Page 11 of Nobody But You

“Allow me,” I said as I reached down to retrieve the key, using it and pushing the door open. The room was dark, only illuminated by the moonlight peeking through the shade, which had been opened a third of the way. He bumped his way inside, fumbling with his pants. I stood just behind him as he dropped them around his ankles. Then he quickly spun around and grabbed me with all his strength. I was pinned against his partially naked body as he brought his mouth towards mine.

Shit!

I was finally able to fight him off, pushing and dodging before his mouth could touch me. It was a good thing that he was drunk. I regained my composure, putting on the face that said I could do this.

“Come and get me hard, his voice carried through the room. I sauntered over, still playing the part. By the time I’d reached him, he’d lain back on the bed. I stood before him as his eyes closed. After a moment, his breathing had evened out.

What the fuck? Did he pass out?

I continued to observe him, making sure that he was, in fact, drunk off his ass. I scanned his body, finally landing on what he thought was worth my time.

Just like I thought, his dick is small.

The longer I looked at him, the more enraged I became. I wanted to take a pillow and smother him to death. Instead, I reached into my purse and took out one of its contents. The first was my nine; the second was the silencer. I attached it to the end of my gun, contemplating whether I wanted to do this. Before Icould overthink longer, I stood beside him, reaching up to place a pillow over his face. Once it was there, I pulled the trigger. I stood watching the blood saturate the stark white comforter. I couldn’t breathe. I was on the verge of a panic attack. I’d done it. I put my hands to the sides of my head, along with the gun, and my finger still on the trigger. My eyes widened at what I was witnessing.

Before the panic could set in, I heard fumbling at the door. I quickly backed further into the darkness and turned to train my gun directly at the door. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath because I would have to kill two people tonight.

“JoJo,” Brice called out. He walked in with my father’s steps behind him. He came directly to me and embraced me.

“Princess, let it go,” my father said as he pried the gun from my hands.

“How did you know where I was?” I asked.

“Do you remember what I told you? I’m the king of this jungle, Lioness. I protect the pride, and my pride keeps eyes on my throne," he said as he took my chin into his fingers and scanned my face.

“Did he touch you?” He asked.

“No,” I shook my head. After ensuring I was ok, he went to stand over Trip’s body, letting off two more quick shots.

“I love you, Journee,” I heard him whisper my late mother’s name.

“Weirdo motherfucker,” he said right after.

“You did good, Baby Girl. I’ll make sure you get better, though. If this is what you still want to do.” I looked into his eyes, swelled with pride, and nodded. The old me was gone. She was with my mother.

CHAPTER 6

Jourdan

Present

Isat on the couch with my laptop perched between my crossed legs. For the past three days, I’ve worked on a presentation for Hard Rock Gym. I’d gotten a call from one of the managing partners, Justin, that they were looking to rebrand. We’d scheduled a meeting for late this afternoon to go over everything. He’d told me that aside from their downtown location, they’d been having trouble attracting new members. I took a look at the website and understood why. It was basic as hell. Even more so than Stephon’s awful ass private security website.

The website had simple pictures of their gym equipment pinned on a plain white background. No one was working out or enjoying their time at the gym in any of the photos. I would’ve never gone if I hadn’t already been to one of the locations and enjoyed its amenities. The logo was the typical barbell with thename surrounding it. I groaned at the amount of work that I needed to put in.

Did they put any thought into this? Men!

I didn’t mind, though. Anything was better than sitting around thinking about how I could get Burks in my grasp again. He wasn’t entirely off my radar. I’d still been listening to the bugs I’d placed enough to know that he would attend the annual Mayoral Ball on Saturday of next week. I needed to be in attendance. However, it was an invitation-only event. That had never stopped me; I’d just have to swindle my way in.

I could call in a favor from the Havens. Nah, I love a good challenge.

As I sat and ensured my designs were top-notch, my phone rang. I looked down and groaned because it was Brice. I hadn’t spoken to him in a week, which was surprising. I was sure he would’ve popped up on me by now.

“Hey, big head,” I spoke into the phone.

“Open the door,” he demanded. I looked down at my phone, perplexed because who was he talking to like that?

“If your ass asks me nicely, I might think about it. Why are you not using your door code?”

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