“I just found out. I didn’t tell him yet.”
I pulled back so fast. I wiped under my eyes and pointed at her. “I absolutely have to be there when you tell him.”
She laughed. “Ava—”
“I’m serious. I need to see that man cry like a baby. Because he is going to cry. He acts hard, but he is going to lose his mind.”
Zahra laughed harder and nodded. “He is. He’s going to cry harder than the both of us.”
29
TARIQ “REEK” HORTON
Everybody was at the Cartier private club, dancing, drinking, and laughing. I had brought Sienna with me for the celebration because she and Langford had pressed that tonight was not the night to play games with optics. Politics were even more heavily involved in this project’s success now, and Langford was supposed to show his face tonight. If any photos emerged from this celebration, onlookers needed to see that me, Sienna, Langford, and the Cartiers were a big happy family.
Sienna stood right beside me all night like she was my woman. She kept her hand on my arm, and she would lean in close when she talked to me.
She lookedtoocomfortable on my arm.
I played my part too. I laughed when I had to and stayed where cameras could catch us. But my eyes kept drifting. Ava was across the club in a different section, posted up with Zahra and some of the other women.
She looked too fucking good to ignore. That long hair fell down her back in soft waves, and those light eyes made her stand out in the room. The dress she had on was black and tight, short enough to make a man stare, with cutouts that showed justenough skin to be a lil’ disrespectful. The neckline was so low that her perky breasts threatened to spill out.
I wanted to think shorty had put that shit on for me. Ever since I’d flirted with her outside of Sincere’s crib, she’s been so timid around me. I could smell her pussy leaking every time I spoke to her. But she knew, just like I did, that I was no good for, so she kept her distance, as she should.
Her eyes often met mine. I could tell how her expression hardened when Sienna touched me. I saw the way she stared at Sienna’s hand on my shirt like she wanted to move it herself.
Langford walked up right when I felt like I was watching Ava too hard. I thought he’d caught me, until he slid in with that politician grin, shook my hand, and kissed Sienna on the cheek. “Hi, baby girl.”
Sienna smiled. “Hi, Daddy.”
Langford looked at me again. His smile stayed, but his eyes got serious for half a second. “We’re entering the implementation phase now. This is when people start watching closer. This project still needs city cooperation, and city cooperation needs a clean story. You and Sienna are the bridge. People need to see that bridge every time they look at this project. You disappear, she looks abandoned, and my support looks questionable. Then the board starts asking questions again. So, don’t do no dumb shit and embarrass my daughter. Not while we still need favors. You want this development to keep moving, you keep her close. Period.”
I nodded once. “Understood.”
He patted my shoulder, then he moved on to the next group of people he wanted to holler at.
Sienna turned to me and kissed me on the cheek. “This vote most likely wouldn’t have turned out in the Cartiers’ favor had my daddy’s connection to them not been so obvious. Thanks for obliging.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “It’s business, and I always handle my business.”
She smiled. “True. But I could actually see something real with you, Reek.”
Before I could respond, somebody lifted a phone for pictures. Sienna pulled me in close, and her hand pressed flat against my shirt as the camera flashed. She leaned in and whispered, “We make a good team.”
I stared straight at the camera and posed for the picture.
After a few more photos and too many people speaking to me, I slipped away toward the back of the club to get some air.
The back patio was quieter. The spring air felt perfect. A few people stood off to the side smoking weed and talking shit. I walked to the edge and looked out over the edge towards the tree line.
“Look at you, Mr. Politician.”
I turned around to see Ava smirking up at me.
“Mr. Politician?” I chuckled. “Come on, Ava, you know what it is.”
She giggled, shrugging. “I don’t know. You get any closer to her and her father, people might start to wonder what side of the game you’re really running with.”
