Page 42 of Memphis

“You’re going to keep calling me King now that you’ve forced your name on me?”

“I ain’t force shit. You ain’t gotta take my name. You’re my wife, regardless.”

She was silent, which made a thought hit me.

“Oh, wait. You wanna take my last name, don’t you?” I posed.

“Fuck you,” she softly uttered.

“I got you, Mrs. Pierce.”

Without turning to look at me, she gave me her middle finger, and I laughed.

I fellasleep on the plane and was disoriented when he awakened me hours later.

“You need to eat,” he said, nodding toward the air hostess standing over us holding a tray.

Frowning, I nodded, letting my eyes travel back to the window. It was dark now.

Once the food was set in front of us on a table and the hostess had disappeared, I asked, “How much longer is the flight? Where the hell are we going? Antarctica?”

He grinned. “Again, it’s a surprise. You good with the food? I know you like seafood. Made sure to have your favorite wine stocked on here, too.”

Paying attention to the food for the first time, I felt my mouth begin to water. Mussels, calamari, shrimp—damn! Plus, a micro greens salad. He knew I would love this.

“It’ll do,” I mumbled.

Through a chuckle, he said, “You are so full of shit.”

Involuntarily, I smiled.

We landed in beautiful Zanzibar,a place I’d never visited before, although I had taken a few trips to other countries on the continent. I kept at least two passports on me—one real and one not so real, but no Visa. Yet, we somehow didn’t need one. Watching how the people in the immigration office interacted with Bo, I quickly figured he had a government connect, probably a former client. We had to take a car and then a boat to make it to our final destination—Thanda Island. This part of the Zanzibar archipelago was privately owned, and we had the entire island to ourselves save for a small staff, according to Bo. This shit had to have a crazy price tag on it.

And it was breathtaking!

Surrounded by turquoise waters and adorned with a gorgeous beach and striking greenery, this relatively small island was truly paradise.

As I followed Bo into the main villa, as he described it, I felt…good? Happy? Was it safe to feel happy with this man? Shit, were we safe here at all?

As if he read my thoughts, he informed me, “There’s security on the island, by the way.”

“Good,” I said, “since you’ve been ducking Moody and the rest of his crew lately.”

After he instructed the butler to take our bags to the bedroom, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed my forehead. “You’re worried about my safety, baby? Such a good wife.”

Snatching away from him, I snapped, “I just don’t wanna get blamed for someone offing you.”

He licked his lips and slowly nodded. “Riiiiight. Anyway, I have my own security, they just know how to be inconspicuous. My mom wants Moody up my ass to keep tabs on me for her.”

“Hmm, so you moving to my apartment was a way of ducking him, too, wasn’t it?”

“Not really. Motherfucker couldn’t even keep up with me to know I was in Mexico. Hell, I don’t think he’s really trying anymore.”

“I see, well…this is nice.” I let my eyes round the open-air sitting area with a relaxing view of the beach.

“Anything for my lovely wife,” he cooed.

For the millionth time, I rolled my eyes.

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