Page 47 of B.D.E
“Marcus, he’s been helping me out with some errands lately. We’ve kind of been… seeing each other?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Wait, seriously?”
She grinned. “It’s still new, but yeah. He got this whole calm-but-boss nigga thing going on that makes my inside do cartwheels and my coochie scream.”
I laughed weakly for the first time in days.
“I just told him to meet me here,” she said, standing. “I figured it’s time y’all met. Maybe it’ll take your mind off things.”
“I’m really not in the mood?—”
“Too late. He’s already ten minutes away.”
I shook my head but didn’t argue. I didn’t have the energy to. I just had to get through the rest of the day trying not to be jealous of my best friend having happiness while mine was gone. That’s too easy, right? A few minutes later, the bell on the café door jingled and in walked a tall man with warm brown skin and a low fade. His eyes scanned the place until they landed on Tori, and he gave her a grin that softened everything about him. She waved him over.
“Ivy, this Marcus. Marcus, Ivy.”
He nodded at me. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” I said, offering a weak smile.
He pulled up a chair beside Tori and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I missed you today, lady.”
“Boy, I saw you last night.”
“Still missed you,” he shrugged.
I smiled quietly to myself. Their banter was easy, lighthearted. I didn’t want to intrude or make anything awkward, so I busied myself with slow sips of my tea. I sat back and let them mingle, watching as they flirted until Tori stepped away to help a customer who had just walked in. Marcus made his way over and sat on the stool beside me.
“So, Ms. Ivy, how’s everything going with you? Tori told me you hadn’t been feeling too well,” he said.
I chuckled softly. “Tori’s always been a little overprotective. I’m fine, Marcus. Really. I appreciate you asking. I’ve just had a lot on my plate lately, but I’m bouncing back… slowly but surely. You taking care of my most prized possession?” I teased, raising a brow at him.
“As much as she’ll let me,” he laughed. “You know how she is, headstrong and independent.”
“Just stick with her. She’s worth it. She’s always been tough because she had to be. Maybe with you, she can finally enjoy her soft girl era.”
“That’s the plan,” he said, his eyes following Tori across the room like she hung the damn stars.
I watched him watching her, and I hoped for her sake, she wasn’t playing around. Just by watching him, I could tell that man adored her. Marcus pulled out his phone and started scrolling while he waited for her, and I sat in silence, letting my thoughts drift. Something I’d been doing more now than ever.
Lately, I’d felt… off, uneasy. Like someone was watching me. But every time I turned around, there was nothing there. The other night, I swore I felt a hand brush my hair back while I was sleeping. I jolted awake, heart pounding, but the room was empty. I told myself it was stress. Or maybe just vivid dreams. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling. A few hours passed, and eventually Tori began closing up the café for the night. I was beyond grateful she had stepped in these past couple weekswhen I physically and mentally couldn’t. Marcus stayed behind to help, and I practically had to push her out the door, promising her I’d be fine. She deserved a night with someone who clearly cared.
As for me… I just wanted my bed. I planned to crawl under the covers and wrap myself around the pillow Ghost used when he was here, clutching it like a lifeline until sleep finally took me. Maybe I was crazy. Maybe I was just in love with a man who ghosted me. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still out there. Somewhere close, watching me, protecting me. I didn’t know if that thought should terrify me or give me hope because part of me believed he’d come back to claim what was his. My heart.
CHAPTER 25
Ghost
I saton the leather sectional in the high-rise apartment with my burner on my lap... waiting. If this nigga said anything other than what I wanted him to, I would have no problem sending his bitch ass to reunite with his parents. My mind had been spiraling since I ended Gideon. It’d been two weeks since I watched him take his last breath the shit was still fucking with me. I hated that I was grieving a nigga that I hated, the one who tried to erase my existence but here I was, fucked up about his death. I wanted so bad to be close to Specs because she brought out this calmness in me, but I let Gideon’s final words fuck with me head.
“You know that little nerdy bitch of yours? She won’t stay… not once she sees what you really are, a fucking monster. She’ll run just like everyone else,” he laughed.
I played those words in my head a million times and I knew he was right, which is why I left her with a letter and disappeared. Well, I tried to, but I realized I was already in too deep when I found myself sitting on her futon as she slept and watching her until the sun rose, slipping out only moments before she woke up. I’d been watching her for two weeks, seeing every tear she shed, watching her curled up with the pillow thathad my scent, watching her call out my name in her sleep. Here I was sitting in another niggas house waiting for him to come home so I could kill him for just being in her presence. What fucked with me the most is seeing how much she’d changed over the past two weeks. I knew shit was off when I would watch her sitting around the Café while her home girl did all the work. She looked sick and pale. I knew once I saw her through the window staring at herself in the mirror from the side and holding her flat stomach…. She was carrying a piece of me. That shit scared me more than anything I could ever imagine—being something that I never had, a father. Hearing his voice from the hallway before the key hit the lock snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Yvette, I’m not about to go looking for him just to read his part of the will. What? No, listen. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow and then we can figure something out.”
Hearing his voice from the hallway before the key hit the lock snapped me out of my thoughts. Moments later, he was walking in with his phone and briefcase in hand, moving through the dark not even realizing that his life was in danger. When he hit the lights and saw me sitting on the couch, he damn near jumped out of his skin. His eyes bulged when he looked down and saw my Glock out on my lap.
