Because of that, she was gone.
Then the part I wouldn’t say aloud continued to wiggle its way into my mind—what comes after?When this nigga is dead, and I get her back. Her contract was almost up. Was she thinking about coming back to New York? I wasn’t trying to do that long-distance shit. Could I convince her to move in with me?
I let out a low chuckle and shook my head.
Damn.Maybe I did love her.
“What you over there daydreaming about?” Jelani asked.
I took a sip of water. “Tryna figure out how you managed to get us a table when they’re clearly booked out,” I said.
“Money talks. Plus, being a charming ass nigga don’t hurt either.”
I chuckled as our server came to take our orders.
“Welcome to Maxwell’s. I’m Emma. I’ll be taking care of you tonight,” she said. Jelani and I rattled off our drink orders to her.
“Great, I’ll put those in for you now,” she said as Jelani’s phone buzzed on the table.
“Hello?” His face immediately tensed. “Yo, slow down, Mo—” He sat up straighter. “Send me a screenshot. Now.”
He placed the phone down with a frown.
I already felt the shift in his energy. “Everything good?”
“That was Monica. Jas’ home girl, Amber, hit her up on IG. She said she’s seen Jasmine… she’s safe.”
Amber…I’d heard that name before. That was Jasmine’s best friend. How the fuck did Amber see her? Shouldn’t she be doing more to help? Why wasn’t she hitting me up or sending us Jasmine’s location?
I opened my mouth to press Jelani for more when something in my peripheral caught my attention. My stomach dropped when I turned my head.
Jasmine.
My baby looked incredible—the champagne colored dress hugged her curves, and her curls were big and wild, the way she wore them when she couldn’t be bothered to fuss with them.
But her body language was way the fuck off.
There was no light in her eyes. Her shoulders were stiff, mouth in a tight line like she was holding back a scream.
And this nigga Marcus had his hand on the small of her back, steering her through the restaurant like she was his puppet.
“What are you looking at?” Jelani asked, following my line of sight. “Shit.”
My whole body tensed, blood roared in my ears—I was ready to dead this right here. Right now.
Jelani grabbed my arm. “Cash. We can’t do this here.”
“She’s right fucking there,” I gritted. I couldn’t look away. Jasmine slid into the booth next to Marcus but kept distance between them. He whispered something in her ear that made her scowl.
“This ain’t our city,” Jelani muttered, glancing around. “He probably got security, and it’s just the two of us.”
Jasmine turned, like she felt me watching. Her eyes widened when they landed on me. She looked away quickly, her fingers trembling as she reached for her glass of water.
I noticed the bruises on her neck—they were faint but clear as day.
The fuck did he do to her?
I pushed back from the table. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
