Page 252 of Invisible Bars
“You’re gonna let her boss you around like that?”
I smirked. “She gets paid to stress; let her earn her money.”
Naji leaned forward, her fingers soft as they settled over my hand.
“She’s right though. Y-you should do the press conference.”
I looked at her. For a moment, the flicker of chaos behind my eyes dimmed—not gone, but quieter.
“I’m only doing it because I’m not letting some thirsty-ass clout chaser use my name to get her a few likes and followers.”
She gave a small smile, shaking her head.
I leaned in, lips brushing her shoulder, voice low as hell against her skin.
“Look, we’ll deal with all this shit another day. Buttoday,let’s focus onus.Let’s go shower, get breakfast, come back to the room… and we can watchwhateveryou wanna watch.”
Naji turned to me with a mock gasp.
“Whatever? Did I j-just hear ‘whatever’ come out your mouth?”
“Damn… did I saywhatever?” I teased, eyes narrowing in faux horror.
“Yes, you did!” she laughed, climbing off the bed.
I watched her with a small grin, but it faded as she walked toward the bathroom. My jaw flexed.
Whatever…
Yeah, I said it. Because for Naji, I’d do just about anything to keep her smiling, safe, and to show her how far I’ll really go to protect her peace—our peace. But that didn’t mean the other side of me was asleep.
Aaliyah thought dropping my name would get her some traction—a fake story, a little chaos, a scandal she could surf until her next fifteen minutes of fame. What she obviously failed to realize was that I wasn’t one to let shit slide when it came to trying to ruin my image or wife.
She wants attention? I’ll give her the kind she won’t survive.
Chapter Forty-One
NAJI
Isat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, on speakerphone with Dessign while scrolling through a list of local vendors for the block party.
Two more weeks and the block would be lit.
“We still need a second bounce house,” she advised.“One isn’t gonna cut it for all them kids. And how ‘bout Chi trying to be in charge of the water balloons. Talking ‘bout freezing some of them for ‘strategy.’”
I chuckled.“Oh, my God! Let him be over the food.”
“Girl, you trying to lose half the guest list to food poisoning on the first block party? We’re trying to build a legacy, not a lawsuit.”
“Bless the burnt biscuits!” I barked out suddenly, making myself—and Dessign—pause for a second before we burst out laughing.
“I meant the meat. H-he can barbecue, right?”
“Oh… yeah,” she dragged out. “My man can throw down on the grill. Right before my accident, I used to do these kinds of events all the time. So trust me—there are three tables IknowChi gotta stay away from. One—the ice cream cooler. Last time, he took out all the vanilla sandwiches and said we need tosupport the ‘funky flavors.’ Second—the face painting station. That nigga gave a kid a ‘Spider-Man’ that looked like a roach with anxiety.”
My thumb tapped the screen three times fast—one of those little compulsions I couldn’t control. The screen kept opening and closing before I forced myself to stop.
“Stop it—stop it—stop it!” I giggled.
