Page 54 of Nobody But You

First, I could call Pierre and tell him to pass along the information to Miller, telling him that Stephon wanted to meet. The problem was that Pierre didn’t know me and had no reason to trust my word. Second, I could call Tayla and put a hit in the system on him in New York. My concern was that he might not make it before I could get Stephon the answers he needed.

I stood to head into Stephon’s office. Once there, I plopped down on his oversized office chair and spun from side to side until I decided to do both. I opened Stephon’s computer and entered my birthdate. I still couldn’t believe he’d granted me access to his entire life. I pulled up the Bio Scan application and entered Miller’s face. The results revealed that he was still in New York.

I picked up my secure line and dialed Tayla. She answered on the third ring. I didn’t like to text like Stephon and my brother did. It didn’t work for me; I preferred calls.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Hey girl, you busy?”

“No, I actually just came in from work.”

“Look, I need a favor.”

“Ok, I’m listening,” she hesitantly said.

“I need you to commission a hit.”

“JoJo, what is this all about? Does this have anything to do with your father?”

“Damnit, Tayla. Why does it always have to be the third degree? Why can’t you do this for me because I asked?” I yelled. I didn’t mean for it to come out so aggressively, but I was truly tired of the back-and-forth. This one time, I needed someone to have my back so that I could have Stephon’s in the ways he’d been doing for me.

“Fine, what’s the name?” she said exasperated. I could hear her rapidly tapping keyboard keys in the background.

“Julius Miller, make the bounty a half mil. Current location: New York. I just sent the photo.” She pecked away at the keys a few more times before confirming.

“Ok, it’s done.”

“Thank you, Tay. This means a lot. I love you.” I said, taking a deep breath.

“Love you too, JoJo,” she said as she hung up the phone.

Next, I needed to pull up Stephon’s encrypted phone. It took me a few minutes, but I was able to locate Pierre’s contact information. From there, I texted him.

Contact Miller and inform him that we need to meet here in North Carolina. Also, let him know there’s a bounty on his head, and if he can make it out alive, you'll contact him with a meet-up. Do it now.

P

Yup

I sat back in the chair, gloating about my plan and hoping like hell that it worked. Then Stephon came waltzing in, holding up his burner phone. He looked tired. I could see the stress around his usually bright eyes.

“Come here,” I said as I stood and motioned for Stephon to sit where I just had so that I could sit in his lap.

“Jourdan, Baby, what are you in here doing?” he asked, still waving his phone around.

“First, how are you feeling?” I said, taking his face into my hands.

“I don’t fucking know. I do know that I need to call my mother and apologize. I have no right to judge her for the life she led before me when I’m still hiding my current one from her. I gotta have an end game, Baby. I’m getting too old for this shit. Even with everything that she told me tonight, I know with certainty that that nigga is not my fucking father and never will be, blood be damned. I’m a Rockwell through and through,” he said with confidence.

“So, are you ok with this, Marshall Declan, man she was with at the ball?” I asked

“That’s another thing. We just had this conversation not too long ago about me wanting her to date because she hasn’t since my father died. She was trying to get on me about not telling her I was dating, and she was doing the same thing. He’s Chanel’s father. Devin’s wife, Chanel.” I gasped.

“That man was her father. Damn!”

“Jourdan, don’t end up back on punishment.”

“What? That man is fine,” I said, holding my hands, palm side up, shrugging.

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