"A suit is a little much for a conversation, don't you think?"
"I'm an important woman. You're not the only one who wants to converse with me."
A dry chuckle slipped out as my eyes traveled along her frame. The navy-blue two-piece suit hugged her curves as if it had been tailored for that purpose alone. Her hair, bone-straight and parted down the middle, put her entire face on display.
Pretty.
I've never taken the time to really look at Choyce. Her beauty never mattered to me… it still didn't. But in this moment, I felt trapped in the way her eyes locked onto mine. There was a spark, a flame waiting to flare. It pulled me in, like gravity, ignoring the parts of me that pulled in the opposite direction.
"Do you need more time to finish the portrait you're mentally painting?" she asked, arching her brow.
"I never started," I replied, keeping it short.
Tilting her head, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Yeah, okay, Honor."
"You wanted to talk, so speak."
"I'm all for letting you lead, but it's time for an actual step to be taken. Talon is up in arms because he thinks Lucian has someone following him. I'm not sure how true that is, but I'm working on finding out. If Lucian really is tailing Talon, then he's not taking you killing Talon seriously. So, whatever plan you have needs to be shared with the class. I can't do my part?—"
"I'll handle it," I cut her off before she could say anything further.
"That uncompromising tone won't work on me, Honor. I'm not working for you. We're working together. What we agreed to do is bigger than your wanting revenge against the man who?—"
Her words slipped the second my fingers folded against the collar of her jacket. I yanked her forward. Her breath caught, eyes wide with fear. I leaned in, my lips a safe distance from her ear.
"Careful, Choyce, fear looks good on you. Keep trying to handle me like I'm some little nigga and I'ma fuck around and make it a permanent thing."
Her eyes dropped to the ground. I pushed her back, then yanked her forward again.
"Look at me," I growled through clenched teeth.
"Honor," she swallowed hard, bringing her eyes to mine.
"If I said I'll handle it, then that's what the fuck I'ma do. Trust me or don't, but I have it handled."
I slowly let her go, my fingers lingering a moment too long. Neither of us stepped back. We stayed toe to toe, her eyes brewing a storm that my actions had set in motion.
"Trust," she scoffed. "How am I supposed to trust you when there's always animosity between us? I want to believe you're a man of your word, but this…" she gestured between us, "Jerking me around like I'm some fucking rag doll isn't how you earn it."
"Yeah?" I responded dryly, voice low. "How do I earn your trust, Choyce?"
"By fucking talking!" she shouted in my face. "Let whatever you have brewing in that big ass head of yours out. You don't have to do this alone. I'm trying to help because my daughter's well-being rests on us pulling this off without any hiccups. But you gotta let me in."
Her voice softened, but her stare only grew more intense… loving, maybe.
"For you to trust me, I had to take a life. It was my first time, and I was scared. You knew that and still guided me through it. I'm asking, let me guide you through this. Trust me enough to have your back with this."
Silence stretched between us, covered in the uneasiness of what she's asking me to do.
Trust.
It wasn't just foreign to me. It's a language I unlearned a long time ago. I didn't trust people enough to let them in. I fed them illusions of trusting them instead. They were safer that way. The only person I let pass those walls was Navy. She saw the twisted parts of my soul and didn't flinch, so I trusted her. Choyce didn't wasn't the illusion. She wanted the real thing and acted as if she needed it. Giving her even a piece of my trust felt like a betrayal toward Navy.
"Honor," she whispered.
My phone buzzed, distracting me from giving her an answer. I pulled it out of my pocket, and my chest tightened at seeing Navy's name in the notification bar. I stared at the screen for a second before unlocking it.
Navy
