“My location is off.”
“And you don’t think he’s going to find that suspicious?”
“Fuck him!” I yelled. Damn near at the top of my lungs. “Sienna…fuck him.”
She went quiet. I did too. If it was fuck Duke, why did I need an alibi, right? I… I didn’t know. It was more about the kids than it was about him. I didn’t want them to check in on me and see my last pinged location to be here. I—I just needed Sienna to shut the fuck up and listen.
“I’ll call you when I leave,” I said before hanging up.
With a deep breath, I looked up at the building. It was only 8:13PM so I wasn’t expecting much. Early on a Monday meant the club would be fairly empty. The parking lot was a dead giveaway. There were only six cars out, including mine. I hoped like hell that the pick of the litter would be good. At this point, did it even matter?
I swallowed, with the shake of my head.
I couldn’t believe I was here again.
Back at square one… fucking for revenge. I thought I’d outgrown this. Meaningless, empty sex with a stranger to get back at a man who deserved far worst. With tears in my eyes, I looked away from the building to pop my glovebox for my mask.
I stared at it.
It stared at me.
I sighed, reached for it and slid it on. Flipping the sun visor down, I looked at my reflection, staring into my eyes. They were… lifeless. Full of sorrow and pain. But I smiled. Put a mask on top of my mask. I was Mocha. Didn’t want to be Mocha but there I was… her in the flesh, ready to walk in with her head held high, looking for contenders.
With a sigh, I wiped the smile off my face and slammed the sun visor shut. It would have been easier for me to go home, right? Easier for me to just confront him and figure something out with my babies, right? But see… I didn’t do easy. I’d never done easy. Easy wasn’t what got me to the point I was at in mycareer. Easy didn’t get me damn near twenty years with Duke. Easy didn’t get me four kids or the big house we stayed in. I was… I did things the hard way. I was complicated. This was complicated. All of it. I couldn’t just confront him. I had to… I had to do something. I had to get revenge. Because if I didn’t get revenge, I’d be that stupid version of Mahogany. The one who let him cheat for only God knows how long before I decided to do something. And I didn’t want to be her anymore. What he did… what he hid… it deserved repercussion.
I clenched down on my jaw, sighed again, and grabbed my bag, ready to get out. As soon as I did, the revelation of what I was doing hit me and I thought about him. Judah. I should’ve gotten a new mask. I stopped in my tracks, wondering what it would be like to see him here after seeing him outside of the building. I didn’t want to see him here. The chances of me running into him here were slim though. It was early and Judah Wolfe was a night owl.
I brushed it off and headed inside anyway. My heels clacked against the sidewalk with every step I took on shaky legs. I was nervous. Didn’t know why. Had a good idea of why. I was… tonight was different. I was here for another reason. Not just betrayal. What Duke did wasn’t just betrayal. It was devastating. I was here because of devastation. Tonight was a new night.
When I walked in, I did the usual… gave over my phone, checked my coat and my purse too. Once I was done with that, I headed inside and was greeted by the sexy sound of Motions of Love blasting through the speakers. Through the small holes in my mask, I made eye contact with a few people who recognized me. A few sent head nods, and gave me soft smiles I returned. Before I made it to the bar, I heard someone whisper to their partner about me. She wondered if I’d be putting on a show. Said it’s been a long ass time since I had. I didn’t say anything—pretended not to hear her.
The minute I sat at the bar, Lee, the bartender, walked over to me with a smile.
“Hey girl!” She spoke. “It’s been a minute.”
I sat down and gave her a smile. “I know right. Can I get a Manhattan? Two.”
I wasn’t in the mood for small talk. I was here for one thing and one thing only. To fuck. Not for pleasure—rarely ever for pleasure when I was here. But simply for revenge. Tonight, I was putting on a show. Tonight, I planned to fuck two of them. Thought about going for three. Two were too easy, right?
I swallowed and looked around. It was fairly empty. I didn’t have much to choose from. None of the men were of substance. None of them had thatthingabout them. Quiet confidence that always made Judah a strong contender. Swag. Big fucking dicks. I wanted them huge. The next time Duke slid into me, I wanted him to feel the difference. Then I wondered… had he felt the difference the night I fucked him after Crescent.
Crescent.
Crescent would have been nice. Better than Pandora’s but… Crescent was… that was a slippery slope I didn’t want to go down. I couldn’t be her with him and for this… I needed to be her. I needed emotions turned off and bad bitch turned on.
So why in the fuck was I thinking so much instead of doing?
Lee sat my drinks in front of me and leaned on the bar, her big ass titties spilling out of the too little top she was wearing.
“So, what you been up to girl? Ain’t seen you in a minute.”
What I been up to? Like I would tell her. None of these people knew me. I didn’t share information at all. What the fuck did she mean what you been up to? I didn’t sit at the bar and chit chat with these bitches. The other bartender… couldn’t think of her name… the only thing she really knew about me was the type of drink I liked and that I put on shows here and there. Same shit Lee and the other bartenders knew. Absolutely nothing.
“Nothing. I’ve been chilling,” I told her before taking the straw out of my drink to really drink it. Manhattan’s were to be sipped on, but tonight I wasn’t sipping. Tonight, I needed to be fucked up because tonight I wouldn’t be chilling. I needed to turn my fucking brain off.
Once I finished the first drink, I went right for the second. Lee stayed. Creating small talk that I just nodded to here and there, looking around the club for something to fuck on.
After about ten minutes, I found him. Not just him—them. There were three of them in a group. Perfect.
