Indie gripped her face tightly and stared deeply into her eyes. His force was rough, almost as if he wanted to snap her neck for throwing shit in the game. “You better not ever lie to me, YaYa. I will go against a thousand armies for you. All you got to do is say the word, but I don’t want to have to second guess anything that you say to me. All I’ve ever asked is that you keep it real with me. Never lie to me,” he said through clenched teeth.
He hated that he loved her so much in that moment. He missed the old days when he had no vices. YaYa was his weakness. She could lead him in whatever direction she wanted to because of his affection for her. He was vulnerable with her and only her. He only prayed that she didn’t prey upon him.
YaYa reached for his coat and took it from his shoulders, tossing it to the side. Then she went for his tie, then his shirt, then his wife beater as she kissed him without reservation. The sweet taste of her tongue invaded his mouth as they ravaged one another.
“Where’s Skylar?” he growled.
“She’s asleep,” YaYa answered in between breaths as she frantically reached for his hardness and stroked it, rubbing his balls and pulling the shaft, causing him to groan. He turned her around. His frustration and anger was evident in the way that he handled her. He bent her over the Italian sofa and entered her. She was dripping wet. Hot and tight. She needed the dick. If she couldn’t have her first drug of choice, she would surely take this. His strong ass muscles worked as he moved in and out of her, hitting the back of that pussy like an all-star hitter.
“Agh,” she cried out in pure ecstasy. “Get it out, baby. Get it all out,” she whispered. She knew that she needed punishing. Her bad-girl deeds deserved the bruising that he was putting on her sex.
Indie grabbed her shoulder for leverage and gave her all of him, putting all of his length inside of her then taking it out to the tip, only to go back in again and again. YaYa’s ass rippled as she took the dick. There was no running from it tonight. She owed him this debt. After what she had caused Indie to lose, she knew that she had to take it. It was a plus for her, because he was working her body over so good. This wasn’t lovemaking; it was fucking at its finest. This was an animalistic man-to-woman interaction.
YaYa came all over him, causing her juices to coat him and sending him over the edge. She felt the warmness spill into her as she caught his orgasm. Spent, she didn’t move as he pulled out. She turned to look at him, but the hurt she saw in his face broke her heart. She didn’t speak, and neither did he as he gathered his clothes and ascended the steps, leaving her alone and clueless as to what he was thinking.
Chapter 22
With Chase no longer in the fold of things, Indie knew that it was only a matter of time before his old protégé became his new competition. Indie was easing out of the street aspect of the game anyway, so he wouldn’t rival with Chase over street blocks and cocaine wholesales. He would simply graduate to the next level and move on to greater things. If Chase had been anyone else, he would have starved him out just because of the principle of things, but because of their past, Indie would allow him to eat. He would even move over to allow him room to grow.
Truth was, the streets were for the young hustlers. Chase was in his prime, whereas Indie had matured. He had a child and a woman to think about, which forced his aspirations to change. He no longer wanted to be the dope man; he would settle for businessman instead. But before he made the transition, he had to ensure that he had the buy-in for Vartex. He had to become a shareholder in the company to secure his financial stability. He would do what he did best to make the dough, but he vowed that this was his last run. He couldn’t force YaYa out of the game if he was still trying to play it himself.
They had barely spoken since she had given him the bad news about Chase, and the tension between them was growing by the day. YaYa seemed on edge, and Indie was too preoccupied to figure out why. Keeping up with her changing moods was almost impossible, so instead he gave her space, because in all honesty he needed it as well. He just didn’t know how to tell her.
YaYa entered his office and stood near the doorway. She didn’t speak, partly because she didn’t know what to say. She was ashamed of her actions, but couldn’t admit that to Indie because she was still living a lie.
Indie looked up at her, knowing that they couldn’t avoid each other forever.
She’s not the one who crossed you. She’s just the messenger, he thought, knowing that he was taking out his loss of a friendship on her.
“Sit down, YaYa. I want to talk to you,” he started.
She slowly walked over to the chair in front of his desk and took a seat.
“I spoke with Zya and I asked her to stop doing business with you,” he said honestly.
YaYa didn’t respond immediately. A part of her felt betrayed, but the part of her that had betrayed him couldn’t protest. She had wanted to be like Zya, to command an army of goons like Zya, to get money like Zya for one reason and one reason alone: to get to Leah. But here she was, a few flips later, and she was still no closer to Leah than she had been when she was living regular. Her net worth had increased, but her self-worth had diminished, and she was still just as weak as before. Leah was in a place where security was too tight for anyone to infiltrate. She couldn’t be touched as long as she was within the walls of a mental hospital. YaYa had no wins. It was like she was stuck, glued to the hurt of her past because she couldn’t forgive the people who had wronged her.
“Honestly, Indie, I don’t even care anymore,” she said. She stood and began to walk out of the room.
“Disaya,” he called.
Her breath caught in her throat because she knew that he was serious when he used her full name. She turned to him feeling defeated. Defeated by Leah, by life, by Indie, by Zya, even her own mother. She blamed everyone for everything bad that had ever happened to her, but she refused to see the parts that she had played in her own demise. Her story hadn’t even ended yet, but she was slowly giving up.
“I love you,” he said.
She paused, and the doubt that he saw in her eyes stabbed him in the heart.
How can he love me? I don’t even love me. I don’t deserve to be loved by a man like him, she thought.
The sound of the doorbell saved her from having to share her concerns. Indie checked the monitors and saw that Agent Norris stood at his doorstep.
He stood and walked past YaYa, stopping momentarily in front of her. He grabbed her chin gently. “I do love you, ma.”
“I know you do,” she replied softly. He walked past her and went to answer the door.
“Norris. What are you doing here?” he asked sternly as soon as he opened the door.
Agent Norris stood shivering and blowing hot air into his hands as the bitter wind blew fiercely around him.
“Can I come in?” Norris asked.
“No need for that,” Indie replied. “This will be short and sweet. The ten thousand I pay you doesn’t require us to be friendly. Why are you on my doorstep?”
“Always busting my balls,” Norris mumbled as his face began to turn red from the cold. “I just thought you might want to know that the Richards girl? She escaped. Crazy bitch drugged a psychiatrist with the same medication they were supposed to be giving her then snuck out. The cops have been on her, the bureau. . . hell, everybody wants a piece of this girl, but we have no leads. I think she’s going to come for your girl. We found a New York address among her things, so we know she’s headed this way,” Norris admitted.
“Then let her come,” YaYa said.
Indie turned around, realizing that she had heard the entire thing.
“YaYa . . .” he said.
“No, I’m fine. If she wants to come at my head, let her. This is what I’ve been waiting for. I couldn’t get to her when I wanted to, so I’m going to let her get at me. This time I’ll see her coming, though.” YaYa turned around ascended the steps with tears in her eyes.
This was the same bitch that had made her
weak and destroyed her life. YaYa didn’t know it before, but she had let Leah instill fear within her. Times were over for that, however. She was tired of the same bum bitch winning. YaYa had asked for this moment for too long not to come out on top in the end. She welcomed the showdown and mentally prepared herself for it, because she knew that one of them wouldn’t walk out alive. When it was all said and done, one of them had to die.
Chapter 23
YaYa felt as if she were having a panic attack as her chest tightened to the point where it hindered her breath. She clasped her chest as she rushed through the house and staggered to her bedroom.
How could they let her escape? How did she just slip through the cracks? She ruined my fucking life! she thought as she rushed to her nightstand. She pulled the drawer all the way out and emptied it onto the floor. The dark orange bottle spilled out among the contents, but when she picked it up and heard the rattle of one small pill inside, she tossed it across the room in frustration. YaYa was feeling too much at once. Leah’s face, the sly grin that always wore on her face, her evil eyes, it all plagued YaYa’s mind. She was losing it.
She choked on her own emotion as she stood to her feet and went to her dresser drawer. She pulled out the bag of cocaine that she had stolen from Chase. She had promised herself that she wouldn’t touch it, and for a while she had done good. She had focused on her family, on her upcoming nuptials and on being a better woman, a stronger woman for Indie, but in the end she always felt weak. She was a victim. The roles had been established when Leah first targeted her. YaYa was a victim of life, of Leah, and of herself.
Her hands trembled as she looked at it. YaYa was no longer in denial. She knew that she had a problem. She had tried to mask her turmoil and hide her weakness from everyone around her, but as she sat on her bedroom floor contemplating the unthinkable, she realized that she needed help. Ever since Leah had crossed the line and kidnapped her child, YaYa hadn’t been the same. Something inside of her had shattered. Prescription drugs were like the ice on her emotional bruise, only it didn’t work anymore. It wasn’t strong enough and YaYa found herself chasing a stronger high.
She set up three large lines, using a card from her wallet to evenly distribute the white powder. She lowered her head over the lines with a rolled-up hundred dollar bill pinched between her fingers.
You don’t have to do this, she thought. Just tell Indie you’re hurting.
Leah’s face flashed before her mind, and it was all the push she needed to lower her head and inhale the powder up her nose. The powder hit her like a Mack truck, and her mouth fell open as her nipples hardened and her entire body tingled. Euphoria flooded her senses as YaYa slumped to the floor. This was unlike any feeling that any pill had ever given her. She sat there as all of the world’s ills escaped her mind and she was suddenly wrapped in a comforting cocoon. Nothing in her world mattered at the moment—not Leah, not her failures as a mother, not the pressures of being a hustler. It all seemed to fade to the background.
“Mama.”
Skylar’s tiny voice caused her to look up. “Oh my God, what am I doing?” she asked herself. Suddenly she felt ashamed. Despite the fact that her adrenaline was on ten, she couldn’t enjoy the high. YaYa was becoming a liability to herself and the ones she loved. Using drugs in Skylar’s presence confirmed what she already knew: she had lost herself in the fire. Her physical appearance had been repaired, but on the inside she was still a mess.
“Come here, Sky. come to Mommy, baby girl,” she whispered as she came to all fours and reached out to her daughter.
Skylar walked clumsily to her mother, and YaYa pulled the little girl into her arms. “I love you, Skylar Perkins. I’m so sorry, baby girl. I let her hurt you. I’m so sorry. I won’t ever do this again. I promise,” she whispered.
Indie entered the boardroom with a cool confidence as the subtle scent of his Armani cologne announced his presence. The board of corporate figures around him watched him sternly, sizing him up as he took a seat at one of the leather executive chairs that surrounded the rectangular table. Everyone else around the table possessed a degree in business, finance, marketing, or had some other formal skill set that they had acquired from a fancy university. Indie’s only experience was the school of hard knocks. He had learned the art of negotiation on the street corners of New York City. He had taken Ls that would make the average Wall Street broker put the barrel of a gun in his mouth and pull the trigger, yet Indie had bounced back.
His intellect always allowed him to stay on top and ahead of the game, but the risks he took were astronomical. He could see the game swallowing YaYa whole. They were international. If one minor thing went wrong, the empire that they were building would crumble. Indie couldn’t allow that to happen. The money that they were making was too good to be long term. It was only natural for every good thing to come to an end, but Indie would much rather walk away from the game than to let it lead to his demise.
He unbuttoned his suit jacket to make himself more comfortable as he took his seat.
They had accumulated the buy-in with ease. With the money their team was getting, it was easy to come up with his half. Zya was already papered up, so once he came to the table with his portion, they were good to go. Zya was cut from the same cloth as Indie, and she realized a good opportunity when she saw one. A percentage at a pharmaceutical company had the potential to make them much more money than the streets could ever offer up.
The others seated at the table threw him subtle glances. They were curious about his identity and skeptical of his involvement in their business. Upon FDA approval, they knew that they would have a goldmine on their hands, and nobody wanted to bring one more person into the fold. Needleman was the bridge between Indie and the other partners at the company.
They could give him all the dirty looks they wanted, but they weren’t going to stop him from staking claim. They needed him. The truth of the matter was that the delay of FDA approval of their newest drug was draining their pockets. The prices of their stocks had fallen, and they were losing money by the day. Indie had money, a lot of it, and he would use it as his buy-in. There would be no way that they could deny him after they found out his worth.
“This is Indie Perkins,” Needleman said. “He is a long-time client of mine and a business owner in the community. He is interested in buying shares of the company.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Mr. Perkins. I’m Ian Douglas, CFO of Vartex. What percentage are you interested in buying?” the CFO asked as he sat at the head of the corporate table.
“Ten percent,” Indie said, speaking up for himself as he crossed his hands on top of the table.
“No offense, Mr. Perkins, but ten percent is quite expensive. That would make you a majority shareholder. This company is made up of thousands of smaller shareholders. There are only a few of us sitting at this table that have majority vote,” the CFO said.
“I’m not here to ask permission to buy into Vartex, Mr. Douglas. It’s a public stock, so as long as I have the hundred fifty million, that shouldn’t be a problem. I do know that office politics of an organization can keep me out of the loop on a lot of things. I’m here to make sure that I don’t run into that problem. Truth is this company needs me more than I need it,” Indie stated calmly, as he commanded the suit-and-tie bandits with authority and confidence.
“Is that so? Please continue, Mr. Perkins. I think we are all interested to hear more.”
Indie cut to the chase. “I have influence at the Federal Drug Administration. Once I become a shareholder, your new Alzheimer’s drug will be approved,” Indie stated.
Ian Douglas looked around the table at the rest of the board. He was a young, ambitious white boy who happened to be the son of the CEO. He was the youngest on the board and wasn’t too fond of the idea of letting Indie eat off of his plate. He smelled a drug dealer from a mile away and knew that Indie was bringing dirt to the dinner table. But at such a critical time, he knew that Indie’s
connections could solidify them. He would welcome Indie with open arms until they received their FDA patent.
“I guess the only thing left to say is welcome to Vartex,” Ian said.
Indie kept his cool until he entered the Maybach that was waiting for him curbside. As soon as he was behind the black tint, he loosened his tie and exhaled in relief as the driver rolled away. “Yes, yes,” he whispered as he pumped his fist in triumph. He picked up his cell phone and sent a text to Zya.
Welcome to the country club.
YaYa sat at the dining room table nervously as Skylar played at her feet and they both waited for Indie to come home. YaYa felt like a little girl waiting for her father to come and chastise her. She had finally realized that she was out of control, and as soon as Indie walked through the door, she was going to confess everything. Her lies were beginning to change who she was, and guilt plagued her. YaYa had done the unthinkable by using drugs in front of her daughter, and she needed Indie to help her get her life together. She couldn’t continue to pretend that everything was okay, and Indie was the only person who could save her from herself.
She feared what his reaction would be. What if he looks at me differently? she thought. She didn’t want the context of their relationship to change, but it had to, because she had changed. Every single dramatic event that had occurred over the course of her life had changed her, so she couldn’t expect their relationship to remain the same. Everything had to evolve; she only hoped that with evolution came growth. She wanted to grow with her mate, not apart from him.
YaYa had taken Indie through much worse. In the past she had contributed to the death of his own brother under Leah’s manipulation, she had made her body available to the highest bidder when working as an escort for Elite. Her closet was full of skeletons that he had forgiven. If he could get over all of these things, then surely he would be willing to deal with her current dilemma.
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