Page 14 of All's Fair In Love & War

She stepped closer. “And because if you’re gonna survive Khalil Bulgari, baby, you better figure out how to move like you’re in control, even when you’re not.”

My fingers hovered over her palm.

“Your choice,” she said. “Take it, or don’t, but remember, a calm bitch is a dangerous one. Do you want to be the prey or the predator?”

Chapter 5

Do As I Say

Naeem Bulgari

I glanced down at my watch. It was eight thirty p.m., and Tatum’s first family meeting was starting in an hour.

Time to go.

“Can you walk?” I asked, doing everything within my power not to laugh at Khalil’s pain.

He was still hunched over, holding onto his dick like it was about to fall off. I’d never had a woman bite me, but I remembered the scraping of teeth from girls who didn’t know what they were doing. That pain stayed with you. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.

But watching it happen to Khalil? That wouldn’t keep me up at night. He was always running his mouth about being a pussy tamer and bragging like there wasn’t a woman alive he couldn’t bend to his will, so I took a little pleasure in watching him sweat for once.

“Yeah. I think so.” Khalil slid off the front of the sofa, landed on his knees with a grunt, and used the armrest to haul himself upright.

He stood slow, stiff as hell, one hand still hovering protectively over himself. His face was tight, jaw clenched so hard you could see the muscles ticking in his cheek. He didn’t speak, didn’t look at anyone, just stood there like a man whose entire ego had been dragged across broken glass.

Bats tried to hold in a laugh and failed miserably. “You sure, bro? You standing like you got a stick up your ass.”

Khalil shot him a look sharp enough to make a lesser man shut up, but Bats just grinned, laughing even harder when the door opened and he spotted both of Khalil’s women striding inside.

Tandy entered first, and Felicity followed a few steps behind. The moment she crossed the threshold, the energy in the room became charged. Gone was the defiance that usually clung to her like perfume. She didn’t roll her eyes, didn’t toss out a smart remark, and didn’t carry the venom Khalil claimed she so often wore like armor. Instead, there was silence.

Stillness.

Felicity’s gaze landed on Khalil almost immediately, and for a beat, she just stood there and looked at him, her quiet stare stripping the moment of any pretense.

Khalil straightened instinctively, his posture tightening as if bracing for whatever she might throw next, but she didn’t throw anything.

She spoke.

“I apologize for biting you. It will never happen again.”

The words landed with weight, dropping into the room like a stone into deep water. For a moment, no one breathed. Even Bats, who had been riding the high of Khalil’s humiliation, fell silent.

She hadn’t raised her voice and didn’t need to. The apology hung in the air, heavy and unexpected. I watched closely, narrowing my eyes when I noticed Felicity’s fists clenched tightly at her sides and her throat moving with effort as she swallowed her pride. Her voice hadn’t cracked, but it was clear that apologizing was difficult for her.

Khalil didn’t respond. He just stared, unreadable in expression, every part of him tense and controlled. Still, something in his eyes had changed.

And Felicity saw it too.

“I lost it,” she said, this time quieter. “I was angry and hurting, still grieving the loss of my father and my freedom. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening. I needed someone to blame, and you were there. You were easy.”

Tandy flicked her eyes toward Naeem, one brow lifting in silent translation:You see that? Run me my money, nigga.

Still, Khalil said nothing, but he looked at Felicity differently now. Not with softness. Not even forgiveness. Just a quiet understanding. As if, for the first time, he saw more than fire and sharp edges when he looked at her.

No one uttered a word. There was no point. The look that passed between Khalil and Felicity had told us everything we needed to know. Something had changed between them—not resolved, not softened, but moved just enough to matter. And that was how real power shifted in this world. Not with shouting. Quietly. In inches.

Khalil was still standing, stiff and bruised, not just in body but in ego. He hadn’t moved an inch since she apologized. Didn’t acknowledge her beyond that jaw twitch and the flicker in his eye, but he hadn’t dismissed her either.

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