15. London
"You"re perfect." I stared into the camera at Monroe's beautiful face. I was fresh out of surgery when the picture of her in the library room I'd set up for her came through my phone. I damn near broke my neck running to my office to call her back. I was desperate as fuck to see her and hear her voice. It had been a little over a week since I'd seen her in person. Being without her had been hell. It was a testament to how attached to her I was.
A knock at the door pulled my attention away from Monroe.
"Dr. London, there's someone in the lobby requesting to see you," Rebecca said from the other side of the door. People didn't request to see me, so that already had me on alert. I opened my laptop and clicked on the security camera system. Kashus Grant and two other men were waiting in the lobby. I sighed. I knew it was only a matter of time before he showed up here or sent someone else looking for Monroe. I'd been waiting.
"I'll be out in a minute," I informed her.
"Okay." I heard Rebecca step away from the door and take off down the hall. I returned my attention to Monroe. She looked so happy lounging in her recliner. It had taken me a few thousand to get her library room set up in a such a short time, but she was worth it. I smiled at her. She was never going to have to worry about anything again, especially the nigga that was standing in my lobby.
"I have to get back to work, beautiful. Sleepover again tonight?" Last night had been one of my most peaceful nights of sleep. It was the closest I'd come to spending the night with a woman in years. I could only imagine what it would be like to actually sleep next to her.
"Yes, just make sure your weekly whore is canceled this time." I smirked at her mention of Briana. No doubt her image would forever be ingrained in her head, but Monroe didn't need to worry about Briana or any other woman for that matter. I was already a sucker for her.
"Everybody been canceled, Chocolate."
Her face lit up, providing me with my new favorite image. My eyes bounced between Monroe and the security cameras. Kashus and his guests were heckling Rebecca. I shook my head. The knocking returned on my office door, and I stood to my feet.
"Enjoy your date," I told Monroe before hanging up the phone and moving toward the door.
"Royale, I'm this close to cussing somebody out!" Samara yelled from the other side of the door just as I swung it open. "Those niggas are rude. You know them, or do I need to get my gun?" She popped her hands on her hips. Samara stayed ready to shoot a nigga. She was a little Pitbull. I had instilled in her not to tolerate disrespect from nobody, especially not a nigga.
"I got it." I assured her. I hadn't filled Samara or anyone here in on our marriage. They wouldn't understand, and I didn't want their opinions. I was going to marry Monroe with or without their blessings, so it didn't matter. The less they knew, the better. Aunt Vanessa was different because she'd always been my confidant. The moment she saw me in Havana with Monroe, she knew something was up, and I wasn't about to lie to her. So, I told her the truth.
"Okay." She glanced at me suspicion stained on her face, but she didn't protest. I rounded the corner and could hear elevated voices in the lobby area. Instantly, I became pissed. I just knew that Kashus wasn't in here disrespecting my staff and place of business. That was one thing I didn't play about.
"Aye, why you acting like you don't remember me? I was here a couple of days ago with my fiancée. Her name is Monroe Iris. She came here to get a surgery done. She has an aftercare appointment today. She is waiting for me to go back there."
His voice was past the level of appropriate volume to speak to a woman. Immediately, I walked up behind Rebecca, and Samara was right behind me.
"Dr. London!" Rebecca exhaled a breath of relief.
"What's the problem?"
"This gentleman is asking questions about a patient, but I told him I couldn't disclose patient information. It violates HIPAA laws." She rolled her eyes toward Kashus.
"I got it from here." I rounded the desk and stepped into the lobby. I wasn't sure if he recognized me or not. We'd only met briefly at his birthday party. I assumed if he was coming looking around here, he'd done his research and knew exactly who I was. I was going to use that to my advantage—make his ass think I was not a threat to him.
"Kashus Grant! What do I owe the pleasure?"I walked up to him.
"Dr. Royale London. The only nigga that would trade being CAPO for a pair of scrubs." He laughed. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember me. Meechie only introduced us briefly at my party. How are you, my guy?"
"I'm great. Just got married a few days ago, my nigga. Walk with me." I signaled for him to follow me to my office. He nodded before telling the two white boys who were with him to stay back. I wanted so badly to knock his ass out for playing with Monroe, but I'd learned over the years that the best revenge wasn't physical. Niggas who had a God complex like Kashus needed to be brought back down to earth, and I was just the one to humble him.
"What brings you to Miami yelling at my employees and shit, nigga?" I opened the door to my office and allowed him to walk inside.
"My bad about that, man. My fiancée been MIA for a few days. I figured she was just mad at a nigga. Now I'm getting a little worried." He walked over to the extra chair in my office and had a seat.
"Damn, so your fiancée missing?" I played along. "What that got to do with me? That sound like some shit for the police." I took a seat behind my desk. While I had him here, I was going to fish for information to make sure everything was going as planned.
"You know we don't get the police involved unless we have to. Twelve starts looking around and find some shit that's gon' have my ass behind bars." He reclined back into the chair. His demeanor was too relaxed for a nigga that had a missing fiancée.
"Don't I know it, but again, how does this pertain to me?"
"She was in town to get her body done by you. I'm just trying to see if she showed up for any of her appointments."
I nodded. He was playing perfectly into my plan.
"No problem. What's her name?" I knew her name. I'd changed it to include mine, but I sat there and scribbled it down as if her beautiful name hadn't been on my lips a few moments ago.
"Monroe Iris."
I dropped the pen and gave a worried expression.
"Oh, damn. I didn't do her surgery."
"What?" Kashus sat up in his seat.
"She didn't pass the mental health screening."
"Mental health screening?" he questioned.
"Yeah, we give it to all our patients. It's a way to make sure they not getting the surgery for the wrong reasons. It's our way of weeding out people that are being forced to get the procedure done." I eyed him. His eyes avoided contact. I said that just to see his reaction.
"So, she hasn't been here?"
"On Monday for her first appointment. I took her a refund check that night to her hotel. Did you check there?" Any nigga with common sense would have pulled the security footage by now. Knowing I was on it, I offered the information before he'd asked.
"Fuck!" he cursed just as a text came through my phone. I glanced at it seeing Monroe's name flash on the screen. She'd sent me another picture. I opened the text thread fast as fuck. I wasn't ready for the image that popped up on my screen. Monroe sat in the chair holding a strawberry to her beautiful lips. She had just the right amount of titties showing. The message she sent said, ‘thank you for dinner'. My dick jumped at the sight of her, and a grin appeared on my face as I texted her back.
Me: You got your delivery.
I pushed send and returned my attention to her sorry ass ex-fiancé. "Would she have reason to flee? Happy women don't leave they whole life behind. You been fucking up or something, nigga?"
"Man, I treat her ass like a queen. She got it good. She doesn't work or do shit. Just sit on her ass, gain weight, and spend my money."
My fists balled underneath the table. It was taking everything in me not to punch his ass in the face. My phone dinged again. Monroe had texted back.
Wife: Yes, I love seafood and the fruit platter is everything! Thank you!
Me: Anything for your healing.
I wasn't a smiling ass nigga, but Monroe had me cheesing hard. I stared down at the phone waiting for her to respond like a desperate ass nigga.
"I think she might have run off with my cousin. He's her security and ain't nobody heard from either of them. I thought the nigga was gay," Kashus blurted, making me look up from my phone.
Wrong, I thought to myself.
"Damn!" I shook my head before dropping it back down to the phone just as another picture from Monroe came through. She was supposed to be on a self-care date, but I appreciated her including me. In a short time, Monroe become someone I craved.
"I don't have a lot of pull in my family organization anymore, but I'll put a word out." I was gaslighting him. He was none the wiser to Monroe's whereabouts.
"I appreciate it, nigga. I already hollered at Demetrius. He doing what he can. I'm just dreading telling her pops. Shit, I need to find out something before I report back to that nigga."
I sat up, intrigued. I had done a ton of digging on Monroe's father, but I'd only gotten back the basics. He was a rich and powerful mafia boss. What I couldn't figure out was what he gained from having Monroe married off the Kashus Grant. Jacob Iris was a big kingpin with a highly respected family legacy. On paper, it seemed that the only one benefiting from the arrangement was Kashus. That couldn't be all there was.
"Her father in the business?"
"Yeah… Jacob Iris. He founded the black mafia organization back in Bristol."
"And you"re engaged to his daughter?"
Monroe sent another picture. This time she was topless, reading a book. My eyes damn near popped out of their sockets.
Me: You're so fucking beautiful.
"Yeah, the biggest crime family in Bristol City, and I'm going to be the head of it all. The nigga dying, and he needs an heir. All I have to do is marry his daughter, and what I do? I fucking lose her." Kashus dropped his face between his hands. Monroe's father was dying. That explained why he'd chosen Kashus as her husband. He was desperate to find someone capable of carrying on his legacy. My heart immediately went out to Monroe. In everything she'd confided in me about her father, his dying wasn't one of them.
"Damn; he got cancer or something?" I exited from Monroe's text thread and shot Meechie an emergency text. I needed this meeting with Jacob Iris scheduled as soon as possible. Finding out about his failing health changed things.
"Skin cancer or some shit." He informed me. I dropped my head. I was dreading having to break this news to Monroe. As fucked up as her father was, he was still her father and all she had left in the world. This news would devastate her. My phone vibrated and another message from Monroe came through.
Wife: Thank you. ??
I sighed heavily contemplating when to tell her. She had the right to know. This stupid nigga was waiting around for her father to die and hadn't told her anything.
"You been over there cheesing like jester cat the entire time. I can tell you a newlywed, nigga." My head lifted toward him. The longer he sat here the more I wanted to come out of retirement and place a bullet in his head.
"Yeah, man. I was pissed I had to climb out her sweet ass pussy to come here and deal with this shit." I shot back at him.
"I get it. I had to leave my bitch back home to come down here and look for Monroe's ass. Her disappearance really fucking up my plans."
That was it. I was done with this visit. Another word and I'd be burying his stupid ass in the backyard somewhere. Standing from my chair, I rounded my desk.
"Work calls, nigga." I moved toward the door. Kashus stood and followed me. "Sorry, I couldn't be of more help." I escorted him out of my office and down the hall to the lobby.
"Naw, you were plenty of help." He reached his hand out to give me a handshake. "You ever back in Bristol City, fuck with me."
"Bet, maybe my wife and I will stop through."
"Let me know." He nodded as he signaled for the men he'd come with to follow him out the door. I stood there watching him leave. Everything I'd just been told weighed heavily on my spirit.
"You keeping secrets now, Royale?" Samara's voice thundered from behind me. I turned around slowly, feeling slightly amused by how she was standing. I knew her ass had been ear-hustling on my conversation. "What's this about a wife, and what is that on your hand?" Her eyes darted toward the wedding band on my left hand before she grabbed my arm, bringing my hand closer to her face.
"Oh this? I got married last weekend." I pulled away from her and walked over to the front desk.
"That man comes back, you let me know before he even gets in the door," I informed Rebecca. Kashus's next visit was not going to be a pleasant one. One thing I knew for sure was that niggas acted crazy when their ego was bruised. Once he realized I had taken his fiancée and his chance to head the Iris mafia, he was going to be sick. I was going to have to handle him before he caused any harm.
"I'll put security on alert too," I informed her as I walked toward my office. I didn't have to tell her to follow. I knew Samara was right behind me.
"What is going on, Royale? I know gangsters when I see them, and you talking about you got married, what—"
"We can talk when we get to the office." She knew I wasn't about to discuss my personal business out in the open. We walked in silence the rest of the way, but as soon as we entered my office and I shut the door, Samara started shooting off questions.
"Talk… 'cause who were those men? Are you getting back into that lifestyle? Are they trying to extort you or something?"
"I got married while I was in Cuba, and that man was my new wife's ex-fiancé."
Samara's mouth dropped, and she stumbled to the loveseat that I kept in my office.
"What?"
"Monroe was in an arranged marriage, and I'm helping her get out."
"Monroe?" She was thinking, probably trying to figure out where she'd heard that name before.
"Monroe Iris,,, she was a patient," I told her. I watched the moment her brain connected the dots.
"The woman that didn't pass the screening. I knew something was going on with you that day!"
"Yeah, her fiancé was forcing her to get the surgery, or he wouldn't go through with the marriage. She needed help, and I offered it." I didn't want to go into details, so I told Samara only the basics to satisfy some of her questions.
"Let me ask you this: If you"re just helping a friend, then why are you wearing the ring?"
I smirked at her observation. I could always count on my sister to call me out on my bullshit.
"I may be a little more invested," I admitted, causing Samara to squeal.
"You love her, don't you?"
I didn't get a chance to answer her as my phone vibrated. Meechie was finally giving me a call back.
"This Meechie. I have to take this call." I signaled for Samara to leave.
"Well since we dropping secrets, I've been secretly dating Demetrius. Tell him I said hi." She stood from the loveseat and exited my office before I could say anything. Now it was my turn to drop my mouth. I didn't know how to feel about Samara fucking with my best friend. It was a lot to process and I didn't have time to worry about that right now. Right now, my attention was on Monroe.
"Yeah, nigga?" Mechie answered the call.
"You fucking my sister?" I couldn't hold it in.
"Look, nigga. I was gon' tell you when shit got more serious. Samara been having me chasing her 'round playing games for months."
I rubbed my hand across my forehead. There was so much I needed to discuss with him when it came down to dating my sister. I didn't want Samara involved in cartel shit and Meechie was the fucking ringleader.
"You know how I feel about Samara."
"I know, bruh. I wouldn't even be pursuing her if I wasn't going to do right by her," he replied. I knew that already. Samara would be in good hands with Meechie. He wouldn't do shit that would jeopardize our friendship. We sat there for a minute in silence before my mind traveled back to Monroe and I remembered what I needed to tell him.
"Jacob Iris is dying," I blurted.
"That's a new development."
"Yeah, a big one. That nigga Kashus just stopped by to see me." I rubbed my hand across my face. Negotiating with a mobster was one thing, but negotiating with one that was dying was something else. By marrying Monroe, had I just intercepted his dying plans? Without Monroe marrying Kashus, he had no one to take over when he was gone.
"So the marriage was because he needed an heir?"
"Arranging marriages is definitely a family tradition, but marrying Monroe off to a nigga with two baby mamas and forcing his daughter to undergo surgery, that's a direct result of being desperate."
"Damn," Meechie mumbled. We sat in silence for a moment, both thinking about our next move—both knowing what was on the table.
"You willing to trade yo' freedom for Monroe's?" Meechie blurted the one thing we were both thinking. I'd replaced Kashus as Monroe's husband, so by default I had to replace Jacob Iris as leader of the Iris mafia upon his death. I'd ran from my duties in my crime family and right into another.
"Did you get the meeting set up?" I ignored his last question. I wasn't ready to answer that shit yet.
"Come on now; you know how I roll. We meet with him tomorrow night. He doesn't want to leave his home. So we gotta go to Bristol." He confirmed.
"I guess we going to Bristol." I disconnected the call.
Was I ready to trade my freedom for Monroe's? That question was going to keep me up all night.