by Leigh, Anne
And the sinker?
There was no sinker.
But I was going to give them both the fuck you they’d never forget.
“Before I go to bed with my woman, I’ll be sure to personally call Franco Adavilli.” I didn’t know him, but someone in my circle would. “T & T will be investing at least fifty million in the company. I’ll let him know that if I see Tabitha’s name on the models’ list, that I’m pulling out the funding. My request will spread faster than any statement to a disreputable tabloid and you’re most likely going to be blacklisted everywhere. It’s high time that we get involved in the fashion industry.”
My right hand reached for Ali’s chin, she’d been quiet, but there was amusement in her gorgeous eyes. “Don’t you think, Ali?”
Franco Adavilli wasn’t that influential in the fashion world.
Not yet.
But he was going to get the money that he needed so that he could be and with my backing, he would be.
He was the biggest threat to the scarves and accessories line that Carter wanted to infiltrate.
Like Carter, I did my research.
It was the biggest character trait a good businessman possessed.
But what differentiated a good businessman from a great one?
My father might not know much about business, but he’d given me the best lesson of them all.
He’d made me pay for it on the mat.
And inside the pool.
Every single time.
It was the determination to win.
And to outclass your opponent.
Every. Single. Time.
Alissa
“When am I going to meet your cousin?” Carly asked with a twinkle in her green eyes. Ever since she learned that Matteo and Kassius knew each other, she’d been bugging me about Kassius.
“He’s not my cousin. He’s my mom’s friend’s son.” A whopper of words, but I was used to explaining how I was related to the number one swimmer in the country. Kassius and I weren’t close, but we saw each other often, and I was his friend by association with him being my brother’s best friend.
“Po-tayto, po-tahto. All the same.” Her dark curls were spread across the pillow on the couch. We were having a girls’ night in because midterms were coming up and we both had to study and work on our class work. “What is he really like?”
“Kassius?” I asked as she nodded and flung a handful of Cheetos inside her mouth. She was so down-to-earth, funny, and didn’t mind that I wasn’t a neat freak as she was, making her the best housemate in the world.
“He’s into himself.”
“Like a narcissist?” Her cringe made me laugh. I guess her fandom had limits.
I shook my head and chewed on the churro I’d gotten before I got home. It was still warm and when the guy working the counter dipped it in chocolate and sprinkles, I screamed in delight on the inside. I wasn’t really into that much chocolate, but lately I’d been having these weird cravings.
“No. What I mean is that he’s very private.” Kassius was only carefree when he was around people he’d known for a long time. Otherwise, he kept to himself. Much like Uncle Kieran. “But once you get to know him, he’s quite funny. He’s witty and full of sarcasm.”
Carly’s eyes became dreamy as she sighed, “Maybe you should text him.”
“With what?” I didn’t really hang out with him. Kassius would think something was wrong if I texted him out of the blue.
“Tell him to FaceTime you and say you just want to say hi.” She picked up her phone from the ottoman and added, “From my phone. So I can take a selfie of him when he calls.”
I chuckled loudly and a small burp came out. “Excuse me.”
“What? I’m just multi-tasking. You’re doing your friendly obligation, and I can take a pic of him and blow it up so I can hang it up on my ceiling.” We had ceiling fans in our bedrooms. Where she’d be hanging it from I had no clue.
“I have no reason to call him.” I stretched my back after wiping my hands and face with a napkin. That churro was so yummy. “He’ll think I’m having an emergency or something.”
“You do.” She waggled her eyebrows and replied, “You have been kidnapped and the kidnapper’s telling you to call him because she needs to see Kassius Stone’s face on the phone.”
I giggled and answered, “If he’s around the area, I’ll make sure to introduce you to him.”
“Girl –“ she started, she now had her pink sock-covered feet wiggling up in the air while she occupied the large couch with her back comfortably propped up on a pillow. “You’re super lucky. Your brother’s like super hot and your boyfriend’s fuego! And you personally know Kassius.”
“They’re people too, you know.” Growing up under the spotlight of my dad’s fame, I’d learned that sometimes athletes and celebrities weren’t regarded as humans. That they somehow held superpowers. That they were immune to criticism and pain.
“No, they’re not,” Carly said, but her eyes were laughing. “They’re out of this world. And so are you. The fact that you can sit and talk to your boyfriend without wanting to jump his bones every time is proof that you’re immune to what regular people consider ungodly looks.”
I beamed at her, “I do want to jump him all the time, but I guess I had a lot of time growing up surrounded by them so their presence doesn’t affect me as much.”
“You’re a cool cat, Ali,” she said on an exhale. “You could be this snobby bitch and not care about anything else, but you’re like the complete opposite.”
My face felt flushed, “Uh-oh, where’s this coming from?”
She winked, “You could just sit and stay pretty all your life, and no one would bat an eye. But you spend your weeknights helping out these kids whose parents have forsaken them.”
With my class schedule being tight, I didn’t have a lot of time, but I spent time reading to children who’d lost their parents. Matteo had been helping me navigate the legalities of starting the organization in India. It wasn’t just about the money, it was about making the efforts last and having a powerful impact. I’d be returning there in the spring to look at properties to house the children in comfort and maybe in the future I’d be able to add a school.
“I’ve been given a lot in this life,” I said truthfully. “It’s a privilege to help kids out. They don’t have much, but they’re actually the ones who bring so much to me. They make my life meaningful. Matteo’s been very supportive and he really wants to do more.”
I’d been a witness to how Matty worked in the business world. Why he was at the top of his game. He was methodical and never went into a deal without knowing everything about it. The night he tore Carter Chan in two, I couldn’t contain the love and respect that I had for my man. I tore into him when we got to our suite. I kneeled in front of him and paid homage to the savage power he held as a businessman, and when he spilled his seed inside my mouth, I relished every drop knowing that I was the one who satisfied him.
He didn’t have to stand up for me.
He didn’t have to explain anything to me.
His past was his past.
But we’d settled in bed and he’d told me about Tabitha and her wicked ways. He didn’t blame her. He blamed himself for being stupid enough to trust her and for losing his way. But while he didn’t blame her, he hated the fact that she stole from him. And that to him, was just the icing on the worst four months of his life.
He divulged on how difficult it was for his parents to trust him again.
Matteo’s inner core was emblazoned with honor. It had been drilled into him from the time he could babble. His father was one of the most honorable men I knew. Uncle Milo never reneged from a promise. I remembered Uncle Milo visiting me after Reece had passed away and telling me that whatever happened, he’d always be there for me. I’d asked him if he could save Reece’s favorite teddy bear for me. I saw the anguish in his eyes and his downtrodden demeanor – he’d just lost his daughter, his prince
ss – but I’d gotten a special delivery to my house the next day. It was Reece’s Paddington Bear, the one she hugged before she fell asleep. A man who was in deep grief wasn’t obligated to send me anything. Anybody else would have forgotten. But not Uncle Milo.
So I understood where Matteo was coming from. I heard the hate in his voice when he spoke of himself during the bad times. His only reason was that he was trying to forget about the pain of losing his sister. I told him that I understood, but he hadn’t said anything. Instead he’d just hugged me, kissed me goodnight, and murmured Bella before my eyes drifted shut.
“You and Matteo make me believe in love,” Carly said as she sat up and returned to her books. “One day I wish someone would look at me the way he looks at you.”
Matteo and I hadn’t really said I love you to each other, but every time his body sank into mine, it was implied. Every time he called me at random times and texted me funny messages, it was insinuated. And every time he whispered Bella when he was in deep sleep, it was wholly signified.
“I’m still not FaceTiming Kassius. No matter how much you sweet talk me,” I laughed. We weren’t buddy-buddy, but I knew who he’d ask for if I called.
Sofi. Sofia. My dear sister.
Kassius didn’t try to hide it.
Everyone knew he had a soft spot for our eldest.
Sofia just laughed about it because to her, Kassius was like a brother.
If Kassius was ‘Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine’ he’d have better luck in catching her attention.
My sister was dedicated to school and her future career as a doctor.
She didn’t even date because she considered boys as distractions.
We went to the same schools, and it was quite funny how many boys thought they had a chance with Sofia. They even thought that they could bribe me so that they could take her out for a date.
I told many of them that they had to show her skeletons and videos of how to do certain types of sutures and she’d probably go out with them.
They thought I was joking so none of them heeded my advice.
If they had, they could have taken her out for a burger and a shake at the very least.
My sister had GOALS encrypted inside her brain the minute she came out of Mom’s womb. I loved her very much, but she took life, career, and everything so seriously.
I hoped that someday, someone would be able to teach her the joys of life outside of the pursuit of her career.
Carly responded, “Fine. But you better tell me when he’s in town. I don’t care if I’m in Ghana or Zimbabwe. I’ll fly over in the nick of time just to see him.”
Carly’s dad was originally from Ghana. Her mom was born and raised in Arkansas. A whole continent between her parents produced a woman wise enough to know her world couldn’t be restrained in one area. She’d traveled the world more than I had, and she’d done it by working many odd jobs in countries where she didn’t speak their languages.
The first time we’d met, I had a good feeling about her. We were both interested in renting the apartment and we decided to give it a trial run. A year and a half later, the trial run was one of the best decisions I’d ever made.
She was serious in her studies and invited guys over sometimes. We respected each other’s space and we actually liked to hang out during desperate times like these.
Desperate because I hadn’t much time to study since I’d been busy traveling with Matteo on the weekends. The weekend after Florida, we’d gone to Chicago where I’d gone to another business dinner with him. He didn’t have to, but he told me that he wanted to show me how the best of the best did his deals. I’d slapped him and he’d rewarded me with an orgasm in the bathtub.
Which now brought me to my current situation – cramming before midterms. Technically before the holidays, but who cared. All I knew was that I needed a B+ in my Communications class and another B in Introduction to Law.
I might not have all the smarts like my sister, but I did have the persistence gene. When I said I was going to succeed in college, I made it my onus.
If I failed at anything, it would be on me and not anybody else.
Matty helped when he reviewed business principles with me. I often forgot that he went to college too and he’d even managed to cockily admit that he was on the Dean’s List for three years. He’d slipped during those unwise times with Tabitha, but he’d still graduated with high honors and was selected for the MBA Student Speaker.
“Okay, we have to really focus and study now,” I proclaimed, cutting off playtime. Carly looked at me with a scrunched up face while muttering, “No fun.”
“Yep. I’d rather be no fun, and have no D’s on my exams.”
“Slave driver,” she commented and I reached for the potato chips that I’d been salivating over the second my churros were annihilated.
“You okay, Chiquita?” Carly asked, eyeing my hand inside the bag of barbecue chips. She liked to call me Chiquita, Chiquitita, Chinchilla because she just liked to. The nicknames usually started with a “C” for no reason at all than it just fit her mood.
“I am. Why?” Confusion etched in my voice. “I always eat a lot when I’m stressed. It’s my body’s natural reaction.”
I really shouldn’t be having this much salt though and just too much junk food in general. My heart meds helped regulate my rhythm, but when I had too much salt, it affected water in my blood, making it harder for my heart to pump.
Instead of the ten chips I wanted to have, I settled on five.
Half was better than none.
“It’s just that you’ve been really sleepy lately, and you’re kinda eating more than usual. Not that I object to any of it.” Carly didn’t know about my heart problems. I wanted to tell Matteo, but there never seemed to be a good time. Or maybe I was postponing the inevitable.
“Pretty sure I’m just stressed out.” I smiled, “Thank you for looking out for me.”
“I’m not concerned.” She moved on the couch and this time, she was sitting up, her legs folded under her butt, a pillow on top of her leg, and a big book atop it. “I just want to get extra points.”
“Extra points – for what?”
“Well. In case I meet Kassius, I want you to put a good word in for me.” She declared with absolute casualness. “I’m just pretending to be concerned for you as I watch you drown yourself sugar and carbs these past few weeks.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She was right. I loved carbs, but my love had elevated to the point of obsession, and I only had Matteo to blame for that. I’d once complained that I was gaining weight and Matty only responded with a smirk and a, “More for me to grab.”
Gone was the man who was always serious around me.
He was replaced with an always-teasing, always-kissing , always-grabbing me type of a guy and again, I didn’t want that to change if I told him about my condition.
I threw a pillow at Carly and she snagged it with her left hand with no issues. “You know what? If I had a stud muffin like Matteo, I’d probably be gorging on all the food groups too. He’s good to you, Ali?”
Her question was puzzling. She’d met him. She’d been around him. She knew him to be a good guy. They were always laughing when I went to my bedroom to change whenever Matteo dropped by for a surprise visit and wanted us to go out. “He is.”
“I’m talking about his bedroom skills, Chica.” She was finagling for juicy details, and I knew that we’d crossed over the average friendship to BFF levels when I didn’t find her question offensive. What happened between Matty and I inside the bedroom was between us, and I am extremely thankful that Carly’s room was on the opposite side of the apartment because I got loud when he was eating me out. Which of course, the giver that he was, he loved to do.
“Lemme just say I’m a very happy and satisfied girl.” I laughed and said, “Come on, Carly, we have to study.”
I eyed the clock behind her and saw that it was already closing in to nine-forty.<
br />
I had two hours before Matteo called to say goodnight.
It didn’t matter where he was in the world, he called to wish me a goodnight. Right now, he was beyond the international date line. He was in Sydney. He’d texted that he would call when he woke up. He had an early meeting today and he liked to go to the gym or the pool before he started his day. It would be around five in the morning on his end wherein I’d be just hitting my pillow for the night.
“Fine.” Carly capitulated as she plugged her phone in with her earbuds.
We got lost in our school work, and after an hour I stood up to excuse myself. I was getting really sleepy while reading about current business laws.
I brushed my teeth and changed into my jammies and before I knew it, my body hit the bed and I was a goner.
My last thought was, I hope Matty just leaves a voicemail which he often did if I didn’t answer. I’d just answer him when I woke up in the morning.
Midterms went by without a hitch.
I was passing my classes with solid A’s and B’s and I was happy with how my grades were looking at the curve.
So happy in fact that I agreed to the spur of the moment lunch date that my brother and Dad finagled me into.
Throughout the years, I had lunches with my brother and my dad.
Separately.
And I couldn’t remember when it was just the three of us.
And definitely not where they were both flying in just to see me.
Nicholas tried to hide it, but I wasn’t a dummy.
I knew what they were up to.
They wanted to see how I was doing.
In the flesh.
Texts were our major mode of communication these days, so even the late call last night from Nicholas made me feel like something was out of the ordinary. He’d asked if I had any lunch plans and when I’d said no, he said that he’d pick me up at my place and demanded that I shared the bread basket with him. Nicholas loved carbs the way I did. He just burned them ten times faster than I did, so you’d never know that my brother would rather be stuck in a bakery than the most expensive steak house.