He didn’t look convinced. But he grabbed his jacket and followed Zahara to the door.
She paused with her hand on the handle. Didn’t turn around.
“I’ll have your doorman call us a cab.”
“Aight.” My voice was ice now. All the warmth I’d felt this morning—the hope, the softness, the fucking croissants—frozen solid. “I’ll see you Monday.”
She turned then. “Monday?”
“Meech’s parole hearing.” I met her eyes, let her see the anger I was barely containing. “I’ll pick you up at 6 AM. Try not to jump to any more conclusions before then.”
Her jaw tightened. “Fuck you, Prime.”
“You already did. Last night. Remember? Before you decided I was the villain.”
The words hung in the air, ugly and sharp.
Zahara’s eyes glistened. For a second, I thought she might cry. Might apologize. Might realize she was wrong.
Instead, she opened the door and walked out.
Yusef followed, glancing back at me one last time before the door closed behind them.
And I was alone.
In my penthouse. With my cold coffee. And a pair of red lace panties that had just blown up everything I’d been building.
I grabbed the panties from where Zahara had dropped them and stared at them.
Farah.
That sneaky, manipulative, obsessed little?—
She’d done this on purpose. Had to have. Left them there knowing Zahara would eventually find them. Planted a bomb in my bedroom and waited for it to go off.
I pulled out my phone and changed the access code to the penthouse. Then I blocked Farah’s number.
Then I hurled the panties across the room into the trash can.
If Zahara thought I was gonna chase her, she had another thing coming.
40
ZAHARA
The cab ride home was silent.
Yusef kept glancing at me, questions written all over his face, but I couldn’t talk. Couldn’t think. Could barely breathe past the anger and hurt sitting like a boulder on my chest.
Red lace panties.
Under his bed.
The same bed where he’d tied me up last night. Where he’d made me scream his name. Where he’d told me he loved me.
And this whole time, Farah had been?—
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the images away. But was I just using that as an excuse to put distance between us? Could he have been telling the truth?
