“Aura.”
The stench of shit might as well had entered the room with how high her lip tooted under her nose from hearing that name. Relic cleared his throat to not laugh.
“She’s the easiest to use since I already had something arranged. That’s why I was with her at the mall. The video in your group chat was bullshit. I had to strong arm Aura after I read messages between her and Ronnie talking shit about you.”
His nosey ass admitting to watching the video didn’t go over her head as she fussed, “They were talking about me for fucking what?! I had one conversation with Aura at the salon, and Ronnie is just a bothered, hating ass hoe.”
“That I know. Aura inserted herself in problems that weren’t hers, so she’s the bait now. I’ll reschedule her club appearance for next week. I’ll see if she can get Ronnie to invite Mea, too, since they’re cool. I can kill two bird brain bitches with one stone.”
“Yep, and I’m sure the niggas who shot at you will be with them as either protection or to brag that they’re with your artist after shooting up your shit.”
Relic shut his eyes as a pulsing started at his temples before spreading behind his ears. A migraine was coming. In the past couple months, he’d dealt with his oppositions gunning for his head more than in the fifteen years spent building his drug empire from the ground up. If the Feds didn’t put a pep in their step, the burial plot he’d secured through his funeral trust might get him first.
A soft hand resting on his cheek sent his lids peeling apart. Kennedy caressed him with a gentleness he didn’t want to accept but couldn’t seem to pull away from. Her touch made him wonder whether she genuinely cared or if she was becoming skilled at milking her position for all it was worth.
The cost of Kennedy being his queen increased by the day, and Relic had a feeling she’d make him pay in more than monetary means.
“I know it seems like everything is crumbling around you, but that’s because it is. You have come so fucking far, and all these obstacles are popping up ‘cause you’re right at the finish line. Don’t fold,” she said, leveling him a look that put a fresh battery in his back. “Don’t forget that you are top dog, Relic. Get your head in the game ‘cause, quiet as it’s kept, none of your folks can or will hold your family down like you. No one else can do what the fuck you do. Konprann?”
Kennedy using his dialect put that flittering Relic was growing used to in his chest. He propped up on an elbow to pinch her chin between his fingers like she’d done him earlier.
“Wi, Larenn,” he conceded and pecked her lips. “Was that one of those speeches Savvy and her peoples give my folks?”
“Not at all. That was from one big dog to the biggest. We talk different. We’re the fucking dream team, Relic, so don’t forget it.”
She held out a hand, and Relic spit out a hearty laugh that sounded foreign to his own ears before he shook on it. His amusement ebbed after recalling their first handshake that’d sealed the deal on their partnership, and he realized he didn’t regret it. Her skeleton in his mental closet settled into a corner because he decided to release his guilt about giving the order to set the salon on fire. Kennedy wouldn’t have entered his life if he hadn’t.
“I know, you’re not a hoe,” he blurted before his lips tweaked when she slowly tipped her head to one side.
“I know that I’m not a hoe, too. I can count the niggas I’ve fucked on one hand. Bet you need to borrow my spare fingers, huh?”
That got a full blown laugh out of him. “I don’t want to argue, so I’ll neither confirm nor deny. I’m trying to say I didn’t mean it, Kennedy.”
“Then say what the hell you’re supposed to say when you get out of line. Come correct like I did. I’m waiting.”
“I apol—” He paused and gagged like he’d throw up, making her cackle before he finished, “I apologize. I know you’re only a hoe for me.”
“Nigga!”
She punched his chest, and he smirked while taking in the infrequent moment of her seeming happy with him.
His hidden obsession pulled his undivided attention, and he inspected each scar while his vast hand planted on her belly before treading up her velvety skin. He lingered between her supple breasts and then routed to her throat, smirking when her neck contracted from a swallow while her pulse raced against his palm. She didn’t put up a fight when he pulled her downward to feed her his tongue.
Kennedy closed her eyes and relished the effect of his tongue lapping hers while his mere touch sent every nerve ending she possessed haywire. Relic’s potency was easily comparable to the drugs he sold—stimulating, addictive, and high-inducing to the point of complete euphoria. The physical and mental crash that could follow reminded her that the higher he took her, the lower she would fall if she didn’t catch herself before it was too late. As if the sudden hesitation in her kiss was noticeable, Relic pulled back to stare her in the eyes.
“You still hate me, Larenn?”
“Yes,” tumbled from her mouth like word vomit, and he heaved a breath before brushing his thumb across her soft lips.
“I know it. You gon’ leave me, baby? After all the shit you were just talking about how I didn’t need anyone else ‘cause they can’t do what you do. You gon’ let them other bitches have me?”
“No. I might hate you, but not to where I would give up my spot after all the shit I’ve dealt with, especially to a bitch who hasn’t earned her stripes. You told me that I can hate you but don’t leave, right?”
He ran a hand through her braids, he decided was his favorite style on her, and nodded. “I did.”
“Then, we have an understanding. I accept your offer, and I want it in writing like everything else. We’ll both get what we want in the end, right?” She shied from his touch and clamored out of bed while tossing out, “I’m about to shower and then clean up the mess you made downstairs. Get some rest.”
She walked off, and Relic glued his eyes to his version of perfection until she was out of his sight. Her rationality about their circumstances was far from what he wanted to hear, but it wasn’t a problem for him either. As long as she stayed the course, he could win her over and gain back his partner who didn’t hate his guts or cringed from his touch as if he disgusted her. The longer Kennedy stuck around, the more opportunities it would allot Relic to convince her that she didn’t belong anywhere else but by his side.
