I didn’t expect to cause a scene, but my voice seemed to rise the more I went on. They had pissed me all the way off because the hatred they had for Kareem was unwarranted. It had to be rooted in jealousy.
One of the guys had the nerve to say something back to me, which caused me to go in harder. Before I knew it, we were in a full-blown argument. He was yelling at me, and I was matching his energy until I saw a fist connect with the man’s jaw and the sounds of surprise coming from the crowd.
I saw Kareem coming out of the corner of my eye, but I was too deep into the argument to let up. Hearing the thud of one of his board members’ bodies hitting the floor calmed me down real quick. Not only was I arguing with someone at his event, but I had now caused a fight between the guest of honor and the men on his board.
Instead of saying a word to Bill or the man on the floor, Kareem scooped me up and carried me out the door.
The rideback to the hotel was quiet. I wanted to thank Kareem but felt it was best to let the silence linger. The disruption at the event wasn’t the end of it. I was sure Kareem would be getting some backlash the next day. I hated that I was the cause of the negativity.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized as soon as we got on the other side of the door in his hotel room.
“So you’re sorry now? You weren’t sorry when you were causing a scene at my event.”
Kareem pushed me against the hotel door with his body. I dropped my head in embarrassment, but he lifted it with his finger. I didn’t know if it was anger in his eyes or hunger.
“Don’t be shy now. You’ve been a bad girl, Karina. Now, you’re going to have to pay for that.”
Kareem connected his lips with mine before slipping his tongue into my mouth. I readily accepted it as his hands roamedbetween my thighs. I could feel my bud pulsing before he even touched her.
Chapter
Fourteen
Kareem
“We need to get to work. We don’t have much time to produce what they’ve asked for. That little scene last night has only set us back.”
London was not even our last stop, and I was getting tired of sitting in board meetings. I was especially tired of board meetings that we had because something didn’t go the way it was supposed to. This wasn’t high school, so I didn’t expect people’s personal feelings to get in the way of the company’s goal.
At K&K Solutions, our goal was to merge AI and weaponry seamlessly, positioning warfighters for the best possible outcomes on the battlefield. It was clear, concise, and simple even. Simple didn’t require all this extra shit.
I couldn’t lie and say Karina didn’t cause a scene by going at Bill’s corny ass, but she had every reason to. I wasn’t about to be mad at her for having my back. Bill, on the other hand, had somefucking nerve to be sitting across the table looking at me with the same eye I’d just blacked.
They were still pushing to speed up production, as if the decision hadn’t already been made. It was nothing a nigga could say to make me change my mind. This meeting was over before it had even started. I was only sitting here to be polite since I knew one of them would probably be filing a lawsuit soon.
“And that girlfriend of yours, you probably need to tell her to stay in her place,” Bill grumbled, shooting daggers in my direction.
I was playing with a stress ball under the table. It was a habit that proved useful in times like this. Bill was more annoying than anything else, and he was making it hard for me to maintain my composure.
“Yeah, that would definitely be a good idea. She caused the whole disruption last night,” Bill’s hype man chimed in by dick riding, but he made the situation worse for him and his homeboy.
I came in here intending to let what they said last night slide. They talked shit and got punched in the mouth. In my opinion, it was all said and done.
I didn’t care about people speaking on my name. I’d been the topic of conversation most of my life, especially during my time in the Army. People could see you doing good and love you to death. It was when you started doing better than them that the hate started.
Right now, I was being undermined by members of my board. It didn’t feel good, but I was okay with them speaking badly on my name. I was used to it, but they fucked up when they spoke about Karina.
“Putting your mouth on something that belongs to me is crazy work. Go ahead and get up out of here.”
“Excuse me?” Bill turned to me with a shocked look on his face, like he couldn’t comprehend what I had just said.
Maybe he couldn’t since I knew he wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. I was giving him a chance to save his life, and he didn’t even know it.
“I said get the fuck out of here. Catch the first flight back home, and take your sidekick with you. You’re both fired.”
“We are on the board of directors. You can’t fire us.”
“Look at that wall over there. What does it say?”
