Page 45 of Finesse
“Have you ever killed anyone?” Cameron is silent. He gave orders to kill those other men tonight, but I’m struggling to think if he’d ever pulled the trigger himself. I don’t know why I’m surprised. The way Cameron pointed the gun told me it wasn’t his first rodeo.
“Why?” I shake my head. “Your dad is a U.S. Senator! You don’t need the money. You don’t need to do this.”
“I don’t,” he admitted, “but it’s a part of me.”
“And your dad?” I ask about the obvious elephant in the room. “What does your dad think about all of this? He has to know.”
Cameron glanced at me with serious eyes. “Who do you think is his biggest supplier to his friends in Congress?”
My mouth gaped open. Everything all made sense. Despite how dangerous his father was in the political arena, no one would bother to kick him out or shun him. He was too powerful in other ways. Who knew how many other families were being impacted by what the Page family were doing.
It begged the question on who really held the power – Cameron or his Senator father?
“Your life is at risk at any time, Cam. You’re a walking target.” I look over at him and Cameron sighs. I don’t know if it’s a sigh of acceptance or annoyance. Maybe, both.
“I need to go to bed.” I stand up and dust off my dress. “I just…I need to process all of this.” Cameron quickly stands up with me. “Go home.”
“Tay, I—”
“Go. Home.” I repeat myself. “I need to just…think, Cameron, okay? You’re asking me to be okay with you being a drug lord and I just…I need to think about all of this.”
He breathes a long sigh. “I promise this has nothing to do with you or your father. I will never put you two in danger or have anything happen to you. You gotta believe me on this one.”
“Except you did,” I blink back tears. “You shot a man in front of me. That’s about as close to danger one can get.”
“Taylor…”
“Go. Home.” I steel myself from him. We both know it’s over. “Just go.”
I walk back upstairs to my shared apartment and just collapse behind the door. There’s no reason why Cameron wouldn’t go after me now and I’m not entirely sure he won’t. I can’t stick around to figure out if he’s going to have a moral compass.
I quickly unfollowed Cameron and blocked him in every avenue possible. The next morning, Cameron’s gift to me arrived. It was a BMW that matched his with custom-made seats and bags full of gifts that filled up the backseat.
I sent it all back.
Book III
Present
One
“Hey Alicia,” I open the door and let Daddy’s longtime attorney come in. She’s an older Black woman with salt and pepper locs, and a part-time nutritionist. She always looks like she just stepped off an island somewhere. I need that kind of peace in my life.
Since I took over his finances after Daddy’s death, things haven’t been easy-going. The person who hit my father is contesting the wrongful death lawsuit I filed and I drained a lot of the insurance money in fighting him.
While I don’t have to lay off any employees, it’s becoming harder to pay them and keep the lights on at both spots. I also had to dip into my personal savings to make sure my lights stayed on as well.
This adulting shit is truly for the birds.
All the while this is going on, my mind wanders back to Cameron’s appearance at Daddy’s funeral. I know he went to pay respects to him. They both liked each other very much but I’m also unnerved by his appearance. He knows I saw him.
Yet, I didn’t hear anything from Cameron. Maybe he realizes it was over for good and I have no use for him in my life. It still didn’t stop the yearning I have for him. Last night was a reminder how much I missed him as I overworked my vibrator.
No matter how batteries a sista can have, an amazing tongue and great dick can never be replaced. The substitutes are great, but nothing is like the original. Nothing.
I’ll worry about my lust over a man who’s clearly bad for me as I have more pressing issues to be concerned with. I need to keep Daddy’s businesses running. I have the weight of the community on me to make sure it’s perfect. I also have the weight of Daddy’s spirit on me.
If I disappointed him, I would never forgive myself.
