Page 33 of Still Forever
To my surprise, it was Zo and Jaxon’s fiancé. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I didn’t feel the slightest bit of jealousy. My heart tightened a bit. Here was this woman, engaged to my man, living my life, and now she had the protection of my detail. He stood off to the side as she placed an order, and his eyes scanned the room before they rested on me. We smiled at each other, and then he came over to the table where I was.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m great.” I gave him a half smile.
When she was done placing her order, she went to where she thought she had left him and then came over to where we were. The beat of my heart sped a bit. Not that I was nervous or afraid, but I was wondering how this would play out. Either she was going to be polite, or I was going to end up on the news.
“Hey,” she said softly, taking position beside him.
“Hi.”
“Can I have a seat?” she asked, taking a deep breath.
“Sure,” I raised an eyebrow, wondering what her motive was for wanting to sit at the table with me.
“Excuse me,” she said as she passed Zo. She placed her hand on his chest as she rounded him and took a seat across from me. To the untrained eye, it was just a subtle gesture. But I’m a woman, and the look that he gave her couldn’t have been missed. I eyed him suspiciously. There was something more between the two, and I was willing to bet my life on it.
“I’m actually glad that we ran into each other here,” she said as she put her bag on the table and pushed her hair behind her ear nervously.
“Are you?” I was still confused. It was obviously something on her mind, and if she didn’t get it off soon, I was inclined to believe that she was about to come to me as a woman and tell me she’s in love with my man and hers. Then I was going to have to beat her ass.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m trying to find the words. We’re bound by secrecy in the Mafia. There are only so many things that I can tell you. Some things I can’t say. However, I was always hoping to reach out to you and tell you that Jaxon really loves you. He’s really messed up about this…. arrangement.” Her words trailed off.
Immediately, my shoulders fell, and my body relaxed. Her statement had confirmed everything that Jaxon had told me. Itwas something about her tone and her voice that made me feel her sincerity.
“Thank you, Remy, I actually appreciate that,” I admitted.
The cashier called out my order number, and I looked down at the ticket to confirm that it was mine.
“Zo, can you please grab that for me?” I called out across the empty shop. He nodded and walked toward the counter to grab my order.
“Jaxon has been like a brother to me. Judah calls me his wingman. I just don’t think that you should let go of the idea of you guys being together.” She reached down and grabbed the Danish that Zo had set in front of her and bit a piece of it.
I sat back and folded my arms before taking a sip of my drink. She obviously didn’t know that Jaxon had already given me this information, so I wasn’t going to tell her.
“If I’m being honest, hearing it from you puts my mind at ease. I thought Jaxon and I were done,” I gave a half-truth. Prior to this moment, I couldn’t say for sure that I believed Jaxon.
"He would literally die first." She chuckled, gathering her things and standing. "Jaxon is a great guy; you really lucked up. Don’t give up on him," she said lowly as Zo walked over to the door and held it open for her.
Just as she slid out of the chair, I said, “And so is Zo. He’s an amazing man.”
She froze and she looked at me, like she had been caught red-handed, and I knew that very moment that my suspicions were correct.
She blushed and cleared her throat, but didn’t respond directly to what I had said. “Ummm, nice meeting you, Kennedy. Hopefully, we see more of each other.” She said as she extended her hand.
I gave her a smile and took it. “Nice to meet you as well, and likewise,” I said with a double meaning that made her laugh.
I sipped my smoothie as I watched them walk out the door and to the truck at the curb. When they pulled off, a car was parked just across the street.
An older woman sat in the driver’s seat of a small black SUV. I could see the smug look on her face as she didn’t even try to hide the fact that she had been looking at me. Her long red nails gripped the steering wheel of the vehicle before she slowly let the window up, never taking her eyes off me. Then the SUV slowly started to creep away from its spot and disappeared from my sight. It was the strangest encounter.
Opening my bag, I made sure that I had put my Ruger in when I changed purses, and I had. I didn’t want to send anyone’s Mema to heaven early, but if I had to, that’s exactly what I would do.
“Blade, please do not try to climb that tree!” Storm yelled as we walked the second lap of the day around the park. It was a sunny day, and we were pouring sweat, but we had committed to this nature walk, so we were going to see it through.
Storm was pushing my goddaughter in the stroller as we power walked along the trail. Sanchez and three other members of the team stood guard around the perimeter to ensure that nothing popped off.
Adjusting the fan on the stroller, I continued to try to keep up with Storm. Unlike me, she always worked out with Trouble. Especially after she had her kids, she wanted to make sure that she kept her figure. On the other hand, I would go to the home gym with Jaxon while he worked out and distract him. Our workouts would often end with me bent over in some unusual position across the equipment.
