Page 25 of Dreaux: The Corporate Assassin

“You promise?” He looked at me with that panty-dropping smile of his, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Let’s hug on it then.”

“You tried it, nigga!” I pushed him away from me as Bri came barreling our way. I whispered, “You want to make things better? It starts now.”

I stepped back and watched as Briley ran to her father, and he caught her in his arms. He held her as she talked animatedly about the fun time she was having. Hanging on to every word, he carried her over to the ball pit and threw her inside. I smiled as she squealed with joy and begged him to join her. He did with no hesitation.

“Come on, Mommy!” she screamed with delight. “Come have fun with us!”

“Yeah,Mommy… come on!” Bryce laughed as he picked her up and threw her again.

Looking back and forth between them, I couldn’t help but think this was what I wanted for her. Briley deserved moments to cherish with her parents since she couldn’t be raised under one roof with us both.

“Oh, what the hell…” I conceded as I kicked off my shoes. “One time won’t hurt.”

* * *

“Sis,I am so happy to have you back in town. I can’t stand spending time withyourother cousins.”

Laughing at Jerome, I turned to look at the various hot sauce bottles on the shelf in front of us. We decided to have a movie night at his house tonight, and I couldn’t wait. I decided to stand by my word and allow Bryce to keep Briley for the weekend. It’s been a week since our little family playdate, and he didn’t waste time finding an apartment in the city to spend more time with her. I made sure to let him know anytime I called, I needed him to answer. Bri picked up each time I called and let me know she was having the time of her life.

“They don’t deserve to be in the presence of greatness anyway,” I said as I pushed the shopping cart. He wanted to have a taco night, so we were getting all of the essentials. “I don’t get how they can be our family but hate our guts. I will never understand.”

As we walked through the store, we were so engulfed in our conversation about our trifling family members that we weren’t paying any attention to the person in front of us until the cart collided with the back of his ankles.

“Gahdamn, shorty!” He winced as he spun around and faced us with his hand on his hip. “I should shoot—oh. What’s up, Denim?”

A response was caught in my throat as I came face-to-face with Andre Boudreaux. Well, maybe not face-to-face because he was a lot taller than I remembered from the night at the club. I’ve met a lot of sexy men in my day, but nothing compared to Andre. His tattoos played peek-a-boo under his clothing, and the darkness of his eyes told me that he had some shit going on within him. Looking at him dressed in his Ralph Lauren hoodie and the iconic grey sweats, you would never think he was a corporate man. You’d never think he was a killer either; the nigga looked normal as hell.

“Denim, you’re not going to introduce me to this fine-ass man.” Jerome shoulder-bumped me and broke the stare-off Andre and I were having. “Shit… I’ll introduce myself.” He pushed me out of the way and held his hand out to Dre. “Hey, Mr. Sexy Man! I’m Jerome, but you can call me anything you want as long as you calling me something.”

Dragging his eyes to Rome, I gulped lightly because many men couldn’t handle being hit on by a gay man.

Instead of causing a scene, Dre smirked and shook his hand. “This dick is for pussy only, my dude.” Both of our eyes widened at his response as he continued, “Maybe your girl can try it out and gossip with you later.” He licked his lips as his eyes roamed my body. “Yeah, I’ll definitely give her fine ass a story to tell. The way I would toss her muthafuckin’ ass with her pussy?—”

“Oh my gosh, Dre!” I stepped between them and chuckled nervously. “How are you doing? You look different without the bop on your arm. Matter of fact, where is Tammy? I don’t want her coming around the corner thinking I’m making moves on her newest boo.”

From the moment I spotted Andre in the club, I knew who he was. As long as I’ve been building a case against him and his cousins, I could easily put a face to all the Boudreaux Mafia members. Little did he know, I knew more about him than he could imagine. I also knew Tammy and her brother’s bodies were dumped on her mother’s porch the morning after she left the club with him. Tammy and her brother were both grimy, so there is no telling what they did to meet their demise, but that still didn’t warrant them to be murdered.

He chuckled. “That was just something to get my dick wet. Between me and you, I didn’t even get my nut off.”

“Where is she?” I asked, trying to bait him. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”

Eyeing me closely, he smirked as if he knew my game. I’m sure he’s looked into me or will after this encounter. Just like with Nate, he would only find what I wanted him to see. The bureau database ensured my career as an agent was invisible.

“That’s not my hoe, baby.” He shrugged as he turned around to leave. “Keeping track of disposable shit ain’t really my thing. Nice to see you again.” He winked before he turned his attention to my cousin. “Be easy, Jerome.”

“Say my name… say my name!”

Dre chuckled and walked off without so much as a backward glance as Jerome sang Destiny’s Child. His confidence and cockiness was sickening, but I admit, he had me intrigued.

“Girl! You’re crazy as hell if you don’t go and get that man’s number!” Rome fussed as we walked over to the meat section in search of ground turkey. “He offered you, what I’m sure is some prime dick, and you didn’t hop on it. What is wrong with you?”

“He didn’t ask for my number…” I shrugged my shoulders and browsed the selection. The meat was so damn high—it was ridiculous. “That man just wants to have sex, and?—”

“And so do you!” He placed his hands on my shoulders and spun me around. “Look, sis… I get it. You don’t want the miles of a ’98 Honda on your cooch, but who gives a damn! Single people do single shit. Nobody said you had to fall in love with the man. Get you a good orgasm or two and go on with your life. Ain’t nothing wrong with getting your back cracked every now and then.”

Thinking about what he said, I agreed that he was right. The thing was—I didn’t want this situation to be similar to Nate's. I didn’t want to use my body to get what I needed from these men, but who was I to deny myself in this situation? On record, Andre wasn’t on our radar, so technically, I wasn’t doing anything wrong if I pursued him. Catching his eye again as he walked to the front of the store, I decided to throw caution to the wind. There was nothing wrong with me having a little fun. If I just so happened to stumble upon valuable information in the process, so be it.

“Andre…” I jogged up behind him and tapped his shoulder before he could check out. “I was wondering if I could get your number. Maybe we could go out sometime?”

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