Murderville 2: The Epidemic (24 page)

“Dahlia,” he said with a loud exhale, knowing that he owed her an explanation.

“You’re back with Liberty,” Dahlia commented.

“I am,” he said.

Dahlia crossed the room and came close to his face. “But what about us, baby? What about the way I make you feel?” she asked seductively as she rubbed his broad, strong chest. Po brushed her hands off of him. She grabbed at his belt. “She can’t suck your dick like me, Po. She can’t fuck you like me,” she said as she licked her lips slowly.

“Stop,” he said as he slapped her hands away once more. Dahlia was persistent and unzipped his fly, grabbing his dick. “Stop!” he said, this time more firmly, grabbing her wrists tightly, causing her to wince in pain.

“What about
us,
Po? You can’t tell me we aren’t good together,” Dahlia argued, angered to the point of tears. She had never been turned down before and having him brush her off now was a bruise to her huge ego.

“Us?” Po chuckled. “There is no us, Dahlia. Liberty’s back. She’s pregnant with my child. We fucked a couple times. It was good, but it’s over now.”

Dahlia laughed and folded her arms. “It’s far from over, Po,” she said in a threatening tone.

Po grabbed her neck swiftly with fire in his eyes. “Don’t threaten me, Dahlia. I don’t give a fuck who you’re affiliated with. I’ll send you back to Africa in a pine box,” he said through clenched teeth. He realized his grip was too tight when she began to claw at his hand while gasping for air. He loosened his grip slightly, allowing her to breathe but still held her firmly.

“Liberty is your cousin. I don’t want to hurt her, and I didn’t mean to hurt you. Maybe if she wasn’t in the picture things could have been different, but she came back, and I’m not letting anything get in the way of us being together. Liberty can’t ever find out about what happened between us, under any circumstance. Let’s just keep it professional from now on,” he said sternly, then he let her go.

She felt as if he had punched her in the gut. “Professional?” she shot back.

“You’re not a bird brain, Dahlia, so let’s save the dramatics. You’re not built like that. Have some pride about yourself. You want me, but I want her. It is what it is. Now leave my office before I lose my patience.”

Dahlia stormed out of the office feeling rejected. She bumped into Liberty on her way down the hall.

“Are you okay?” Liberty asked, but Dahlia just brushed past her without replying.

When Liberty turned around Po was standing in front of her. “What was that about?” she asked.

“Just business. I gave Ayo some of her clients, and she’s upset about it. Nothing for you to worry about, ma. Let’s go back downstairs and enjoy brunch.”

Dahlia sat back, silently seething all day. As everyone catered to Liberty, she slowly rotted with resentment toward her.
She’s weak. She has so much power and doesn’t even know what to do with it. She can’t handle a man like Po, and if it weren’t for that damn baby she wouldn’t even be competition,
Dahlia thought. She didn’t care that a man had come between her and her only living family. She wanted what she wanted, and that was to be seated at Po’s left.

Ayo was too perceptive to not notice the tension in the room. Dahlia’s lips were fixed in a smile, but it was her conniving eyes that gave her away. The storm that brewed behind her cold stare was category five, and if it didn’t veer left it would destroy everything that Po had built.

Ayo was making money with Po, more than he had ever earned with Omega who was a selfish dictator. All of the work that Ayo put in under Omega’s command only fattened
Omega’s bank account. He fed Ayo and the rest of his men peanuts compared to the full plate that Po shared. Po ruled with love, and Ayo had grown to respect him greatly, but he wasn’t blind. He had to speak with Po before the shit got too far out of hand. If Omega found out about Dahlia and Po, then everybody would be cut off. Omega’s wrath was blind to guilt. He blamed everybody, and the good thing that they all had going would crash and burn. Women had been the cause of the fall of many empires. He refused to let pussy lead them down the path of destruction.

Ayo approached Po and leaned into his ear. “Can I speak to you for a minute, fam?” he said.

Po nodded, and then excused himself as he followed Ayo outside.

“I know that look,” Po said. “That look is not good.” He descended his entryway steps, and the two men began to walk around his massive property.

“I’m about to say something to you, and I mean no disrespect. You’re my man, and I have come to love you like a brother . . .”

Po stopped walking, looked behind him, and then back at Ayo. He put his hand on Ayo’s chest and said, “Ayo, don’t beat around the bush or mince words with me, fam. You got something on your chest, speak it.”

“You need to put Dahlia back on a flight to Sierra Leone,” he said.

“What?” Po said.

“I know you’ve been fucking her, and if I can tell, how long you think it’ll take for Liberty to notice? A jealous
woman is a liability. If I’m out of place right now, please let me know, but keeping a bitch like that around is bound to blow up in your face. When your ship sinks, a lot of men will drown with you,” Ayo said.

Po threw one arm around Ayo’s shoulder and gave him a friendly pat. “Let’s enjoy the party, fam,” he replied, not admitting guilt but never claiming innocence either, but Po heard Ayo loud and clear. When they reentered his home he approached Rocko and pulled him aside. He leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Get Dahlia out of L.A.
ASAP
, bro. Ship her ass back to Omega.”

He walked away without any explanation and found his place back at Liberty’s side. She kissed his cheek and smiled up at him, absolutely glowing. When he looked up he saw Dahlia burning a hole through him with her eyes. Ayo was right. Her time in L.A. had expired, and he had to get rid of her . . . fast.

*    *    *

Dahlia sat in the VIP of Hollywood’s trendiest hot spot with her head thrown back over the velvet booth as she received the best head of her life. The young boy between her legs couldn’t have been a day older than twenty-one, but his tongue was seasoned, and he pleased her eagerly as the colorful strobe light flickered throughout the darkened room. Dahlia was drunk out of her mind, sulking in her temporary loss to Liberty as she attempted to kill her second bottle of Ace of Spades.

She moved her hips to the slow R&B song as he flicked her clit to the beat. Dahlia’s thighs tensed as she felt her
orgasm flowing. Her pussy pulsed as she squirted her love all over his lips. The boy sat up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“My turn,” he said.

Dahlia smacked her lips and replied, “Nigga, please.” She didn’t give head, especially to a nameless little nigga with no bread and no reputation. She reached into her Birkin bag and pulled out a rubber banded knot of money. Arrogantly, she threw it at him, handing him $5,000 like it was chump change. “Get lost,” she said as she stood up, drunkenly stumbling her way toward the bathroom. She locked the door behind her, then walked over to the sink and leaned over it. Her legs were so wobbly that they barely held her up. She bent down and wet her face, then took two deep breaths.

Dahlia had never gotten drunk before. She had never frolicked around one of the world’s greatest cities, club hopping. She had never had her pussy eaten in a public place. Dahlia never had the freedom to live like a boss, and now that she had tasted it she wouldn’t give it up. She would be damned if she went back to the obsolete existence of being Omega’s woman. She wanted Po, and she was willing to do anything to get him.

TWENTY

DAHLIA MOANED AS SHE FELT WARM HANDS
caress her legs as slept. She smiled, but she was too hungover to open her eyes.

“Hmm, that feels good,” she whispered as she turned over onto her back. The sight of Omega sitting at the foot of her bed startled her as she let out a slight scream.

“Oh my goodness! Omega!” she exclaimed as she sat up in shock. She looked around in confusion. “W . . . what are you doing here?”

“Get your things packed. It’s time to come home,” he said in a stern voice. He looked at the skimpy gold dress that was strewn across the floor. Dahlia’s eyes shot to the six-inch heels that lay beside it and knew that he was waiting for an explanation.

“I had to meet with a buyer for Po last night,” she said. She came up on her knees and crawled toward him. “I missed you, baby.”

Omega grabbed Dahlia’s face, tightly holding her at the chin and causing her to grimace. His face was set in anger as he looked at her in disgust.

“Omega, you’re hurting me,” she whispered.

He was livid as he stared at the makeup that she still wore from the night before. After receiving a call from Rocko that Dahlia was getting out of control, he took the first flight out to L.A. He wanted to retrieve her himself, to pop up on her when she least expected it so that he could judge the situation accordingly. Just from the sight of her he knew that Dahlia was having a little too much fun. Her black mascara was smeared under her eyes, making her look as horrible as she felt.

“You smell like a fucking whore,” he said, as he frowned at the stale residue of expensive perfume and liquor. “I asked you to come here to watch my money, to help Po, but I see you have been doing a lot more. Your time here is done. Pack your things and meet me downstairs.” He stood to his feet, and she cut her eyes at him as he walked to the door. He stopped before he exited her room. “You weren’t expecting me, so whose hands did you think were touching your body?”

He left before she could answer, leaving her feeling like a cornered animal with nowhere to run. Her lip trembled as she hopped out of bed.
What the fuck am I going to do?
she thought as she paced back and forth, beating the sides of her head in frustration. The average woman would have appreciated what she had with Omega. He was a provider. He was handsome, powerful, sexy, but Dahlia despised the
control. She was too busy looking at Liberty’s lawn to water her own, and Liberty’s grass was looking real green at the moment.

Bitterly, she threw her things into her bags, and then left them sitting on the bed for Omega’s men to retrieve. She took a deep, calming breath to keep her emotions in check, and then put on the face of a demure, submissive mate as she went to find Omega. He stood at the bottom of the staircase, speaking with Po and Liberty. When they saw Dahlia appear they stopped their conversation, and Liberty looked at Dahlia with sad eyes as she watched her cousin descend the stairs.

Stop looking at me like a sick puppy. I’ll be back sooner than you think,
Dahlia thought.

“I’m ready,” Dahlia said as she stood next to Omega. “Can you have one of the men get my bags?”

Omega nodded for one of his bodyguards that stood guard at Po’s front door to go retrieve her belongings.

“I’ll show you where her room is,” Liberty said as she walked ahead of the guard.

Dahlia stared at Po, and he could see that she was outraged. He avoided her as he spoke directly to Omega. “Business is good, Omega. Let’s do everything we can to make sure it stays that way. Thank you for extending Dahlia’s assistance, but she is no longer needed here. I have all the hands on deck that I need, and I have everything under control. She’s the queen in your empire. I have mine now,” he said as Liberty came back into sight. All eyes seemed to go to her as the two men silently acknowledged her beauty.

Dahlia’s nostrils flared in annoyance. How dare Po just dismiss her! She had helped him secure his place in the diamond trade, and now he was just shooing her away. She felt slighted, but she knew that his change in attitude was due to the delicate situation growing in Liberty’s stomach.

“Yes, you do,” Omega concurred, nodding his head in approval of Liberty. Beauty had been both a blessing and a curse since her childhood. She had been raped, sold, and manipulated just to exploit it, but she had also attracted love from two great men as well. Her exquisiteness was a double-edged sword.

“Can we go?” Dahlia said, tired of witnessing the gawking session.

“I’ll be in touch before the next shipment comes in,” Omega said. “You moved from drugs to diamonds. Next, we’ll see if you can handle something bigger.”

“What’s bigger than this?” Po said.

“Women,” Omega replied in a hushed whisper. “But that’s for a later discussion.”

Po nodded and looked back at Liberty. He knew her past would directly conflict with his ambition, but he would cross that bridge when he got to it.
She don’t need to know everything,
he thought.

Liberty hugged Dahlia and grabbed both of her hands. “Travel safe, cousin,” she said with a warm smile. Dahlia couldn’t even muster up one in return. She simply let go of Liberty’s hand, and then walked out, livid that she was being forced to leave.

TWENTY-ONE

DAHLIA AND OMEGA SAT ACROSS FROM EACH
other at the candlelit table, but neither of them spoke. He gave her the silent treatment during the entire flight, and now as she ate her dinner she didn’t know what to say.
How much does he know?
she thought. Her heart pounded inside of her chest, and her hands shook slightly. She couldn’t control her nervous jitters, and she cursed herself silently. If she didn’t keep her composure she would give her own guilt away before he ever asked any questions.

Omega ran a tight ship and there would be a serious consequence for her disloyalty. He had never mistreated Dahlia, but she had seen his wrath before. The last place she wanted to be was on his bad side, especially now that she was back in his clutches. Being bold was easy when there was an entire ocean that separated them, but here in his presence, she was reminded of how powerful he was. If only he was less controlling, more welcome to
sharing his reign with her, then she wouldn’t have to plot to replace him.

She had been enslaved in some form for her entire life, always dreaming of being free to move without restrictions. She had gotten a taste of that life in L.A., and now her mind couldn’t go back to the strict rules that Omega demanded she follow. It could no longer be his way or the highway. She no longer wanted to ask to go shopping or ask for his money to purchase something. She wanted to be a boss in her own right. Fuck the king and his rules; she wanted to make her own.