I rolled my eyes. It was worse than ‘what color suit’. Instead, jealous Mike emerged, eager to get into Nikki’s panties. If this little shit broke her heart, I’d break his legs. Plain and simple. Mike was my friend but Nikki was right up there with my sister.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I told you to leave it alone Mike. No good can come from you getting involved with Nikki.”
I entertained his questions for about five minutes. I explained how Nikki had met the D.J. and how I had checked him out when she first started seeing him and that he was clean. I informed him how long she had been dating him and that he seemed to make her happy. I left it at that and hoped that he did the right thing when it came to Nikki.
Adrianna’s car pulled up right in front of Temptations, distracting both of us and ending the conversation at the same time.
“Fucking great,” I mumbled. I hadn’t seen her since I left with Jack. I promised her I’d fix this shit between us I was working on it and promised I’d give her a call. I never fucking called. She was pissed off that morning when I had to leave, lord knows how fucking mad she was now that I hadn’t followed through with my promise. I was notorious for breaking promises when it came to her, made me wonder why she even gave two fucks about me.
I clenched my fists and walked around her car as Nikki climbed out of the passenger seat, ready to face the music, or otherwise known as the wrath of Adrianna. Her window was rolled up, and she stared out the passenger window ignoring me. I tapped my hand against the roof of her car to get her attention even though I knew she sensed I was right next to her.
“Roll down your window,” I shouted calmly. She was going to test me, she always did, but this time I knew I deserved it, which made me even angrier. I blew out a breath and bent my knees making myself eye-level with her tinted windows. She probably flipped me the finger behind the blackened glass.
“Open the damn window, Adrianna!” I shouted. So much for trying to stay calm.
She lowered the window about an inch and I saw her eyes. “Fuck you,” she said, before rolling the window back up.
“Would you stop acting like a fucking child and hear me out,” I roared through clenched teeth.
The window lowered again. “There’s nothing you could say that I want to hear anymore.” She closed the window again.
“Not now, Reese’s. I’m not in the mood to play games,” I said to the dark glass. “Come on, baby, open the window.” I struggled to remain calm, not open the fucking door, and push her over the console and carjack her, taking her far the fuck away from here. The idea of running away, starting a new life, set me off and broke any restraint I had left. I tried the door but the slick little thing she was hit the lock button just as my hand reached for the handle. “Open the fucking door, A!”
That didn’t work because she revved her engine and peeled out of the spot nearly running me over as her tires screeched against the pavement. And so here, we were…again.
Chapter Twenty-Six: 2015
The grand opening of Temptations was in full swing, a no holds barred party, an elaborate display of a gangster’s illegitimate money being hidden to fund a legit establishment. The nightclub was packed to capacity, the liquor flowing and the music blaring. The Pastore family was also celebrating Nikki’s twenty-first birthday. Vic made a big show of that by roping off a special area of the club for her and her friends. He ordered her one of those fancy birthday cakes that probably cost an easy grand. I stood in the corner of the main bar, nursing my drink, welcoming the burn of the liquid down my throat.
I didn’t want to be here, I wasn’t in the mood to party or even have a good time, but then again, no one asked me to lay back and enjoy myself. I was there to work, to make sure no one fucked with Vic, his family, or his crew on a night he, the boss, celebrated. I stared across the bar at him, watching as he held his wife’s hand and laughed along with his posse at some story Jimmy was telling. I couldn’t ignore the foul taste I had in my mouth by watching their phoniness.
My phone vibrated inside my pocket and I pulled it out, accepting the call as I walked towards the bathrooms where I could try to hear the caller but it was no use. I looked down at the caller I.D. and saw it was Jack.
“I can’t hear you, text me,” I shouted into the phone over the music ending the call as I leaned against the wall. I waited for him to text me whatever he was trying to tell me. I finished my drink and walked back towards the bar, placing the empty glass on the wooden surface and signaled for another. I glanced down and opened the message from Jack.
Just about to head out, everything cool there?