30
Lorenzo’s book release party was held in the ballroom at the Sable Inn. The space was decorated in black from the table cloths to the chair covers to the plates on the tables. The centerpieces even consisted of black roses in black vases. A huge replica of the cover of Bulletproof 3: Origins—a young black male toddler in a t-shirt, jeans, and Timberlands holding a toy gun, with a tilted crown on his head and a pool of blood surrounding his feet—covered a portion of the wall near the room’s entrance, serving as a backdrop for pictures to be taken. A red carpet stretched all the way from the hotel’s front entrance to the ballroom.
Bulletproof 3 was the story of Cali, the villain in book one. In it, readers learn about his life, tragic upbringing, and how he came to be the ruthless drug lord Monty despised. I’d read it and was floored by how good it was despite the fact that I already knew Lorenzo had skills. I was so proud of him, not only for the phenomenal job he did writing the book, but also because this was the first book he released through his own company, Zo Publications (Stylized with a line through the Z in Zo). In attendance were two other authors he’d signed in recent months—Lady Kane and Greg Tremble. I’d read their submissions and truly believed Zo Publications was about to totally change the fiction game.
About thirty lucky readers were invited, and from the way the space was filling up, it looked like they were all there, with a few bringing dates. Also in attendance were more than a few book bloggers, about a dozen book industry movers and shakers—including Lorenzo’s now former agent—a couple of local reporters, Lorenzo’s mother and sister, my sisters and their men, and me. I had invited my mother, but she had other plans, as seemed to always be the case with her recently.
The dress code was all white everything, Lorenzo wore a white tuxedo. I wore a white body-con dress with a plunging v-neckline and off-the-shoulder ruffle frill detail that stopped just above my knees. I looked hot. I mean, I looked scorching hot. I knew I looked hot even before Lorenzo told me. This was something I never would’ve worn before being with him. He just made me feel so damn sexy and comfortable in my skin. Hence, I decided to pair the dress with white, lace-up corset heels.
My ensemble made me look so good, I almost turned myself on.
Instead of my usual ponytail, my bone straight hair was parted in the middle and fell to my shoulders. The only jewelry I wore was a pair of diamond stud earrings Lorenzo had given me as a gift a few weeks into our relationship before I made it plain to him that expensive jewelry wasn’t really my thing. My love language was quality time, not gift giving. And Lorenzo? His, of course, was physical touch.
“Shit, Doc. I don’t know how much longer I’ma be able to let you keep that dress on. You look so good I can’t think straight,” Lorenzo whispered in my ear, as we stood near the entrance greeting guests.
“Really? Do I look that good?”
“You literally look good enough to eat, over and over and over—”
“Hey, daddy! Long time no seeee!”
I frowned at the loud voice coming from…somewhere. I didn’t have to wonder about the source of the outburst long, though, because Sofia Vergara quickly stepped from behind Lorenzo and into view.
I looked at Lorenzo and lifted an eyebrow.
With a frown on his face, he said, “Veda? How the hell you get in here?”
“With this,” she said, holding up an invitation. “I’ve always been a fan, remember, papi? That’s how we met, at one of your book signings. I was one of your randomly selected guests for tonight.”
“Ain’t that a bitch?” he mumbled.
She pursed her lips. “I’m not here to cause no trouble, Zo. I just wanted to congratulate you, even though you’ve been ignoring me.” She shifted her eyes to me. “You could’ve told me you moved on. I mean, all we were doing was fucking, right? It’s not like you cared about me or anything, right?! Right?! RIGHT?! ¡Te odio, idiota Motherfuckerrrrrrr!”
My eyes widened as her voice grew louder and louder and she became more and more unhinged by the second, eyes bugged, arms flailing as she made these wild gestures with her hands, neck rolling, hair swinging from side to side.
Lorenzo looked like he either wanted to run away or disappear. “Veda, don’t do this shit right now. I don’t wanna have to call the cops on you to get you out of here. You’ve got kids.”
“I know I have kids, you fucker! I also have a heart and a soul, unlike you! You just threw me away for-for her?! I gave you allll this pussy repeatedly, repetidamente, and you gonna do me like this?! ¿De verdad?! You sonuvvabitch!”
“You need to leave my mother out of this shit,” Lorenzo shot back.
Then she started strictly speaking Spanish, her words tumbling out of her mouth so fast that it was hard to distinguish one from the other. I knew Spanish, took it in high school and college, and could hold a native speaker a decent conversation, but the only words I could make out were ass, bitch, and something I roughly translated as limp dick. And well, that was when I knew she was a loon. He might’ve been an ass to her, but he definitely wasn’t a bitch, and I’d never known him to have any erectile dysfunction whatsoever. I was a couple of years younger than Lorenzo, and his ever-ready ass stayed wearing me out.
So I tapped him on the shoulder, and when he tore his eyes away from Sofia or Venus or whatever her name was, I said, “I’m going to the ladies’ room. Be right back,” and kissed him on the cheek.
I had barely stepped out of the ballroom when both of my sisters accosted me. “Who is that chica in the Rainbow clearance rack jumpsuit in there all up in your man’s face? Does her ass need to be handled?” Nicky asked. Nicky was so tiny, a strong wind would blow her over, but I didn’t doubt she could probably clamp her legs around a person and get in a couple of good licks.
“Yeah, because ole girl is in there being mad disrespectful!” Angie said.
The two of them followed me into the restroom as I said, “I never confronted those women Robert cheated with and he was my husband. I’m not about to confront one over Zo. He can handle her.”
“Okay, I guess that’s the mature thing to do,” Angie admitted.
“Screw that! We ain’t talking about Robert the Alien Xenomorph here. We’re talking about Lorenzo. Big-ole-thick, sexy-juicy-ass Lorenzo! Girl, you better go peel that Quinceañera ho’ off your man!” Nicky declared.
From inside the stall, I said, “Now you’re exaggerating. She wasn’t even touching him…was she?”
“Shit, your ass left. She could have her tongue down his throat by now!”
“She was going off on him, not trying to screw him.”
“Girl, that chick is muy loco,” Nicky said. “Crazy people’s moods shift like Tennessee weather.”
“Well, Zo wouldn’t let her be all up on him and stuff…He better not let her.”
“Sheeeiiiit, how is he gonna stop her Livin’ La Vida Loca ass in public without catching an assault charge?” Nicky asked.
I finished taking care of my business, flushed, exited the stall, and stepped to the sink to wash my hands. “Well, I’m not fighting her crazy ass. Crazy people have super-human strength.”
“They really do,” Angie agreed.
“Yeah. By the way, you look hot! I can’t believe you picked this out by yourself,” Nicky observed.
“I have taste, baby sis. Just never felt like wearing anything like this before Zo.”
“Mm-hmm, that’s what a good man with some good penis will do. You see Angie’s ass is a world traveler since she got with Ryan, and you up in here finally dressing for that body of yours.” She hesitated and shook her head. “I’m so proud of y’all. I mean, I’m really proud.”
Angie and I kind of looked at each other for a second. I think we were both wondering what was going on with Nicky. She actually sounded kind of sentimental, like she possessed normal human emotions. So after that bit of awkward silence, we both hugged her at the same time.
“You okay, Nicky?” I asked.
She nodded. “It’s just…Nay, that dress almost makes you look like a ho’. I feel like a proud mother right now.”
I backed out of the hug and rolled my eyes. “You are truly a damn lunatic, Nicky.”
Angie just shook her head and left the restroom, followed closely by Nicky with me bringing up the rear. Zo was waiting for me in the hallway by the restroom door.
She stepped out the restroom in that dress, and my dick jumped. I’d never seen anything as gorgeous as my lady was that night. Brown skin almost glowing against that white dress, her cleavage popping out at me, those thick legs shining from her knees to those damn shoes. Those shoes looked like something a dominatrix would wear, and that turned me the hell on.
“She’s gone,” I said, as Renee stepped in front of me.
“How’d you get her to leave?”
“I told her the party is being videotaped and threatened to get a copy to her man.”
She frowned. “Her man? She was up in there clowning like that and she has a man?”
I nodded. “He’s locked up, but she knows I can get a video to him if I really want to. She doesn’t want that because his ass is crazy and she’s supposed to be out here waiting for him.”
“Wow.”
“Doc, I’m sorry. That was fucking embarrassing, and it was my fault. I should’ve answered when she called, told her to move on instead of ignoring her.”
“Yeah, you should have,” she agreed.
“Damn, baby. Really?”
“What? I’m just agreeing with you, but she also should’ve had some self-respect and not acted such a fool.”
“Yeah…look, if you wanna go, we can go.”
She moved closer to me and placed her hands on my chest. “Zo, this is your party. We can’t leave.”
“But—”
“And we’re not going to let some crazy woman ruin it for you. And…your reclusive ass is going back in there whether you want to or not.”
“Damn, you know me too well.”
“Mm-hmm. Look, we’re going to do what I did right after my marriage went to hell and I still had to face the public every day.”
“What’s that?”
“Act like that shit never happened.” She reached for my hand. “Come on, Street. Let’s go get something to drink and rock this party.”
I grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
*****
“Zo, did you do something to my ex-husband?”
We made it home from the party around one in the morning and had both been so exhausted that we fell into bed without taking a shower. I was wide awake, but tried to act like I was asleep.
“I know you’re not sleep.”
Shit. “What, baby?”
“You heard me.”
“Yeah, but what do you mean? Why you think I did something to him?”
“Because I saw him the other day and he literally started running away from me as soon as he saw me.”
“For real? Where’d you see him?”
“At the Langley Shopping Center when I was out trying to find an outfit for your party. I saw him at Elmore’s Department Store. He almost knocked down a whole display of purses trying to get away from me.”
I had to fight hard not to laugh. “Damn, really? Maybe he was just in a hurry.”
“I don’t think so. He had this crazy, panicked look on his face when he saw me, too. The same look I saw on his face at the movie theater that time.”
“What time?”
“The time he ran into those people and knocked them down.”
“That was your ex?”
“You are such a bad actor.”
I chuckled. “Baby, I’m not acting. I didn’t know that was him.”
“And a bad liar.”
“I’m insulted. You think I’m lying?”
“I know you are. And the more I think about it, you probably paid the judge to sign off on my divorce so quickly. You did say you had a few on your payroll in Chicago. A man who can get a video to an inmate can surely pay off a judge here in Tennessee, too.”
Damn. She had really figured my ass out. I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“, Zo?”
“Why are you asking about this now? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
“I can’t sleep. Still wired from the party, and it’s been on my mind for a few days now. Just decided I’d ask. What’d you do to him?”
“Does it matter? What difference does it make?”
“I wanna know.”
I sighed and eased her off my chest so that I could sit up in the bed. “Me and Rell just scared him, messed with his head a little bit. Told him to stop fucking around and give you the divorce. And yes, I paid the judge off.”
A couple of minutes of silence passed, and then she finally said, “Why?”
“Why? Because…shit, because I wanted you to be free so we could get together. And because he was breaking you down. I could see it at that benefit. You looked like you were being tortured.”
“I was,” she said softly.
“Yeah, well, that shit pissed me the hell off, and I couldn’t let him get away with it. I couldn’t let him keep hurting you, so I showed him how it feels to be messed with like he was messing with you. Showed him how it feels to have no control over a situation.”
More silence.
Our bedroom was dark, so I couldn’t see her face, and I half expected her to get up and leave or something, although I hoped she wouldn’t. When I felt her move, my damn heart fell. This was why I’d kept it from her. She had morals. Of course she would think what I did was wrong, and maybe it was, but if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t change a damn thing. That asshole deserved it. He deserved worse.
When I felt her slide her hand into my boxers and grasp me, I jumped. And when she positioned herself so that she was straddling one of my legs, I could feel the warmth of her naked treasure and my shit instantly sprang to attention. She wrapped her mouth around me, and my big ass gasped. This was definitely not the reaction I was expecting.
She gripped me, taking me deeper and deeper into her mouth, causing me to sink into the mattress and close my eyes. My hand found her head, and I groaned as she slid me out of her mouth.
“Doc, what are you doing?” I mumbled, not really expecting an answer.
“Thanking you,” she said, and then slid me into her mouth again.
“Oh, daaaaamn! Shit! Woooooo, shit!” I wished I could see her, but that would’ve probably sent me right over the edge. I didn’t want what I was feeling to end that quickly.
She massaged and sucked until I knew I was going to explode. “Baby, I’m about to—”
She didn’t stop, wouldn’t stop, even when I tried to move away from her.
I stiffened, went deaf and blind for about a minute, actually stopped breathing for a few seconds, and then felt her kiss her way up to my mouth. “Thank you, Zo.”
Through heaving breaths, I said, “Marry me, Doc.”
“Are you asking me to marry you because I just—”
“No, no, I was going to ask you at the party tonight. I had it all planned out but scrapped everything after Veda showed her ass. I have a ring and everything. Hold up.”
My legs were kind of weak, but I managed to get up and find the tuxedo jacket I’d tossed on a chair in a corner and dug the ring out of the pocket. Then I turned on the lamp next to my side of the bed to see that she was crying.
I climbed back in the bed and pulled her to me. “Doc, why you crying, baby?”
“Because—ask me again.”
I held up the ring. “Will you marry me?”
“Zo, I’m scared.”
“I know, but remember what I told you? I’m not him. You can believe in me.”
She nodded. “You didn’t let me finish. I’m scared, but I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
She nodded. “Yes, I’ll marry you. But can we have a long engagement. Like a year?”
“Whatever you want.”
I slid the ring on her finger, and she kissed me again.
“Thank you. Zo. For everything.”
“No, baby. Thank you.”