Games Women Play

by Zaire Crown

  Despite their connection, Danielle still missed Marcus. The line Tuesday and “Grandpa” Brandon gave was that he was away on important business. Danielle naturally had a lot of questions about this important business that was keeping him away, but they had no good answers.

  Brandon did share with Tuesday that the politicians they owned and some of their friends within the Justice Department were working to quash the indictment. He would have to stay hidden until they did. It was a long, slow process but the proper people were being bribed, intimidated, and even murdered if necessary.

  Every so often the old man would pass Tuesday a message from his boss and pretend son. It was usually just greetings and well wishes but nothing concerning where he was. Tuesday occasionally used Brandon to pass messages back to him because she was told that it wasn’t safe for him to call or contact her in any way.

  Tuesday pretended not to know where Marcus was but eventually she figured it out just like he said she would. She thought back to their trip to the Virgin Islands and how interested he was in that small private island right next to the resort. She remembered it was called Dead Chest Island and was willing to bet that’s where he was laying low until the heat died down. Tuesday was also willing to bet that the dinner he had with his attorney, where they were discussing all the money moves, had actually been about buying the island and maybe setting up that trust fund for her and Danielle. Brandon was right, the nigga did think of everything.

  Tuesday wasn’t required to do any work but did enough digging to learn that Abel Incorporated was totally legal now. In fact, among the Fortune 500 companies, it ranked at the top in terms of philanthropy. Included with all its charitable contributions were its scholarship program for minorities and the tens of millions spent each year to empower the inner cities around the country. Tuesday understood that Marcus was trying to rebuild the very same communities that he’d destroyed with drugs. After reopening the Bible, she finally peeped the science behind a man who did evil under the name of Caine now doing good under the name of Abel.

  In time Tuesday also peeped that Danielle was the real reason why Marcus had put on this elaborate front. He gave her a home, a father figure, even a grandfather, and finally a mother. He knew that with all his money and power, the most important thing he could give her was a loving family. Tabitha, Brandon, Danielle, Marcus; the names were fake but the love was real. Nicholas the cat was the only one not using a pseudonym.

  A few months back Tuesday added to their family. Shortly after leaving Detroit, Tuesday learned that she was pregnant. Despite using birth control, this little girl refused to be denied life, so four days before Thanksgiving she gave birth to Destiny Tanisha (after Tushie) King. She was seven pounds and eight ounces with Marcus’s face and hands but her complexion and gray-green eyes. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be there but his father got the news to him along with some pictures.

  While the new baby was demanding, Tuesday always made sure she had time for Danielle. She didn’t want the girl to think she was now irrelevant, and Dani wasn’t jealous but instead excited about her new role as big sister.

  Then after a while they got into a routine the way families typically do. Grandpa Brandon went to work every day overseeing the empire, Danielle went to school, and Tuesday stayed home with baby Destiny.

  Sometimes she thought about her old life in Detroit: The Bounce, the girls, and being in the game. She heard through the grapevine that DelRay and the club were doing well while Dresden’s useless body was wasting away in a prison hospital. A.D. was still locked up too, and while Tuesday didn’t write, she kept his inmate account swollen.

  Tuesday thought back on that life but didn’t miss it at all. In her mind Boss Lady had died right along with Tushie, Jaye, Brianna, and Baby Doll. Tuesday was so different from the person she was then that her OCD didn’t even affect her anymore: she was still neat, just not compulsive. She was a mother now and had a family. Even without the money, her life was richer than she could have ever imagined.

  Then one day, out of the blue, Tuesday came home from picking up Danielle and found a man with a big, bushy beard sitting in the nursery bottle-feeding Destiny. Dani ran to him but Tuesday just stood there in disbelief trying to fight back tears.

  “I told you I would be back before too long,” Marcus said, holding both of his daughters.

  Smiling, Tuesday said: “Yeah. But not soon enough.”

  Cheaper to Keep Her

  by Kiki Swinson

  The night Duke Carrington walked into the Magic City strip club, Lynise Carter was working her usual bartending shift. But there was nothing routine about Duke. Wealthy, charming, and persuasive, he soon swept her off her feet. He convinced her to quit her job, and the future was looking bright. But just as Lynise was getting used to VIP treatment, Duke was getting ready to replace her with a rival she didn’t even know she had . . .

  Now available!

  Prologue

  “Bitch! You better open this fucking door!”

  When I heard his voice, the banging and then the kicking on the door, my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. A hot flash came over my body at the sound of his deep baritone voice. I could tell he was more than livid. I immediately started rushing through the luxury high-rise condominium I had been living in for the past six months. Duke owned it. It was time to put my Plan B into motion. Quick, fast, and in a hurry.

  “Damn, damn, shit!” I cursed as I gathered shit up. I didn’t know how I had let myself get caught slipping. I planned to be the fuck out of Dodge before Duke could get wind of my bad deeds. I had definitely not planned my escape correctly.

  “Lynise!” Duke’s voice boomed again with additional angry urgency. He started banging even harder and jiggling the doorknob. I was scared to death, but I wasn’t shocked. I knew sooner or later he would come. After all the shit I had done to him, I would’ve come after my ass too.

  “Lynise! Open this fucking door now!” Duke continued to bark from the other side of the door. He didn’t sound like the man I had met and fell in love with. He damn sure didn’t sound like he was about to shower me with cash and gifts like he used to. Not after all the shit I had done . . . or undone, I should say.

  “Open the fucking door!” he screamed again.

  I was shaking all over now. From the sound of his voice I could tell he wasn’t fucking around.

  “Shit!” I whispered as I slung my bag of money over my shoulder and thought about my escape. I whirled around aimlessly but soon realized that my Plan B didn’t include Duke being at the front door of his fifth-floor condo. There was nowhere for me to go. It was only one way in and one way out and I damn sure wasn’t jumping off the balcony. If it was the second floor, maybe I would’ve taken a chance, but I wasn’t trying to die.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I cursed as I saw my time running out. Duke was a six-foot-tall hunk of solid muscle. I knew I had no wins.

  “Bitch! I’m about to take this fucking door down!” Duke screamed. This time I could hear him hitting the door hard. I couldn’t tell if he was kicking the door or putting his shoulder into it. Although it was his condo, I had changed the locks to keep his ass out.

  I spun around and around repeatedly, trying to get my thoughts together before the hinges gave in to his brute power. Hiding the money I had stolen was paramount. My mind kept beating that thought in my head. I raced into the master bedroom and rushed into the walk-in closet. I began frantically snatching clothes off the hangers. I needed to use them to hide my bag of cash.

  Wham!

  “Oh, my God!” I blurted out when I heard the front door slam open with a clang. I threw the bag onto the floor and covered it with piles of designer clothes. Things Duke and I had shopped for together when shit was good between us.

  “Bitch, you thought I was playing with you?” Duke’s powerful voice roared. “Didn’t I tell you, you had to get the fuck out of my crib?”

  He was up on me within seconds. I stood defenseless as he ad
vanced on me so fast I didn’t even have time to react. I threw my hands up, trying to shield myself from what I expected to come when he reached out for me. But I was too late. He grabbed me around my neck so hard and tight I could swear little pieces of my esophagus had crumbled.

  “Duke, wait!” I said in a raspy voice as he squeezed my neck harder. I started scratching at his big hands trying to free myself so I could breathe.

  “What, bitch? I told you if you ever fucked with me you wouldn’t like it!” he snarled. Tears immediately rushed down my face as I fought for air. “Ain’t no use in crying now. You should’ve thought ’bout that shit a long time ago.”

  Duke finally released me with a shove. I went stumbling back and fell on my ass so hard it started throbbing. I tried to scramble up off the floor, but before I could get my bearings I felt his hands on me again. His strong hand was winding into my long hair.

  “Ouch!” I wailed, bending my head to try to relieve some of the pressure he was putting on my head.

  Duke yanked me up by my hair. Sharp, stabbing pains shot through my scalp.

  “Owww!” I cried out as he wrung me around by my hair. I tried to put my small hands on top of his huge, animal hands, but it was no use. Hands I had once loved I now despised and wished would just fall off.

  “You thought it was all good, right! You a fucking trifling-ass bitch and I want you the fuck out of here!” Duke gritted. Then he lifted his free hand and slapped me across my face with all his might.

  “Pl-pl-pl-please!” I begged him for mercy. But Duke hit me again.

  I was crying hysterically. Partly from the pain of his abuse, but more so from our past. I would have never thought our relationship would come to this. It had been a long road and all I wanted to do was teach him a lesson when I did the shit I did. I never thought I would have been facing this type of torment.

  “I want all your shit out of here, you scandalous bitch! And don’t take nothing that I fucking bought!” Duke roared, then he hit me again. This time I felt blood trickle from my nose. My ears were still ringing from the previous blow to my head. He hit me again. I was sure he had knocked one of my teeth loose.

  “Yo, Ak, get this bitch shit and throw it the fuck out,” Duke called out to one of his boys. He never traveled anywhere alone. There were always two dudes with him at all times. The one I knew as Chris rushed into the closet and started scooping up my clothes and shoes.

  “Wait!” I screamed, but it was for nothing.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Duke screamed in response, slapping me again.

  I could actually feel my eyes starting to swell. I finally gave up. My spirit was broken, my body was sore. I watched as Chris and another one of Duke’s boys slid back the glass balcony doors and started tossing all my shit over. I doubled over crying. More and more shit went over and I was sure it was raining down on the beautifully manicured lawn below.

  “Yeah . . . that’s enough. Don’t throw none of that jewelry or those furs outside. I got bitches I could give that shit to,” Duke said maliciously. His words hurt. “A’ight, bitch . . . ya time is up.”

  I shrunk back, thinking he was going to hit me again. But he didn’t. He grabbed me by the arm roughly. “Oww!” I cried out.

  Duke was squeezing my arm so hard the pain was crazy. “Let’s go,” he said, pulling me toward the door.

  “Nooooo!” I screamed and then I dropped my body weight down toward the floor so he couldn’t pull me.

  “Oh, bitch, you getting the fuck outta here,” Duke roared. He bent down, hoisted me over his shoulder and started carrying me kicking and screaming toward the door.

  “You can’t do this to me! You will regret this, Duke Carrington!!” I hollered.

  “Fuck you!” he spat in return, opening the condo door and tossing me out into the hallway like a piece of discarded trash. I can’t even describe the feeling that came over me. It was a mixture of hurt, shame, and embarrassment all rolled into one.

  Duke slammed the door in my face and I yelled for him to listen to me. My cries fell on deaf ears. My shoulders slumped down in defeat. Duke had left me in the hallway with no shoes, a short nightgown, and nothing but my belongings on the lawn outside. I didn’t even have the key to my BMW X6.

  “Aggghhh!” I grunted in anger and frustration as I raked my hands through my tangled hair. I vowed from that minute on that Duke Carrington would learn just what all men have been saying for years . . . it’s cheaper to keep her.

  As I limped down the hallway of the building, all of the memories of how I had gotten to this point came rushing back.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  DAFINA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2015 by Zaire Crown

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  Dafina and the Dafina logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-61773-989-7

  ISBN-10: 1-61773-989-8

  First Kensington Trade Paperback Printing: December 2015

  ISBN: 978-1-6177-3989-7

  First Kensington Electronic Edition: December 2015