“There is no next time,” I said.
I walked away before he could answer.
Behind the building, I settled into my spot. Pulled my hoodie tighter. The concrete was cold through my jeans. I did what I came to do and let the edge soften.
The noise in my head didn’t disappear. It never did. But it slowed. Gave me room to breathe. I wasn’t the addict that got high and spazzed, I was the kind that got creative while numb.
I pulled my sketchbook from my bag. It was worn. Pages bent. Charcoal smudged into the corners. Drawing was the only thing that ever quieted everything at once.
My hand moved without thinking.
A man’s face began to form on the page. Strong jawline. Sharp light brown eyes. Calm expression. Not soft, but not cruel either. Someone who looked like he stood his ground.
I didn’t know him. But he felt real.
I shaded his hands next. Big hands. Steady. The kind that didn’t shake.
I didn’t know why I was drawing him. I just knew I needed to.
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was my brother.
No words.
Just money.
I stared at the screen for a long time before typing back.
Thank you.
I didn’t know that one word would change everything.
I tucked the phone away, leaned back against the wall, and kept drawing.
CHAPTER 17
Ares
“Even Rock Bottom Looked Good On Her.”
Iwas riding passenger with my right-hand man, who was now my future brother-in-law. We were in his blacked-out Maserati, headed toward Hollywood.
What he told me at my office, I wasn’t ready for.
He was a fucking Laveau, and I let that he was from a black mafia family go over my head. Then, his sister Yuna was supposed to be my bride.
And she was an addict.
Unbelievable.
She was a woman he held close to his heart, so I couldn’t react. Couldn’t say no to his face.
Truth was, I knew Yuna more than he thought.
Six years back, I was checking for her. Her smile. Her infectious laugh, her light green eyes. Her body I already had. Back when she was a party girl, spending Daddy’s money on her friends. I took her on a flight to Vegas, fucked her, then she blocked me. Heard through a mutual she didn’t like rich niggas like her brother.
First woman to ghost me since high school.
