“You beat him, did you? For slapping me across the face.”
He doesn’t respond until it’s our time to place our rose on the casket.
“I did. He knows now not to verbally or physically abuse you anymore.” He removes a few strands of my hair from my face.
A few other underbosses offer Devious their condolences.
Aiden strides to him, whispers something in his ear and Devious nods. Aiden waves at me then I wave back, then Devious ushers me to the car. King is already in the driver’s seat. “Thank you, Roselyn. I couldn’t do this without you,” Devious murmurs.
I nod. “You’re welcome.”
My feet hurt from wearing these ridiculous heels and I groan as I remove them, tossing them onto the black carpet. I stroke the back of my heels. Devious takes my feet and massages my heel.
“Is this better?”
“Oh, God. It is. Honestly, I don’t understand how women wear this shit or why men find them appealing.”
“It makes your legs appear longer.”
“You like long legs?”
“I like everything about you from your hair all the way to your toes. Even the way you smack your food.”
“I don’t smack.” I pout.
“You chew louder than horse.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatever. Well you have stinking feet. There I said it.”
Devious bursts out laughing.
We drive in silence and he continues stroking the heels of my feet. His touch wants me to want him to touch me everywhere. We haven’t had sex for a week and I’m not going to lie, I kinda miss his dick inside of me. The thickness and hardness of it. I still remember it throbbing inside of me as my pussy pulse around it. Shifting uncomfortably, he rubs my thigh.
“From now on, you sleep in the bed with me,” he states.
“Really?” I say with excitement.
“Yeah, you earned it.”
Guilt rages in my chest at his words. Slowly, I’m earning his trust and all I want to do is leave him. Maybe this is his game to make me feel guilty for wanting to escape him. Since he got hurt, he has treated me a lot better. Marla said if I act right, he’ll treat me right. I’ve never been so confused in my life.
I want to bring up Shelby, but it’s not my place and he already told me the subject is off limits.
But, still. I want to know what happened to her. Does he still love her? I want to know more about the man I gave my virtue to. I’m quite jealous of a dead girl who got the sweet side of Devious and I got the mean side of him. I guess that’s what I get for trying to kill him.
“You’re hungry?” he asks.
“Yes.”
He glares at me.
“Yes, sir.”
“Take us to Ocean Blue on 59th street,” Devious tells King.
“Yes sir,” King responds.
We are quiet on the way to the restaurant. I’ve never been on a date.
“Wait. Is this a date?”
“Yeah,” he answers, and I didn’t realize I blurt out what I was thinking.
We arrive at an expensive restaurant and once we walk in, the hostess recognized Devious and shows us to our booth. The restaurant is romantic with lit candles. Devious hands me the menu and it’s written in fancy script. I’ve never been to a elegant restaurant. I set the menu down and Devious is still staring at the menu and I watch as people fill the dance floor. The setting is for people who are in love. Something we will never be.
The waitress bats her eyes at Devious, offering her white smile.
“What would you like to eat?”
He tells her what we both want, and she leaves. We’re quiet as Devious unfolds a napkin, placing it on my lap.
“I’ve never been to a fancy restaurant like this.” I say, fiddling with the black tablecloth
“None of your exes took you out?”
I shake my head. “I’ve never hung out with them. They didn’t have much interest in me because I was going to be their trophy wife and bear their children. Papa wanted me to mold into something I wasn’t.”
“Oh, yeah. who?”
“Someone’s wife.”
“What would you be doing if you weren’t married to me?”
“Being a street Artist. It doesn’t pay a lot, but I don’t care. I’m not doing it for the money.”
“What did you do in Atlanta when you ran away for six months?”
I lean back in the chair and roll my eyes. Papa told him every little thing I did. “I lived in an apartment with a group of other girls and we partied. I didn’t want to marry Umberto. Papa wanted me to. He was a sweet guy and always bought me roses.”
He smirks. “Umberto is not a nice guy, Roselyn.”
“Were you close to him?”
“I know all my underbosses personally and Umberto is mean, he wraps it up in a facade.”
“You’re bold with your meanness.”
He nods. “Why pretend? People are going to eventually figure out who you are.”
The waitress brings us our meal.
“Tell me more about Shelby?” I ask.
“She’s dead, ancient history.”
He grabs my crab legs showing me how to break the shell, then he feeds me a piece of meat. The meat tastes juicy and sweet, and so good. We talk about our dislikes and likes. Apparently, Radiohead and System of the Down is his favorite rock group, and rap music is my favorite genre, and Kendrick Lamar and Drake are my favorite rappers. We both agree horror and psychological thriller is the best genre whether it’s books or movies. I eye the dance floor, wanting to move my hips to the music. It’s a love song from the nineties.
“Let’s dance,” Devious asks, standing up from the table, holding out his hand.
“Oh no, I can’t. I don’t know how.”
“I’ll teach you.” Then he yanks me out of the chair.
He pulls me close, resting both hands on my lower back and my cheeks burning with anticipation. My pulse accelerates as his dick digs into my stomach. He rests his chin on the top of my head and
