T R U T H
" B U T B A B E I ' M C O L D A N D Y E A H
T H I S L I F E I S C O L D."
Solana
T H R E E D A Y S L A T E R
"I told you you're not coming, Kingston. Don't argue it." I groaned and walked around my room putting on earrings I bought and tightened up my robe as I sat on my bed.
"Why though? You act like I'm gonna be a distraction to you. I could be, but I know how to act, unless you tryna hide me." He sat next to me and pulled me towards him.
Isis managed to get the entire charity event together in a matter of days, I'm not surprised by it cause I knew that she worked fast. But I had an hour till I had to show up and give some grand ass explanation for why I decided to wait till now to do this and my future plans. Kingston took it upon himself to show up at my place so that he could come.
"Because, the world doesn't need to know what we have going on. I don't want to share you just yet." I pouted and put my hands on his shoulders.
I knew I was lying. I just didn't want to be bothered with him being there. He had this big ass idea that him being with me gave him some sort of power, but it didn't. He was just a good time.
"Come on, Lana. It's not like we gotta show up together." He mumbled against my shoulder. "I can show up later; I just wanna see your fine ass in that dress." He kissed my jaw and chuckled against it.
"Fine." I huffed and pushed him away. "I'll send you all the information but don't come on any funny business. This is serious for me." I pointed at him.
"I'll see you then, babygirl." He chuckled and stood up from the bed, walking out of my room. I didn't take my robe off until I heard my front door close and I knew he was gone.
Letting it hit the floor, I walked over to my closet and grabbed the red dress that was hanging against the wall.
"Why aren't you dressed yet?" Savanna came up the steps and leaned against the wall. "You take the longest to get ready, but you're up here naked in some damn earrings." She chuckled and crossed her arms.
"It's my house, I can walk around naked if I wanted too. I pay the bills." I joked. "But seriously, because King was up here annoying me about coming tonight. I told him he can come but he's not walking with me. This night is about me not him." I grabbed the dress from the hanger and slid into it. Savana came behind me to help me zip it up before patting my shoulder, letting me know that she's done.
"I don't like him." She rolled her eyes. "He's hella annoying and acts like a little boy. I'd beat his ass if you let me."
I smiled and shook my head. "I need him for pleasure purposes. Whenever I decide I'm done, you do what you wanna do. How's everything go with your new man?" I wiggles my eyebrows and sat back on my bed, adjusting the gold heels on my feet.
"Girl," she held her chest and her eyes fluttered. "Tommy is something else. He's cute, has money, all about his family, tall... he had me completely by the time we got to his car. I'd have his babies and all."
"So are you seeing him again?"
"Next week. He wanted to meet up tonight but I told him that I had plans with my girls, and I asked him if he'd want to meet up earlier today, but he had plans too. We figured next week on Tuesday would be pretty good." She shrugged and fixed the strap on her long black dress. "You look good by the way, you must be trying to get something by the end of tonight—"
"Cut it out." I laughed and shook my head. "It's simple enough to be classy, but the slit is my favorite."
I took the rollers out of my hair and let the curls fall past my shoulders, running my fingers through them
So they'd look a little more loose. I didn't wanna do red lipstick; it would be too typical. So I decided to wear a nude-brown shade.
"What's taking so long up here?! You know it's gonna take us at least thirty minutes to get there and you're both up here just chilling—" Lauryn interrupted, holding the hem of her olive green dress so that she wouldn't step on it. "Get your asses up!"
"Y'know... for you to be the youngest, you sure like to act like you're older than the rest of us." Savanna grabbed her clutch and flicked Lauryns ear.
"It's my job, you whore. Now let's go, please! Plan ahead ladies!" She grabbed my hands and led me out of my room and down the steps. "Isis didn't plan all this shit for nothing!"
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We made it in time to the event despite the traffic that we weren't warned about. As soon as I walking in, everyone's eyes fell on me and I didn't know if it was for the right or wrong reasons. Maybe some of them were expecting a man? Maybe a white woman? I don't know.
"Is Isis gonna show up?" Savanna mumbled to me while we walked towards the entrance where everyone stood.
"She should be, don't be surprised if she shows up with Bakari. I'm sure he'll pull some shit tonight." I mumbled back and wrapped my arms around her and Lauryns waist while some asked for pictures for the event. Isis went all out. The charity was in a art museum and even had reporters and cameras out front to make sure that this got all the attention it would need.
I walked over towards one of the men who called me over and he smiled kindly. "Ms. Farris, this is an important moment for you. This is your first time stepping out publicly and making your presence known for the things hat you do and plan on doing. How does it feel?" He pointed the mic in my direction, waiting for my answer.
"It's a great feeling." I smiled. "It's something that I'm glad I decided to do, and at the end of the day; I wouldn't want this to be all about me, but also about the charities and stocks that are involved. It'll be different to be out in the public since everyone know now; but I don't take it for granted." I smiled but stopped when I felt two hands go towards my waist.
"Mr. Jordan, it's great to see you here supporting a great cause." The interviewer smiled. I looked up at Bakari and mentally rolled my eyes. If I could break his hands right here? I would without a doubt. "Have you met Ms. Farris previously, or are you just as surprised as the rest of us."
"No," he chucked and shook his head. "Ms. Farris and I have a little bit of history with each other, don't we, Solana?" He looked down at me and tightened his grip on my waist.
"A bittersweet one." I managed a smile. "It's nice to see you here, Michael."
"Can we get a picture of you both? You two look amazing."
"Of course; you don't mind do you, Solana? You look beautiful tonight." Michael egged on the conversation. If I said no in front of cameras at this very moment? I'd look like a bitch, and that's not what I needed for this exact moment. Once again, he knew what he was doing.
"Sure." I smiled but said through gritted teeth.
We took a few steps back and his hand stayed on my waist while mine was on his back. "You look good, babygirl. Glowing and everything." He mumbled in my ear, pretending to move a piece of my hair before I glared at him. "You got all dressed up cause you knew I'd show up, didn't you?"
"I already gave you a warning shot, don't make me kill your ass next." I smiled through my gritted teeth and he did the same. They managed to get at least six pictures before I walked inside only for him to follow me. "I hope you're here because you have my money, baby." I kept walking, knowing that his eyes were glued on me still as I turned the corner.
"I meant it when I said I'm not giving you a damn thing. I just came to see what you're up to and see your ass in a dress. You did all that complaining but prison did your ass good." I turned to look at him and cocked my head to the side.
"You don't know what the hell I went through while I was in there, so your comments aren't needed unless it's about paying me—"
"Lana." I turned around to see Bryson and Isis walking towards us. I smiled gently at him and he hugged me, rubbing my back. "Damn, It's good to see you." He held both of my hands and chuckled. Isis smiled at me and kissed my cheek. I knew she couldn't say much without giving it away that we never lost touch.
"You could've came to see me while I was in prison; it wasn't off limits to you; but your bum ass friend over here, decided that I didn't matter enough." I smiled sarcastically.
"You know how he is." Bryson mumbled to me, making me smile. "Congratulations on everything, Lana. I'm sorry we lost touch. I heard you shot at my nigga though, you gotta chill firecracker. I can't have both of y'all hurting each other."
"Too late for that." Isis mumbled, making Bryson look at her and shake his head.
"This one didn't even know about you getting out. I thought y'all were hella close too. It's whatever though. We're gonna go sit down, congrats again." He smiled at me and let Isis hand go so that she could hug me.
"You're gonna do great, and everything running smoothly." She whispered to me and I nodded my head before kissing her cheek. She pulled away and smiled before going back to Bryson, wrapping her arm in his as they walked off.
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"Thank you all for coming out tonight." I smiled and spoke into the mic on the podium. Lauryn and Savanna sat in front of me at our table, while Bakari sat at a table on the far right with Isis and Bryson; along with his other company members. His eyes never left mine along with the glass that was in his right hand.
"The past few years have been a whirlwind with keeping so much a secret with what I've had planned. But I can honestly say that I did so, because being in the public eye really isn't my thing." I laughed and they did as well. "But, I figured that it was time to show my face, and make something out of these stocks and companies that I've privately been part of for all these years." I cleared my throat.
"So, I, Solana Farris; am here to discuss what's to come of the future. I chose to support a charity for at risk youth who've been abandoned, or may simply have no where to turn in any way, shape, or form. The Farris Foundation will not turn down any youth, we will work to make sure that they will have a place to stay, food to eat, and guidance to be given." They began to clap.
"You might ask, what will differ from this foundation and foster care? The difference is, age will not be a factor for the youth. I have experienced first hand how it feels to be alone at a young age, and the empty feeling at the age of eighteen; and no child should go through such thing. For those who are minors, they will have proper housing and care in the buildings that I plan on having built to support them; as well as a job to help teach them the importance of finance for those who are of age, as well as educational and life skill needs being met. For those who are eighteen and older, I plan on having apartments to be constructed on the same grounds; giving them their own sense of independence, yet support."
"Any amount of donations that will be given on tonight, will be matched by my own stock team and personal funds. Thank you all for coming out, not only for myself; but for those you'll be helping in the long run. Enjoy the rest of your night, enjoy the food, drinks, and music. And please, at the end of the night? Drive safely." I grinned and received an applause. One of the men who worked for me helped me down the steps as I took my seat at the table and sighed.
"You did good, Lana!" Lauryn beamed and hugged my side. "You're doing a good thing... even though you're gang banging on the side, sling drugs, and kill people... you're still doing a good thing."
"Gee, thanks Lauryn." I chuckled and shook my head. I looked at the donations board and noticed that the donations were going up by the minute. I knew that if I was gonna be on my bullshit, the least I could do was start a foundation that means something to me to cover up.
The music started to slow down and more string instruments started to play from the corner. A few people started to get up and dance, and I felt a hand on my shoulder and a light squeeze on it. "You did good up there, babygirl." I already knew it was Bakari. "Wanna introduce me to your friends?"
I rolled my eyes and felt Savanna knee me under the table. "This is Lauryn, and this is Savanna." I pointed to them both and he raised his eyebrow.
"Savanna?" He smirked.
"You say my name as if you know me, because I don't know you." She crossed her arms.
"I don't know you, sweetheart. But I've heard of you through a friend. But that's a story for... a more appropriate time. It's nice to meet you, Lauryn." He nodded at her.
"I'm sure."
"You have a tough group around you; mind if I steal a dance with you? A quickie."
"No—"
"She will." Lauryn nudged my shoulder and my eyes widened at her. She really just threw me to the sharks right now.
He took my hand and smirked, walking away from the table. I chewed at my cheek and rolled my eyes at everyone who was watching us and pretty much gawking, mumbling about how cute we looked or someone being jealous, but if they only knew.
I thought that he was going g to have me somewhere in the middle of the floor but we were off to the side where not many could see us. His hands found my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck, glaring up at him. "Cheer up a little, mamas. You just gave a good speech; I wouldn't wanna ruin your night."
"Trust me, my night won't be ruined, but I'd love it even more if you weren't here— I knew you'd show up though. I feel like you like testing me."
"I told you that you'd be seeing more of me since you decided to make your presence known and pull that little fucking stunt." He presses my chest closer to his.
"How's that gash doing, by the way? Hmm?" I cocked my head to the side.
"Healing." He smirked and started to drift us away from everyone else even more. "But I can promise you won't be doing that again. I got a little proposition for you, Lana."
"If it doesn't involve my cut—"
"I wanna invest in your foundation."
I stopped moving and looked at him. He smirked at me and licked his lips. "Cats got your tongue now? You weren't this quiet a few days ago when you popped up at my house."
"I don't want you investing in any of my shit. I know the games you play, did you forget that? These mind games and all of that shit isn't new to me." I pushed him away from me. "Remember who taught me this game? You. You can't use your mind games on me, Michael." His back hit the wall and he bit his lip, pulling me by my arm towards him so that our chests were touching.
"Wanna explain to me how your little friend Lauryn hacked into my shit?" He held my jaw, slowly applying pressure to it.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I shrugged and looked at him with a blank face. He chuckled and shook his head, turning us so that my back was slammed against the wall.
"You talk about me, but that innocent shit doesn't work. Remember who was the one who turned you out to this world. I'm not stupid. I know you wouldn't do it cause it would be too obvious, and Savanna doesn't even look capable. So it only leaves her. You told her my shit?"
"Aw," I pouted and ran my hand down his chest. "Are you upset, baby? I'm surprised you didn't change it sooner."
He looked down at me and shook his head, moving his lips down towards my ear. "You better be lucky that I didn't take care of her ass the second I figured it was her—"
I frowned and reached up the slit of my dress, pulling out the gun that was strapped around my thigh and pointed it under his jaw. "You men really love to try me." I spoke through gritted teeth. "Come at me all you want to, but her? She's off limits. If I ever find out you or any of your bitch ass friends put their hands on her I swear to God, Michael—" my voice started to quiver.
"Oh, so you still do have feelings huh?" He grinned and bit his lip again. "Is she your soft spot now?" I kept the gun under his chin and looked him square in the eye. He was testing me again and he came so close to breaking me. "I won't hurt your friend as long as you keep them away from my shit and know your place in my city."
"I've been doing whatever I wanted to do in your city. You think your the only one who has people out here?" I chuckled and shook my head. "Only difference between mine and yours is that we know how to move in silence. You look nice though, sweetheart. You clean up good when you wanna." I teased him and ran my fingers across his neck. A husky chuckle came from his lips as he lifted me up from the ground, my legs going around his waist as he took up the left over room that was between us.
"I'm trying so hard to keep my patience with you, Solana and you make it harder every time some slick shit comes from those pretty ass lips of yours, baby."
"I'll stop if you give me my cut."
"I guess you're gonna keep going then."
"Let me ask you something." I cooed and traced my white nails along his bottom lip. "You said that you knew of Savanna. Wanna explain that to me?"
He smirked and shook his head. "I guess we are gonna be seeing a lot more of each other." He brushed his lips against my fingers, wrapping my hands around his neck as his lips went towards my neck, placing kisses against it that lit the fire in me back up from years ago. "Your friend fucked my friend." He mumbled as he brought his lips towards my ear. My eyes instantly widened and I felt anger pouring into me. "And damn, I know we're not cool right now, but with the way you're looking right at this moment? I wouldn't hesitate to fuck you right up against this wall, babygirl."
"Where's your friend." I asked, ignoring his comment. At this point, I wanted to shoot his ass dead because he probably knew.
"Not telling you that." He mumbled and pulled away. "Only other bit of information I'm giving you is that if you think that I'm not watching you now, you're wrong. Just like you've been keeping tabs on me? I'll keep them on you two. And I'll be at your new office Monday morning to go over plans. I figured I'd donate some of the workers from my business to help you get some things started."
"I don't need your help!" I yelled and pushed against his chest. "I only want one thing and you refuse to give it to me, so you know what? I'm tired of asking. Now? I'm taking."
"Are you making threats? You know I don't like that shit, love. And we both know I play dirty. I have no problem with doing that. Do you remember who I am?"
"Yes I do, but baby boy you have no clue who I am. We can play dirty; I prefer it that way. I just want my cut."
"And I want half of your states." He cocked his head.
I looked at him and laughed, shaking my head. "You've got me fucked up, Bakari. I put in work to get and maintain that shit while I was in prison up until now. You can't have power over everything."
"Baby, I'm a kingpin. I get whatever the hell I want sooner or later, and I prefer sooner."
"And I'm a fucking queenpin, don't test me."
"I've been looking for you." We both turned our heads and I wanted to just scream. Kingston stood to the side watched us.
"Who's this nigga?" Bakari looked him up and down before laughing. "Is this the nigga that's meant to replace me? Wow." He shook his head, but didn't let my legs go from around his waist.
"Aye, chill with all that." Kingston rolled his eye and Bakari's eyes widened a little.
"You know what, imma let that slide for the night, lil nigga. I don't wanna spill any blood at a charity event, so pipe all that fake-tuff shit down." He finally let my legs fall and I glared up at him.
"Remember what I said, babygirl." He mumbled in my ear before taking my jaw back in his large hands and kissed me, swirling his tongue around in my mouth, making me groan against his lips. No matter how badly I hated him and wanted to kill him, my body would always know how to react towards him. I could feel him smirking against my lips before taking my bottom one between his teeth and pulling away, making a 'pop' sound.
"See you Monday." He winked at me and chuckled, pushing my gun towards my thigh. "You might wanna put this away too."
He turned to look at Kingston who was watching us with a pissed expression, but he knew better than to retaliate on Bakari. He could kill somebody with his bare hands if he wanted. "I'll be seeing you too, lil man." He walked away and rubs his hands together, licking his lips.
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Bryson
"How did you like the event?" I asked Isis when we made it back home. She was in her favorite black night gown and sitting on my lap while my hands were running up and down her back.
"It was great." She hummed and turned to face me, wrapping her legs around my waist and nuzzling her face into my shoulder. "It was nice to finally see Solana after all these years."
I chuckled and shook my head, making her pull away and look at me, frowning. "You can lie to everybody else, Isis. But you can't lie to me, we've been together too long for that." I bit my lip and looked at her.
"Tell me the truth?"
"About?"
"You knew Solana was out of prison this entire time, didn't you? You both were too close to just lose contact like that. When he called us that day and asked, I had a feeling something wasn't right." I rubbed my hands up and down her thighs and she laughed.
"Baby, I really don't know—"
"We don't lie to each other, remember? We agreed that after I told you what I really did for a living, that we wouldn't lie to each other. I promised, and you promised. So tell me the truth."
She bit at her lip, not wanting to say anything, and I understood why. Solana was her best friend; exactly like how Bakari's mine. She probably felt like if she told me, I'd run and tell him. But I couldn't do that. At the end of the day, she was my wife, and she mattered more than any of this.
"I won't tell Bakari anything—"
"I didn't like the way he just left her there." She blurted out, looking down at her hands. "Solana literally gave up everything for Bakari. And I love him like a brother; but wrong is wrong. She gave up her family, the idea of her even starting their own, risked her education, killed for him and took his own fucking charge!" Her eyes started to water, but they were frustrated tears.
"I wasn't about to just let her sit in that cell with nothing and not knowing what to do or what was going on— what he was doing behind her back. She deserved better than that."
That's when it clicked.
"You got her those states?"
"I did what I had to do to make sure she was taken care of. She wasn't just his family, she was mine too; and I take care of mine at any cost."
"Why didn't you wanna tell me? You know that no matter what, I wouldn't have said anything to Bakari. What he did was wrong— I've been trying to get him to see that till this day; but you know how he is, he's a hard nut to crack— just like Lana."
"It was hard for me to live a double life with this stuff, I didn't want you to live it too. And I know that my loyalty is with Bakari; but the very second they said they loved each other and meant it, my loyalty was with both of them. Solana is my girl, don't tell him and don't be mad at me." She looked at me and held my face in her hands.
I smiled and kissed her, laying back on the bed and pulling her closer to me. "I won't. If you feel like you did the right thing, I can't argue with that. I just want them to get it together. I feel like the love is still
There." I sighed and looked up at the ceiling while she placed kisses down my neck towards my chest.
"It's always been there. Solana is just hurt and she just pushed the whole word 'love' out of her mind and I understand completely why she did."
I grabbed her arms and pulled her back up to face me and she giggled. "Damn, you know I love you."
"I love you too, Bry." She laughed and straddled my waist, wiggling her hips. I chuckled and ran my fingers against her chocolate skin that matched mine and smirked.
"Show me how much you love me?"
She bit her lip and grinned, putting her hands on my chest and coming closer to me; close enough so that our lips were inches apart. "I always show you how much I love you, how about you show me how much you love me, hmm?" She kissed me sensually, running her hand down to grab my dick through the sweats I had on.
I groaned and turned us over so that I was on top of her and kissed down her neck, making her squeal. "Not a problem."
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CHAPTER EDITED
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What are we thinking of Bryson and Isis's relationship? Those are my bbs
And problematic Lana and Bakari 😂
Everybody keeps asking and nah, Janiece is frfr dead, y'all. Sis is 6 feet under 😂
How do you think things are gonna go when Bakari pops up to meet with Lana?
| VOTE & COMMENT |