These were not the times that she had wished for. Her energy was so wrapped up in Indie that it felt like she was a prisoner of life. He may have been the one behind bars, but she was the one who wasn’t free. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
YaYa thought about the money that Ethic had given her. She could use that money to go toward Indie’s bail, but it would be the ultimate sign of disrespect. She couldn’t take the gift that Ethic had given her and squander it in that way. She would have to come up with another way to.
* * *
YaYa hadn’t had to hustle since her days of moving cocaine in false-bottom stilettos. She used to make more money than she could count with Zya as her supplier. The thought of returning to such drastic measures made her sick to her stomach. Not only was she older and wiser but also with Indie facing federal charges, she worried that the spotlight was already shining too brightly on their entire family. She wouldn’t be able to move with the discretion she preferred. She would be taking a huge risk and jeopardizing everything. She had Skylar to think about, and apparently King as well.
She had never been this strapped over a hundred thousand dollars. She and Indie had played with millions once upon a time. Now even with Elaine willing to pool their resources, it was a struggle to come up with enough.
She picked up her phone and thought about reaching out to Zya. Was Indie’s freedom worth her stepping back into a dangerous game? She didn’t know, but she was obligated to try. She couldn’t just let him rot in prison without doing all she could to get him out. She was mad at him, yes. They were distant and had many things to work out, of course, but at the end of the day he was her husband. She hated seeing him as state property, and if this was what it took to get him out, she would do it.
She couldn’t help but feel like she was sacrificing herself for him, however, and it was that sentiment that made her resentment for Indie grow. His role at Vartex was supposed to legitimize him. He was supposed to fly under the radar while building massive wealth, but Indie had made a mistake by letting emotion get in the way of business. He had crossed Ethic out and left his product unprotected. With him behind bars, his queen was left to pick up the pieces.
It was the game that had attracted YaYa to him in the first place. She had been drawn in by his looks and charm, no doubt, but his position in the streets had lured her in. He had been powerful, rich, and cocky. He had all the makings of the head nigga in charge, and YaYa had pulled out no stops when they first met. She had wanted that type of man. In fact, she had admired his hustle and street savvy, but a woman gets to a point in her life when the streets become trivial. She had matured and was ready to let the streets go because no matter how much you loved them, now matter how loyal you were, the love was all unrequited. Indie didn’t get that, or rather he didn’t want to. Vartex was just another level of the same game. Pills were just as bad as cocaine. YaYa just wanted to graduate from it all. No high horses, just growth, and she was yearning for the type of maturation that Ethic had to offer.
She dialed Zya reluctantly. To her dismay the line was disconnected.
“Damn it!” she shouted. She had no way to contact her. No way to get the money Indie needed to get out. YaYa was in a desperate way. She called Einstein, waiting impatiently, pacing the length of her apartment as she waited for him to answer.
“This is Einstein.”
“Hello. This is Disaya Perkins,” she informed.
“How can I help you?” Einstein asked.
“If I tell you something, aren’t you bound by law to keep it a secret?” YaYa asked.
“I would have to be your attorney, Mrs. Perkins. Right now, I only represent your husband’s interests. Perhaps you should come into the office,” Einstein advised. “This is an open line.”
“Yeah, okay. I’m on my way,” YaYa whispered. She wrangled up Skylar and King, and then rushed out.
She was a ball of nervous energy by the time she arrived. Time was of the essence. She didn’t want Indie locked up any longer than he had to be. There was beef stirring between Indie and the Dominicans behind bars. There was strength in numbers inside Rikers, and it was only a matter of time before Indie was caught slipping. She barged into Einstein’s office, interrupting his meeting.
“Can I talk to you?” she asked. The look of dire concern on her face told him it was imperative. She had Skylar holding one hand and King holding the other. She looked desperate for a moment of his time. He dismissed the partners of his firm and extended his hand.
“Take a seat,” Einstein said. He reached for the phone and called his assistant on the intercom. She appeared moments later. “Can you take Skylar and King to get a drink and a snack out of the break room?”
“Of course,” the young woman responded. “Do you guys like cookies?”
Skylar nodded and King shrugged. “Follow her. I won’t be long,” YaYa said. When they were alone, she turned toward Einstein.
“If you are anything, it’s persistent,” he commented.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on your meeting,” she said. “I need to contact someone. An associate of Indie’s that I think will help with his bail. I need you to help me find her, but I don’t want to put any information on the floor that could be damaging to him, to myself, or to her.”
Einstein held up a finger. He already knew whom she was speaking of. He pulled a burner phone out of his inner jacket pocket and dialed Zya. “I don’t want to know the details of the conversation. You have the room for the next five minutes,” Einstein said as he handed her the cell and walked out.
With each ring of the phone YaYa grew more anxious. Zya had been an ally once upon a time, but YaYa never doubted her ruthlessness. With Indie in jail she knew that things were tense. Zya picked up, and the line was silent. She was being cautious, and YaYa took a deep breath before saying, “Zya, it’s YaYa.”
“You’re with Einstein?” Zya asked, finally speaking.
“I’m at his office. I’m alone, in a conference room,” YaYa replied.
Zya didn’t respond, so YaYa continued. “I want back in. I need money, quickly, a hundred thousand dollars, and I’m willing to work it off. I need this favor, Zya. It’s important. You know I wouldn’t even ask if it wasn’t.”
Zya still didn’t speak. The line was so silent that if it weren’t for the minutes running on the screen she would have thought that Zya had hung up.
“I’ll be in touch,” Zya stated.
YaYa breathed a sigh of relief as the line went dead. She felt like she was selling her soul. She had avoided getting involved in the game. After ridding herself of Leah, she just wanted to live a normal life. Now her hand was forced. Getting in bed with a woman like Zya was more than just a notion. She had asked for a favor that would have to be repaid with interest.
* * *
Zya hung up the line and turned to Ethic, who sat across from her in the empty bar. YaYa’s phone call couldn’t have come at a better time. She sat trying to convince Ethic to form a partnership with her. With Indie out of commission, she would need someone to move her product. YaYa couldn’t do it. She was too hot. The feds would sniff her out with ease just because of her affiliation with Indie. She had fully expected Ethic to tell her no, but YaYa had added a new dynamic. Ethic had been willing to kill for YaYa, surely he would have no problem doing this for her.
“Interesting conversation I just had,” Zya said.
Ethic knew a baited statement when he heard one. “I came here out of respect, Zya, but my patience is running thin. I’m not interested in selling dope, selling pills, none of it. You pulled out of our deal and put your money behind Indie. You chose the wrong horse, now you want to double back to me. My heart just ain’t in it. I’ll keep getting this legit paper.”
“Are you sure? Because YaYa would really like the opportunity to make some money with me. That was her on my line, and if you’re out, I’m definitely tapping her in. She’s a pretty girl, and she sells cocaine better
than any man I’ve ever done business with,” Zya said.
Ethic’s temples throbbed and his nostrils flared. Zya knew that YaYa was Ethic’s weakness. Hell, Indie’s too. That girl must have gold between her thighs, Zya thought. Two of the strongest men she had ever met were completely smitten by the same woman. YaYa had her pick of the litter when it came to them.
“YaYa’s off limits,” Ethic insisted.
“Nobody’s out of bounds for me. I’m on a private jet back to Italy in the morning. So you have until then to get me your answer. I’ll agree to never do business with YaYa, or bring harm to her, if you agree to sell my product.”
Ethic smirked.
“You find me entertaining?” Zya asked.
“I think you’re great at your bluff. You know how to press my buttons, but I don’t think you would hurt YaYa. She’s your friend. You brag about her like she’s your little protégé or something. I didn’t catch it before, but I’m almost certain that she’ll be safe whether I fuck with you or not. So I’m going to have to decline, and whatever she needed that money for, she doesn’t anymore,” Ethic stated. He stood from the bar and walked away. He half expected her to put a bullet in his back as he made his exit. Zya’s beauty was deceiving. She was smart and cunning. She used manipulation to get her way more than she used her muscle. She wouldn’t have her way this time, not with the woman he loved.
“You’re the only person who I have allowed to tell me no in a long time, Ethic,” Zya replied. Ethic turned to her. She smiled, dazzling him. He shook his head. Beautiful women like her should be barred from the games of men. They didn’t play fair. She didn’t even use her sexual prowess, it was the desire to be in her good graces that made most men comply.
“That’s why you fuck with me,” Ethic answered. “I ain’t just more of the same.” He made his exit, and she shook her head before going out the back. She had a jet to catch. Her affairs in the States were in order. Her name was no longer in jeopardy of being exposed. It was time to go back underground, where no one could find her.
* * *
Knock! Knock! Knock!
YaYa threw the covers off her body and hopped out of bed, slightly panicked as she heard the incessant banging on her door. Not very many people knew where to find her. Her first thought was that something had happened to Indie. Perhaps it was Elaine. She rushed to answer it, pulling open the door in concern. To her surprise Ethic stood there, anger pulsing off him.
“What did I tell you?” Ethic asked sternly as he grabbed her arms and pushed her away from the door, pinning her against the wall. He pointed a finger in her face as if he were chastising a hardheaded child. “Didn’t I tell you if you needed something to call me? I don’t know what type of nigga you’re used to, but I mean what I say. You reach out to me. You don’t try to figure shit out on your own and get yourself involved with people like Zya, when you got a man that’ll take the risks for you.”
YaYa was dumbfounded. How did he know about the deal she had struck with Zya? “How did you—”
“How did I know?” Ethic interrupted her. “I make it my business to protect the people I care about,” he said as he loosened his grip on her. He didn’t free her from the wall, however. He stood directly in front of her, so closely that she inhaled every breath that he exhaled.
“I can’t ask you for this.”
“What are you talking about, YaYa? You can ask me for whatever,” Ethic said.
YaYa felt like she was going to pull out her hair. Pleasing Ethic and pleasing Indie was always a direct conflict. They were two different men who required two different things from her, and it was exhausting trying to keep up with it all.
“You’re so noble! So fucking honorable all the time! I’m not that good of a person. In fact, most of the time I’m a greedy, selfish bitch, and that’s a part of me that you don’t know. I’m trying to change that. That’s why I didn’t come to you!” she shouted.
“Come to me about what?” Ethic shot back.
“Bail money! I need money for Indie’s bail, Ethic,” she said in defeat. “What do I look like, asking you for that?”
Ethic grabbed her by the neck. He used just enough authority without hurting her, and the intense look of anger in his eyes made it feel like the heat had been turned up in the room. “I don’t give a damn about that nigga. I only care about what’s mine,” he whispered as he kissed the side of her neck, causing her head to fall to the side in ecstasy.
“Skylar and Indie’s son are here,” YaYa moaned as he turned her around and slid her panties to the side. “They’re sleeping.”
“Then you better whisper when you calling my name,” Ethic said. His strength split her in half as he took her from behind. Long, deep, and with a rhythm so contagious that she matched him stroke for stroke.
“Hmm,” YaYa whimpered. She had been starved of him, and she wanted him to fill her up, inch by inch.
He wrapped one arm around her waist and rolled her swollen bud between his fingers.
“Oh my God. Yes,” she whispered, her face flat against the wall as he had his way with her.
“Is this mine?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered, desperately, as he tweaked her taut nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
He moved his hand down her body to her barely there baby bump. She could hide it with ease under clothes, but he knew it was there. “This mine?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered as sweat wet her brow. Her entire body was reacting to him. It was like every nerve ending had awakened and was being overstimulated by his expert hands. He fisted her hair and bent her neck back. This was as rough as he had ever been with her. He wasn’t playing. He was her authority, and she submitted willingly to this claiming of her yoni. He withdrew from her body.
“No,” she pleaded. He turned her around.
“Please,” she gasped as he gave her exactly what she was asking for. Her legs were around his waist and her back now balanced against the wall as he rocked in and out of her.
“Shh,” he whispered.
“I’m there, I’m right.” She groaned as she bit into his shoulder. “Fucking—” He stroked her.
“There!” she cried.
He groaned as he found his release right along with her. YaYa’s legs were too weak to hold her up, so she kept them around his waist, and without ever asking what she needed, he carried her to her bedroom. He tossed her on the plush bed like a caveman and gave her a charming smile. His white teeth on that chocolate skin made her want to taste him. He was the perfect stress reliever.
As he walked to the shower, he yelled over his shoulder, “You’ll have the money in your account tomorrow.”
“What?” she asked, astonished, as she followed him. She needed to be looking into his eyes, to see the expression on his face, to see if he was serious or not. He couldn’t be this generous, this selfless. Where was the jealousy? The possessiveness? The ultimatum to leave her husband? None of these things existed with Ethic. He just wanted to love her, because he was confident that giving this to her would be enough to show her that he was the right decision.
“You’re giving me money for Indie’s bail?” YaYa asked in shock.
“I don’t want to win you by a technicality. I want you to be all in with me because you want to be, not because you don’t have access to him,” Ethic replied. He was all man, all king. For the first time YaYa believed that “made in God’s’ image” saying. Ethic was too good to be true. It was like all that he had been through in the streets had taught him what life was truly about. He never took any of their time together for granted because he knew how quickly the moment could pass. There were no guarantees in life, so when he witnessed beauty he basked in it. He reveled in YaYa. He could get lost in those green eyes all day. He didn’t want to control her or hold her hostage and mask possession as affection. He wanted her to choose him, fully, and until things were resolved with Indie, she could never truly do that.
YaYa hugged him.
She buried her face in his chest and cried as she squeezed him tightly. The reassuring feel of his hands rubbing her back only made it worse. The last time he had let her go, she hadn’t returned. She had married Indie and kissed Ethic goodbye. Still, he had been there to pick her up after she had fallen. “I’m going to come back to you,” she whispered.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Ethic said. They stood naked in her bathroom, holding one another. He kissed her forehead, and she looked up to rub her nose against his. It was the most intimate interaction she had ever had with any man. She could feel every sentiment he felt for her through the pads of his fingertips. He pulled her into the shower. “Let me get you wet,” he whispered. They stood underneath the rainfall showerhead and let the water wash all of their doubts away. Ethic cleansed her body, then tasted her before cleaning her once again. He catered to every inch of her, leaving her exhausted, before putting her to bed. She laid back, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking, but she sat up on her elbows when she noticed that he was getting dressed. “You’re leaving?”
Ethic pulled a shirt over his toned abdomen and then reached into his Louis duffel bag, pulling out two plane tickets. He handed them to her. “These are one-way vouchers for you and Skylar. They’re good for the next six months. If you don’t come, I’ll know what it is. I’ll put money in the account every month for you to take care of yourself and the baby, even if you choose him. I don’t want to leave and be unclear about my intentions for you. Last time I walked away. This time I’m telling you straight up that I want you. I want you, and I want your daughter to be a part of my life. I want to raise our baby together. After you figure your shit out, you let me know what it’s going to be.”
It took every ounce of loyalty YaYa had to not run after him. Her heart was full of him, and she wanted nothing more than to remain in this bubble that they had created. Indie needed her, however, and she kept reminding herself that as his wife, she had to be there for him. He was stuck in jail, and Ethic had selflessly given her the money she needed to bail him out. Ethic grabbed his bag, and she could see the struggle in his eyes before he walked over to the elevator.
The Prada Plan 5 Page 18