“Why would I be looking for you? I went for wine. Karyn asked for a specific bottle from the cellar. It’s not my fault you—” She cut herself off.
Good.
“Shh.” I softened the word, not the order. I stepped in closer, my voice low. “You don’t wander in my world by accident. And once you’re in, there’s no walking back out.”
Her chin lifted a fraction, she wanted to argue but thought better of it. I saw it anyway. She’d heard every word, even if she wouldn’t give me the satisfaction of a reply.
“I’m going to let you go, and you’re going to show me some identification. Can you follow directions, Colecion?”
She nodded. I opened the door and let her pass. The scent lifted off her skin and tried to pull me off focus. But it wasn’t just her perfume. She walked away, and her hips swaying damn near made me forget what I was supposed to be doing. I watched every step. Fear lived in her pulse, but pride kept it hidden. That was what hooked me more than anything I could smell or touch.
She grabbed her purse. I kept my eyes on her. Fucked up as it was, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen — even terrified.
“I hope you’re not staring at my ass while you hold my life in your hands,” she said without looking back. “Niggas, I swear.”
“We got mouth too, huh?” I took her license when she handed it over. “Colecion Alexandria Outlaw. August twenty-first, ninety-two. Five-three. Light brown eyes. Eight forty-five Baxter Avenue.”
“What do you want me to say? I won’t breathe a word. I don’t even know what I saw down there.”
“What did you see?”
“Nothing,” she said, planting her heel with a pout.
I smiled and returned the ID. I let silence sit between us as she went from attitude to confusion to attitude again.
“I didn’t see anything.”
“Smart woman. But if I change my mind, know you left me no choice. You weren’t supposed to see what you saw. Now both our lives are complicated. I’ll be in touch.”
“Mr. Grimson, what does that mean?”
“Lesley. It means you wake up at eight forty-five, Baxter, tomorrow. Don’t make me regret that, Coco.”
“Coco?”
“You heard me. Enjoy the rest of your evening, pretty baby. Drive safe.”
She moved with grace as she left the kitchen, still trying not to show me any fear. It was too late. I’d already seen the wheels turning in her head. As long as she did as I asked, there wouldn’t be any problems.
I made it back to the foyer as my father wrapped up the meeting. Men filtered out with promises to make the transition smooth. I shook hands while clocking her through the window, sliding into a black Camaro. I caught the plate and called Malice to get me all the information he could.
“Son,” my father said at my elbow as the last taillights slipped through the gate. “Everything handled?”
“Clean as it’s gon’ get.”
He studied my face. “And the woman?”
“What about her?”
“Don’t play dumb, Lesley. She saw something she shouldn’t.”
“I handled it.”
“How? Because from here, I see a loose end that could put us all away.”
“She’s not going to be a problem.”
He stepped in close, voice barely a whisper. “Pretty women have been the downfall of smarter men than you. The second you let your dick make decisions, you end up dead or federal.”
