Chapter 10

I sat in my car, taking deep breaths.

I had to get away from the man! He was going to drive me insane, then drive me to ecstasy. I’d never done the type of shit I just let him do to me. Finger me in public? In a room full of people who were probably watching me come undone on the pool table?

Not Salima Navarro.

Yet it was me as evident by the slickness nestled between my pussy lips. I couldn’t believe that man had fingered me, then sucked my juices from said fingers. The look on his face when he did it was one of pure delight. He enjoyed that shit and if I gave him the chance, I knew he would absolutely destroy me.

“You just need to take your hot ass home, shower, and get into bed,” I told myself. “I can’t believe you have us out here acting slutty!”

I had to stop talking to myself.

With a heavy sigh, I turned the key in my ignition. Nothing. I turned it again. Nothing.

“No, no, no! Please don’t do this to me!” I pleaded.

I tried once more, but the results didn’t change. My car wouldn’t start. The little 2006 Nissan Altima had been my mother's car, and she gave it to me when I graduated high school. It had seen better years, and now it was on its last leg. Just last month I had to put a new radiator in. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with it this time, but I was over it.

A knock on my window caused me to jump. I looked up to see Deuce standing there. I sighed as I opened the door.

“Why are you just sitting here?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t be sitting if my car would start.”

He took a step back and eyed my car. “I wasn’t gonna say shit, but you definitely need some new wheels, baby.”

“Are you gonna buy me a car? Cause I don’t have money for a car payment right now.”

“I could do that.”

“What? No. Hell no.”

He shrugged. “Get out of the car and let me take you home.”

“I can wait for a tow truck.”

“Salima… get your ass in the car. Nobody is waiting on a tow truck this late. I’ll have somebody come get it in the morning.”

I frowned. As soon as I opened my mouth to speak, he put a finger to my lips. I could still smell me on them.

“I’m not about to argue with you. Get. In. The car.”

I huffed as I grabbed my shit, and stuffed it in my work bag. I got out of my car and after I locked it, stormed over to his car to wait. He mumbled something under his breath as he made strides toward me. I heard the clicking of the locks, but still waited. He paused in front of me with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” he asked.

I looked at the door, then back at him. My mom always told me that I should never touch a door handle in the presence of a man. He rolled his eyes and smirked as he took steps toward me.

“Here you go, your highness,” he said sarcastically.

“Chivalry will get you a long way in case you didn’t know that.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes as I climbed into the car. The inside was just as black as the outside. It was fully loaded, decked out with leather seats in a full digital dashboard. The windows were so darkly tinted that I could barely see out of them. How the hell did he see to drive at night? Wasn’t this above the legal limit? This had to have been custom because I knew they didn’t come from the factory like this.

I buckled my seatbelt and sat back as he climbed into the car. He started it up and the rumbling of the pipes caused me to jump. He chuckled as he stepped on the gas and whipped the vehicle out of the parking lot. We drove through the city streets with nothing but the sounds of 2Pac coming through the speakers. I sat quietly in the passenger seat, glancing over at him every so often.

God this man was fine.

His looks would be a plus if it weren’t for that mouth. God, that mouth! If he ate pussy the way he kissed, he would ruin me. My eyes widened at that though. I was tripping. I’d gone far enough in letting him touch me like that. I shouldn’t be thinking about him eating my pussy… stroking my pussy… I just knew he had a long, thick di?—

“Are you talking to yourself?” he asked, interrupting my dirty thoughts.

“Huh?”

I hadn’t even realized we pulled out of the parking lot and were on the highway.

“Are you talking to yourself in your head? You over there making faces and shit.”

“You wouldn’t know what I was doing if you weren’t staring at me instead of at the road.”

He chuckled. “You must’ve been a very lonely child. I bet you had all sorts of imaginary friends and shit.”

I scoffed but didn’t say anything because he was right. I had several imaginary friends as a kid, and I used to talk to my Barbies and stuffed animals. My parents couldn’t always entertain me, so I had to find ways to entertain myself. I looked over at him and squinted my eyes.

“Well, not all of us grew up with six kids in the house.”

“Actually, it was only five of us growing up and we weren’t all in the same house. My father has six children by four different women. Mia only came to us about five years ago.”

“So, your dad was a ho?”

He laughed. “He’s still a ho. Just a ho with a vasectomy. He claims that Mia’s mom is his woman now, but I don’t buy that shit. Not with the way he’s still after my mama.”

“Wait… do they share him? All of them?”

“I don’t get in that man’s business like that. They grown. If they wanna share, that’s on them.”

“You share women with your brothers?”

“You just think the worst of me, don’t you? Like damn, woman. Get to know a nigga before you concoct a story about me in your head. What if I judged you based on what Jaeda found about you?”

“There’s nothing to judge.”

“What if there was?”

I shrugged. “I guess I’d be pissed.”

“Exactly. You don’t know me, baby. All you know is what your little friend has told you about my family or what you may have heard from the streets. You wouldn’t know that I hold a master’s degree in forensic psychology. You wouldn’t know that I bought up a block of black-owned businesses to keep those money hungry white folks from building a fucking parking lot. You wouldn’t know that my family sponsors seventy-five families every Thanksgiving and Christmas or that I protect people like your beloved Mr. Luckey from wanna be street thugs. Yeah… I put bullets in muthafuckas that deserve it. I fuck nothing but dime pieces. I might even trick off a lil bit if the pussy is good. That’s what I do. It ain’t who I am.”

I was quiet. I didn’t know all those things. Maybe I judged him. Maybe there was more to him than meets the eye. Sitting up straight, I cleared my throat.

“I’m sorry, okay? Tell me, who are you, Stanley Dillinger.”

“It’s Deuce.”

“Why do you hate your name?”

“Do I look like a fucking Stanley to you?”

“But you’re named after your father. I’m sure that’s someone you love and respect.”

“I do, but that name ain’t the business.”

“Well Deuce is a number not a name.”

“It’s what I will answer to.”

“Well, how about Stan?”

“Salima, you pushing it.”

I laughed. The look on his face was serious, and I could tell that he really felt some type away about being named Stanley. He tried not to smile, but it failed him.

“I think you like fucking with me,” he said.

I shrugged. “No more than you like fucking with me. So… tell me who you are.”

He pulled up in front of my house and put the car in park. Leaning back in his seat, he looked at me. “I’m a man about action. I’ll show you better than I can tell you. I guess you’re gonna have to wait for that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

“Come here.”

“Nah, you want me, you come here.”

He smirked as he sat up in his seat. He reached out and cupped my chin. What I thought was going to be a cute gesture was anything but that when his hand dropped and his fingers wrapped around my throat. Roughly he pulled me to him. I don’t know why that shit turned me on so bad. A moan slipped from my lips.

“Look at you,” he said, peering down at me. “You know as well as I do that you don’t want a soft nigga. You need somebody to boss up on you and this smart-ass mouth from time to time.”

“And you think that’s you?”

“It’s gonna be me. I promise you that.”

He dropped his lips on me and, once again, I folded. He gave me a kiss so nasty that I was ready to climb across this seat and sit on his dick right in front of my house. I wouldn’t do that, though. People around here were nosey. The last thing I needed was it to get back to my mama that somebody saw me screwing this man outside. I mean sure, I was grown. But I had more respect for her than that.

Deuce pulled his lips away. He swiped his thumb across my bottom lip, wiping away traces of the kiss we’d shared.

“I’ll let you know about your car in the morning,” he stated.

“Okay.”

“Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

I sat there for a moment, waiting.

“What?” he asked.

“The door.”

He shook his head as he opened the driver’s side door and climbed out. A few seconds later, my door opened, and he reached for my hand. I slipped him my palm before climbing out myself.

I gave his arm a gentle tap. “You’ll learn, and this will become second nature.”

“Whatever you say, woman. Should I walk you to the door too?”

“A gentleman always walks the lady to the door.”

“Well, I’m not a gentleman, but I got you.”

He offered me his arm, and I wrapped my hand around his bicep as we took the short stroll up to my front door. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door.

“Let me get your car key so I can have my boy pick it up.”

I slipped the key off the ring and handed it to him. “How am I supposed to get to work tomorrow?”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“I can already hear Leann’s mouth. You know, she warned me to stay away from you. Did you fuck her?”

“No.”

“Do you wanna fuck her?”

He shrugged. “I would, but I won’t. Leann is a good friend and business associate. I don’t like mixing business with pleasure too often.”

“So, I’m the exception?”

He chuckled. “You might be.” He stared at me for a moment, his eyes boring into mine. “Sleep well, Salima. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

I opened the door and stood there as he walked back to his car. Once he was safely inside, I closed the door and leaned against it. This man was going to be my undoing.

“ I know you didn’t let that man finger you in a bar, Salima.”

Shar and I sat poolside at her apartment complex. When I woke up from my much needed beauty rest, I’d booked an Uber over to tell her about my first night at work. Somebody had to hear the story and I couldn’t tell my mama. As far as she knew, I had a great night.

“I didn’t let him do anything. He just did it and I didn’t stop him.”

“Horny ass. When are you gonna stop playing with that man?”

“I’m not playing with him.”

“Oh, bitch you playing already. Playing and getting played with. It’s okay though. You need some dick in your life. Somebody needs to work out the tension from the last couple of months.”

I rolled my eyes as I picked up my phone. “Whatever.”

“You waiting on him to call?”

“Only because he has my raggedy ass car. I can’t believe Snow embarrassed me like that.”

Shar giggled. “It’s time for a new car, boo.”

“I can’t afford a new car right now. Maybe in a couple of months. I don’t know how long I can stay at this job. That man is gonna drive me crazy. How am I supposed to work efficiently under his watchful, lustful eye?”

“Since when do we let men come between us and our paper?”

I sighed. “You’re right. I’m tripping.”

“And is. Just work like you would if he wasn’t there. You’ll be fine.”

I hoped that she was right. After last night I wasn’t sure how I could look at that man without thinking about the compromising position I let him get me in on the pool table. The way he looked in my eyes as he stroked my pearl was sinful. I fully believed if he could have gotten away with whipping his dick out and fucking me right then, he would have.

I found myself looking him up last night as I laid in bed. The Dillinger Foundation was the first thing that popped up. He wasn’t lying about his family’s philanthropy efforts. There were several new articles detailing their twenty-year Christmas and Thanksgiving tradition. Photos of Deuce and his people at all types of events littered the feed.

Besides the sponsorships, there were articles about his family buying up several blocks. They did food drives, back to school drives, and his grandmother headed a charity that helped single mothers. There was no mention of their illegal dealings, though I didn’t expect there to be. Deuce told me they had power all over the city and it was evident by his affiliations. My heart softened toward him a bit.

“What are you smiling at?” Shar asked.

“Huh?”

“You’re over there daydreaming and smiling, bitch.” What’s the tea?”

“No tea. I just did a little follow up on some things Deuce told me last night. Did you know his family was involved in the community?”

“Yeah, girl. Their legal dealings are legit, legit.”

“You had me thinking this man was a menace, Shar!”

“Because he is, Salima. You can be an angel and the devil, babes. That man is not to be fucked with and the whole hood knows that.”

“Then why would you encourage me to get involved with him?”

She shrugged. “Maybe I’m toxic. Every hood nigga I’ve been with treated me like a princess. I mean, the man offered to buy you a car, bitch.”

“I’m sure he was joking.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t. You need to get in good with him so I can sink my claws into that fine ass brother of his.”

I rolled my eyes. “You don’t need me for that.”

“I don’t, but I’m supportive like that.”

I had to laugh at her. She and Maceo would make a cute couple. They seemed like they would mesh well together. He’d actually asked about her last night. Well, he had to lean across his brother to do so because Deuce was adamant about not letting anyone near me, even his family. Just as I opened my mouth to tell her that, my phone range with a number I didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“What’s good, beautiful?”

I blushed at Deuce’s voice. “Hey.”

“What are you doing?”

“Poolside with, Shar.”

“Mmm… now why would you put innocent people in danger like that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What are you wearing?”

“A bikini.”

“Case and point. Are there niggas out there?”

“I mean… yeah. It’s an apartment complex. They live here.”

“Maybe I should get Jaeda to hack the cameras. Make sure nobody looks at you too hard.”

I sat up and looked around for cameras. “Are you crazy?”

“Haven’t we established that I’m not all the way right in the head?”

“What would you get out of having her hack the cameras, Deuce?”

He chuckled. “For one… I get to see your thick ass in that bikini. I mean, I can always pull up on you.”

“You don’t even know where I… you know what, nevermind. Let me not give you any ideas. Are you calling about my car?”

“Listen. You need a new fuel pump, and your transmission is gonna go.”

“Fuck! How much is that going to cost me?”

“A fuel pump is gonna run you at least a couple hundred. A transmission… that’s at least five stacks.”

“Are you serious?”

“I mean, I’ve already got my boy working on both.”

“I can’t afford that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I got you.”

“I can’t ask you to do that?—”

“I didn’t hear you ask me for shit.”

“Stanley,”

“Salima. I don’t like to do too much talking, shawty. If I say I got you, I got you.”

I sighed heavily. This car was going to bleed me dry. I didn’t want him to pay for my repairs, but if I dipped into the money he gave me, that would set me back. I was working for tips at this point because I had to put in two weeks to generate a check. Then I had to wait for payday, and I still had bills to pay.

“Okay,” I said quietly. “Thank you.”

“No thanks needed. I’ll see you tonight.”

“See you.”

“And Salima?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t get a nigga fucked up out there.”

“Bye, Stanely.”

I could hear him laughing as I hung up in his face. I could feel Shar’s eyes on me. When I looked over, she had a smirk on her face.

“What?”

“Nothing! Nothing!” She stood from the lounge chair and adjusted her bikini. “You taking a swim or are you gonna give your boo a little show. You know he’s really gonna check those cameras. Give him something to look at.”

She bent over and twerked her ass, garnering more than a few whistles from the men. I shook my head. She might have thought this was playful, but she didn’t see the seriousness in that man’s face last night when he stood against that wall watching me. She didn’t see how quickly the men around us averted their gaze. I was sure he’d have Jaeda pull the camera feed. Something about that excited me. Maybe he was right. Maybe I did like a little danger.