What the hell? I stopped hugging Grant and looked at him. Why had Velvet done that to Grant? I made my way to the door, too. I said, “Thanks, Honey.” Then I walked up to Grant and said, “I’m Tiffany, and you are?”
Grant pivoted, with his back to Honey, so she couldn’t see his face. He closed his eyes, opened them, shook his head, then said, “Grant. Pleased to meet you, Tiffany.”
I couldn’t resist. I hugged him again. I nestled my cheek on his bare chest, softly kissed his nipple, then quietly left. I wished I knew what room Red Velvet had disappeared into so I could thank her and confront her. I needed to talk with her to find out more about her encounter with Alphonso. More important, I wanted to know why she’d squeezed Grant’s ass in front of Honey and me.
Waiting for the elevator, I wasn’t sure what to do next. But I was happy to learn that after all these years, my mama hadn’t given up looking for me. Maybe nobody else loved me, but I now knew without a doubt that my mother did. Her search was over.
Tiffany Davis, who had been missing for fourteen years, was going home. I prayed that Grant was right. Maybe now I could find true happiness within myself.
CHAPTER 32
Valentino
Anigga didn’t have a choice.
What the fuck was I gonna do with less than two thousand dollars to my name? That was all I had after stopping at the pawnshop and spending ten fucking grand on a round-cut solitaire. The five carats were worth every penny. I’d heard that when niggas bought marquis diamonds for their fiancées, the marriage didn’t last worth a shit, but when they bought the round rock, the shit was like infinity, solid forever. Unless Summer died or was killed, I was getting married one time.
I’d put Benito on hold last night, put his ass up in a cheap motel, and left. First off, I’d never sleep in a two-star hotel. And it was best that I took my horny ass home to blast inside my girl this heavy load weighing down my nuts. The thought of fucking Benito didn’t empower me; that shit scared me, because fucking him would’ve been the same as fucking a bitch. As soon as I married Summer, I was out…on my way to Atlanta in this Bentley to collect my fuckin’ money from Lace.
I parked in the driveway at my house, walked up to the front door. Quietly, I slid my key in the lock, but it wouldn’t turn. I took the key out, put it back in, and tried that shit again, and it still didn’t work. I speed dialed Summer’s home number, and the bitch was temporarily suspended. Not the home phone, but the fuckin’ cell phone she’d given me. I knew money wasn’t the issue. That bitch was trying to control me? With a damn phone? I hurled that motherfucker like a football into the middle of the street and started banging on the door.
“Summer! Summer, you hear me, bitch! Open this fuckin’ door!” I yelled, trying to knock the door in. I didn’t give a fuck if her nosy-ass neighbors across the street did call the fuckin’ cops. Disturbing their motherfuckin’ peace was the least of my concerns.
“Summer said to tell you she left you a note,” a lady yelled from next door. “It’s in the mailbox!” Then she shut her door.
I walked to the edge of the driveway, opened the mailbox. “Well, I’ll be damned. A fuckin’ note addressed to me in my own mailbox. What will this bitch think of next? Why didn’t her ass just send me a homing pigeon?”
Stuffing the note in my pocket, I got back in my Bentley and took off. “Bitch!” I yelled. I’d spent ten grand that I couldn’t get back on that fuckin’ ring. That left me with seventeen hundred after breaking off Benito’s broke ass. What the hell was I gonna do with that? Wipe my asshole? I tried to calm down. I hadn’t read the note yet. Maybe she’s at the chapel. “Yeah, that’s it. Why hadn’t I thought about that?”
I changed my course and drove to Chapel of the Bells. After parking in the small lot, I went inside. A woman was standing at the altar. Her back was to me. The dress was white, some bland shit that Summer would wear. The veil covered her face. I straightened out my tuxedo as I approached her. Slowly she turned around. Lifting the veil, I uncovered her face, then exhaled. “Summer, baby. Why didn’t you wait for me? Where’s my son?”
Summer opened her mouth and said, “Summer is dead, motherfucker!” I didn’t know who that possessed bitch was who was cocking a Beretta double-action semiautomatic pistol and pointing it at my face.
“Oh fuck!” I yelled. Of all the fuckin’ times for a nigga to trip. I fell straight on my ass, shielding my face with my hands.
“You shot my sister in the head at point-blank range. Summer is dead. I’m Sunny. How does it feel having a gun in your face, Mr. Badd Ass? Huh? Exploiting women. Making money off of women’s pussies while you sit on your dick! I should put your fuckin’ ass on a stroll. Make you suck a couple of dicks and take it in the ass. The money is not yours! The money is not yours! It’s not yours! None of it belongs to you!”
She pressed the barrel hard against my temple. The same way I’d done to Sunny. But I didn’t pull the fuckin’ trigger. She did. Sunny killed herself. I swear. “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot me! I didn’t mean it! It was an accident! I swear!” I yelled, scurrying backward on the floor, wishing I had picked up Benito before coming to the chapel. That nigga was a guaranteed fuckin’ distraction.
I felt a tender hand nudging me in the side, and I heard a sweet voice in my ear. “What was an accident? Wake up, baby. Wake up.”
My chest heaved. I was drenched in sweat. My body was freezing cold. I looked at the woman in the bed with me and screamed, “Bitch, who are you?”
Reaching for me, she said, “It’s me, Summer.”
I pushed her arms away; I didn’t want that bitch touching me. “Prove it. Prove that you’re not Sunny. Tell me something only Summer would know,” I said, sniffing the bedroom air. “What’s that fuckin’ smell? Damn! Damn! Damn!” I was losing my fuckin’ mind.
Summer shook her head. “That’s frankincense. My mother told me to burn it to rid the house of evil spirits. Anthony, are you evil? Who was haunting you in your sleep? Was it my sister? You did kill Sunny, didn’t you?” Summer asked me these questions like she was fuckin’ working for Dr. Phil.
I got out of the bed, got on my knees, and lift the covers. I didn’t see anyone under there. I frisked Summer’s body for wires, then ripped off her gown. Was Summer trying to get a confession from me? “Bitch, you setting me up again?”
Scrambling out of the bed, Summer said, “Anthony, I have no reason to set you up. Besides, if you didn’t kill my sister, you have nothing to worry about. Was Sunny haunting you?” Summer stood on the opposite side of the bed.
I sat on the edge of the bed, out of her reach. Trying to calm down, I said, “Nah, nah. Just some shit that happened in prison. Nothing I want to talk about. I’ll be okay.” As soon as I got the fuck outta this haunted house and away from this possessed bitch.
“Is that why we had to wait to make love? Did some man violate you while you were incarcerated?” Summer asked, sounding like Barbara fuckin’ Walters.
“Who the fuck are you!” I screamed, covering my ears. “No, nobody touched me.” That answer was…false. What did this bitch think we were doing? Playing The Moment of Truth? “Look, stay the fuck away from me. I’m going to shower and put on my tux,” I said, going into the bathroom.
“Okay,” Summer said. Then she started singing, “Going to the chapel, and we’re gonna get ma-a-a-ried.” She danced her way into the bathroom with me. “I’m going to get ready, too.”
“I’ll use the other bathroom,” I said, not wanting to be in the same space with her cheery, spooky ass.
I wasn’t sure if I should leave or follow through with our plans or kill Summer. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about whether she was Sunny or not. They’d both be dead. I was tripping over my own guilt. I decided to go ahead and marry my girl.
I went into Anthony’s room, woke him up. “It’s time to get ready to be a family, li’l man,” I told him.
“Daddy?” Anthony said, sitting up in his superhero pajamas.
> I was changing his room and his wardrobe when I got back. I didn’t believe in all this false sense of heroic power.
“Yeah, man. What’s on your mind?”
“Do you love us?” he asked.
His question caught me off guard. “Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
Anthony hugged my neck super tight. “I love you, too, Daddy.”
This li’l nigga was making me tear up. “Let’s get ready. We don’t want your mother to get upset.”
I took Anthony into the shower with me in case that demonic bitch planned on resurfacing in the mirror like Candyman. We showered together. Summer came busting into our bathroom.
“I was looking all over for Anthony! Why do you have him in the shower with you?” she asked, snatching open the shower door. “Come with Mommy, baby,” she said, leading Anthony out of the bathroom.
Damn. Who in the fuck did she think I was? Did she think I was going to fuck my own seed? Summer’s paranoia and shit were getting old real quick.
I dried off, then slipped into my monkey-ass tux. Summer looked great in her white, ankle-length dress, but she looked more like a Muslim than a bride with her veil, which covered her head while revealing her face. In a few hours all of this shit would be a done deal. I checked my pockets to make sure I had my house keys, car keys, and driver’s license.
“Let’s go,” I said. I went to pick up Anthony. I pulled back when Summer’s lips tightened. “Are you sure you want to marry me?”
“Yes, don’t be silly. I love you,” she said, getting in the car.
Driving to the chapel, I reminded myself that our getting married was a straight convenience. I knew what I wanted. Financial security, a woman to love me, and a safe, quiet place to sleep at night. I was clueless about what Summer wanted from me, but she was up to something.
Parking in the lot in front of the chapel, I got out of the car. Summer just sat there, and Anthony remained in the backseat, behind her. If she didn’t let my son grow up to be a man, he’d sit behind every woman he met. What was her problem? Why was she motioning for me to come to her?
“What is it? You changed your mind?” I asked her through the cracked window.
“No, silly.” She smiled. “You’re supposed to open the car door for us.”
Damn. A nigga wasn’t no slave and shit. All this female liberation and she expected me to open the car door. Who opened her damn door before I came home? I pulled the handle on her door first, then Anthony’s. He actually needed me to let him out, ’cause the child safety lock was on.
“Daddy, I’m your best man today,” Anthony said, with his chest stuck out.
“You’re my best man every day,” I told him. I meant that shit. I didn’t have any best buddies, brothers, or sisters. It was just me.
Summer held her stomach.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked, staring at her stomach.
“Nothing. I’m good,” she said, walking inside the chapel.
What if her twins weren’t mine? I was not raising some other nigga’s kids. First we signed a few papers, then we made our way to the altar, and Summer pulled that veil over her fuckin’ face. She knew I had just had that damn nightmare. Actually, she didn’t know it had been about her sister. I’d lied to her.
I took a deep breath. We exchanged vows. The reverend said, “You may kiss the bride.”
I was not lifting that veil over Summer’s face until she said something. Summer removed the veil, and I exhaled. “Thank, god,” I murmured, then gave her a peck on the lips.
Before getting back in the car, I opened her car door, then Anthony’s door. Then I drove Summer straight to the bank at ten in the morning.
“Baby, why are we here?” Summer asked.
“I got some things to take care of, and I spent all the money I had yesterday on your ring.” I went to pull the ten-million-dollar cashier’s check from my tuxedo jacket pocket. “Where is it?” I turned every pocket inside out. “Where the fuck is it? Summer, where is the check?”
Summer’s eyebrows lifted. “What check? Oh, you mean that check. Sapphire stopped by, asking for it, so I gave it back to her. She said we would’ve gone to jail if we’d deposited it.”
I did a three-sixty in the middle of the bank parking lot. “You did what! You searching through my shit? Are you fuckin’ retarded?” I yelled, wanting to go off on her.
“And so? You found the key to my safe, and you went in it without my consent and took the check.”
“You gon’ give me my money. All of it!” I bellowed. “I want you to add my name to your bank account right now.”
A woman came out to our car and knocked on the passenger window. “Ms. Day, are you okay? Do you need assistance?”
“No, bitch. She does not need assistance,” I yelled. “If you’re the fuckin’ wizard, give this bitch a brain.”
“I’m calling the police,” the woman said.
“It’s okay. We’ll be fine,” Summer reassured her.
“And she’s not Ms. Day. She’s Mrs. James to you, bitch,” I yelled. “Don’t you see me in this monkey suit?”
“Anthony, you’re embarrassing us,” said Summer. “Look at your son sitting back there and hiding on the floor. Is this the type of role model you want to be for him? That’s not nice.”
I swear, I wanted to cry. I sat there, shaking my head.
“Why don’t I get you a cashier’s check, and you can open your own account?” said Summer.
I’d been expecting more of a protest, but Summer went inside the bank with me, went into the merchant room, and came out with a cashier’s check for one hundred thousand dollars made payable to me. She handed it to me and went back to the car with our son.
I wanted to complain about the amount, but it would do for now. However, she was not putting me on no fucking allowance. When I opened up my account, they put the whole fucking cashier’s check on hold.
“Wait one damn minute,” I told the teller. “Go get your boss. I need some money now.”
The manager came over and stood there explaining the matter to me like she was talking to my son. “Mr. James, this is an astronomical amount of money,” she said.
No, bitch, ten million is astronomical, not this measly amount, I thought.
“And your account is new,” she argued. “It’ll take fifteen business days for us to release the funds. If the check clears, the full amount will be available to you.”
“Bitch, it’s a fuckin’ cashier’s check!” I wailed. “The same as cash! Drawn against your fuckin’ bank.”
“Not all cashier’s checks are honored, Mr. James.”
“Ain’t this a bitch? That’s bullshit, and you know it!”
“Is there anything else we can do to assist you? If not, do have a good day,” she said, walking away before I answered.
Fuck this! All I had was seventeen hundred dollars for fifteen fuckin’ days. I got in the car, drove Summer and Anthony home, and sat on the couch, in my tuxedo, until I could figure out my next move.
CHAPTER 33
Honey
The time had come to get back home to Atlanta and get back to my business. Getting to normalcy wasn’t part of my life. Some people could project with a good degree of accuracy what tomorrow might bring for them, but not me. I had no idea. There was no predetermined to-do list I could sketch and follow. I’d missed the grand opening of Sweeter Than Honey, kind of. Being out and actually pursuing my objectives was more productive. The first thing I had to do when I got home was check Girl Six’s ass and find out what she was up to.
My trip here to Las Vegas had been successful. I had reunited with Grant and had got to know Red Velvet. I was happy that Sapphire was going home to her mother. Not to visit. To stay. At least until Sapphire decided what was next. I’d gladly have her on my team. And I’d called her this morning to reassure her I was serious about taking out Alphonso if that was what she and Red Velvet wanted.
Nah, she probably wouldn’t work f
or me. I couldn’t quite get a read on why she’d hugged Grant for so long. He’d said the saliva on his chest was from her runny nose. Anyway, hopefully, her mother was doing well, and if her mom was smart, Alphonso was long gone, never to return. I couldn’t comprehend mothers who’d put their man before the children. My mother, Rita, had treated me that way, but she’d favored my sister, Honey.
“Baby,” Grant said.
“Yes?” I answered.
“Baby.”
“Yes?”
“One quickie before we go our separate ways,” he said, spreading my thighs.
We both had flights to catch in two hours. It could take one of those hours to get through security at the Las Vegas airport. But flying first class had its privileges. We could all move to the front of the line if we wanted.
Flipping into a sixty-nine position, I straddled his dick, wrapped my fingers around him, squeezed him, then eased the most delicious dick in my mouth. I felt his lips caress mine, making me sit closer to his mouth, to his face. The more he sucked my clit, the firmer I sucked his dick, until my jaws caved in around his shaft.
I moaned, “We’re going to miss our flights.”
“Who cares? There’s always another one,” Grant said, circling my shaft with his tongue.
His ass tensed as he thrust his dick deeper down my throat.
Not for me, there wasn’t. A few weeks ago I would’ve missed a flight for Grant. Not today. I was genuinely happy to have spent a whole day with Grant, virtually uninterrupted, but I’d be lying if I said my feelings were the same as before. His promiscuity concerned me. I stopped sucking his dick, turned to face him, then sat my ass on his dick, sandwiching his erection between my butt cheeks.
I exhaled, gazing into his eyes. “We need to talk.”
“Now? Can’t we finish first? We can talk later. I promise to give you my undivided attention.”
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