by A'zayler
“What?”
“I was screaming for you. All I wanted was you. I was screaming for you because I knew that you would save me. My first instinct should not be to call on you first.”
Demoto scooted down some in the bed and wrapped his arm around her body. He kissed her nose and lips before leaning down to place kisses on her bare belly. She wore nothing but a bra and panties, so her whole body was pretty much exposed.
“Yes it should. You did the right thing. I’ll always save you. I’m sure I’ve proven that by now.”
Taryn’s head moved up and down, making her scarf slide around her head. “I know, that’s why I love you.”
“I hope that ain’t the only reason.” Demoto tickled her stomach, and she fell over in laughter.
“It’s not. I also love you because I know you’ll go get me water at three o’clock in the morning.”
Taryn smiled as Demoto looked at the clock on their dresser. She was right. It was 3:07am, and he was throwing the covers off of him to go to the kitchen. He walked down the hall in nothing but his briefs. Even though Taryn had asked him to get her some water, he needed some too. He also needed a moment to catch his breath.
Since getting the contract on her, his nerves had been shot out. He could hardly focus on anything else. He didn’t want to be off his square and allow someone to catch him slipping. He was no fool. He knew how Double O worked. If he didn’t take the contract, there was only a matter of time before it was given to someone else.
They had rules and they wouldn’t wait long to implement them. The only thing he hated was the fact that in his contract with Double O, it specifically stated that he couldn’t deny a kill. It was either kill or be killed, and that shit was driving him insane. He would easily lay down his life for Taryn, but the fact that she would be left unprotected with his kids, made him want to throw up his insides.
Demoto blew out a long, frustrated breath as he took a drink from the bottle of water he’d just grabbed out of the refrigerator. He leaned against the counter for a minute, trying to digest what was going on around him. He had a few more hours before his killing spree started. Though it seemed a bit extreme when he’d told Bradley about it, he was serious. There were no outs when it came to his family.
If she had to die, then so would everyone else. He’d gone through his computer a couple of times before bed, trying to see if he could gain access to the contract, but he couldn’t. No matter what he tried, it locked him out every time. Demoto stared at nothing in particular as he tried to think of a plan in his head. He had to figure it out. Defeat wasn’t an option for him.
As he figured she would be, Taryn was knocked out sleep when he went back into their room. He had stopped to check on Ayo along the way, and now he was crawling back into bed behind Taryn. He snuggled his face into her hair and closed his eyes. There was no way in the world he was going to fold and let her life be taken. The moment his eyes opened in the morning, he was going full throttle. He would get this shit handled one way or another.
*****
“So, you’re not going to tell us why you wanted us over here this early?” Kia asked Buck.
She and Taryn were seated at the small table in his kitchen watching him cook. He had called them both and asked them to come over for breakfast so that he could feel his granddaughters. Though his invitation was suspicious, neither of them turned down food. That would have just been unheard of. They had been eating Jacko and Demoto out of house and home with the girls in their bellies.
“I know it ain’t just to eat.” Taryn stuffed a piece of bacon in her mouth. “Not that I’m complaining or anything.”
Buck smiled and handed her another piece of bacon. “I just wanted to spend some time with y’all. That’s all.”
“Lies people tell.” Kia narrowed her eyes at him before taking the biscuit he’d just extended to her.
When Buck turned around to the stove, Kia hit Taryn’s hand and nodded her head toward Buck. What you think this about? She mouthed to her. Taryn shrugged before mouthing back. Probably his little girlfriend. Kia’s eyes got big as she nodded her head. She snapped her fingers as realization set in.
“Daddy, this wouldn’t happen to be about our new stepmother would it?” Kia asked, sweetly.
Buck paused a moment too long for her liking and gave himself away. He could do a lot of things, but play hard and lie to his girls wasn’t one of them. He turned around with a large smile on his face. Taryn and Kia both screamed.
“Dadddddy.”
He laughed and sat a plate filled with food in front of both of them. “I had to get y’all over here some kind of way. I think it’s time that you meet her.”
“Where she at?” Taryn looked at Buck.
“She’ll be here in a minute. She was a little nervous about meeting y’all, but I promised that you guys would be on your best behavior.” He eyed them both.
“That’s her. Not me.” Taryn pointed at Kia.
“It sure is, and I ain’t ashamed of it.” Kai tooted her mouth up.
“Stop it, Kia.”
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try. Where you meet her at?”
Buck looked away quickly. “Mutual friend.”
His reaction didn’t sit well with Kia, but the doorbell had just rang, so she dismissed it for a minute. Clearly it was time for her to meet her new stepmother. Buck went to answer the door as Kia and Taryn sat at the table eating. They could hear voices, but they weren’t clear enough to make out what was being said. With their eyes trained on the door, both girls waited to see who would come in. When she finally rounded the corner, both of their mouths fell open.
“Ms. Deon, what are you doing here? You better not be my daddy’s girlfriend.” Taryn recovered first.
Deon smiled bashfully and nodded her head. “That would be me.”
“No it ain’t either. Nope. No. Un uh.” Kia shook her head. “The two of y’all will not make a mockery out of my husband and me. So whatever it is y’all have going on, y’all might as well dismiss it.” Kia’s voice was serious as she looked at Buck and Deon.
“Kia,” Buck sighed.
“No, Daddy. How in the world am I going to be married to my stepbrother? That makes no sense at all. I guess the two of y’all just didn’t care how me and Jacko felt about this, huh?”
Kia looked at her father and Jacko’s mother and got disgusted. Where in their right mind did they think what they were doing was right?
“Does Jacko know about this?”
Deon nodded. “I told him a while ago.”
Kia raised her eyebrows. “Is that why y’all aren’t speaking at the moment?”
“Yes. He didn’t take it very well either. I begged him not to tell you until Buck was ready. The only reason I knew he wouldn’t was because he was so angry. He said he would be too embarrassed to tell some shit like that.”
“Jackson said this?” Buck sounded as if this was his first time hearing the news too.
“Nah, Daddy, don’t try to get mad with Jacko. This is embarrassing.” Kia stood up and grabbed her purse.
“You finna go?” Taryn asked her.
“Yep. I need to go talk to my stepbrother, my husband, sibling by law, whatever you want to call him.” With her keys in hand, Kia grabbed her purse and left the house.
Taryn, still seated at the table, looked at Buck and Deon. “Well, I don’t mind. I think it’s kind of cute. Just give her a few days, she’ll get over it.”
“She ain’t got no choice. Deon and I are grown. She lays up with who she loves every night; we should be able to do the same.” Buck didn’t look fazed at all. “I wanted y’all to approve, but that didn’t mean I was going to stop if you didn’t. Hell, I’m a grown ass man.” His voice went up an octave.
“Calm down, Daddy. I said I was fine with it.” Taryn laughed at him.
He looked at her and kissed her forehead. “Come here, let me talk to you real quick. Dee, get you some food, baby. I’ll be right ba
ck.”
Deon went into the kitchen while Taryn and Buck walked outside. She grabbed her things along the way so that she could leave after they finished talking.
Buck stopped on the sidewalk and stuck his hands in his pockets. He looked at Taryn with a serious face. “I need to tell you something. I don’t want to worry you, I just want to help you make the proper preparations.”
Taryn was all ears.
“I was going through a few things at work the other day and your name came across my desk.”
“My name?” Taryn looked confused.
Buck nodded. “There’s a contract out for you, Taryn.”
She was really confused now. “Contract? What you mean a contract? Like the ones Demoto handles?”
Again Buck nodded.
“What? Why?” The minute she started grabbing her chest and breathing hard, Buck wished he hadn’t told her.
He grabbed both of her arms in an effort to focus her attention back on him. “Taryn, listen. Calm down. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, and from what I’ve been told, neither is Demoto.”
“He knows?”
“Found out yesterday.”
Taryn squatted down near the ground and held her head. She could barely stand up. “That’s why he passed out.”
“He passed out?”
“Yes. Yesterday we were all chilling then he got a call. After that, he passed out, went to Double O, came back and has been acting weird ever since.”
“Yeah, sounds about right. Bradley said he threatened the whole Double O staff. He promised to kill anyone involved.”
“Why won’t he just kill the person who ordered it?” Taryn was sitting flat on the ground now, so Buck had to look down to talk to her.
“They won’t tell him who sent it because it’s a conflict of interest. Double O has a policy where it’s kill or be killed. He can’t deny this contract, Taryn. No matter how hard he tries to fight against it.”
Taryn’s eyes watered as she rubbed the top of her head over and over. “What am I going to do? I don’t want him to die.” Taryn cried. “I don’t want to die either.”
Buck kneeled down next to her and rubbed her shoulder. “You won’t. I have an idea.”
Taryn looked at him with hope. It took Buck nearly thirty minutes to explain everything to her. Once she got herself together enough to get the ball rolling, she left. By the time she got to her house she was in survival mode. Demoto had been fighting for her since the first day they met, now it was time for her to fight for him.
Taryn sat on the bed in her room and flipped through the folded piece of paper between her fingers. Buck had given it to her just before she left. Now all she needed to do was make the call and make some things happen. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about what she was about to do, but she had no other choice.
With her phone in her hand, she dialed the numbers and placed it to her ear before she lost her nerve.
“Yes.”
“I need a contract completed by Thursday.”
“Face-to-face or telephone?” That statement was in reference to the meeting they had to schedule to secure the contract.
Taryn knew all of this already because Demoto had been doing it for years. Rarely did clients choose face-to-face because they wanted no parts of the murder. Taryn, on the other hand, was different. She needed to explain everything to make sure nothing was left out.
“Face.”
“Today. Noon. Pizza Hut on Buena Vista Road.”
After Taryn finalized the details they hung up. She looked at the clock. It was twenty minutes after ten, so she had a little while before her meeting. She spent that time cleaning up and folding clothes. Time went by rather quickly, and soon it was time for her to go. Taryn grabbed the money from the safe in her closet and stuffed it down into her purse.
She drove in silence all the way there because she wanted to get her thoughts in order. She wasn’t sure how she felt about everything, but she didn’t want to give that away during the meeting. Her Range Rover swooped into the parking lot of Pizza Hut, drawing a little unwanted attention. Taryn sat there until the people that had stopped to look at it, got in their cars and left.
When she was ready, she grabbed her purse and her shades. She placed them on her face and slid her purse on her shoulder. She looked around as she entered the restaurant. Like it had been stated on the phone, her contractor was seated in the back at the last table with a red hat on. Taryn walked to the back briskly and sat down.
“Damn, when did you get pregnant?” The shock in her sultry voice almost made Taryn’s eyes roll.
“Been pregnant.”
“You weren’t when I saw you at the club.”
“Correction, boo, I was. I just wasn’t showing yet.”
Theresa smiled with a quick roll of her eyes. “Well, congratulations.”
“Thank you. So what is it that needs to be discussed?”
Theresa lost the smile and got into business mode. “Tell me what you need to be done, how you would like it done, and the deadline for it.”
“Okay, long story short, I’m adopted. My parents were killed in a car crash and just recently I found some of my family. I met them and they were nice, but the day after I met them, Demoto’s mother kidnapped me and took me to Cameroon. So, of course I wasn’t able to keep in contact with my family for a few days. I don’t know what went wrong in a matter of days, but my uncle feels as though I’m going to break my aunt’s heart the same way my mom did, so he wants to take me out.”
“Okay, keep going.” Theresa nodded.
Although Taryn felt like they had gotten off on the wrong foot, she could appreciate Theresa’s professionalism. It probably would have been a lot harder if she was a catty female. Her demeanor now was much like Demoto’s when it was time to work.
“Well, the problem is they hired Demoto to do it.”
Theresa’s mouth dropped. “You have got to be kidding me?”
“I wish I was. I’m sure you already know the Double O policy about denying a contract.”
“Kill or be killed.” Theresa stated like the soldier she was.
Taryn nodded.
“So, basically, you want me to take them out so that the contract goes away?”
“Yes. My daddy told me the only way we can make this happen is if the funds don’t go through. The last time he checked, being that the contract hadn’t been confirmed yet, no money has been paid.”
“When?”
“My deadline is Friday. Today’s Wednesday. So as soon as you can would be great.”
“Damn that fast? I have contracts for the rest of the week. Two of them are out of town. I leave tomorrow and I hadn’t planned to come back until Sunday.”
Taryn instantly felt defeated. She and Buck had come up with the perfect plan and now it was falling through.
“Please.” Was all she could think to say.
“I’ve already been paid for all of them.”
Taryn tried to stop the tears that she felt rising, but for some reason it wasn’t working. They fell from under her sunglasses and down her cheeks. Theresa’s hand on hers only made her feel worse.
“I’ll see if I can make something happen, but I don’t want to make you any promises.”
“Thank you.” Taryn nodded and scooted away from the table. “Let me know if you can, please.”
Theresa said she would before Taryn got up to walk away. When she was back safely in her car, she let out all of her frustrations. She had been so sure of what to do, and now she was back at square one.
By the end of the week, she or Demoto would be dead, if not both.
Chapter Nine
Demoto sat at his desk with his hand resting over his mouth. It was Thursday morning, and he had made his decision. It had been a hard one to reach, and an even harder one to get Double O to agree to, but after speaking with the contractor, they agreed. They still hadn’t told him who it was that had wanted her dead, but they did let him know th
at they would take his life in exchange for hers.
The fact that they agreed to something like that let him know that this was some type of personal debt. He had come up with a list of people that it could be, but the only two that stood out the most was Taryn’s aunt and uncle. Being that he trusted his gut more than anything, he paid them a visit. Upon hearing their reasoning, he wanted to bust. He tried explaining to them what had happened and the reason for Taryn not calling, but that only pushed their decision further. If he was out of the picture, they assumed she would do better since they would be all she had.
After a few failed attempts and small arguments, Demoto left their house. The only reason they were still alive and breathing was because he wanted Taryn and his kids to stay alive. Bradley had relayed the message from the higher parts of Double O that if anything was to happen to the contractors, then he would be in breach of contract and the contract would be carried out anyway. He thought about just killing them for the hell of it since he was going to die anyway, but if there was any chance for Taryn’s life to be spared, he didn’t want to mess it up.
There had been an eerie silence around the local Double O office that Demoto worked at ever since everyone had become privy to Demoto’s decision. A few employees had come and tried to talk him out of it, but his mind was made up. He had to do what he had to do. All week he had been contemplating his decision about working with Double O, and now he wished a thousand times that he could just go back. It had been ruining his life since he was a child.
A knock at his office door startled Demoto. He looked up and Jacko was standing there. “You good?”
Demoto shook his head no.
“What time you supposed to do this shit?” Jacko was one of the employees who had been dead set on Demoto not giving his own life, but he didn’t press it. He knew Demoto was just doing what he felt he had to do.
“Six.”
It was just before four in the afternoon and Demoto was no readier to die than he had been at the time he made the decision.
“You still ain’t told Taryn?”
Demoto shook his head again.
