Page 63 of Obsessive Love

“Xoey said you fell for his sister,” Xayne St. Thomas laughed as he leaned back in his seat. “I didn’t believe her, but now I see my daughter was telling the truth.”

“Xoey plus twelve is a lot of things, but a liar ain’t ever been one of them,” I said, shaking my head. There was no denying how I felt about Fable, especially to a nigga like Xayne. He was old-school, having spent years building an empire, and could spot a lie a mile away. I leaned back in my seat, stretched my legs out in front of me, and crossed them at the ankle. “Fable is it for me, big dog.”

“I can tell,” he said, nodding as he rolled his blunt. “You ain’t stopped watching her since you walked out here.”

“Shit is addictive,” I shrugged. Xoey and Fable sat outside on the patio, talking. Fable was showing Xoey her recipes. “Is this how you felt about Xia?”

“Probably,” he replied. “When I met my wife, I knew I was going to marry her; she just didn’t know it.”

“Same,” I laughed. “I knew Fable was mine when I saw her at her bakery. And when I heard her voice?” I wiped my hand over my face. “That shit had me on lock. I didn’t care about shit Javien Sr. or Jr. did or didn’t do. I just wanted her.”

“My daughter has Javien Jr. hanging from the ceiling in my warehouse right now.”

“That nigga still alive?” I was surprised. Usually, Xoey worked quickly and knocked niggas off without hesitation. Xayne nodded. “Why?”

“She said he said something about having a baby due,” Xayne said, shaking his head. He stopped rolling his blunt to stare at his daughter. “You know how Xoey is when it comes to kids. She may hate that nigga Javien for everything he’s done, but him having a kid on the way changes things for her.”

“Who is his baby mama?”

“He won’t say,” he answered. “I know at one point he had that reporter pregnant, but from what I heard, Mercy stomped that baby out of her.”

“She did,” I confirmed. “I don’t know who else it could be.” Even though Javien played for me and owed me money, I didn’t know every aspect of his personal life. I allowed him to live his life because, at the end of the day, he would come to me for more money. I’d pay for I don’t know how many abortions because of him. He was careless in every aspect of his life.

“My daughter will get the information out of him, one way or another,” Xayne shrugged. “Until she does, she’ll use him as a piñata.”

“Is that what she’s doing?” I chuckled, and Xayne nodded. “How bad does he look?”

“I stopped going to see him two weeks in. Does that tell you anything?” Xayne lit his blunt and took a pull. “She said she had some anger to work out, and I’m letting her.”

“What’s she mad about?” In all the years I’d known Xoey, I’d never seen her upset, annoyed a few times, but never angry.

“Don’t know, she won’t tell me,” he answered. “Which has me worried.”

“Why?”

“Because her head isn’t fully in what she’s doing,” he replied, blowing out smoke. “She can’t afford to be off her game.”

“A killer off her game is bad for business.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, young blood,” Xayne said, shaking his head. “I don’t care about the killer side of her. I’m concerned about her mental state. As her father, I know I fucked up by letting her get her first taste of blood. If I could do it all over again, I would never let her pick up a gun or knife. I would’ve had her in ballet or something safe.”

“You regret making Xoey a killer?” I was surprised as hell that Xayne was admitting his failure as a father.

“I regret creating the monster that everyone fears like they do,” he said, taking another pull of his blunt. “You’ll be a father eventually, and then you’ll understand what I mean. My daughter has never wanted for anything, and that’s cool, but she also will never trust anyone to protect her. I failed to give her the ultimate gift.”

“Which is?”

“A sense of peace,” he answered. “She uses those voices as a barrier of protection. No one knows how she will act, so they steer clear of her, which is what she wants.”

I watched as Xoey threw her head back and laughed a real laugh. As relaxed as she was with me and the rest of our friends, she had a different bond with Fable. One that I’d only ever seen her have with Mercy, Legacy, and a few of the other women. It dawned on me then how guarded Xoey really was.

“If I could give my daughter anything, I would gift her peace,” Xayne said. “She deserves it more than anyone I know.”

“You want to go on a date?” I asked Fable as we left the St. Thomas’. It was still early, and as crazy as it sounded, I wasn’t ready to go home yet.

“A date?” she asked, and I nodded. “To where?”

“Can it be a surprise?” I asked as I switched lanes.

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