Page 25 of Quasim III: King Inferno

Bermuda was still missing, and as far as I knew, she often went missing when she was undercover. She mentioned lookingfor that girl when I pulled up on her and Sim’s dinner, so I prayed that she was alright.

“Good looks.”

Cappadonna looked over at Aimee. “Aim, let us know where that location is.”

She smiled. “Will do.”

Quasim

Recommendation: Tell Me If You Still Care by The S.O.S Band

The shower was centeredin the bathroom, but not in the way of the sinks. If you entered on one side when someone was in the shower, you couldn’t see them until they came toward the glass. I crept around the shower, until I was in the opening. I watched as Blair washed up in the back of the shower without the water on, so I laughed and turned it on. The water came rushing from the top of the shower, and she screamed, nearly slipping on the slippery marble floor to escape. I watched the fear in her wild eyes, as she maneuvered to get out the shower

I quickly shut the water off and came around the other side as she started to have a panic attack. One of her hands held onto her chest while the other held onto the shower door. “Whyyyyy? Why the fuck would you do that? Why, Quasim?” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Had someone walked into the villa, they would have thought I was in here trying to kill her. Everyone else had goneinto town to a bar, so it was just me and Anjo in the villa tonight. After wrapping up my conversation with Gams by the pool, all I wanted to do was chill and recreate what we had done in the sprinter.

She stared at me like I was a monster that tried to murder her. “Why the fuck you not using the shower head… you need the actual water to take a shower, baby.”

“Don’t…. Don’t fucking mock me. You don’t know fucking anything, Quasim! I know how to take a fucking shower… don’t fucking tell me!” she continued screaming with tears streaming down her face.

From how her body trembled as tears flooded her face, and her reaction, this was deeper than the shower. Deeper than me joking with her by turning the water on. I had hurt her, even scaring her and that shit didn’t feel good.

“Anjo.” I called.

My angel refused to look at me as she snatched the towel and wrapped it around her. “Why would you sneak up on me like that? That’s not fun for me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Anjo turned to look at me, as if she was shocked that I apologized to her. “It’s fine… can you give me a minute?”

“I can… right after you tell me what just happened.” I walked closer to her, and she turned away from me. I could see the shame in her eyes before she could fully turn away from me.

That didn’t stop me from gently grabbing her and pulling her into me. “Nothing… I just don’t like to be scared.”

“Lies, Anjo. I can get over a lot of shit, but lying to me isn’t one of them. You’re fucking shaking in my arms, baby, tell me what’s going on. How can I love you if I don’t know your pain?”

She hung her head. “I don’t need to give you another reason to run for the hills.”

I kissed her neck, feeling the goosebumps that my touch gave her. “Was already inside of you. Buried my seed inside of you, Anjo. I’m not going anywhere, and I need you to believe that, baby.”

She slowly turned in my arms, taking a large gulp of air before staring up into my eyes. “Tyshawn took the shower nozzle and held it over my face because I refused to tell him something…. Remember when I spent the weekend at Cappadonna and Alaia’s house for their BBQ?”

I remember every interaction with her. Capp had told me she was coming while I was trying to figure out his grill. Alaia had invited her to spend the weekend at their house, and my mean ass got excited. My heart hadn’t felt that way in a long time, and for Blair, it got all wild and crazy. Long before she became Anjo, my heart had told me she was the one.

I knew she was special. I had always known she was special since the first time I met her in that kitchen. When I walked her to the car to get her bags, I remember her hand grazed against mine and I damn near melted. This petite woman with a smile that could warm the coldest nigga, and a past that I knew would eventually break my heart, was right in front of me and had me feeling like putty.

Even with everything going in her life, she found a reason to smile and try to brighten everyone’s life she encountered. “I remember. Won’t ever forget.”

“Me either. That moment by my car, I wanted you to save me. I wanted to tell a complete stranger to help me, and I froze… remained quiet,” she whispered as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

Tears slid down my cheeks as I pulled her closer into my arms. She was trembling because a nigga like Tookie had did something so heartless to her. Something that had changed the way she handled everyday life. A shower was something thatwe all did and never gave it a second thought. Shit, some of us craved that burst of water over our heads every day or at the end of a long day.

Not Anjo.

She was haunted by the thought of having to climb into something that had left her traumatized. Each day, she had to suck in her breath and do the complete opposite of what she wanted to do, and I had mocked it unknowingly. Scared her to death, because to me, it was a joke. In her reality, there wasn’t anything funny about the shower.

“Look at me, Anjo.” I held her face up, and she stared into my eyes. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t know, and I feel fucking horrible for doing that to you. I want you to know that I would never do anything to intentionally trigger you, baby… okay?”

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