Trife Life To Lavish Part 2 Genesis & Genevieve...Am I My Brother's Keeper (14 page)

As competent and fierce as Veronica was when it
came to legal terms and contracts she had no self control
when it came to the men in her personal life. With all the
education she had under her belt, the only type of men she
would let under her skirt was criminals. So although when
she met Arnez he told her he was on his way to a meeting
her gut screamed he was involved in illegal activities and
profitable at it. She had dealt with enough of them to know
the telltale signs.

"How about we leave here and I show you just how
attracted I am to you."

"Excuse me," Veronica choked.

"You heard exactly what I said. Are you coming or
are you staying?" Veronica was shocked by the proposition
Arnez was making but also very turned on which he knew.
Still, Arnez wasn't a hundred percent sure she would take
the bait but working with limited time he felt it was best to
play his best poker hand now. "Waiter, can you bring me
the check. I'm done here. Unless of course you're staying,"
he turned to Veronica.

"No, I'm done too."

This isgoing to be fun, Arnez thought to himself as he stood
up and walked to the chair Veronica was sitting in and took her
hand. She willingly gave it to him as they left.

Nichelle stood on the corner quickly looking around
in all directions. She wanted to make sure that Akil hadn't
followed her out and she was also searching for any sign
of Renny. She was discreet with her departure but there
was also that chance she wasn't discreet enough. After not
seeing Renny she grabbed her cell to call him but quickly
realized she had no number on him. Then a quick flash of
light caught Nichelle's attention and she turned her head
to see a flicker of high beam lights coming from a dark
colored Range Rover. Her heart began rapidly beating as
she walked towards the Range and it slowly drove closer to
her. When it stopped near her, she still couldn't see inside
because of the dark tint. That didn't stop Nichelle from
walking closer and reaching for the passenger side door
handle. When she opened it this rush of emotions flooded
her. She hadn't seen Renny in what seemed like a lifetime
but the love she had for him was more intact than ever.

"Are you getting in?" he asked in the same calm, cool
and collected voice that was his signature style. Nichelle
got inside and closed the door. As Renny drove off she
saw Akil come out the building, looking around as if in a
frantic. Then he began blowing up her phone. "Seems like
someone is really trying to get in touch with you," Renny
commented.

"Yeah, it's somebody I work with," she answered
casually, putting her phone on silent. Nichelle knew that
Akil was going to be worried sick thinking that somebody
snatched her up, so she felt the least she could do was send him a text letting him know she was okay. She would deal
with the heated lecture he would no doubt blast her with,
when she saw him again in person.

"I missed you," Renny turned towards Nichelle and
admitted.

"I missed you too."

"I didn't realize just how much until seeing you again.
Those billboards don't do you justice."

"Really ...I thought they actually did me too much
justice. They have me without one flaw which of course is
impossible."

"I'm not talking about that. Those pictures don't show
the innocence in your eyes that I see so clearly when you're
right here next to me."

"That's ironic, because with all I've been through the
past couple of years I don't feel so innocent anymore. From
Carmelo and my mother getting killed, seeing Tierra get
shot and you leaving me, I think the better word to describe
me is damaged."

"You're not damaged and I didn't leave you, you left
me-remember."

"Did you really leave me a choice? Our entire
relationship was built on lies."

"Us being in love wasn't a lie."

"Then what took you so long to come back for me?
You never even called me."

"I was trying to protect you, Nichelle."

"You keep saying that but never explain how. I'm here,
in front of your face now. Tell me exactly what was going
on and why is your cousin Arnez so determined to get his hands on me?"

When Renny came to the red light, he stopped and
stared at Nichelle. "Can we get into that later?"

"No! I've waited long enough. I have to walk around
with a bodyguard twenty-four-seven because of Arnez. I
don't even feel free, it's like I'm a child. The least thing you
can do is tell me why. I also want to know what happened
to my best friend. It was like I lost both of you at the same
time."

Renny put his head down, and then looked back up
when the light turned green, continuing to drive. "Nichelle,
I never wanted things to end up like this for you but a lot
of times we have no control over what happens in our lives.
Please believe I had nothing to do with that bullshit scheme
Arnez concocted. When I found out, I tried my best to
protect you. That's why I sent Tierra to go get you, but
things didn't work out the way I hoped."

"How did you find out what Arnez was up to?"

"I started putting shit together. After we had dinner
at his crib that time, a few days later he started asking me a
few questions about you. I didn't think too much of it. The
business we're in, and the fact he knew we were serious, I
figured he wanted to do a little checking around, looking
out for my best interest. Then he started asking questions
about where you grew up, your mom, and I made the
mistake of telling him where she lived. I swear Nichelle, I
had no idea he planned on even talking to your mom, let
alone killing her."

All Nichelle could do was shake her head. Replaying
all this over again was bringing tears to her eyes. But she wanted to know exactly what happened; she needed to
know in order to bring some sort of closure to all the chaos.
"So how did you finally put it all together?"

"I had to meet Arnez at this safe house and I got there
earlier than planned. I heard noises coming out this back
room and when I went to open the door to see what was
going on, it was locked. Chanel told me that Arnez was in
there handling some chick that worked for him who had
stolen some money and drugs. So I went outside and made
some phone calls and told her I would be back when Arnez
was finished."

"Were the noises you heard coming from that room,
my mother?" Nichelle asked in a horror stricken voice.

"Yes, but it wasn't until she was already dead I found
out. About twenty minutes later, Arnez came out and said
an emergency came up and he would need to reschedule
our meeting for the next day. Then I saw one of his workers
carrying out a covered up body and putting it in the trunk
of a car. Then Arnez and Chanel got in another car and
drove off. I went back inside to get something I left. I don't
know if it was curiosity or a bad feeling but I went back in
the room where I heard the noises coming from."

"What did you see?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" Renny questioned
with concern in his voice.

"Yes! Tell me!"

`A chair, some rope, a baseball bat and a lot of blood."

"That sick monster tortured my poor mother. I hate
him!"

"I'm sorry, Nichelle," Renny said, reaching over and stroking her hand.

"Continue."

"I was turning around about to leave and I noticed a

purse in the corner and I figured it belonged to the now
dead woman. I wanted to see the face of the person who
Arnez felt the need to have bashed like that."

"Yeah, I can't wait for somebody to bash that nigga's
face in!" Nichelle barked, getting extra amped.

Renny couldn't even say nothing in his cousin's defense
because he knew he had that coming and deserved it, so
instead he continued. "I had never seen your mother before
but when I went through her wallet I saw a picture of a
little girl and then a picture of you when you looked to
be about fifteen or sixteen. Then I recognized the address
on her driver's license. It was at that moment I knew the
woman Arnez had killed was your mother. There was also a
picture of a young teenage boy, and your mother holding a
baby. On the back your mother wrote; Genesis, Genevieve
my babies. And with the date on the back, I knew the baby
had to be you and I figured Genesis must be your brother."

"Do you know my brother?" Renny could hear the
hope in Nichelle's voice.

"No I don't. But I've heard Arnez speak of him on
numerous occasions and it was never positive. That's his
enemy. I knew Arnez was coming after you next but I didn't
want him to know I was on to him so I sent Tierra to bring
you to me."

"What happened to Tierra?"

"I was trying to call her and she wasn't answering her
phone. I figured shit was fucked up but not that fucked up. When I got to the projects, Arnez was gone and Tierra was
laying on the sidewalk bleeding. I tried to save her but she
was already dead."

Nichelle could no longer keep her composure. Tears
gushed out her eyes and wouldn't stop. "I can't believe
Tierra is dead," she screamed over and over again becoming
inconsolable. Renny pulled over in an attempt to calm
Nichelle down.

"Baby, it's gonna be alright. I'ma take care of you,"
he said pulling her close and wrapping his arms around
Nichelle as her body continued to shake. "I promise, I'll
make sure Arnez or nobody else ever harms you again."

When Veronica woke up next to Arnez, two things crossed
her mind: she couldn't believe she was going to be late for
work but luckily she was the head of her own law firm and
the sex had been incredible. But no matter how great the
fuck, Veronica had work to do and clients that depended
on her so she quietly began getting out of bed not wanting
to awaken a sleeping Arnez.

"Where do you think you're going," Arnez said pulling
Veronica back in bed.

"I thought you were asleep."

"Yeah, and tried to make an escape but you thought
wrong. I'm not done with you yet," he said, pinning her
down on the bed,