Page 86 of Heart of a Savage
I smiled again. “I hear you, beautiful. Go have fun. I’m going to check on my lady.” I stood from my seat, grabbing my drink.
“Messiah…”
“It’s cool, Ma. I promise.” I kissed her cheek, then headed out of the ballroom.
When I made it out back, I saw the shed. She was standing in the doorway, looking angelic. A smirk lifted on her face as I approached her, and she wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Why you out here, Juice?” I asked her, planting a kiss on her forehead.
“It was getting crowded in there. I don’t do crowds.”
“You own a whole nightclub, mama. You’re around crowds all the time.”
“Now you know I be in my office, camera watching.”
I chuckled. “What’s wrong?”
She looked up at me, then grabbed my hand, pulling me further inside the shed and closing the door. From the decor and studio equipment in the back, I could tell that the shed was used to take private photos. She led me to the antique couch, and we sat down. She looked up at me, and I knew she wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to say it.
“Spill it, Juice.”
“I love you,” she blurted out as her eyes closed tightly. “I know it seems fast, and I’ve been questioning myself if I should just tell you. Seeing Paige and Harvey get married made me see that there is beauty in loving someone. I want to get to that point with you. To wake up every morning to you and make breakfastfor you. For you to shower me with love, gifts, and great sex. I just hope that I’m not in this alone.”
I lifted her chin to look at me and saw her eyes misting. I pecked her lips a few times before taking her hand and placing it on my heart.
Taking a breath, I opened my mouth and let my words pour out. “I thought I was trippin’ when that first jolt hit my chest. That night you invited me to your crib, something started to shift inside of me. I wanted to give you everything you’ve been missing and so much more because a beautiful woman not being able to see the beauty that lies inside her is an injustice.
“Arie, I loved you first, mama. And I’m mad you took my damn shine because I wanted to say it first.” We laughed, her quickly catching the three tears that escaped her lids. “But for you to say it first means I did something right. I got to the heart of a savage.”
“Don’t hurt me, Messiah. Please… I won’t be able to take it.”
“I’ll never do anything to purposely hurt you, Juice. In the event that I make a mistake, please know it wasn’t intentional and that I’ll do whatever it takes to fix it.”
We stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment before she lifted her dress and straddled me. I took a gulp of the liquor, then handed her the rest as I planted kisses on her neck and chest. She swallowed the rest of the brown substance and slid the straps of her dress down, along with her strapless bra, exposing her beautiful breasts. I captured one in my mouth while she moaned and ground her sex on me.
Before I knew it, she was riding me until I came deep inside of her. I couldn’t let what the fuck her uncle and my father had going on ruin this for us. I loved this woman, and I knew after tonight, I had to call off the hit.
It wasn’t worth the risk.
She wasn’t worth losing.
Messiahand I returned to the party, but I was ready to go home. Seeing Ryan sitting in the crowd at the wedding had me confused and nervous.
I didn’t have my gun on me, which was odd because I always kept it nearby. But this was a wedding—my sister’s wedding. I didn’t want to bring malice into a day of peace, so I left it in the rental. Throughout the whole ceremony, I kept thinking that maybe he had the drop on me. It didn’t dawn on me that he was Messiah’s father, and that was the reason he was here, until I looked at my man. The resemblance was uncanny. Putting it together that Messiah was his son was the worst feeling ever.
I played it cool, though.
I made sure to keep my distance and watch him, just in case he was out to harm me. While everyone danced at the reception, I excused myself and went to get my gun out of the rented BMW, and then hid it in the shed.
Now knowing that the man I was falling in love with was the son of my uncle’s enemy, I couldn’t go through with the hit. It was too messy. However, I would put Mayani and Megan in place to execute it.
I didn’t want to hurt Messiah, but I couldn’t allow his father to kill my family. Uncle Lamont was the closest thing I had to my father now that Lorenzo had cut me off. Losing him would surely break me. I just had to play it cool and not look suspicious. After all the toasts and cutting of the cake were done, I stood from the wedding party table.
“I’ll be right back, babe. I’m going to go talk to Paige,” I told Messiah.
“Okay, hurry back. I’m ready to get up out of here.”
I smiled. “You read my mind. Be right back.”
