A Dangerous Love 5: No Love Lost

by J Peach

  “I got a girlfriend that works as a Surgical Tech, I’m too queasy for that shit. But when you’re ready to do your application, let me know. I’ll have my girl pull it,” she told me.

  That caused a big smile to come to my face and I turned to look at Ron. “I’m getting closer to my doctor,” I told him, laughing. “Kat, you remember Ron?”

  “Leon’s little brother, right?” She asked and he nodded. “I knew you looked familiar, I just didn’t want to call you the wrong name,” Kat stated, laughing before walking closer and giving him sideways hug.

  She must’ve been really happy because I didn’t remember her being such a hugger.

  “How’s Leon been doing? Hell, everybody. King, Mike, Dane, Angel, Missy, Kimmy, Ebony? Damn, it’s been so long,” she went on.

  Laughing, I nodded. “It has. And everybody been doing great. King and Mike still the same conceited hoes they’ve always been. Dane’s married with kids, Leon’s…” I looked at Ron.

  “Working hard as always, he’s good though,” Ron said, shrugging.

  “The girls are the same, crazy as hell,” I added, making her laugh.

  “Here’s my number, call me sometimes so we can all hang out. I’ve missed you guys—” She said before getting cut off.

  “There you go. Thought I had to send out a damn search party to find you.”

  Please don’t be her fiancé.

  I silently prayed as I stared at the Puerto Rican man in front of me. I hoped he wasn’t her fiancé. God, please no. The idea of it not being true quickly left as Kat turned around and kissed him.

  Oh, my God.

  “Sorry,” Kat said, looking back at me, flushed from the intimate kiss they just shared. “Bae, you remember Peaches.”

  My heart fell into the pit of my stomach and it felt like I was going to be sick. The moment my name was said, his head snapped in my direction and he seemed to have frozen.

  Idiot!

  “Yeah. Hey, Sly, it’s been awhile.” It felt like the walls around me were closing as I stared at him. “This is your fiancée?” It was a stupid question, but I needed to hear it.

  “Yep, this’s my baby. After nine long years he finally popped the question a few months ago. I love him,” Kat happily replied.

  I needed to sit down. “Nine years?” I stuttered out. “Oh, my God,” I mumbled to myself, not meaning for it to be heard as the disbelief seeped through my shocked voice.

  “Peaches, are you okay?” Kat asked, her hand going to my shoulder.

  Nine years he’d been with that woman and I hadn’t known? I hadn’t even known he was seeing someone. That would explain his patience towards me with waiting for sex. He already had someone.

  To think I was ready to start a relationship with that man. I got slapped and choked because of it. And even after I was still willing. Seven years we had been messing around and not once had he ever told me about Kat.

  I think I’m having a heart attack.

  “Peaches, baby you got to calm down. Breathe.” Hell, I couldn’t. I never thought I’d be that girl, someone’s mistress. They had kids, three of them, and I wanted to start a relationship with him. I would’ve messed up her perfect world. Ruined the perfect man image she thought he was, the perfect father he probably was. Why would he…

  “He—”

  Ron cut me off before I could say anything else.

  “Baby, I know. Shush.” I was only fifteen but I thought I was smart enough to know. He wanted to have something with me, he told me constantly that he loved me and wanted to be with me. He said that he wanted to marry me. Was it all just a lie? If I would have decided to be with him, would he have left his family? “Let’s go.”

  “Peaches—” Sly grabbed my arm, but I pulled away from him. I couldn’t let her know, I couldn’t ruin her perfect life because of her lying, and deceiving… I didn’t even know what to call him because he wasn’t a man.

  “I’m fine, my asthma sometimes flares up with no warning.” Lie. I didn’t even have asthma, but it was the only thing I could think of to explain my sudden shock and near panic attack. Taking a deep breath, I took the cup of water Ron handed me.

  That explained King’s reaction when I told him, he knew. Did Blaze? He was just as pissed as King, even beat his ass and shot him. Blaze must have known, but why wouldn’t they tell me?

  “Yeah, our youngest is asthmatic, we have to keep him on that machine so it’s understandable,” she suddenly said.

  I looked at her like she was crazy.

  What the hell was she talking about?

  “What?”

  “Asthma, your asthma,” she said slowly.

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry, um… We have to go. It was nice seeing you, Kat, Sly.” Reaching for I really didn’t know what, I knocked my drink over. “Shit!” Cussing, I started snatching napkins up, but Ron stopped me.

  “Don’t worry about it, they’ll have someone clean it up, let’s go.” The way one of his hands squeezed around my hand and his other hand held my waist, I could tell he was mad. And I knew it was time to go.

  Ron was the funny don’t start nothing type of person, but when he was pissed he blacked out. The hood side of him came out and it was like trying to calm King and Blaze down combined. That was hard as hell.

  “Yeah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it. You should go get some rest,” Kat said. I didn’t get the chance to respond back because Ron was already pulling me away from them.

  Once we got outside, the cool nights breeze that hit against my skin had me sighing as it chilled my overheated body. But I didn’t notice, I was so hot until now.

  “You okay?” Ron asked, pulling me into him.

  “I’m so happy I didn’t sleep with him. He has a family, Jerron. He’s been with her for nine years and out of that nine he was messing with me for seven. I’m so stupid to think he actually cared about me. He stayed at my apartment with me at times, saying he loved and wanted to be with me. God, I’m so freaking stupid.”

  “You’re not stupid, Peaches. You were young, you didn’t know. So don’t beat yourself up over—”

  “Peaches, I’m sorry—” Sly said, coming out the restaurant.

  “Don’t. Nine years, Sly, three kids. God, what is wrong with you?” I yelled at him.

  “You didn’t want to be with me—”

  “Sly, you had someone! You had just had a fucking baby around the time we started messing around. Did you mean anything you said to me?” Sly started coming towards me and Ron moved from behind me.

  “I did and still do. Peaches you have—” Sly went falling to the ground as Ron punched him.

  “You think it’s cool to fuck with her like that? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ron snapped, punching him repeatedly in the face before his black Forces kicked into the side of his face. Then raising his foot, Ron brought it back down on his face.

  “Ron, stop, he’s not even worth it!” I tried reasoning as I grabbed the back of his shirt, but he just snatched away from me.

  “Fuck that, this bitch ass nigga. He thought shit was cool. Seven years though, fuck this nigga, man,” he snapped, kicking him again. “Get yo ass up.” Ron jerked away from me again as he let Sly get up. Once he was on his feet Sly swung and Ron ducked back before sending an uppercut to Sly’s chin, making Sly fall right back down.

  “Ron, please, let’s just go. He’s not worth it!” I pulled him again.

  With a stomp to Sly’s face and stomach, Ron snatched Sly up off the ground. Then he brought his mouth to Sly’s ear and whispered before reaching into Sly’s pocket and taking out his wallet. He took something out and showed Sly what it was before whispering something else. Jerron pushed Sly back and rocked his ass again, knocking him to the ground. Ron put whatever he took from Sly’s wallet in his pocket then grabbed my hand, pulling me towards his truck.

  Once we got in, Ron quickly pulled off. Why did it always have to be some shit? Every time I tried to avoid stuff it was like I get sucked right back in. I
wasn’t mad at Ron because he was looking out for me. I damn sure didn’t feel bad for Sly because he was wrong on so many levels. I mean seven years, three kids.

  Where the hell do I meet these fuckin’ men?

  I attract scrummy ass men.

  “Peaches, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

  “Jerron, don’t apologize, I should’ve known. I was stupid for even messing with him. He’s eight years older than me, I should’ve known someone like him wouldn’t want a little girl. God, I’m so stupid. Ugh! That’s why King was pissed when I told him I wanted to date Sly.”

  Ron’s hand grasped mine, giving it a slight squeeze. ”You didn’t know and how would you if no one told you? So stop calling yourself dumb because you’re not. It was his fault, he’s the dumb mothafucka who thought it was cool. Don’t worry about him, though.”

  He was right, how would I have known? Working with him every day there should’ve been some clues. Plus, she never even came to his clinic and there weren’t any pictures that indicated that he had a family. Of course it wouldn’t be if I worked there. “Did you love him?” Ron’s question caught me off guard.

  Did I?

  No.

  “No. I just liked him and thought I’d give us a try. But King and Blaze ruined that plan. So no, I didn’t.” I told him, letting out a sigh.

  “Then why you so mad? You damn near had a panic attack in there.”

  “I was shocked that he has this whole other life.

  Sly, was at my apartment three, four days out of a week. He had a key, the man practically lived there with me when King wasn’t there. And I know that woman, it probably would’ve been different if I hadn’t. But I know both of them. Damn, here I thought Sly was better than that, especially because he knew me. I honestly never expected him to ever do me like that. I’m shocked and mad more than anything.”

  I’m so glad Ron beat his ass. Hell, I should’ve jumped in and got some hits in.

  “Ron, what did you say to him?”

  Looking over at me, he let out a forceful laugh. “Nothing important, so don’t worry about it.”

  When I was told not to worry about something, I left it alone. I learned that from both my dad and King. Don’t worry about it and don’t ask questions were basically the same thing. I was guessing that whatever he whispered to Sly wasn’t good.

  “What did you take out of his wallet?” Ron let out groan then looked at me again. The look he gave had me rolling my eyes. “Don’t worry about it, right?” Smiling a sincere smile, he nodded. “Okay,” Mumbling to myself, I looked out the window and forced myself to forget what just happened.

  The pressure to my hand had me glancing down.

  “Ron, are you back for good this time?” I had to know, I didn’t want it to be like it was a few years ago with him staying for ex-amount of time and then suddenly leaving again.

  I honestly didn’t think I could take that. I’d just gotten him back and didn’t want to lose him, again.

  “I’m here,” he said, which I just nodded to because I didn’t know. “I was gon’ wait to show you but… I think now is the perfect time.” My brows furrowed at that and I turned in my seat. “Don’t ask questions, just ride,” Ron stated as he drove towards the city.

  Chapter 28

  Peaches

  After driving in silence, we came to a strip mall. He pulled into a palace and parked in front of a brown brick office.

  “Jerron, mostly everything is closed. Why are we here?” I asked, looking from the hair salon to the Family Dollar then to the Wal-Green’s right next to the building. Plus, there was a lot of different clothes stores and hardware stores.

  “Just get out and come on,” he said, opening my door and helping me out. We went to the building and Ron peeked in before going to the door and shaking it.

  “It’s locked. What are you doing?” I whispered/ yelled at him as he picked up a big ass rock. He was not about to break that window. “Jerron, I am not going to jail with you for breaking into this place, King will kill me.”

  Ron started laughing, I didn’t find shit funny. “Chill, I’m not breaking in,” he said, tossing the rock to the side and then looking through his keys. Finding the one he wanted, he unlocked the door.

  He held the door open for me. “So, what do you think?” Jerron asked, flicking the lights on.

  Looking around the spacious office, I didn’t say anything as I walked around the white room and then towards the back where two offices were.

  “This is yours?”

  “Yeah, it’s not much but—”

  Shaking my head, I cut him off. “No, I like it, Jerron. You have a place to start your own business.” The smile on my face couldn’t be contained as I looked around the spacious front room. “Ooh, you liar. I thought you didn’t find a place. You didn’t know whether to go Downtown or to the city you liar.”

  “Yeah, I lied only because I wasn’t going to show you until it was up and running.” He leaned against the right wall on the opposite side of the room from me.

  “Then why are you showing me now?”

  He pushed off the wall and walked closer to me. “To show you that I’m here and not going anywhere.”

  “So you’re not planning on leaving Gary no time soon?”

  He shook his head at my question. “No, as long as you’re here I’m not going anywhere, that’s a promise.”

  Biting the inside of my lip, I looked away from him. His stare had me feeling naked and giddy.

  “So you have an office, you want to show me it?” Giving me that sexy, cute peek-a-boo smile, Ron grabbed my hand, leading me toward the back.

  “This’s going to be Leon’s office,” he said, opening the first office door to an empty, medium size room.

  “I didn’t know Leon was good at building stuff,” I stated while walking around the office.

  “Not if his life depended on it,” he said, making me laugh. “I’m serious, Leon just has an eye for design, that’s it. But I can use that,” Jerron explained.

  My bottom lip poked out as I nodded my head in understanding. “So Davis Brothers Construction Company has a nice ring to it,” I told him as he turned off the light in Leon’s office.

  “Yeah, only problem is Leon don’t know,” Ron glanced at me.

  Giving him a confused look, I followed him into another office which was larger than Leon’s. “What you mean he doesn’t know?” Shrugging, Ron walked over to the desk that sat in the middle of the room.

  “I mean he don’t know we’re going into business together. You think he’s gon’ be pissed?”

  Smacking my lips at that, I stood next to him. “Same old Jerron, start something then pull big brother in, unbeknownst to him.” I nudged him.

  Jerron had that bad, doing something then bringing Leon into it without him ever knowing until the last minute. And with Leon being the big brother he was, he could never say no to Jerron for some odd reason.

  They were really close like that. I was actually surprised Jerron stayed away from Gary as long as he did. Then again, he had been visiting, I just didn’t know about it.

  “No, I don’t think he’ll be mad, Jerron. When has Leon ever been mad at you for something you started and brought him in on?”

  Ron started laughing at the question. “It was this one time I started a fight with some big dudes when I was about thirteen. I ran home and got Leon and we both got our asses beat. Leon was so pissed that he beat me up when we got home.”

  “Are you serious?” My lips pressed together tightly as I tried holding back my laughter.

  Ron nodded his head, making my cheeks blow up. “That’s not funny, Leon was pissed. He beat my ass and then our dad turned around and beat our asses for getting our asses beat. Leon beat me up every time he thought about it.” That did it. I couldn’t hold it in no more and burst out laughing. “That shit ain’t funny. So yeah, Leon can get pissed at me.”

  “Y’all were kids, Jerron. You a mess, I swear. You sh
ould let me help you decorate your office,” I mumbled to him as I looked around. “I can picture it now. We can have a burgundy loveseat with black pillows against this wall, two black side tables with lamps sitting on top. You can have your file cabinets against the back wall behind your desk.

  “You’ll need carpet, black carpet. This desk is off, it’s too light. We’ll have to get a mahogany desk, it’s manlier… Um…We can put a fake plant in that corner on the side of the couch. That green file cabinet, no. If I can get my hands on some burgundy spray paint. Mhm.”

  Humming, I continued to look around the big office, just picturing where everything could go. “The walls will have to be repainted because the white will throw everything off. So a dark brown, maybe mmm…”

  “Peaches, I didn’t say you can decorate—”

  “Well, can I?” I asked. My hands were itching to touch this space.

  “How much is all this gon’ cost me?” He questioned.

  I ignored him and continued to look around the office. It had a closet and a nice sized bathroom.

  After I examined the large space, I slowly walked over to him and sat on the desk. “Not that much. Plus, I’ll pay for everything.”

  “I’m not asking you to do that,” he seemed offended by the offer.

  A proud man he was. “You’re not asking, let this be my gift. I mean, you finally have a space to start your business. I’m proud of you and in order for me to show just how proud I am you should let me do this for you.” I offered. Even if he said no I was decorating his office.

  “No,” he stated simply, as I expected.

  “Please—”

  “No, so stop asking. Not now anyways, I still have stuff I need to finish up in St. Louis before touching this.”

  I let it go for now. “Okay, I want to help though. I can paint, make little business cards, paint. I really don’t like the white walls in here.”

  Ron let out a laugh as he grabbed me. “You’re just determent to make your mark in here, huh?”