“Nah, you weren’t specific, and this is how I like to carry my women. I’ma take you back to the house. I didn’t say when though.”
I was forced to resort to violence. I whacked him on the arm until he finally put me down. The gush of fluid I felt between my legs was a betrayal. My body was not supposed to be yearning for his touch like this. It craved nothing more than for him to pick us up like that again and bounce us on his body, but with no clothes on this time.
I didn’t account for how long it’d been since I was touched in such a primal way that awakened every feverish desire I could conjure. Quadior was so damn fine that he made it easy to lust after him. I needed to get as far away from him as possible, or I wasn’t sure what would happen next. This was no longer the lanky teenager I knew anymore. This was a man strong enough to handle my plus-sized body with little effort.
Without another word, I turned and sprinted back toward the house. “I thought you were too tired to keep running.”
I scoffed, knowing I wasn’t too tired to get the fuck away from him. The way he’d just handled me had my mind all jumbled. It was going to take time and distance to regain control of my thoughts, because I had half the mind to turn around and let him try that shit again. And that kind of thinking was asking for trouble.
The sound of multiple feet thundering against the floor caused me to lift my eyes from the sudoku puzzle I was working on to pass time. I looked up just as soon as my father, Hakeem, Mo, and Dior all entered the room. Untucking my legs, I sat up instantly on alert.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Show her,” my father said, motioning to the TV.
I watched Dior walk toward the remote, then use it to not only turn on the TV but to flip to the news channel. My mouth fell open in horror, seeing Emir plastered on the screen. What really stumped me was the headline:Governor of SC wife kidnapping.
“No, he didn’t,” I muttered to myself in shock.
The couch dipped lower as Keem came to sit beside me. I had been seeing a lot of him since moving into Dior’s home. Any opportunity he got to see me, he took advantage of it. I wasn’t mad about it. I’d missed my big brother, and I knew he felt a little guilty about not knowing what I was going through. No matter how many times I assured him that it wasn’t his fault, he took Emir’s abuse against me very personal.
“Yes, the fuck he did. Bitch ass nigga,” he spat with the same venom coursing through my veins.
This was extreme, even for Emir. I figured after the first few days, he would just leave me alone, but apparently, he had other plans. I had no doubt in my mind that this charade he was putting on was strictly about his pride. He couldn’t fathom the idea of me not wanting to be with him anymore, despite the fact he treated me like trash. He really stood on the TV tear stricken as he convinced the world I was taken from our home against my will.
My heart began to hammer faster, and I gripped Keem’s hand tightly to anchor me into the moment. “What am I going to do?” I felt myself beginning to go into a panic, but Dior coming to kneel in front of me settled my nerves.
“Don’t worry about this, okay? We’re going to go out of town for a few days to be on the safe side and let things cool off here. Cool?”
My lips felt completely dried out and chapped, so I moistened them. After staring deeply into Dior’s dark eyes, I nodded slowly. “You sure?”
“It’s already done. The jet is being fueled right now as we speak. We just wanted to keep you informed on what’s happening since this involves you in every way. You want protection, and nothing has changed about our ability to offer it to you.” He used his thumb to gently rub my birthmark, and against my will, I relaxed into his touch. “I told you I got you.”
I allowed my eyes to float to him, and I only found sincerity in their brown depths. “Thank you,” I whispered because I was afraid of blurting something I would much rather keep to myself about the way I was feeling about him.
He gave me the smallest smile, yet it felt blinding. “Go pack your bag while I wrap up some loose ends here.”
I had no choice but to trust him, because anything they were discussing was above my pay grade. If Dior said they were going to keep me safe, I believed him. On my way out of the room, I couldn’t help but to give my father a hug. Being back in each other’s lives had been a gift I wasn’t expecting.
Long before Emir flipped his switch, I kept my distance from my father and his lifestyle, but it never meant I didn’t love him. I just wasn’t a fan of the things he was willing to do at times. But in a petty way, life had a way of thrusting me into an even darker and violent life, because being married to Emir was the worst things could get.
I was to the hallway when I heard Keem ask Dior very lowly, “Is there something going on with you and my sister?”
I slapped a hand over my mouth to hold in my giggle when I heard Dior’s response. “Aye, mind ya fucking business.” I tucked in my bottom lip to hide my smile and the spark of excitement I felt hearing him refer to me ashisbusiness.
“Don’t piss me off right now, Qua. You know she’s my business.”
Leaving the men to plan, I went to my bedroom to do exactly what Qua told me to. I hadn’t been on a trip in so long that I was looking forward to it. No matter the reason for it.
I inhaled the heat emitting from the sun and felt a stillness that didn’t terrify me. It allowed me a chance to be in the moment. No pressure, no violent man trying to ruin everything good about me, no isolation from family, no prison . . .
I raced toward the beach shore with pure glee filling my heart. Even though I was in Dior’s home for safety, it reminded me of being at home, only allowed to leave if Emir gave me permission to do so. I didn’t care if we were in Mexico to get away from the scrutiny of the entire city thinking I’d been kidnapped. I was going to soak it all up because I had no clue when I’d get to experience this again.
Dior was calling my name, but I completely ignored him. The water called to me, and I had to touch it, or I was going to combust into a ball of dust. Right when I got to the edge of the shoreline, an arm around my waist snatched me back.
“Girl, where are your survival skills? There’s nobody in the water,” he fussed with clear annoyance drenched in his tone.
As his words processed through my mind, I started to take in my surroundings. He was right. There were plenty of people standing near the shoreline or up at the restaurant, sitting on the pier, but no one was in the water, which was odd for a beach.
