by Rachel Cade
“Okay, Jay-Z, I got it.”
“Hov,” Marcus joked, wrinkling his nose at her. “How was your gig this morning with the photographer?”
“It was alright. I did amazing,” she grinned.
Marcus started applying deodorant, thinking he needed call his boy Jay and make some arrangements for a drop.
“I saw your friend Ciara there too.”
“Huh?”
Shayla leaned against the sink. “Ciara, your new friend.”
Marcus sniffed, placed the deodorant back into the medicine cabinet, and shut it. “Did you say something to her?”
“You’re not even gonna deny it?”
Marcus looked down at her. “Deny what?”
“Why is this girl in your phone?” He could see her breathing was getting heavy.
“I talk to a lot of people for business. And I don’t have time for games. What did you say to her?”
“Is that what you think?” she asked, her eyes brimming with tears. “You think I’m playing? I walked right up to that bitch and I told her we were together and that she needed to leave you alone!”
Marcus grabbed her neck. His fingers fit comfortable around it.
Then he squeezed.
“You think this is an episode of Love and Hip Hop?”
Shayla tried to scream, but the air was limited. The long nails he paid for tried to claw at his hand. He lifted her off the ground. Her legs flailed and he shook her.
“I’ll talk to whoever I want to talk to,” he said, keeping his composure while her eyes rolled back. “Just be glad you’re in the rotation.”
He dropped her before she lost consciousness.
Shayla fell to the ground on her knees, crying out as she gasped for air.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“If you touch my phone again, I’ll break your hand.”
When he finished, he put his onyx ring back on his right finger and checked his reflection for any leftover shaving cream.
“Don’t cry on my floor.”
“So she basically told you to quit modeling?” Kim asked.
Ciara crossed her feet on the chaise in her closet. “No. But she said to tone it down.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
Ciara let out a breath before pinching the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know.”
“Ci, I know you and your mom are cool, but modeling is what you love. And more importantly, it’s how you get your own money. It’s not like you’re doing porn, goodness.”
“She thinks it isn’t classy. That’s what she means.” Ciara shrugged. “Maybe if I model for deaconess monthly or something it would be acceptable.”
“Is that a real thing?” Kim asked.
Ciara cackled in response.
Then her doorbell rang. “I’ll call you back in a bit.”
When she made it downstairs, she saw her father’s elbow in the decorative glass that outlined the large white door. She looked up to the heavens in silent prayer before answering
“Hey, Dad.”
“Good evening Miss Kimball. May I come in?”
“Of course.” She stepped out of the way for her father to enter. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No. I just came to check on you.”
“That’s nice. I’m well. But you wanted something else, so tell me.”
Her father stuffed his hands into his pockets as he appraised the foyer. “Did you get back in touch with Marcus?”
Ciara shut the door soundly, twisting her mouth. “No.”
“And why not?”
“I don’t know him that well, for one.”
“And has that stopped you before?” Dennis questioned.
Ciara frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve run off with a man you hardly knew. The last time, you married him.”
Ciara was at a loss for words.
“So… you’re saying it’s okay to go off with a man as long as he’s acquainted with you?”
“I think you have a tendency to associate with men that can provide nothing for you. I, for the most part, left it alone so that you could get it out of your system. In hindsight, that was a mistake. Now that you’re out of your twenties, it’s time to grow up.”
“Daddy, I-”
“No. Now is the time to listen. You need to hear me, Ciara. You’re going to call Marcus and tell him you’ll be happy to join him in Nassau. And you’re going to pack and head down there and you will be sweet and cute and good company to him. Is that understood?”
Was this actually happening? Her father didn’t raise his voice, but his tone and the directness of his gaze didn’t leave room for refusal.
He was throwing her past in her face. And there were plenty of other things he could have added that would have filled her with more shame.
“Yes,” she answered. “It’s understood.”
Chapter Nine:
There Goes My Baby
Fucking politics.
Jack hated political jobs. His instinct was to always reject them. It was better to take work with reliable bad guys.
Politicians had a tendency to ride the fence on where their morals lied, hopping from one side to the other when it suited them.
Jack had low tolerance for the bullshit. His old man had hammered into him to never trust any of them, and he’d be damned if they always proved him right. And that’s how he found himself in Mexico, pulling a dictator through his own mansion as it crumbled around them.
Jack needed him to get directions around this maze of a place before it turned into his fucking tomb. And he needed to get paid.
“Left, left!” Gonzalez screamed. He’d been stabbed in his arm by his second in command before bullets had started flying everywhere in his office. A goddamn coup when Jack was due to get his ass out of there in two days.
The rest of the guys on his team had scattered, and he had no radio communication.
The walls shook with each explosion.
There was a narrow set of stairs at the end of the hallway.
Gonzalez was dripping with sweat, wheezing as he ran ahead of him, despite Jack calling out for him to wait.
The stairs were barely lit and Jack had to descend them in full gear while holding a machine gun. It wasn’t really his style but Gonzalez insisted they all carry them. Jack wondered now if he was going to need a rocket launcher to see his way out of this shit.
They entered an underground room. It was fairly dark, but Jack could hear whimpers.
Gonzalez was pushing back a huge armoire. “Help me!” he demanded.
Jack grabbed a flashlight to scan the room. Sure enough, three small children were huddled in a corner staring up at him. “Fuck,” he muttered.
“Get over here, damn it!” Gonzalez cried.
Jack tore his gaze from the kids and pushed at the furniture until it revealed a long tunnel with working string lights to guide the way.
“This will get us to the out of the city. Let’s go!”
“Come on!” Jack gestured hard to the kids from the top of the tunnel.
“Leave them!” Gonzalez clawed at his shoulder. “You’re here to protect me!”
Jack ignored him, casting his light on the kids again. “Get up!” he yelled. “Come on!”
It sounded light a freight train, like the whole world was coming undone and the ceiling caved over their heads. Jack held his flashlight as the rocks and beams came down a foot in front of him. He lurched back hard, falling on his back before instinct kicked in and he scrambled away from the opening. Flipping on his stomach, he pulled himself up. The ground shook under his feet as the rubble rolled toward him. A cloud of dust was beginning to fill the space, and Gonzalez was out of sight. He tried not to think about the kids. Snatching his gun up, he took off down the cavern after the dictator.
Jack shot up in bed.
; His chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.
It had been a while since he’d dreamed about anything. Usually his sleep was just that wonderful black abyss, void of anything.
Peace.
But tonight, of course, he had one. A dream about the past. So vivid he could still taste the dirt in his mouth.
“You all right?”
Jack’s eyes flicked to a lanky kid at his bedroom door, one of his dad’s students.
“You better be glad I didn’t send this flyin’ in your chest.” Jack grumbled, with a blade in his hand, mad at the intrusion. A half glass of his dad’s infamous moonshine had dropped him on his ass. He still had the touch; that was for sure.
“So you’re really John’s son?”
“When did he start letting folks call him John?”
“Are you gonna be back here for good now?”
“No.” Jack collapsed back onto the bed. “And if you’re smart, you’ll get the hell out of here too.”
Ciara took her shades off as the private plane began circling to land. The water below them was so blue, it could be nowhere else but the Caribbean. She hadn’t been here since her parents brought her to St Barth’s for her sixteenth birthday.
She was thankful for the fresh air when she disembarked the plane, taking in the sea air on a deep breath. It didn’t do much to ease the tension in her shoulders, though. It was going to take at least three cocktails for that.
Her father actually thought he was going to pressure her into dating someone by his choice. It was hilarious. Sure she may have made some questionable choices in men in the past, but she’d like to open his closet and see what was lying around in there. Everyone made mistakes.
But for now, she was living in his home and using his black card, so she’d have to play along. When she got back to D.C., she was going to start looking for her own place, paid for with her own money.
The car brought her to her hotel, and she was thankful to Marcus for making decent arrangements. All she needed was a jacuzzi and her first cocktail to get the evening started properly.
Her phone rang as the bellhop was leading her to her room.
“Hello, Marcus,” she answered in her sing song way.
“Good afternoon. How was your flight?”
“It was fantastic.”
“I apologize for not being able to meet you at the airport. I’m here with the architect and it’s kind of crazy at the site right now.”
“It’s fine. I’m just going to unwind a bit in my…” the door was opened for her and she entered the threshold, “lovely hotel room. With fresh roses. They’re so lovely, thank you.” She spotted them in a vase behind the couch and immediately moved toward them.
“Never a problem for you.”
“So will I see you for dinner tonight?” she asked, lifting a rose to smell it while her bags were brought into the room.
“Of course. I have a great night planned.”
Ciara smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Marcus hung up the phone.
“You payin’ for this bitch’s hotel?”
He rolled his eyes at Jay. They were standing on land he purchased that looked down over the ocean while men worked in the background to build his palace. “Yes. I’m being a gentleman and letting her have her own space. It’s called courting. When you’re around her, just completely shut the fuck up because you have no class.”
Jay’s eyes narrowed.
“If you weren’t my dude, I’d have left you in D.C,” Marcus added.
Jay chugged on his tropical drink, then loudly chewed the ice. Marcus knew his cousin didn’t give a fuck. “You know in the movies, the gangsta’s on top, then he loses everything because his eyes get too big. You building a house out here, now you’re wining and dining on this chick. Why is she even down here? We got business. I thought you didn’t want her to know about who you really are.”
“Nothing wrong with mixing a little business and pleasure. I can kill two birds with one stone.”
Jay took another sip and swallowed, savoring it. “She’s not going to let you fuck.”
“I’m Marcus Kelly,” he answered simply.
“That girl comes from stacks. Stacks on stacks,” Jay clarified. “You said it yourself. She’s not like Shayla and these chicks you normally deal with. She grew up with her daddy.”
Marcus sucked his teeth hard, staring at his friend. “Let’s place a wager on it.”
“I don’t wanna see you lose any more money cause of this girl.” Jay shook his head slowly and finished his drink.
“You’re sorry as fuck,” Marcus laughed. “Tell me about these guards right quick. You found some real guys, I hope.”
“Listen, you said you wanted to upgrade. I got you some upgrades, okay. And they weren’t cheap. These guys have been all over like on some Beasts of No Nation shit. If anything goes down, they’ll handle it.”
Marcus nodded. “Good. I want to meet them.”
*
Hell of a switch up from the swamp, was the first thing Jack thought when he got off the plane.
This is where he should have come to take his sabbatical instead of being holed up at his aunt’s old place. The air was sweet, and the sky was as blue as the water. The fishing had to be on point. Even if he didn’t catch a thing, what the hell did it matter?
A simple job and he’d be done in a couple days. He couldn’t complain. Maybe he’d find an island when this was all over where he could really relax and just drink out of coconuts all day. If Shep wasn’t half dead, he’d have grabbed the dog and let him enjoy some time on the beach. He had to have been sicker of his old man than he was.
There was still the matter of that to deal with. Who the hell had bothered to track him down? But he was going to have to let it go for now and focus on the job.
Ten minutes later, he was looking down at the beach. The construction noise faded into the background as he stared out at the horizon.
There were two other guys there that might have possibly been in his trade. They didn’t exchange pleasantries. He was there for his money. Nothing more. As long as they stayed out of his way, they were good.
“You must be J.T.”
Jack turned to his right to see a stocky black guy who was dressed in head to toe designer gear. He looked like a billboard for Gucci.
“You look serious as hell, man. Damn,” the young guy said.
“That’s what I’m paid for.”
He had to look up to make eye contact. “I feel you.”
Jack followed the man to the entrance of the house, feeling a little relief.
This would be a good way to get back in the game.
Would he stay? He wasn’t sure for how long. He didn’t want to be end up one of those guys who could never let it go and move on.
Men were delivering plastic-covered furniture through the front door as he followed the young guy who said his name was Jason.
They went through the living room to the balcony. Jack tried not to scope out the place too much, but made note that it wasn’t cheap.
A guy stood at the railing with his back to them.
This must be the drug dealer.
Something Kelly. It didn’t matter much; they were all the same; the younger ones, anyway. On the come up, a little brash, and always looking for ridiculous ways to spend their money, which was always pouring in.
“Marcus Kelly,” he introduced himself before they stopped next to him.
Jack just nodded. He’d never been a fan of formalities.
“I know Jay probably gave you some details, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m making an exchange with some Columbians. That’s why you’re here. I don’t need to deal with any bullshit with these guys trying to double cross me. You came highly recommended from Sam. He said I could trust that you’ll have my back.”
“That I will.”
“So you’re going to stay here. Your room’s almost set up, so you can relax from the plane r
ide and get yourself something to eat. I try to treat my people well. You guys put your lives on the line for me. No need of me trying to come off as an asshole, ya know?”
Jack’s nod was slight.
“I’ve heard you guys have gotten into some crazy shit.” Marcus tilted his head. “Sam said you threw a guy into a volcano. I called bullshit, but I had to ask you-”
“How’d the logistics for that even go?” Jay cut in. “You would have had to have almost fallen in too-”
Marcus cut through them, walking back into the living room. “I thought you were going to unwind for a bit?” He was speaking to someone else.
“I did, but I was bored, so I came to see what you were up to. I hope you don’t mind,” a woman said.
“Great, Beverly Hills is here,” Jay muttered.
Jay left Jack on the balcony, to take the patio steps.
“I love how you decorated this place. I really need to start shopping for furniture instead of clothes.”
Jack was checking through his bag when he stopped.
He had to have been hearing things.
From the side of the balcony, he could see into the living room.
“Come on, I’ll show you around.”
“Let me take off my hat first.” She was wearing a huge white straw brimmed hat and was completely oblivious to him spying on them as she removed it and her shades. He could see the side of her face.
“High heels,” was all he could say.
Chapter Ten:
A Kiss Before Lying
Ciara allowed Marcus to show her around. The home was beautiful, a mini mansion on a slice of paradise. He seemed quite proud of it too, beaming while he showed her the custom windows and imported tile and wallpaper in his master bathroom.
“You’re putting a lot of work into this. I didn’t imagine you’d be into things like decorating.”
“I’m usually not, trust me,” he said with a laugh. “My parents are from here, so … it’s been great to be able to come back and build this place.”