Emani smiled at him. It was loaded. If he’d really been paying attention the way he claimed he would’ve known the smile was a warning. She was mentally talking herself down from another crash out. “No disrespect? That was hella disrespectful.”
“You need help, E?” Donnée questioned.
“Nah, I got this one,” Emani spoke. The frustration she’d been holding on too with a vice grip was going to be unleashed and Daniel would be the subject of her aggression all because he didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.
“I’m just saying you probably need that little pussy tore out the frame. Clearly Malik ain’t hitting that shit right.”
Emani glared at him, before asking a little louder than she’d been. “So you think cause he ain’t here and the rest of these bitches happily handing your cheating ass some pussy, I’d let you touch me? Nigga, I’ll knock your corny ass out, again.”
“Yo, E,” Carson stood to his feet right after Jahlil popped up and was in full stride over toward Daniel.
“Fuck you say to her?” Jahlil asked, grabbing Daniel by the collar.
“I got it, Jah!” Emani shouted, not wanting him to make a scene over her. She attempted to push past him and handle Daniel herself but Jahlil, with ease, picked her up and put her behind him.
She could afford the hits to her confidence from Malik and whatever he was doing. And no matter how she felt about Jahlil, she would never allow him to put his livelihood on the line. His team had done a stellar job of keeping the bullshit from around him. For him, right now it didn’t matter. Even though there had been years of space between them, being back in her space meant being there. And more than anyone, he knew her triggers, he knew what kept her up, he knew what made her cry, he knew how to comfort her. He knew handling Daniel wasn’t something to get in her good graces, it was mandatory. A requirement. The standard he set years ago.
Jahlil ignored her. “What the fuck you say to her?”
Everyone was on their feet, Carson and Kyrie were trying to convince Jahlil to release Daniel while everyone who arrived with Daniel was looking on in amusement at how this was going to go down.
“You still fighting over that tight little pussy, huh?” Daniel taunted. “I just assumed that since you was out of it, we were next in line. You know how we get down.”
“We?” Emani popped off, trying to climb over anything she could to get to him. She didn’t know how Ashton out maneuvered Carson and Kyrie, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into the house. She fought like hell to get out of his hold and handle Daniel but Jahlil was handling that with ease.
“We’re not doing that!” Donnée shouted above the commotion, pushing the other members of the fraternity back while Jahlil waxed the bar with Daniel and his veneers. “You bought him over here, you’re going to carry his ass right back.”
“We didn’t know he was going to go there,” one defended.
“He always does!” Donnée shouted. “I told you not to even bring him around. That’s how y’all get down? Taking rounds on women because you got some loose change in your pocket?”
“He ain’t mean nothing by it, D. Nigga just feeling himself ,” another spoke.
Jahlil’s strength against Daniel’s. One thing he had over Daniel was he was driven by pure insanity. When it came to Emani then, now and forever, no one was going to say anything about her or to her that wasn’t facts, respectfully.
“We?!” Emani popped off again feeling like she was losing her mind. “Who the fuck is we! What kind of shit they think I’m on. I’m not that bitch!”
“Aight,” Kyrie grunted, trying to get Jahlil to come back center. “He got the point.”
“I’m the agent,” Carson spoke. “He ain’t get the fucking point!”
Jahlil, with flared nostrils and dark eyes gritted. His regret and silent anger with himself on display. “Clean this shit up, when you see her, make sure you fuckin’ apologize.”
“My tooth,” Daniel whimpered, bringing his manicured fingers to his mouth.
“Tooth? Don’t nobody give a damn about that big ass tooth!” Carson bellowed. “You heard what my boy said to you? What you gon’ do, nigga?”
“I’m-I’ma apologize,” Daniel damn near cried.
Jahlil, releasing him, grumbled. “You a bitch, how you somebody’s daddy is wild. Y’all clean this shit up and get the fuck up out of here.”
Before he changed his mind, he walked away to cool off. The disrespect had him hot but what sent him over the edge was the look in Emani’s eyes. The guilt that she went through shit because of him dropping the ball. The façade of armor he wore was chipping away. There was nothing he could do about it until he faced her. Eye to eye.
While Daniel and the friends that came with him cleaned up like they were told to do, he walked out of sight and palmed his face. The dancing around the topic and trying to act like he wasn’t the cause was over.
13 /EMANI
Ashton heldon to her until they were tucked away on the second floor behind the door. “E, you got to breathe.”
