Page 18 of Back in Blood

I rolled my eyes upwards. I should have known that dinner wasn’t going to be enough for those two. Gwen was married with two kids, so she didn’t hang out often. Even when her kids spent weekends with our parents or her husband’s parents, she was usually so tired that her and her husband would just stay in. Gemini on the other hand didn’t have any kids, and her and Scott loved to go out and do things. Those two never sat still when he could manage to get time off.

“Pleaseeeeee,” Gwen and Gemini begged in unison making me scrunch my nose. They knew each other through me. Gwen had her own friends, and I had mine. But they seemed to be on one accord with wanting me to hang out.

“Fine,” I pushed out a dramatic sigh. “But I’m only staying for an hour and a half at the most. I’m not in the mood to be out around a lot of people.”

Gemini stuck her tongue out and did a little dance in my seat. I had to shake my head because with her excitement one would have thought we were going to a Janet Jackson concert or something and not a hookah lounge. Dinner was good and with three glasses of champagne and two lemon drops I had a nice buzz going on. The hookah lounge was nice. There was a decent sized crowd, and I was glad to see that it didn’t appear that the place was filled with young niggas wearing sagging jeans and smelling like marijuana. The crowd was diverse. I wasn’t an expert in the art of deciphering nationalities, but there was a group in one of the booths that looked like they could have been Armenian or maybe Arabic. The men looked like models, and the women were gorgeous.

There was also a group of white women in one corner, but the majority of the crowd was African American. The sip of my drink that I’d just taken almost slipped down the wrong way causing me to choke when I looked up and saw Capri across the room staring at me. I was too stumped to be concerned about the fact that it was the second time in two days that I’d run into him. Granted, he was a kidnapper, so it wasn’t too far-fetched that he’d be following me. But there was a drink already at his table. Correction, there was an empty glass. So, he’d either downed the drink really fast, or he was there before I arrived.

Capri and I had a stare off for all of thirty seconds before I looked away. Yes, he had kidnapped me, but that didn’t take away from the fact that he was the epitome of handsome. Capri was a dark-skinned, sexy, bow-legged muhfucka, and I’d be willing to bet my last dollar that he had a big dick.Why are you thinking about his dick?I chastised myself. Gwen passed me the hookah, and I concentrated on putting my tip on. The alcoholin my system had it so that I wasn’t nervous or losing my cool knowing that Capri was in the same vicinity as me. Me pulling from the hookah was the only reason that I couldn’t smile as I thought about the way Capri beat Sintonio’s ass. Even that was sexy to me.

“Gemini. I’m glad you decided to come out.” I looked up into the face of a very handsome man that had to be damn near seven feet tall. I didn’t mean to gawk at him, but I’d never seen anyone in person that damn tall. And he was fine. “Ladies,” he flashed a dimpled smile at me and then Gwen.

“I’m glad I finally made it. It’s my girl’s birthday,” Gemini smiled. “This is my best friend, Lisa and her sister Gwen. This is Scott’s best friend, Sage.”

I gave Sage a tight smile and a head nod.

“I’ll be sure to tell the waitress that your tab is on the house.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. Extra strong drinks or a few extra wings will suffice,” Gemini spoke up.

“Nonsense. Enjoy ladies.” Sage hit us with that award winning smile again before ambling off.

“Damn, he’s fine,” Gwen marveled as she picked up her drink.

“Baby, all of Scott’s friends are fine. He’s super close with three of his frat brothers, and when they’re all together, girl, girl, girl,” Gemini fanned herself.

I pulled from the hookah again while discreetly attempting to see if Capri was still in the same spot. He wasn’t. My irises danced around the room until I located him at the bar. It felt as if a lump formed in my throat as I watched him talk to a pretty female that had skin just as dark and rich as his. She was gorgeous, and I was jealous. Picture that. I barely knew Capri, and the way we met was messed up to say the least. Even if he ended up being kind, the way he forced me into his car with agun to my belly still sent chills down my spine. But he had let me go.

I wasn’t sure why I kept seeing him all of a sudden. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe it was just the universe’s idea of a joke. I looked away before he caught me staring. Even though I was reluctant to even go to the lounge, I had to admit that I was having fun. The shots seemed never ending, and I was a little past drunk. Gwen decided to stop drinking since she had to drive but the way she kept giggling at everything, I knew she was fucked up. The time frame of an hour and a half that I said I was staying went out the window as I decided to sit a little longer and let Gwen drink water, so she could sober up some.

“What the fuck?” I mumbled with a frown as I pulled my phone from my purse and saw that Sintonio had called me twice. I was tempted to ignore him, but I was curious about why he was calling. Especially after the way Capri did him.

After a few moments of contemplation, I told Gwen and Gemini that I was going to step outside and use the phone. After making a quick detour to the rest room, I stepped outside and called Sintonio back. He wasted no time revealing his reason for reaching out to me.

“When that nigga was on me yesterday, you called his name. You were touching him, and you were acting like you didn’t want him arrested. You know that nigga? What you snitched on me?” His tone held a hint of disdain that made my face contort into a glower.

“Snitched on you? Nigga, you really are stupid,” I hissed in a low tone. “You didn’t get away with as much as you think you did. He already knew who you were. You want to know how I know? Because he’s the one that kidnapped me,” I snapped. “He was going to kill me for what you did until he had pity on me and dropped me off at the hospital when I told him about my son’scondition.” I was met with silence. It was taking Sintonio so long to respond that I almost hung up on him.

Finally, he spoke. “Whether he dropped you off or not, I know you don’t trust that nigga. You need to stay away from him. And why didn’t you tell me he knew who I was?” Sintonio sounded panicked.

“I don’t have to give you a heads up about anything. You were the one going in and out of town, staying gone most of the day, and leaving me to be a sitting duck while pregnant. All you cared about was yourself.”

“That’s not true, and you know it.”

I rolled my eyes and paced as Sintonio shot out various excuses for why he did what he did. I was barely listening to him anyway, but when I looked up and saw Capri walking in my direction with his penetrating gaze trained on me, I stopped in my tracks and tuned Sintonio all the way out.

“Who you talking to?” He questioned me boldly in a deep rumble.

His question made my heart slam into my rib cage but not because I was scared for Sintonio. It was almost on some possessive type shit. Like he was my lover, and that shit made my pussy wet.

“Huh?” I frowned as I stalled.

Capri gently took the phone from my ear and placed it to his. He peered at me as Sintonio talked a mile a minute. “She should stay away from me, huh?”

My mouth fell open and eyes damn near jumped out of my head.

“Nah. I don’t think she’s going to be able to do that. You stay safe though.” Capri ended the call and passed it back to me while I stared at him in amazement.

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