Page 75 of Disrespectfully, Relic

Kennedy took a breath and bit her bottom lip, conjuring up every ounce of cool she possessed so that she wouldn’t curse him the hell out. Relic had pissed her off to no end, but even still, she didn’t appreciate everyone running their fucking mouths about shit they didn’t know.

Niggas were quick to say what they wouldn’t do until they were in that position or worse and folded like bitches. Kennedy knew without a doubt; Relic was about that life. She was certain, he’d end a nigga and rest easy at night for the simplest infraction. The situation that had gone down at the club was tarnishing his reputation and giving the impression that niggas could disrespect and speak on his name without suffering consequences. If Kennedy had no genuine motivation to help Relic set up his scheme before; Lomar had sealed the deal.

“Tell me, Lomar. What would you had done if your chain was snatched? Mind you, no one even knows if that’s the real case, but entertain me.”

He chuckled and patted his hip. “I don’t keep that thang you saw me with for nothing, mama. I let my baby do the talking.”

“Hmm, a home appraiser by day and a real nigga by night. I hear you talking.”

Her eyes rolled as she snatched her purse from him, placing it on the counter to dig through it for her card. The sales associate glanced at the exclusive bag and clasped a hand over her chest as she swooned.

“Your bag is gorgeous! I’ve been saving up to purchase my first baby, and I can’t wait. I love your custom hardware, too.” The associate teased a finger across the charm link before asking, “What does the ‘B’ stand for?”

Kennedy flitted her eyes toward Lomar before fibbing, “I’m not sure, actually. It was a gift.”

“Wow. I need a man to buy me these kinds of gifts.”

The sales associate glanced at Lomar with a coy grin, and Kennedy tapped her card against the terminal, not even wasting her time with correcting the girl’s obvious assumption. If the bitch tried to sneak and holler at him to end up disappointed, that wasn’t her business.

“Uhh...” Kennedy frowned when the sales associate glanced at the monitor and informed her, “It was declined.”

“There’s no way in hell. Let me try it again.”

She waited until the machine instructed her to pay and then tapped her card, watching the trail of green dots light up before changing to red as the screen cleared. Her face heated, and the low chuckle Lomar made from beside her doubled her damn embarrassment.

“Can I make a call? I promise it will only take a minute,” she swore, rummaging through her purse for her phone.

Kennedy didn’t wait for an answer before she rushed to tap Relic’s name, which had taken over her call log since she’d been ignoring him for days. They’d met up at his lawyer’s office the day after their impromptu boat ride, where he kept his promise and she’d signed the contract for their sales agreement, but she had paid his ass dust since then. Relic had informed her of what her task with Sojourney entailed, so she didn’t see a need to converse about it further. She hadn’t planned to utter a word to him until the deed was done and she was washing her hands of their partnership.

“Is he picking up? Because we need to move aside if not, mama,” Lomar told her, gaining her attention. He moved closer before whispering, “These white folks looking at you funny.”

Kennedy’s first mind was to snap at him because she didn’t give a damn about the customers behind her. She held off after realizing the line wasn’t ringing.

“Hello?”

“Why’d it take me blocking my fucking card for you to pick up your phone?”

The mere sound of Relic’s commanding voice made her eyes shut as she exhaled to diffuse the brewing frustration with him that had her close to exploding.

“Relic, I’m in a damn line with people behind me who are waiting. I don’t have time for your bullshit. Unblock the business card.”

“Come see me.”

“Huh?” She heard him but his request threw her for a loop.

“I’m not too far from the mall you’re in. I’ll shoot you the address, so we can talk in person about how you got me fucked up. Only bring the pussy between your legs with you, too. If you bring the other one, I might use it for target practice.”

“My other pu—” Kennedy cackled before slapping a hand over her mouth once she caught on that Relic had heard Lomar. “You’re insane.”

“I’m very sane. The insane ones are the muthafuckas dumb enough to go against me. I see you still ain’t tell him who daddy is yet.”

“Unblock the damn card!”

“You got thirty minutes to get to me, Kennedy. Send that nigga on his way and hurry up.”

Three beeps made Kennedy gawk before she removed the phone from her ear to confirm he’d hung up on her. Her head tossed as she dropped it inside her purse and then pointed at the card terminal.

“I’m ready to try it again.”

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