Page 51 of Divine II

“They had nothing to do with it,” I declared, cutting him off.

“That’s even better. They told us as much. I’m not sure if I buy it, but we can just deal with the facts here if that suits you. I know what happened that night. Now, you know I know exactly what happened that night. No, there weren’t any cameras behind the bar. I’m sure you did your due diligence. Thing is, I had a private investigator following him. He was getting slackwith his payments and blowing the money he was supposed to be paying me on bullshit.

“Nigga was making all kinds of side deals and shit. Hell, I’m not gon’ lie. You did me a favor. I’d put a huge life insurance policy on him when I gave him all that money. I knew that, in the event that he didn’t pay up, I could have him killed and collect on the back end. That windfall is going to help put me back in good standing with the creditors, but it doesn’t solve the cash flow problem. I’m sure you read all about that, too. Now that Rod can’t make good on his payments, I have to think of something else.”

I scoffed. “You already made a deal with the Reigns.”

“Oh no, that deal is for Ms. Gold’s part in this whole thing. She’s paying her own debt to society. As we speak, I’m trying to come up with a figure to charge you for not releasing this video. From what I hear, this is the only video footage available to prove what happened to Sherrod that night. Now, this isn’t the only copy of course. I have a failsafe just in case something like this happened.

“If anything happens to me, my associate will send those videos to the homicide department and the local news outlets. So you see, whatever youthinkyou know is useless. Yes, I’ve made some bad investments. Thankfully, my new alliance with the dynasty is putting me back in the investors good graces. Within a few months, our company will be back in good standing.”

“I’m not paying you shit,” I said, calling his bluff. “I just wanted you to know I see what you’re trying to do. Aligning yourself with the dynasty is only going to get you so far. I see this shaky ass house of cards falling down all around you. All these last-ditch efforts are just buying you time.”

“Time is all I need, my friend. Once I marry Divine and sell her company and properties, I’ll be worth more than ever. As a matter of fact, once you leave here, you need to be in theunemployment line. Just a heads up, your services won’t be needed much longer.”

“You think she’s going to marry you?”

“Soon, she won’t have much of a choice. I’m telling you this opportunity just fell right in my lap. Thanks to you trying to play Kevin Costner and shit. My dad has been trying to disinherit me for years. If it weren’t for my granddaddy, I wouldn’t even have this position. Still, they pulled all of their personal investors and made me go out and get my own. My dad never wanted me to invest in Sherrod’s pipe dream. He was a runner for the other side of the business just because he was family.

“At first, I was the only one who believed in him. He was supposed to be big, but he was more interested in the fame than the fortune. Once you took him out, my wheels started spinning. Those payments and my alliance with the Reigns have given my family faith in me again. Now, all I have to do is get married and produce an heir, and I know my dad will let me back in.”

This shit was crazy. Although I knew Divine had no interest in marrying this fool, that didn’t mean he couldn’t manipulate his way into getting exactly what he wanted. He had to be the luckiest bastard in the world. Sherrod’s murder had played out in his favor in more ways than one.

“Just know I’m not paying you a dime. You can get it in blood,” I vowed as I stalked away from the building.

I didn’t bother looking back because something told me that coward didn’t have the heart to try anything stupid.

Thirteen

Divine

I didn’t know if I was more excited to see Liam or that sexy black truck that I’d bought him for his birthday. I was crushed when he told me to send it back. I wasn’t sure how he’d dealt with my refusal to take the gift back. My heart warmed knowing that he was driving it. That’s if he wasn’t planning on leaving it here.

I stood at the window watching as he got out of the truck and walked around to the back. When he reappeared, he was carrying a box. It was probably more tomatoes. I loved getting tomatoes and peppers from him. It could have just been me, but they always seemed to taste so much better than the ones I bought from the store. Unashamed of how much I missed him, I opened the door and walked outside to meet him.

“You’re early,” I noted with a smile.

“I can go back home if you want me to,” he said, lifting his brows.

“Stop playing. You know I’m glad to see you.”

“I don’t know. You have a funny way of showing it.”

“I missed you, baby. I was actually hoping to see you while you were off.”

“I figured you would have wanted to spend time with your man.”

“That’s what I just said. I thought you were my man.” I pouted.

“Stop doing that,” he said, gently bumping me with his shoulder.

“I’m just saying. I thought you were. I need to know if I’m on the market or not.”

“Don’t play with me, Divine,” he warned, stopping in his tracks.

“If you don’t want me anymore, just say that.”

“You know better than that, Cookie.”

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