Before I knew it tears were rolling down my cheek, “like I can’t catch a fucking break for the love of God.” I wailed out.
“Woah Royaal, calm down, please”, he begged. He reached out to put his hand on me, but I moved away.
He sighed, “you knew what I was before all this even happened. I was always honest with you Royaal, I never lied.” He said shifting his attention towards the road, his tone was hollow.
“I’m not like what you’re use too, and I need you to understand that.” He said in a serious voice, his eyebrows pressed together as the word spilled out of his mouth.
“I have 3 girls and they do not live with me, I’m not into that popcorn-boyfriend pi shit. They live together, in their condo because THEY wanted it like that. They could’ve each had their own place, but once again that’s what they wanted. And I don’t mind, because it makes my job easier. They couldn’t even point out where I live on a map.” He said, throwing me a look.
His jaw was tight, like he was frustrated or something. Even with the heaviness in his tone, his energy was still gentle but stern.
“No disrespect, but why would I pay your ransom if you were just a bitch? We already established you heard about me, does that sound like something Mr. B would do?” He asked bluntly.
“You already met one of the girls at the club, that night when we went to Hong Shings. I was pretty sure you could tell she was my bitch”, he said with a little smirk on his face. “I mean, she could tell I wanted you.”
Images of the shorty in the changeroom flooded back to me, then at the table. That’s why she went from hot to cold, she realized I was checking for Bam. I half smirked as I placed together the pieces of our encounters that night. Bam caught it before I returned back to my pout.
“I’ve had her the longest, so she feels inclined to be the boss. But she knows her place, all of them know their roles and play it. They will never make trouble or be trouble for you Royaal. I don’t need to put you guys against each other to build my ego, that’s bad money and bad blood.” He pulled his eyes away from the road and made sure to make eye contact with me.
“I wasn’t joking when I said you’re different, so why would I treat you the same? Why would I put you around my bitches? If I wanted another bitch, I would’ve picked another bitch Royaal. There’s so much more to you, you just haven’t seen it yet.” He fixed his attention back on the road.
“So please, let’s just go eat some food and get some rest. You can ask me all the questions you want later, but use your head cause you’re a smart girl. And you know i’m not a dumb nigga, that’s why you were thinking about choosing up to me before this all happened.” He gave me a look, like ‘yeah I know’.
His words were too real to properly digest at the moment. I wasn’t being irrational, considering what I just went through. But I also wasn’t looking at Bam with the right lens either. I could feel it in my spirit, he’s no Pablo. Whether he was better or worse was still out for a debate, but I was definitely dealing with an upper echelon nigga.
I thought back to shawty in the changeroom, I mean I could tell she was peeping what was going on. But she definitely maneuvered like she had respect and code.
“Aight”, I whispered.
We pulled into a gorgeous condo community, the area was familiar but these were new builds. He drove down into an underground garage and parked the car.
“I got it”, he said as he grabbed the food from out of my lap and stepped out of the car. I pushed open my door and hopped out; even the garage was nice. It had an area to charge your electric cars and his parking wasn’t too far from the entrance door.
“Come on”, he motioned his head to follow after him, so I did. He pulled out his fob to open the door and we stepped into the elevator lobby.
“I can take you shopping tomorrow to grab a few necessities. Tonight, you’re just gonna have to make do with what I got. And I apologize, I don’t have anything girly or pink, and my place isn’t woman friendly cause I never have women over.” He blushed and rearranged the food in his hand.
I could see the little boy in him, the shyness jumped out. “That’s aight, I appreciate all of this you know”. I said making eye contact with him.
The elevator interrupted our conversation and we walked in. I watched as he pressed PH, and fiddled with his keys in his hands. The building had 32 floors, excluding the penthouse. My eyes must have given me away, cause he made a chuckle noise under his breath as I realized.
“You scared of heights?”, he asked cheekily.
“Nah, I just–”
“Good”, he said, giving me a loaded look.
The doors opened and a beautiful off white hallway was revealed with elegant molding. It had whimsical trimmings around the light brown doors with silver handles. It was so warm, inviting and regal looking.
He stepped out of the elevator and walked right to the last door in the corner.
“And the corner unit?”, I asked sarcastically.
He laughed as he pushed his key in the lock and opened the door. The smell of mahogany teakwood filled my nostrils. The subtle sounds of a basketball game flooded my ears. I had to blink twice and rub my eyes in disbelief.
“This is your house?!?” I asked, utterly impressed.
He laughed again as he walked past me to put the food down on the kitchen island.
“Yeah, make yourself at home”, he said, taking off his sweater.
The floor to ceiling windows exposed the view of the city and the lake. Long white support beams crossed over the windows mimicking the structure outside. White and gray marble flooring laid underneath my feet, which complimented the glossy white entryway console. The unit was 1,900 sq feet of perfection. The open concept living room merged into the kitchen and dining room. The pot lights in the 10 foot ceiling danced over the marble floors, which created a beautiful ambience. The more you walked into the unit, the more impressive it became.
The stainless steel appliances looked amazing with the gray stone cabinets. The kitchen was gourmet, it had a beautiful chef oven, a hidden fridge, countertop stove, an island with a built-in bar table, double sink and built-in wine cooler. This was a bachelor’s pad alright, he had Kaws and Jordans art pieces decorating the walls.
“That’s the CN tower! The wrap-around view…This place is stunning!” I said in amazement.
“Thank you, he said as he walked to the front bathroom. You tryna eat or you still want to look around some more?” He teased as he washed his hands and stared at me in the mirror.
I shook my head yeah, realizing how I sounded, “act like you’ve been around nice shit before Royaal. C’mon”, I said in my head.
I followed his lead towards the bathroom, he had finished washing his hands and was coming out.
“Would you like something to drink?” He threw me a beautiful smile, his lips wrapped around his perfect white teeth.
“Ah yes please”, I said, sliding by him to go use the washroom. His presence made me nervous sometimes, he exuded such confidence.
I walked in and closed the door behind me. I never realized he kind of had dimples, until now, I blushed at the thought. “What did you want, I have dark rum, wine, juice, water…” his voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Um, wine’s fine, thanks” I yelled out.
Drake’s song Papi’s Home subtly came on the surround speakers, I chuckled to myself, finished up using the bathroom and washed my hands. I opened the door and walked out towards the kitchen. His back was facing me, “white or red?” He asked before turning to me.
“White please”, I said walking towards the bar table. I pulled out a stool and sat down. He took out a big bottle of white wine from his cooler, poured it into a fancy spineless glass and pushed it over to me. He pulled off the lid from his decanter and poured out dark rum into his glass.
“Cheers”, he said, raising his hand.
“Cheers”, I said back as we clicked our glasses together. I took a sip, and then another one. Even his wine was spectacular.
“Okay, you couldn’t have picked this”, I giggled as I took another sip.
He smiled before turning his back to grab some plates. “You sound sure”, he said mockingly.
“I mean, unless you know wine and most men don’t. Even if you do have a wine cooler.” I said swirling around the glass and eyeing him.
He laughed, “you’re right I didn’t, cause I don’t know wine. I’m more of a dark liquor kind of guy.” He said taking one more sip of his rum and eyeing me over the glass. “The woman at LCBO though, definitely knows her stuff.”
He took out the oxtail and festivals and warmed them up in the microwave. “Do you like your stuff hot or medium warm?”
“Not too hot, but hot”, I replied back, taking another sip of wine.
He walked over to the fridge, took out a bottle of water and placed it beside my glass. “Just in case you need it”, he grinned softly.
I blushed as I took another sip of my wine. “Mmm, oh my gosh, I haven’t heard this song in so long.”
He grabbed the speaker remote and turned it up, “this is Nicki right?”
“Yeah, with Jeremiah, it’s called favorite, I love this song”, I said, twirling on the bar stool.
“This radio station is pretty good.” He set down my oxtail dinner in front of me, “enjoy”.
I smiled and began eating, I didn’t realize how lit I was until the food hit the bottom of my stomach. The wine didn’t have anything to absorb, besides my stomach lining. Mouthful after mouthful, I stuffed my face until I realized he was leaning back against the counter staring at me.
“You gonna join me or what?” I asked slightly embarrassed, I slowed down devouring my food.
He grinned and pulled his food out of the microwave, walked over and took a seat right beside me. “I’m glad you like it”, he said before taking a bite of his meal.
“It’s been awhile since I had food food”, I said bashfully as I grabbed my water.
His furrowed brows pressed together as he took another bite and processed what I meant. He put another bite in his mouth and narrowed his attention onto the counter.
“You can put on the TV or something, I really don’t mind.” I interjected the moment, trying to change the topic. I felt the energy dip and get serious for a second.
“To be honest, I barely watch TV but if you want to watch something, just let me know; I can put it on.” He responded, but the moment already robbed him of the joy, he was into his mind, into his thoughts.
“It’s okay, I enjoy talking with you”, I said putting another spoonful of food into my mouth. My head was down and my shoulders were kinda slumped.
“As do I”, he said before taking a sip.
“I’m full”, I announced. I turned my stool towards him, “do you mind if I take a shower?”
He chuckled and wiped his mouth with his thumb, “why would I mind? Let me get you something to change into.” He got up and walked over to his room and came back with a polo pj set and boxer still with the tag on.
“I hope this will do, remember I said I don’t have any girly stuff, sorry.”
“This is perfect, thank you”, I said, grabbing the stuff out of his hands and avoiding his eyes.
“The bathroom is–”
“I remember”, I joked as I walked towards the front.
“There’s fresh towels, rags, soap and all that in the drawer”, he yelled out.
“Got it”, I threw my hand in the air before closing the door.
I was drunk, I didn’t mean to be, I should’ve taken it easy with the wine. I turned on the shower and opened the drawer to grab the stuff.
Buy A heart by Nicki flooded over the speakers in the washroom. I undressed and hopped into the shower. The hot water poured against my skin, and my body shivered. I submerged my head under the water and let it run down on me as I closed my eyes.
Flashbacks of the basement appeared, visions of French’s swollen face and Pablo getting back into his car played in my mind. I rubbed my bruised wrist and let the tears fall down my face. I let the grief swallow me whole, punch a hole through my chest and steal my breath. I cried, I pressed my hands over my mouth and wailed into the abyss.
The weight of the world pressed against the top of my shoulder as I squatted down. I laid my head on top of my knees and let it all flood back until I couldn’t take it anymore. I finished crying, washed up my body, my hair and got out of the shower. I dried my skin, and stared at myself in the mirror before getting dressed. I was safe now, but my thoughts wouldn’t let me enjoy it. I put on the oversized polo pj’s and walked out the bathroom.
I walked towards the kitchen, our food was cleared away but the glasses and bottled water remained.
“Bam?” I gently called out.
He wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room. I walked past the kitchen further into the living room, until I reached his bedroom threshold. “Bam?” I called out again.
I heard the sound of running water, I guess he was taking a shower too. But something in me wanted to go deeper, so I walked past his king size bed, through his walk-in closet and into his ensuite bathroom.
He had an oval soaker tub facing his glass standing shower. I slowly walked in till I saw his naked body standing underneath the waterfall shower head. His muscular broad back was facing me, he was built. I watched in awe as the water dripped down from his body. The stream of water tracing his intricate muscles down to his lower back. His veiny arm pressed against the marble wall, he was glorious.
He tilted his head back and shook the water off his face, before turning around and catching me. Our eyes locked and we were frozen in time, he narrowed his focus on me. My wet hair dripped onto my shirt making it cling to my breast. His brows crept together in a mischievous way, the side of his mouth curled up into a lustful smile. He didn’t back down and neither did I.
Traffick’d 