Page 21 of Still Forever
“I didn’t talk to her,” I kept it short, not wanting to vent to her and tell her everything that actually happened. I kept that shit for my moms and Trouble. They were the only two who got to see how fucked up I was.
“You know what? I think I’m living through you. I think it’s so romantic that you know what’s at stake but you refuse to let her go. That’s deep.” She smiled as she got out two cups and placed them on the island.
“Rem, why you so cool about this shit? You don’t feel offended?” Not that it would make a difference if she were. But I wanted to know.
She sighed and took a seat. “This situation is new to you, but it’s not new to me. In the South, arranged marriages happen every day between Mafia families. This is not my daddy’s first time agreeing to create an alliance. The first arrangement was with this guy named Karlos. From the Weston Mafia Family in Louisiana. A piece of shit. I was so glad that he got killed.” A smile slowly crept across her face, which made me chuckle.
Then she continued. “Anyhow, that arrangement caused me to lose who I thought was the love of my life. Bishop Blake, a man who could do no wrong. We had been together since college. When he was summoned, his scary ass didn’t even blink when they told him that we had to break up. Just tucked his tail and did as he was told. So, in a way, I think it’s just beautiful how you’re willing to fight for her. I can only respect that. It’s what I would have wanted someone to do for me.”
I could see the sadness in her eyes when she said it. Like it still fucked with her till this day, but she didn’t want to admit it. Whether she knew it or not, that made me realize that I never wanted KD to be sitting at a table telling some random nigga the same thing about me.
“Damn, that’s fucked up. When the nigga died, your ex didn’t try to reach back out?”
“Reach out to who? Remy Cross? Absolutely not, my number was changed and so was my attitude,” she laughed as she went over to fix us cups of coffee.
“Now he’s married, two funny-looking kids, and a dog with diabetes.”
She held one of the cups out for me to take. I took it, but I wasn’t going to drink it. Regardless of how cool she seemed, I didn’t know her that well to take anything from her.
“That’s tough,” I said lowly.
“That’s what I respect about you, Jaxon. If you can’t get out of this deal, you might lose Kennedy, but she’ll never have to wonder if you loved her for real.”
Hearing her say that hit me in my chest. It was a reminder that I couldn’t afford to lose. Even though losing was a possibility, it wasn’t an option.
She stirred her coffee as she sat in the chair quietly, deep in thought. I read her expression, and I knew she was brainstorming again. I knew she was trying to find an out for me. I realized yesterday that she had always been trying to find a solution. It made me wonder if she played a more significant role in her organization than I had thought.
“You say that this wasn’t your pops' first deal, right?”
“Yeah, why?” She asked, blowing and then sipping again.
“Nothing,” I said. I had a clue about the direction I wanted to go, but I didn’t reveal my hand just yet. Again, I still don’t know if I could trust Remy, and I didn’t need anything to fold the plan that I had just come up with.
“I’m here to help you however I can, Jaxon. I’m in this, too. It doesn’t feel good being tied to a person who’s longing for someone else. If it’s anything that you need that doesn’t cause me to directly betray my family, then I’m all in. Just say the word…. And give me this coffee back.” She reached over and took the mug from my hand, put her cup down, and sipped from the one I was holding. “I’m not going to poison you, Jaxon. We were brought together to be an alliance; they can’t tell us how that looks.”
I nodded. I was gaining more respect for Remy by the second. I was glad that she was the one going through this shit with me. Since the day I met her at her crib, she played her role. I told her it’d be best to act like a couple in public when I knew the elites were watching, letting them think that their alliance wasworking. She did that, but behind closed doors, she kept her distance. She never overstepped her boundaries and never once suggested I didn’t fight for KD.
After what I saw on those cameras last night, and the way I was feeling, if I had to come home to anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have made it through the night.
She sat at the counter and sipped her coffee quietly, scrolling on her phone. The next thing I knew, she was waving her hands in my face.
“Jaxon!” She yelled.
“Yeah,” I cleared my throat. I didn’t realize I had zoned out until she was bringing me back.
“What’s on your mind?”
I decided that this would be the moment I would put Remy to the test.
“You think you could get the alliance document between your pops and the elites in the next week?”
Her face changed, “I’ll do you one better, I can send it to you now. I hold a law degree; I review all the family's contracts. What is it that you want to know?”
“Who proposed the marriage?”
“The elites approached him with a deal to relocate and combine with a more powerful family. They took 80% of his business in Louisiana but moved us here. I’m going to air-drop the document to you now. Topping eighty percent isn’t possible for you. But you find something you can actually use; you didn’t get it from me.”
I nodded.
