A Commitment to Love, Book 3 (45 page)

She gave the blunt back to me. “Months ago, I would’ve said no, but the more we move forward, the more he wins me over. He loves you. He may see you as an object at times—”

“Vivian.” I rolled my eyes.

“You know what I’m saying. He’s all possessive like a vampire.”

“Chase doesn’t suck blood.”

“But he sucks away your energy. He exhausts you.”

“Yes.” And I couldn’t even hide my smile. “But I love how he makes me tired.”

Vivian twisted her face into disgust. “Ewww.”

“I’m just playing.”

“No, you’re not.” Smiling, she stared at me, and her cheeks shivered as if she struggled to keep her expression up. “You love him, and he’s going to make you so happy.”

Her look faltered into a sad frown and her eyes watered into a stream of tears. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Vivian.” I took the blunt from her, stabbed it out in the ashtray, and pulled her into my arms. “It’s okay. I’m here, and I know how you feel.”

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I am happy for you. I am.”

“I know, but you miss Troy. I do, too.”

“I loved him.”

“And he knew you did.”

“And that monster took him.”

“Yes, and we’re going to make him pay.”

“How?” Vivian asked.

“Don’t worry about it. Chase and I have a plan.”

She leaned away from me. “That makes me worry more.”

“We’re going to lure him to our engagement party and then …”

“What?”

“We didn’t figure that part out yet, but I’m sure it’s going to be him dead on the floor.”

Vivian’s eyes widened. Her frown deepened. “You say that you both are going to kill him like it’s no problem.”

My voice came out flat and with no emotion. “It’s not. For once, Chase and my intensity toward killing Benny is the same. It’s our new passion. We’re going to kill him together.”

Wrinkles gathered around her forehead. “Yeah. That scares the shit out of me. You two may want to seek some counseling after this.”

“I will, after I kill Benny.” I winked at her and held back my own tears. “And frankly, nothing will be better than watching his blood spill as I celebrate my engagement party.”

“This idea is insane.”

“Our entire situation is insane. You want to make sense of this, then take your time. That’s my present to you. I give you the time to lay in bed and ponder the wrongs and rights of what we’re about to do, but me, I’m going to do anything to kill this man. He took away my brother, and I now have the financial capability to crush him, and I’ll do it with Chase right by my side.”

“Then let me know how I can help. Oh well. If you go down as insane, I’ll dive down in the craziness with you.” Vivian reached for her blunt and also picked up a lighter. “But, be careful.”

“Be careful of what? Benny?”

“No, make sure you don’t become your mom.”

“No. That won’t happen.”

“Okay, it’s just that power can be addicting.”

“I don’t have power.”

She pointed to my engagement ring. “I see a big ass rock that disagrees. You could probably purchase a small island off the coast of Miami with that thing. So I’m just saying, be careful. Make sure there is a limit.”

“I just want Benny gone.”

“And what about your mother?”

I looked away. “I don’t want to talk about her right now.”

“Why not?”

“Let’s just leave that alone for now.” I pictured the moment I punched her. “I’m not stressing over her right now, and besides, she’s just as scared about Benny as we are. We’re actually all on the same side right now. He’s going down.”

“You sound like a bad 80’s movie.” She punched the air. “He’s going down!”

“He is!” I punched the air, too. “Die slow, motherfucker!”

“Now you’re doing a 90’s gang movie.”

“Eh!” I saluted her. “Just don’t let 5-0 come through, man, and my hand will stay on my nine all day for my homies.”

“Please, stop.”

“That’s my gangster impression.”

“It scares me, and not in the way you hoped it would.”

I stuck my tongue out. “Everyone’s a critic.”

“So how are you going to celebrate your engagement? Enough about Benny and this horrible stuff. We need to escape. What are you going to do to celebrate?”

“We’re doing the party.”

“No, that’s about Benny. You both need something that is separate from him.” Then she shrieked and clapped her hands, dropping the blunt and lighter. “What about a private dance? Something sexy and hot. Maybe rent a strip club and all of that.”

“Rent a strip club?” I asked.

“You know your bank account is going to be awesome.”

I stirred uncomfortably. “He gave me his wallet to plan the engagement party. I felt like a mistress.”

“Shut up. Mistresses don’t wear engagement rings.”

“Well, maybe more like a gold digger.”

“Oh get over it, Jasmine. Just think about your life.” She gave me a weak smile. “All of that other stuff, let it go. All of these thoughts and insecurities about what you are and what he is, just forget about it. Love him as much as you can.” She sighed. “Love him as much as you fucking can.”

I picked up the blunt from the bed. “I will.”

“I want to help.” She kept that smile on her face, even though her eyes held a sad gaze. “Let me live through you.”

I gave her a thumbs up. “I’m down to be your avatar.”

“Okay.” She raked her fingers through those blonde strands. “Then if it’s my choice, we’re renting a strip club. Where are the best ones?”

“New York?”

“Maybe.”

“Miami?”

“Oh damn. Beaches, alcohol, and hot Cuban men.” She tossed me a slanted smile. “Maybe that’s where I should be.”

“Where
you
should be?”

“That’s right. I’ll need to travel with you as you plan. I’m sort of a counselor.”

“Fine.”

“We’re renting out a strip club in Miami.”

“To celebrate the engagement?” I chuckled. “Chase will love that.”

She hit my arm. “And you know that you have to dance for him.”

“No.”

“You have to dance for him,” she argued.

“I can’t dance.”

“Get an instructor. How long do you have?”

“We’re trying to do the big party in a week.”

“Wow.” She waved it away. “Never mind. Maybe we’ll get a stripper to help you put something quick together.”

“I cannot dance.”

“You’ll be fine. Chase watching you on a stage, half-naked and in heels will make him explode in his seat. Oh God, you should have other dancers with you!”

“I’m not dancing, and especially not with other women.”

“We’re going to surround you with tons of naked ladies!”

“Do we really want him seeing me around multiple women? It might give him ideas.”

She laughed. “Oh he’ll be fine. He’s so into you, he probably won’t even see the other women.”

“He better be.” I placed the blunt between my lips and lit it. “Okay. Let’s plan this.”

A knock came at the door. I turned to it, and Sherman peeked his head in. He filled up the whole doorway, looking big and deadly as usual. “Sis, can we talk?”

“Yes.” I coughed and hurried to hand the blunt back to Vivian. I didn’t like him in my business. He’d taken on the role as father to all of us. Even as a grown woman I found myself worried about disappointing him. Additionally, he held his own morals in life. If he didn’t like me doing something, he’d interfere, just like Benny.

I’d been through enough to know that I couldn’t underestimate any of these men anymore.

“That shit isn’t good for you.” Sherman sneered at the blunt.

“I know.” I coughed again. “This is my last one.”

“Do better, Jazz.”

“I will.”

“We can talk, when you come down from that high.” He left without figuring out, if I agreed or not, and shut the door.

Vivian and I stared at each other for a few seconds as if we’d just been caught doing something, and then burst out giggling.

“Why is Sherman so fucking intense all of the time?” Vivian took a hit.

“He’s always been like that. Even when we were young. Plus, only God knows what he’s seen in his lifetime.”

“You think he heard what we were talking about?” She offered me the blunt.

“I hope not.”

“So Miami?”

“Miami.”

“Let’s hope I meet an art gallery owner who is so captivated by my beauty he commissions me to make a massive mural.” She fluttered her eyelashes, but the effect wasn’t the same fun Vivian as it used to be. She was trying to be strong and bright, but all I saw was pain.

“Yes.” I hugged her. “Let’s hope.”

C
HAPTER
27

Chase

A
fter
meeting with my men, I had to make a hard call. Our plan was crazy. So ridiculous it might work. In this world of psychos, Jasmine and I were kids pretending to be adults. Benny did the unimaginable and unspeakable. I could never guess his moves because I wasn’t crazy enough to predict them. He colored outside of the lines.

Now we had to do the same.

The engagement party would serve as a perfect trap. He’d probably think to himself that it was our cage, the cheese luring the mouse inside. But then he would realize how much smarter he was than us. He would assume that he could outthink us.
Not this time. I’m going to go further than you would think, Benny.
I picked up the phone and did what I should’ve done months ago.

I called my dad.

“Something wrong with your phone that you can’t pick up when I call?” Dad asked.

“I need your help.”

“You need
my help
? Mine?” he said again. “Our PR people are considering ending our contract, the publicity of Lucy’s body is all over the news channels. You don’t release a public statement or anything? And then the next time America sees you, it’s someone’s video from their cellphone of you entering a project building in a South End ghetto like you’re a mafia boss. Now no one can find you. It’s like you’ve disappeared or started hiding. The world thinks you’ve lost your mind, and I agree.”

“I don’t need your help on PR. The media is always hungry for something. I’ll give it to them tomorrow. For now, I need you to call some people.”

“You listen to me, Junior, you’re done—”

“Done with what? Running the business?” I laughed. “Stop. Let’s not waste each other’s time. You’re too old to come back and have no idea how to properly deal with the tech world. You’re slow in making fast decisions and confused during major negotiations. Replacing me is not even an option. Old age has kicked in. Who else would you let run our corporation in my place? No one. Why? Because I make us money, and the media eats me up.”

“You’re a big man now. Good job to the big man. You should be more humble in this conversation—”

“I’m your son. I never learned how to be humble.”

Dad chuckled. “Maybe you’re right about that.”

“But now we’re off topic. We need to talk about Lucy’s death.”

“Yes,” he said. “And you need to talk to your team of lawyers.”

“We both know who did this and how that person won’t bow down to the justice system.”

He remained quiet, probably nervous that someone would be listening on the phone.

“Father, I need your friends. To deal with the devil.”

“Those friends have high prices,” he warned.

“How high?”

“Money won’t pay their price. They need power. Our power.”

I rubbed my face and sighed. “They’ll want favors?”

“Yes, and sometimes there are no limits to their favors.”

I tapped my finger on the desk. “How bad are some of your friends?”