She looked over at Quincey who squinted at her, almost passing a warning. I didn’t like that shit at all.
Johnni cleared her throat. “I apologize. I wasn’t expecting to see you since I know you work for Oakley Charles. What are you doing here?” When her hand connected to mine, I was tempted to snatch her ass to my chest to eliminate this space between us. She was inches away, yet so fucking far.
“I’m covering the Queen now,” I said, which had her tucking her bottom lip that I wanted to bite.
“Tunk, can you give me a moment with my wife so we can make a better first…well, third impression? I fear this is too many times you’ve witnessed the other side to Johnni.”
Trust me, I’ve gotten the good, bad, and freaky side of her.
“Of course.” I bowed as I stepped back, watching him pull her away.
Ten minutes later, only Quincey returned to the kitchen, now putting his suit jacket on.
“Her bark is louder, but my Josie does have moments of being rebellious. Be mindful of that. She’ll test her limits with you for sure, but with a stern authority, she’ll fall in line. I thought she might be okay with you being the one on guard. She’s taking a minute to regroup and will join us again in a minute. While we wait, what happened to you working for Oakley Charles?”
“I was training someone else to protect her. She was originally Boss’s main client. I only took over when— ” I let my words trail off because he knew the rest.
Quincey nodded just as Johnni made her way back into the kitchen with light pink eyes.
Was she crying? Did this muthafucka hurt her?
I clenched my jaw, now reading the energy between them and not liking it.
“There she is. Well, I’ll leave you to it since my wife wants to at least handle the tour of the house by herself. Johnni, best behavior please. Tunk, I’m trusting you to take care of my wife. No one or nothing touches her.”
He walked over to where she stood, wrapping his arms around her waist. He leaned down to kiss her lips, but she turned her head. I heard his snort before he planted a kiss on her forehead instead.
It was a simple act that shouldn’t even mean anything to me, but it confirmed that he’d hurt her, also that someone on the other side was answering my prayers of them not kissing.
He doesn’t deserve to feel her lips.
Especially if he’s the reason why her eyes are glossy.
Quincey headed out, leaving Johnni and me staring at each other. Her gaze was piercing as she sized me up. She didn’t speak and neither did I.
It wasn’t until we both heard the door shut before I opened my mouth, but Lourdè had other plans when she attacked me, lips first.
“This is what you meant? Why didn’t you tell me he was coming in today?”
“I didn’t want to speak on it until I knew how it would go. Let me ask you a question, does he know about us?”
First she shrugged, then shook her head.
“Quincey only knows which dick he’s sitting on right now and this damn campaign. Trust me, if you’re here right now, he has no idea. If it felt weird, that was Quentin planting seeds that won’t grow because his son is too preoccupied to care. Now can you get back to kissing me? We have a busy day and I need my mini fix before?—"
The sound of the doorbell had us both breaking our connection but not before I kissed her lips once more.
“It’s my mother-in-law. We have pageant prep today.” I stepped back, following her to answer the door.
Lourdè swung it open, allowing her mother-in-law to come in.
“Ooh Johnni, don’t you look cute today. Are you ready, my dear? We have your appointment with O’ni for your first fitting. I’m so excited.” She didn’t even notice me.
“Thank you, Mama. Yes, I’m ready. Let me grab my purse and my coffee. Quincey distracted me this morning. Also, we have company today. We’re riding with Courtland. You remember him from the pageant, right? Courtland, this is my mother-in-law, Stephanie, the real Mrs. Wilson. She’s always with me, especially during my season.” Lourdè was now moving around the foyer, grabbing her purse while I bowed, giving Stephanie my attention.
“It’s nice to see you again, ma’am.”
“It’s nice to see you again, young man. I’m so glad that son of mine finally did something to keep my girl protected.” She walked away, now following Johnni to the kitchen with me following too. This was the side of the job when I became a fly on the wall. It could’ve just been me wanting to see messages in Johnni’s words, but her introduction of her mother-in-law gave cryptic as hell and now had my eyes on their conversation.
