when he told her that he had no intentions to hit her up, but he couldn’t confess it was because he didn’t know what to do with her. Relic couldn’t get rid of her, but he couldn’t stay away as long as she was so easily accessible. Kennedy was a fucking distraction that he didn’t want to part with just yet, and that attachment sent up red flags in his head. The two times Relic wrapped himself up in a woman, both proved to him why he should never trust another bitch in his life.

“If you wanted lies, I can’t give you that, Kennedy. If you want a nigga to show his emotions, I can’t give you that either,” he expressed to her, muting any empathy or penitence from his tone. His fingers clenched her jaw as he gritted, “Take what the fuck I can give you or nothing at all.”

“I want my salon.”

Her request took him aback before he bid, “I’ll give you thirty percent.”

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