Page 48 of Own It

“ErrTime” by Cardi B was playing in the background as Rakim and I entered the mansion party.

“Oh . . . shit!” Josias approached, bucking his eyes at his older brother.

“Be chill,” Rakim told him, slapping hands with his brother while Josias kept his eyes pinned on me.

“Welcome.” He spoke in an uppity accent while reaching to shake my hand, making me laugh.

“Thanks, Josias.”

Zaire greeted us both, and as he embraced me, I felt eyes on me. When I saw it was Ayan, not even caring that his woman was on his arm—if that was even her—I promptly looked away. I did, however, overhear her comment on his wandering eye but couldn’t make out what he’d said in return. His tone told me he’d admonished her for speaking up, though I couldn’t detect his actual words.

“Are we gonna wish your dad happy birthday?” I questioned.

“No,” Rakim answered, and when I noticed his father, Nate, I was thankful. He was a large man, looking almost seven feet tall and not the least bit skinny. When he looked over at me standing beside his son, I was frozen with fright. He gave me a bad vibe like his son Ayan. “Enjoy the party but stay close.” Rakim let my arm go, and I wanted to grab onto him but decided against it.

I knew people would have more questions if I was hanging off Rakim the whole night. I watched him for a minute, then ventured to the buffet table to grab a plate before taking a seat at one of the empty tables. I’d contemplated possibly escaping but quickly changed my mind. These heels were no joke, and if Rakim caught me, I knew there would be hell to pay.

Speaking of him, I kept noticing Rakim watching me at different angles of the room. He seemed to always know where I was, even if engrossed in conversation. His hawking didn’t feel possessive in a captor way; it felt like more of a protection tactic. His eyes on me constantly made me relax some.

As I bit into my garlic parmesan wing that tasted fucking amazing, a woman with a strong floral perfume sat down with her own plate.

“Them wings are bomb, huh?” She chuckled, tossing her long cornrows behind her back. She was pretty with chocolate skin, full lips, and a face full of skillfully applied makeup.

“They are.” I smiled.

“I’m Tarin, Josias’ baby mama and girlfriend.”

“Oh.” I reacted before I could think about it, but thankfully, she didn’t register it. The few times I’d encountered Josias, he hadn’t acted like he had a girlfriend. “I’m Daylin. Nice to meet you. How long have you been with Josias?”

I wanted to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they only recently rekindled, which would explain why the nigga acted so damn single during the times I’d seen him.

“Girl! Years! We have two kids together.” She bit into her chicken wing, so I did the same. “I’m just happy his other baby mama didn’t get invited.” She rolled her eyes. “Jojo is all about family and be trying to include her whack ass in everything.”

“Oh, okay. How many kids does he have?” I inquired.

“Just three, but I’m the first,” she stated proudly for some reason.

“I see.” I ate some more of my food. “You and his other baby mama must not get along.”

I hated when women allowed men to pit them against one another, but it was an issue as old as time.

“Nope, because Kasia knew that was my man, and yet she still slept with him and got pregnant like the whore she is.”

If that were true, I understood her disdain for whomever Kasia was, but she should’ve had that same smoke for Josias. Unless Kasia stole his sperm, somehow, but not only had Tarin confirmed that they actually had sex, but I’d seen Josias in the wild, and he wasn’t exactly demure nor chaste. The nigga had invited Morgin to a party then had a whole nother woman in his face. Neither of those ladies was Tarin.

“I see.” I kept it cute.

I didn’t know Tarin well enough to be expounding on my thoughts and beliefs. Nor did I know the actual situation. Not to mention, I didn’t give a fuck. I planned to never see this damn family again once released, . . . if released.

“So which Godfrey are you fucking?” She propped her elbow up onto the table, looking into my eyes skeptically. “It’s not Jojo, right?”

“Um, no, it’s actually none of them. I’m a friend of a friend you could say.” I shrugged, hoping she didn’t get any more suspicious than she appeared to be.

Same time, I didn’t think she cared about anything other than Josias. Long as I wasn’t fucking him, she didn’t give a damn who I was or how I came to be.

“Okay, well good.” She looked around just as I did, turning away when I noticed Rakim watching me. A smile tugged at my lips for some reason along with a slight stir in my lower belly. “Girl, he is watching you!”

“Who?” I played dumb, trying not to look at the women who kept constantly trying their hand at holding conversation with Rakim. It bothered me, and I wasn’t sure why, but I noticed I kept cutting my eyes his way, leg bouncing impatiently because I didn’t want him to look or be interested in them.