Page 36 of Twisted Revelations

The logic of my attraction to her wasn’t adding up. What was it about her that drove me crazy? She knew how to rip my nerves to shreds, and I liked it. She made life more interesting. I believed she had an idea I enjoyed her fiery personality enough I’d put up with her, sassy mouth and all.

The women in my circle were eager to please. It didn’t mean some of them couldn’t be exciting. Some were certified freaks behind closed doors. However, none posed a challenge. They didn’t care to know me, the real me. As long as they knew my last name, I could have been a walking brick.

My authority, which I knew wasn’t always right, was never challenged. I was never told my ideas were horrible or that my decisions didn’t make sense. I didn’t have to fight for a woman’s attention. I was never interested in peeking into their minds because I never saw anything interesting enough on the surface to go that deep.

Laura wasn’t afraid to let me have it. She certainly spoke her mind and expressed when she didn’t like my ideas. At first, it was irritating because it was something I wasn’t used to, but it had quickly become something I appreciated about her.

She made me think twice, think deeper, and harder. She didn’t care about my last name or that my family had money. She was more impressed with the dangerous aspects of me, the side of me I hid. I believed she was attracted to my darkness and so was I to hers.

If only I could get her to drop that persona of lesbianism for one night and let me play with her flames.

Derrick

Dax was playing with a massive fire, and he was going to get himself burned alive. These women weren’t weak or clueless. They’d lived life: the good, the bad, and the ugly. They knew what hell was like on all five senses.

However, Dax was one of the most determined men I knew. He wanted Laura, and from the way he’d been watching her since night one, his want was starting to get stronger. He was hardheaded as hell, and no matter how many pep talks or warnings I gave, he’d try harder.

Laura was a challenge he was fixated on, but she wasn’t just any woman. She was fearless, and even if he found a way, she wasn’t going to be easy on him because she was as hardheaded as he was.

He’d changed into gym clothes. I cast a quick glance at Laura before my gaze traveled to Dax’s back as he exited the front door, heading for the gym again. Did she have any idea he was frequenting the gym more because of her?

My phone drew my attention from a situation that wasn’t going to end pretty. It was Aaron’s number that popped up. Each time his number flashed, I knew it was Ansel, but it also flooded me with memories. Aaron was the closest thing I’d had to a brother, and I continued to feel the sting of his death. I answered the call.

“Hey, man, what’s up? Y’all good in Cali?” I called into the phone, waiting for Ansel to answer.

“Derrick Wesley Michaels?” a voice that wasn’t Ansel’s called into the phone with a smooth tone. There was only one person who knew my middle name, and he was dead.

“Who the fuck is this? Knox? Look, I don’t have time for no motherfucking jokes. Who is this?” I questioned, instantly irritated that someone would be that cruel. They were making my fucking hood come out playing these games. I was usually the cool and collected one, but when people wanted to act stupid, I’d give it right back.

“It’s me D, Aaron,” the voiced that sounded like Aaron proclaimed.

What kind of tech were they using to pull this off? I decided to test them.

“Prove it, motherfucker,” I replied. “Yemen, operation, how many, and why?”

“Black Death, five, nerve gas. We were stuck in that fucking place for four months,” came a quick reply, causing a loud gasp to escape me. Beverly and Laura sat paused and staring.

“Knox! What the fuck, man? How the fuck are you talking to me right now?”

“It’s a long-ass story, D. Death had me by the fucking balls, but that dark evil bastard wasn’t ready for me yet.”

“No fucking shit!” I exclaimed, slapping my hand against the desk.

“D, Ansel’s been filling me in on the plan y’all have been working on to take out the leaders of DG6. I’m not at full strength, but I’ll be damned if I sit around while you all deal with these poisonous serpents.”

“Man, I can’t believe this shit. Wait until I tell Dax that your nine-lives-having ass is still alive. Motherfucker got more lives than a Mortal Kombat character.”

Only Aaron could make me speak complete sentences in curse words. A few chuckles sounded in the background on his end before a shadow approached and stopped near me. Laura. Her pinched expression questioned what I was shouting about.

“Aaron, after we assumed you’d died, we fully intended to go ape-shit and kill as many DG6 members as we could, but Ansel stopped us. He got us to calm the fuck down and go at this how you would have. So, we slowed our roll, and now, we’re in line to put DG6 out of commission. With the top gone, the rest of those fucking leeches are going to feed off and devour each other until there’s nothing but pieces left.”

Nothing could take the smile off my face after I hung up with Aaron. For six long months we thought we’d lost him. We’d mourned him. We’d traveled back into enemy territory to search for his body.

“So, your friend, the one who spoke with me and Beverly about Megan, he’s alive?”

“I don’t know how, but he is alive, and he is ready to take these guys out as much as we are,” I replied.

My smile deepened as I stood, squeezed Laura’s small shoulder, and marched toward the door for the gym to deliver the amazing news to Dax.

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