by D J Parker
“How could he forget?” I asked, ignoring Tommy’s tantrum. “Andrew, you can go.”
When Andrew left the room, Tommy turned to me. “I want a new attorney.”
“I’m not paying for a new attorney. You’re lucky I’m even paying this one.”
“That prosecutor,” he said, placing a new cigarette to his lips. “That black bitch is going to get what’s coming to her.”
Within seconds, I leaped from my chair and grabbed Tommy by his neck. His unlit cigarette fell from his lips as my fingers pressed into the delicate column. As he fought for air, I squeezed a little bit more.
His gasps were music to my ears. Blood flushed beneath his skin. His hands clawed at my hand, fighting to free his neck from my grasp. I slammed his head into the table, pinning his face against the metal.
“She’s not to be touched. Do you understand me?”
Tommy nodded his head slightly. I wanted to do so much more to him, but now was not the time. I couldn’t understand why my heart was racing so fast at the thought of Reign getting touched by a piece of shit like him, but his threat pushed me over the edge.
It had been two months since we last spoke. Everyday had been a battle not to call her. I vowed not to seek her out, at least not until this case with Tommy came to a close. But damn it was hard. Even with the distractions from this case, my sister, and my businesses, I couldn’t escape Reign. She made a home in my thoughts.
I’d been prepared to leave her alone after our last dinner. That night, I went home and thought about our conversation, the sexual tension between us, and the new level of attraction that stretched beyond her beautiful face and goddess body. Her intellect was by far the sexiest feature on her. But when she told me that she was scared of me, I was completely thrown off.
Tommy’s coughing drew me away from my thoughts. I stared at him with venom in my eyes.
“Take the deal,” I said through gritted teeth before turning to leave the visitor’s room. I glanced down at my Apple watch. Battista, my cousin, sent me a text asking for me to call him.
I waited until I was in the car to call him. Once I was settled in, I dialed his number. He answered on the second ring.
“I got something about that thing you asked me to look into.”
By “thing” he meant Capone. Though we’d moved in the direction of legitimizing our businesses, the laws of La Cosa Nostra still governed the way we acted. Neither one of us was allowed to talk about business over the phone. With the advancement of technology, we all were a conversation away from being on the radar of the Feds. Though the Feds had spent many years trying to take my father and uncles down, we always seemed to beat them with their own gun.
“Meet me back at my place.”
By my place, I meant a hotel room I had listed as unbookable at the Skyview Towers. It was small and had daily sweeps for bugs. I even had a system software set up in the room that deactivated all cell phones once we were inside. I took extreme precautions to keep us out of the Feds’ hands.
I ended the call with Battista and started my car. I was back in the city and in the Skyview Towers within thirty minutes. Battista was already in the lobby by the time I got there. I made eye contact with him to follow me to the elevator. We both hopped onto the elevator and didn’t say a word to each other until we were behind the closed door of room 10B.
“Did you find who Capone is?” I asked Battista once we both sat down on the couch.
“No, but I found out where that guy with the scar, Nice, lives at. His girlfriend was all too willing to give up that information when I offered her the ten thousand dollars.”
Ever since learning about Capone, I had Battista and his crew stake out the area. We knew that Nice would most likely not visit the area after Tommy’s apartment was raided, but Battista had a guy camped out there round the clock. After a month into the stakeout, Battista managed to get a kid in the neighborhood to give up where Nice’s girlfriend lived.
“Where does he stay at?”
“He rents out an apartment in Bayonne, New Jersey for him and his wife.” Battista pulled out a folded paper from his coat pocket and slid it across the coffee table to me. “I put one of my guys out there. Within two weeks, he established Nice’s routine. He’s quite the family man— picking the kids up from school, going to church every Sunday, Friday night pizza for dinner. We know where his kids go to school and where his wife works. But that’s not the best part.”
I leaned forward. “What else is there?”
“He works for the Bayonne Police Department.”
“An officer?”
Battista shook his head. “Nah, a dispatcher.”
I met Battista’s stoic face with confusion. “How the hell did a dispatcher from Bayonne get caught up in a drug operation in Harlem?”
Battista shrugged. “Capone trusted him enough to handle the money.”
“Is there any drug dealer in Bayonne that goes by the name Capone?”
“No. That’s the first thing I looked into. No one seems to even know who the hell Capone is.”
“Have you made contact with Nice?”
Battista shook his head no. “I figured you’d want to speak to him yourself.”
I nodded. “Set it up.”
“Where at?”
I leaned back and rubbed my jaw. “In his apartment.”
Battista cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure about that?”
“He’ll talk,” I assured as I rose from the sofa. “Every time he even thinks about lying, all he has to do is look around his apartment. Something in the room will remind him of his children and wife. We’ll remind him how easy it was for us to track him down.”
Battista nodded his head. “Consider it done.”
Although we hadn’t grown up together, the cousin who was often referred as “the bastard” of Uncle Ciro was the only loyal man I had left in my fold.
When I turned to leave, Battista stopped me. “I need a favor.”
“Anything.” I sat back down. “What do you need?”
Battista, whose hard face rarely changed, smiled. He pulled out his cell phone, tapped the screen and passed it to me. A pretty brunette filled his screen.
I looked up at him. “Who is she?”
“Your date tonight.”
Reign
“We’re definitely celebrating your birthday tonight.” Carter glanced at me from between her legs. “And I have the perfect place.”
“You’re doing your crow pose wrong,” I responded, shifting into a side plank.
“This yoga shit ain’t for me,” Carter hissed as she rose to her feet. “I should be in the sauna room, sweating my fat away.”
“Class hasn’t even started yet.” I looked around the studio and caught the suspicious glances from two other women who were stretching nearby. This had been our fifth session and Carter was acting no differently than the last four classes we’d taken.
“Wasn’t this your idea?”
“Yeah.” Carter fixed her lips into a sour pout. “But, I expected us to drop out already.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I happen to think we need yoga in our lives.”
“Speak for ya’self. I do enough stretching.” Carter tossed me a mischievous grin.
“I bet,” I chimed, repositioning my body into a child pose. “Who’s your latest victim?”
“His name is Vlad—”
“Another Serbian?”
“Mmm, you know I can’t get away from them.”
“It’s more like they can’t stay away from you.”
Carter chuckled. “Don’t I know it? They can’t get enough of this Godiva!”
“Whatever happened to Boris?” I glanced over at her. “I thought he was supposed to be fixing your drought problem.”
“I thought so too.” Carter huffed. “You know how many signals I threw his way? And he still wouldn't even kiss me.”
I arched an eyebrow. “And that’s a bad thing?”
&
nbsp; Carter shrugged. “Well, no, not exactly. But that’s not what I want. Right now, I’m tryna live my best life and recruit a fuck buddy. And you should too.”
“I’m doing just fine,” I assured her, trying to rig the focus back to her.
“No, you're not,” Carter contested. “Staying home on your birthday with a pint of ice cream is not living.”
“What me and my rum-raisin got going on ain’t none of your business,” I said, stretching my arms over my head.
Carter cut her eyes to the side, changing into another warm-up position. “Let's see if you’ll say the same thing when your jeans start speaking up.”
“Shut up.” I giggled. “I happen to like the few pounds I’ve gained.”
“I’m worried about you, though.” Carter grew serious. “You’re too young and beautiful to wallow away.”
“I wouldn’t call it wallowing away. Ain’t no point in me dating when my marriage is in limbo.” I shrugged. “Besides, I see what the dating scene is looking like through you. It damn sure is a different kind of playground.”
Carter waved her hand. “The kind of guys I date are not the only men in the world. There are other ways in which you can have fun that does not involve dating.”
I rose to my feet and faced a serious Carter. “I’m just not interested in casual sex with random dudes.”
“I understand. It ain’t for everybody. But you can always go to lounges or day parties. Let your hair down for a change. You can’t control everything.”
“I’ll think about it.” I knew damn well that I’d made yet another empty promise, but what else could I say?
“Tonight is the grand opening of Candy Rock City.” Carter smiled. Whenever she had something up her sleeve, her dimples would deepen.
“So…” I shrugged, ready to shut whatever she had planned down.
“I managed to snag a reservation for two.”
“Managed, huh?”
“Well, you know what I mean.” Carter smiled sheepishly.
“No.”
“No to what exactly?”
“No, I’m not going with you.”
“I didn’t even ask you.”
“I saved you the trouble.”
“Oh, come on, Reign.” Carter’s eyes softened. “I know it’s hard for you to move forward with your life, especially with everything going on with Keith. But it’s time.”
The mention of his name used to cause my body to feel tense and the urge to escape had become greater than my need to breathe. Two months ago, I agreed to go to marriage counseling. Despite the fact that I was drowning in work, I drove down to D.C. every Friday afternoon. For the first month, he showed up to our sessions on time. But by the second month, he cancelled two out of our three sessions. Today, I cancelled my session. It was my birthday and I had no intentions of being upset.
Although I was committed to repairing our marriage, I was starting to get comfortable with the idea that some marriages were just not meant to be repaired but broken into a million pieces so that those pieces could be built with someone else.
At this age, I had imagined my life to be different. I had carved out every detail of my career, my marriage, and my children. I had gracefully hit milestones, evolved as a woman, and done away with the things that were no longer valuable to my life. I’d accepted that my marriage was like a seesaw; great when we were up and bad when we were down. Yet, I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around how easy it had been for Keith to throw in the towel.
“Reign, just come out with me,” Carter said, pulling my mind away from Keith. “If you don’t want to consider it a birthday celebration, fine. But for the love of God, please give rum-raisin the night off!”
It was at the tip of my tongue to decline, but somehow a different set of words came out. “Fine. I’ll go.”
“Come again?” Carter blinked a few times.
I smirked and repeated my answer, “I said, I’ll go.”
Carter lunged forward, gathering me into her arms. She gave me a tight squeeze. “We’re gonna turn up tonight!”
After spending nearly twenty minutes shifting through my hangers, I plodded out of my walk-in closet holding a sienna-brown, satin, fitted dress. The low-cut V-line and mid-thigh side split was the only non-professional dress I had in my closet. I laid my dress across my bed and took a step back. I didn’t remember when or where I had purchased the dress, but considering the tags were still on it, there was a chance I probably would’ve never worn it before tonight.
I walked back into my closet and scanned the shelves. I zeroed in on my nude pumps next to my nude clutch.
“Perfect.” I returned to my bed, tossing my clutch next to my dress and sitting my pumps in front of it.
I walked over to my vanity and sat on the fluffy, white stool. After buffing on foundation, brushing blush along my cheeks, and applying two coats of mascara, I searched for the perfect lipstick. I decided on a matte red lip. Soon after, I shimmied into my dress and paddle brushed my hair out of its wrap. I spritzed perfume all over my body and slipped into my heels before tossing my taupe calf-length duster over my shoulders. I gave myself a onceover in the mirror before leaving the house.
The bright red cursive words, Candy Rock City, were the first things I saw thirty minutes later. I shoved my parking ticket into my clutch and crossed the street. Upon entering, the robust energy immediately wrapped around my body like a second layer of skin. A fierce chain of excitement seemed to latch on to me, drawing me closer to the grand room.
“Ticket?”
“Pardon?” I stopped short.
A deep-set roll of the eyes greeted me as I looked at the slender man standing behind the brass podium.
“This is a private event. No ticket, no entry.”
With a tight-lipped smile, I backed away and sent Carter a text.
Reign: I’m here! Where are you???
Carter: Will be there in 10.
As I waited in the corner, I opened the Google Docs app. I’d spent most of my lunch break working on the Tommy Neglia case. His case had been adjourned to next week. His hot shot lawyer has been trying to negotiate a reduced sentence from my fifteen-year offer, but I had no intentions of budging.
“Let me find out you’re trying to get snatched up tonight!”
I looked up from my cell phone to see Carter standing a few feet away. “Took you long enough,” I said, greeting her with a hug. “I hope you got the tickets because that’s the only way we’re getting in.”
“I have them right here,” Carter proclaimed, waving the tickets midair.
After scanning our tickets, Carter and I entered the lavish brasserie. The atmosphere screamed New York City—loud, obnoxious, and fast. It was unlike any place I’d ever been to.
I nudged Carter’s elbow. “So, how did you snag those tickets?”
Flashing a devilish grin at me, Carter hummed pertly. “I know people who know people.”
“People, huh?” I cut my eyes to the side, noticing her dimpled cheeks deepen. “What kind of people?”
“Vlad knows the owner. He gave him additional tickets.”
The waitress escorted us to a table stationed in the center. It was then I noticed two additional seats at the table.
Capturing Carter’s starry eyes, I asked, “Mmm, what’s the catch?”
Carter narrowed her eyes like she was confused. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t bullshit me. There’re two additional chairs at this table.”
“And?”
“And…” I cocked my head to the side. “I know you set me up.”
Carter looked past me. Her lips parted into a pearly smile. “Hey, Vlad!”
I groaned. I had talked myself into going out for my birthday, but I wasn’t prepared to be ambushed. I knew Carter’s intentions were nothing short of good, but I was not ready to start dating.
“You must be Reign,” Vlad said presumptuously, stretching his hand out to me.
“And you must be Vlad
.” I forced a smile while shaking his hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Only good things, I hope,” he said, grinning at Carter.
“Of course,” Carter responded. “Nothing but praise.”
The sound of a familiar voice drowned the indistinct murmurs surrounding us. I followed the sound of the voice, turning my back to Vlad and Carter.
Kimberly.
As if sensing my presence, Kimberly’s eyes locked with mine. She looked away a few seconds later. Kimberly, entranced by her undercover role, navigated smoothly back into her new identity. Before tonight, I’d never seen her in action. But judging by the way she maneuvered the camera and captured tonight’s memories, I knew the last thing Kimberly needed was a distraction while working on an assignment.
“Reign? Hello!”
“I’m sorry, what?” I turned around to face Carter again.
“This is Vlad’s friend, Alec,” Carter introduced me to the man standing next to Vlad. “Alec, this is my best friend, Reign.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking Alec’s hand.
“Carter told me a lot about you,” Alec said, holding my hand with a soft grip. His piercing gray eyes surveyed my face. “But she forgot to tell me how beautiful you are.”
“I guess she wanted you to see for yourself,” I said, pulling my hand from his grasp.
I gave Carter a hard smile before returning my gaze to Alec. Even though his presence had taken me by surprise, it was a pleasant one. Like Vlad, Alec had blond hair that was brushed up into a man bun. He was an inch or two shorter than Vlad. He was stocky, but he wore his weight well. His ivory skin had faint traces of pink on his cheeks, but it was his eyes that hooked me in. The more I stared into his eyes, the more I noticed the flecks of blue in the slightly slanted gray orbs. His long nose was slightly crooked, but it gave character to his handsome features. His lips were full and slightly darker than the typical pink. I inhaled, taking in the woodsy aftershave. I breathed in a little deeper, drawing in a whiff of mint and traces of tobacco mixed in his breath.
“Now that we’ve all been introduced, who wants a drink?” Carter asked, claiming the seat in front of me. “I heard they mix candy with alcohol.”