Page 92 of Body Language
She pulls up from her little night out and errand run with a trunk full of groceries and couldn’t even get in. Movers were already on-site with instructions to pack everything for “storage only.” Not a single box going to a new address.
Hour 24
Oh, and the cherry on top? We slapped a lien on that bottle-girl “business” she was running out her living room. By “business,” I mean a couple of dusty hookah hoses and overpriced vodka bottles. Her liquor distributor suddenly had “supply chain issues.”
Hour 36
She was on Instagram, selling Gucci slides and tagging it #MovingSale. By the time she goes live, she’s sitting on a blow-up mattress in her cousin’s den, box fan humming, swearing it’s “just a minor setback” while begging people to book bottles with her “new location.”
From house to no house in under 48 hours. All without me lifting a manicured finger in her direction.
Arlette had money. But not the kind of money that could replace the lifestyle Kendrix had her living for years. She couldn’t even fake that type of upkeep. And the reason she didn’t even try to fight us legally was simple. Sis has so much illegal shit going on, she couldn’t risk a lawyer poking around her finances without catching her in 30 felonies. She packed, got her shit, and played quiet because she knew one phone call from the wrong person could have her in county orange by the weekend.
Ty bent over, laughing so hard she had to brace herself on the bar. “Bitch! Stop, my stomach! You’re telling me by the time she got back from Target, she couldn’t even get in the door?”
I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. “Girl, the groceries was sitting on the porch like a delivery she ain’t order.”
Ty damn near slid down the bar laughing, wiping her eyes. “Niv… you’re evil.”
“Not evil, baby. Efficient.”
I looked up and there was Kendrix, standing in the doorway of the VIP, that unreadable look on his face. The music was still going, Ty was still catching her breath from laughing, but everything in me went still.
He didn’t say a word at first, just scanned me up and down like he was trying to decide if he wanted to kiss me or start an argument in the middle of the damn club.
I smiled slow. “Well, look who decided to show up.”
Ty caught the vibe immediately. She grabbed her drink and grinned at Kendrix like she hadn’t just been laughing about me ruining a woman’s life.
“Ima go clean up the private rooms,” she said, winking at me. Translation:Handle your business.
Kendrix didn’t waste a second. “You’ve been ignoring my calls and texts.”
I leaned on the bar, completely unbothered. “I know.”
His jaw flexed. “So that’s just it? You don’t give a fuck?”
I tilted my head, giving him the laziest smile I could manage. “Looks like it.”
That muscle in his cheek ticked again. “I love you, Niveah.”
For half a second, I froze. Just half. Then I laughed, slow and humorless. “Love don’t mean shit, Kendrix, when you’re laid up with the next bitch. The same bitch I told you to stop fucking with because of what she did.”
His brows pulled tight. “What she—”
“Oh, don’t play dumb.” I cut him off with a smirk sharp enough to cut glass. “The same bitch who got my pictures out your phone, trying to send my shit out like she runs something.”
He blinked like he hadn’t seen that one coming.
I chuckled low. “I’m always two steps ahead, Kendrix. Always. I hope your little nightcap was worth it.”
I grabbed a clean bar towel, tossed it straight at his chest, and leaned close enough for him to catch the heat in my smile.
“Tonight’s gonna be amazing at GivGold,” I said sweet as honey. “Now, clean some shit up… and pick your face up while you’re at it.”
I paused just long enough to let my eyes drag over him, top to bottom. “And next time you wanna play in the dirt… make sure you don’t come home tracking mud on my floors.”
23
