Cash gave me a half shrug. “I wouldn’t call it dating. He’s entertaining shorty, but we know he’s waiting for Nairobi.”
I gave him a pointed look. “Well, that’s their business. Neither of us need to be meddling in their shit.”
He chuckled again, leaning forward to kiss my belly. “We’ll see.”
“No, Cash. Not ‘we’ll see.’ Leave it alone.”
5 /FONTAINE JACKSON
I’d metup with Jelani earlier to check on a shipment of weapons we’d gotten from the Reapers, and since Drea had gotten hemmed up at the salon, I swung by and picked Gunnar up from school. I loved my nephew, but he was yapping my ear off about some cartoon the entire car ride. I felt like I’d been to every corner of the city by the time that was done.
I needed a drink. What I didn’t need was Parker also talking my ear off.
“Anyway, now I’m just rambling,” she laughed, sipping her French 75. “How was your day?”
“It was cool,” I replied, more interested in the bourbon in my glass than her.
Parker smiled. “That’s all I get? No details?”
I exhaled before taking a sip. “I mean, it’s another day that ends in ‘y’. Handled some business, picked up my nephew, now I’m here. Nothing really exciting in the IT world.”
“I bet you know a lot of corporate secrets,” she mused.
My brows lifted… “Like what?”
She took another sip of her drink. “I mean…I’m sure you’ve heard all the rumors about Banks Enterprises,” she said, her gaze never leaving mine.
I scoffed. She was silly if she thought I’d give her anything other than a generic answer. “People been saying that shit for years. I’ve known Cash since college, ain’t never seen him do anything illegal.”
Therewasa bit of truth in that. I did go to Duke with Cash. He was my roommate freshman year. I was a computer science major, and he recognized my skills early on. I grew up in a nice enough neighborhood, but my mom’s teacher salary wasn’t enough to cover everything. My pops had been out the picture since Drea was little, so I busted my ass for scholarships.
When Cash put me on with B.C., I had more than enough to pay my way through college and help my mom when she needed.
“Mmhm,” Parker hummed. I didn’t like the way she said that, like she knew more than she was letting on.
There was a slight shift in the energy of the restaurant—a familiar prickle ran down my spine that made me sit up straight.
I knew this feeling.
And I hadn’t felt it in two years.
“Oh shit,” a voice said behind me. My head whipped around to see Jasmine standing there, looking mortified, her eyes darting between me and—Nairobi?
My breath caught for half a second.
She somehow looked even more beautiful than when I last saw her two years ago. Her pixie cut was jet black now and she had a little more weight on her hips and thighs.
Jasmine looked like she wanted to grab her and make a run for it, but she was finna pop at any moment so that wasn’t possible. It was clear they hadn’t planned to sit at the bar—it wouldn’t be comfortable for her—but the waiter had placed them at a table damn near next to Parker andme.
“It’s fine,” Nairobi said.
She sat down like it was nothing. Like me showing up in Miami was nothing. Or never happened at all.
I set my glass down. My jaw clenched as I forced my face to stay neutral.
“Uh… hi, Fontaine,” Jasmine said, giving me an awkward hug before turning to Parker. “I’m Jasmine.”
Parker’s eyes lit up. She ignored Jasmine’s outstretched hand and went in for a hug instead. Jasmine stepped back. “Oh gosh. I’m sorry, that was weird of me.” She let out a nervous laugh.
