Renee Page 10

  “You know, the one people get after they’re unable to say no to their third, fourth, and fifth drink.”

  He took his attention off the television and turned to smile at her. She gave him a nasty look, picked a small jar of Vaseline up off the coffee table, and threw it at him. He blocked the jar, then turned his attention back to the game and pressed a combination of buttons so loudly that it was hard to ignore.

  “Where’s Mommy?” Waves had been looking forward to seeing his mother, so when he woke up and noticed she wasn’t there, he was a little disappointed.

  “At work.”

  “On a Saturday?”

  “Yeah. She’s taking next week off. She wanted to take care of her workload, so that when she returns, she’ll be ahead and not behind.”

  “Mommy is always thinking ahead.”

  Waves started to think about his mother, Tina. He remembered when she and his father divorced and the day she moved to New York, leaving him with his father down South. It had torn her apart to have to leave her son, but she’d known that it would be better for him if he grew up with his father.

  Tina had had to find herself; she hadn’t been ready to settle down and be a mother and wife. Sadly, like many women, she had realized this after the fact. Being tied down hadn’t been for her; she hadn’t wanted to resent her child or husband. That was something she couldn’t bear, so she’d filed for divorce and handed over custody of Waves. She’d left as soon as possible, hoping that one day she’d return.

  Years later, things started to improve. She landed an advertising job in New York and quickly rose to the top. She then fell in love, got remarried, and was soon pregnant with Waves’s sister, Tina, whom she named after herself. Tina Sr. had made a huge change. She’d gone from being a free-spirited woman whom no one could tame to a well-established businesswoman. There were days when Tina felt guilty about never returning to Waves and his father. She truly loved both of them and hadn’t expected to fall in love and start a whole new life, but things happened.

  She had made sure when she left that she let Waves know he still had a mother. Once she created a whole new family, she worked ten times harder to show him he had not been forgotten or replaced. Because of her hard work, Waves had never felt like he sat in coach. He knew he was in first class with the rest of her loved ones.

  The only thing wrong with this picture-perfect family was Tina Jr. She partied a lot, gossiped to no end, and was 100 percent selfish. She was the black sheep of the family, the black sheep that no one knew existed. Dying her hair red should have been a sign, but people shrugged it off as being the new trend.

  Holding her stomach now, Tina wished she hadn’t drunk so much at the bar she went to the night before. She remembered having her head in the toilet, promising herself to never drink like that again. A smile crept across her face. While they had a hangover, everyone said they’d never get drunk again.

  “When did you get here?” Tina asked her brother. “You weren’t here when I got in, and I got in around five thirty in the morning. So you must have stumbled in after six.”

  Waves turned off Street Fighter and put in a racing game. “I got in at around four. You must not have noticed me. Speaking of getting in late, you need to calm down. I can look past you dyeing your hair, but you partying so much is getting out of hand.”

  Tina rolled her eyes. “I don’t party a lot. You and Mommy act like I do it every night.”

  “You do. Listen, I know dudes who frequent bars and clubs. Every time I see them, they mention seeing you. I’m not Mommy, so don’t try to front.”

  Tina smiled. Her brother’s back was facing her when he spoke, so she took advantage of it and smiled like a kid on Christmas morning. She knew that she partied almost every night and that it was out of hand, but she liked it. As long as she liked it, she was going to continue. She remained quiet. There was no way she’d be able to beat her brother in an argument, so she immediately threw up the white flag.

  “That’s what I thought,” Waves commented.

  “Anyway, what brings you here?”

  Waves took a minute to respond. His sister’s partying really bothered him. He loved her more than he loved himself, and he was afraid of the life she was leading. Waves didn’t believe that a respectable woman stayed out all night partying. He wanted her to calm down and live a decent life.

  He took a deep breath and erased his thoughts. “I got drunk last night and forgot my address, so a friend of mine dropped me off here. It’s funny, I couldn’t remember the place I go to every day, but I could remember the address to the place I come to almost every other week.”

  “You know what they say. Home is where the heart is.”

  Tina propped her feet on the couch, closed her eyes, and stretched her body out. When she opened her eyes, they immediately landed on Waves’s diamond Rolex, which he had bought right after he got his promotion.

  “Warren, that photography job must be really treating you well,” Tina said to Waves, referring to him by his government name.

  Waves quickly glanced over at Tina and saw her looking down. He followed her gaze to his Rolex. Nervously, he fiddled with it in an attempt to hide it. Realizing he was caught, he stopped fiddling. Waves didn’t like lying to family, but working for Renee required him to do exactly that.

  Since childhood, photography had been his passion. When he moved to New York to work for Renee, he’d told his family it was because he had landed a job as a photographer for Vibe magazine. The more his family mentioned the job and expressed their happiness for him, the more depressed he felt. Hearing his sister ask once again about “the job” was like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

  She won’t tell, he thought.

  “I’m not a photographer.” Waves never took his eyes off the game. Instead, he constantly crashed his sports car into trees and other cars. It was unbelievable that he hadn’t died already.

  Tina’s right eyebrow rose. “So, what? You got fired or something?”

  “You have to work in order to get fired.”

  Tina sat up and leaned forward. She didn’t know what her brother was talking about, but she wanted to find out. “What are you saying?”

  Waves sighed and turned off the game. He stretched out his arms and leaned back against the glass coffee table without looking at his sister. “I was never in the photography game. I work, but it’s not what you think. I work for someone very wealthy and powerful.” As soon as the sentences left his mouth, Waves regretted them, but it made no sense to shut up now. “I know you’ve heard of Jordan.”

  “Of course. Dude runs New York.”

  “Jordan’s not who you think. Everyone thinks he’s a dude, but it’s all a lie just to hide her identity. Why, I have no idea. If I was wiping my ass with hundred-dollar bills and had everyone’s heart full of fear in the streets, I would want everyone to know my name.”

  Tina’s mind was blown. Right before her eyes, she saw dollar signs appear. She knew people who would pay top dollar for this information. So much dough would rain down on her that she would be able to get a Rolex, just like her brother. Tina was on the edge of the couch, Waves’s back still facing her. She had a feeling that the information wouldn’t stop there, that it would only got better.

  Waves knew that if it ever got back to Renee that he’d revealed her identity, she’d kill him. But he trusted his sister and thought, If he couldn’t tell her, who could he tell?

  “So who is he, I mean, she?”

  “Tina.” Waves stood up and faced her. “Before I tell you, you have to understand that by me telling you as much as I already have, I’m putting my life on the line. If she finds out that I told you anything, she’ll kill me.”

  Tina searched her brother’s eyes to see if what he was telling her was the truth. Sure enough, the truth filled every part of his eyeballs.

  “Tina, do you understand? What is said here stays here.” Waves gave his sister a stern look.

  “I understand
.”

  He took a deep breath and sat back down on the floor. “She’s this chick by the name of Renee. This woman is untouchable.”

  Tina’s eyes bugged, out and her mouth nearly dropped.

  It can’t be. Tina scrambled for words. “Renee?”

  “Yeah. Chick’s a monster. Her heart beats venom. What makes it worse is that she got a partner by the name of Julian, who’s just as deadly. Both of them motherfuckers residing in Manhattan has to be a curse. Their asses shouldn’t even be in New York.”

  “Where in Manhattan?” The question just rolled off her tongue, and she quickly bit down on it, hoping Waves wouldn’t notice her anxiety.

  “Over on Fifth Avenue, near Central Park.”

  Tina smiled, happiness taking her over. “Damn. She living like that?”

  “Yup, her ass is literally living in the sky.”

  “Wow,” Tina mouthed.

  Ain’t that a bitch? Her ass has been right under everyone’s nose this entire time, running shit like it’s nothing, she thought. Today was the first time that Tina was happy her brother hadn’t grown up with her. He was completely unaware of Renee’s past. He knew nothing about Renee being a suspect in Leslie’s murder and disappearing some time later. It was incredible how everything had worked itself out.

  Tina sat back and thought about all the things she could do with the money Page would give her. She knew this would be her ultimate payoff. For years, Page had asked her if she’d heard anything pertaining to her sister’s whereabouts, and Tina finally had.

  While she was deep in thought, Waves told her he was on his way out.

  “Remember, Tina, tell no one.”

  She nodded and watched as her brother walked out of the living room and out of her sight. For an instant, she felt bad, but that feeling quickly subsided.

  Sorry, bro, but little sister gotta eat too.

  Chapter 14

  Julian dropped his luggage in the foyer of his home and looked around. Everything was exactly how he had left it—quiet, pristine, and without a trace of a living being. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He had hoped that when he opened the front door, he would discover that his house had been trashed and rendered unrecognizable. Hoped that Renee had gone all out and had had a search party tear up New York in search of him. Julian wanted no rock to have been left unturned and for her to have moved mountains, all so they could be reunited. As usual, there was no evidence of the type of love Julian was seeking. Julian had disappeared for the well-being of Renee, but in the back of his mind, he had secretly wished his absence would make her heart grow fonder and would turn their love into a priority.

  Expecting Renee to express love the healthy, normal way was like asking a hard apple to transform itself into a soft-centered orange. Julian had wished to find Renee curled up on his couch, raccoon eyed, snot running down her nose, worried to death over his disappearance. What Julian wanted was for Renee to give her all for him. The person Julian fell in love with had vanished a long time ago. Her fucked-up, soul-crushing family had demolished all the positivity and love Renee once offered, leaving him to love the ice queen herself.

  He needed Renee to move past the pain and enter into an official relationship with him. The “friends with benefits” bullshit had got old. He needed back the person he knew she could be; he needed a partner. He wanted Renee to step out of her darkness. Revisiting all that Renee was denying him made the veins in his neck bulge and his jaw lock. The ache within his heart was radiating throughout his body, and he felt out of his control. Loving Renee was destructive, but he couldn’t let her go. He couldn’t give up hope that she’d see the light and step out of her selfishness.

  Julian stuffed his hands in his pockets and started to laugh so loud, the sound traveled throughout the house.

  “Welcome back, Julian,” he said aloud to himself. “I’ve missed you.”

  * * *

  Lyfe jumped out of bed with his latest one-night stand when got he the call from Jared telling him that he needed to get to Renee’s ASAP. His heart damn near beat out of his chest, and his eye twitched. The constant eye movement was a distraction as he drove. He wanted to bang his head against the dashboard, frustrated yet again that he hadn’t been there for Renee. It was funny, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

  Lyfe had been furious when Jared told him what had happened between Renee and Slice. Slice had got what he deserved, but it didn’t stop Lyfe from wishing he’d been there to seek justice for Renee himself. But he was happy Jared had been there to save Renee’s life. It was a comfort to know Renee had others there to pick up his slack, no matter how many times he dropped the ball. Jared had spoken with such passion and anger, Lyfe was sure that as long as Jared was on their team, no one would come within a foot of Renee. The O.G. knew a man with lovesickness when he saw one, and Jared had it bad. Lyfe didn’t believe in mixing business with pleasure, but if it ensured Renee’s protection, he’d allow it.

  The following day Jared and Lyfe were back at Renee’s home. Jared had returned earlier than usual, and Lyfe had never left. The two would have attached themselves to her in order to guarantee she never left their sight, had they been able to. The incident was still a topic of conversation, and Jared and Lyfe were still consumed by the same anger and disgust they’d felt yesterday.

  “I’d kill that son of a bitch five times over if I could!” Jared yelled as he and Lyfe sat on the couch in the living room. “And that punk-ass Julian is gone with the wind. Fuck kinda partner is that?”

  Jared must have conjured Julian up, because as soon as those last two sentences left his mouth, the front door opened and Julian stepped in. He walked through the door just as he had hundreds of times before. Jared flew off the couch, raced toward Julian, and stopped once they were nose to nose.

  “I should body your bitch ass! You got motherfuckers on this team about to rape Renee. What kind of shit is that?” Jared snarled.

  The confidence Julian had walked in with evaporated. The welcome back he’d envisioned had gone out the door. He pushed Jared out of the way and ran toward Renee’s bedroom. He had no time to argue with Jared. This was bigger than their egos; this was about Renee.

  Julian wasn’t a fool. He had seen the way Jared looked at Renee and tried to cater to her every need during every moment of every hour of the day. Jared wanted her, and what his behavior revealed to everyone who was paying attention was that he would do whatever it took to get her. Because of that, and that alone, Jared had to go.

  Julian flung the bedroom door open and saw Renee standing out on the terrace. Her hair and her silk robe blew in the wind. Her complexion was a richer hue than he remembered. She looked like a character in a fairy tale, a princess stuck in her very own mental prison, waiting to be saved and sat on the horse that would carry her and her prince off to their happily ever after. However, when she turned around and saw Julian, the softness in her stance evaporated against the peaceful backdrop of the city, and she lost her princess status and turned into the ice queen, icicles and all.

  “What happened?” Julian grabbed Renee, ushered her into the bedroom, and looked over her body.

  He searched for bruises and scratches, any signs of injury. He was desperate to know whether Renee was psychologically the same woman he knew. Renee snatched herself away from Julian’s grasp, and with all her might, she smacked him. There was no doubt that all of New York heard her hand connect with Julian’s face. He breathed heavily and suppressed the urge to choke the life out of her. Then he just stood there and, by regulating his breathing, calmed himself down.

  “I deserved that,” he said quietly when a minute or two had passed.

  “Where the fuck were you?”

  “I can’t—”

  Whap!

  Renee smacked Julian again. The words trying to find their way out of her lover’s mouth weren’t the words needed to mend their relationship. She couldn’t hear anything other than the truth. Julian needed to s
ay the right things quickly, as things had already gotten ugly, and they didn’t need to get worse.

  With a burning red cheek, Julian took additional deep breaths. “Are you done?”

  “Not even close.” When she spoke, her voice cracked a little.

  She tried her best to hide her emotions and keep them at bay, and although her heart was in shambles, she never showed it or acknowledged it to herself. Recognizing how she felt would result in recognizing she loved Julian more than she loved herself. This was a selfless act no one could foresee. He was her better half, her best friend, her everything. For him not to be there in her time of need crushed Renee and ruined her in ways she couldn’t comprehend. Being in love caused her to lash out when he hurt her. The lines creasing the sides of Renee’s mouth and the story her eyes told screamed pain and abandonment. A small change between soul mates was evident, whether spoken or not, and Julian couldn’t take it, so he turned away, withholding eye contact.

  “Look at me. You had a month of running. Now face me like a man,” Renee told him.

  Look, she thought.

  Julian looked at her.

  “You broke your promise. You promised me you would always be there for me, and like a fool, I believed you! Where were you when that piece of shit’s dick was in my face? What kept you away for so long that it made Jared step into your shoes?” Renee scanned Julian’s eyes, searching for an answer before his tongue and lips gave one. “Where were you?”

  Right then, he wanted to die. Reality was standing in front of him, and what it showed him was crippling. Julian struggled with the various emotions he felt, the questions that being with Renee conjured. In every direction Julian looked, Renee’s past was close to repeating itself. He wanted to punch a hole in the wall and relieve the tension exploding inside him, because he knew that whenever Renee thought back to this moment, she would remember that Jared had been her knight in shining armor. Slowly, past events started to come forward in his mind, and he thought back to when he had promised Renee he would always protect her.