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Julez remained silent but knew that if Slim was insinuating that they would have been on the same level if he hadn’t gotten locked up, then he was a crazy mothafucka. They weren’t even on the same level before Slim got knocked, but Julez let that fly. He smirked.

“
Aight my nigga, I’ll see what I can do. Don’t make me look bad tho’.”

Slim chuckled at the cocky mothafucka, thinking to himself, ‘
I’m already making you look bad nigga on a daily basis. I’m fucking your bitch in your 1.1 million dollar home while ya ass begging for pussy.’

“
No doubt.”

Slim stood and so did Julez, and as the two exchanged hood handshakes, Slim felt his phone vibrating. He pulled it out and smirked seeing Noelle’s name. He chuckled and shook his head while smiling.

“
What’s that about?” Julez asked, noticing his amusement. Slim shrugged, still grinning as he silenced the phone and slid it into his pocket.

“
Oh nothing, just this hot ass lil’ freak I’ve been fucking. Shorty can’t get enough.” Slim was having fun. Julez chuckled.

“
Aight nigga, don’t let Jordin find out,” he warned, walking around his desk and taking his seat again.

“
Nah, you aint even gotta worry about that. I got shorty under wraps.” They shared a laugh and Slim made his way out of the office, feeling like he had one up on the infamous Julez.

Kira headed for Julez’s office, primping her hair along the way and pressing her lips together to evenly distribute her gloss to her full lips. She looked down to readjust her skirt and found herself crashing hard into a tall, dark, and handsome man who was heading for the elevators.

“
My bad sweetheart,” he said excusing himself and Kira looked up with a smile.

“
No problem, I’m a clutz.” She giggled and he made his way by her after shooting her a tantalizing smile. As he walked, Kira furrowed her eyebrows wondering where she had seen his face before. It didn’t take long for the connection to transpire and Kira instantly gasped in revelation.

‘
Oh my,’
she thought. ‘
The guy from the site, the guy that was with Noelle. He knows Julez? I wonder if he’s a client. How bold of her... And the plot thickens.’

***

“
So it’s like that…you won’t even talk to me? You ignoring my calls? I waited for an hour for you to show up!”

“
Come on yo, move out the way. I gotta get back upstairs.”

“
No!”

Noelle had Slim cornered down in the basement back room, where the washer and dryer were located, and she wouldn’t let him leave until she got answers. She didn’t care that Jordin was right upstairs or that Julez was on his way home. Slim hadn’t talked to her for two days, since the morning he’d stumbled upon her and Julez’s display of couple’s affection. Since the morning after she’d made love to her husband.

Slim tilted his head to the side and looked at her nonchalantly and Noelle couldn’t stop the overflow of emotion that she was feeling. Tears came to her eyes as she realized how much she cared about him.

“
Please…please papi,” she pleaded quietly. “What’s up with you?”

He sighed and spoke in his sexy low baritone.

“
You know what’s up with me, Noe…” He stepped up to her and palmed her pussy through her jeans. “You gave that nigga my shit, Noe.” He sounded wounded, vulnerable, something so unlike Slim.

She sucked her teeth and shook her head, taking his hand into her own hands.

“
Slim, he’s my
husband
. I had to after awhile. And I
know
you still fucking Jordin, so don’t even come at me like that!” She became enraged just thinking about it but she lowered her voice remembering the circumstances. “Look, that shit didn’t mean nothing papi, just like I know it don’t mean nothing to you when you with her.” She waited for confirmation from him but he just stared at her. “Nothing’s changed Slim; you know how I feel about you.”

He took a deep breath, looking like he wanted to believe her. It was written on his face how much he cared about her.

“
That’s why you was screaming and shit, calling that nigga name and shit? That fucked me up, Noe. I can’t even front. I wanted to kill that nigga!” He jerked away from her.

Noelle shook her head from side to side wanting to calm him. He had his hands balled up in fists and his veins in his neck bulged, making his tattoos pulsate.

“
Baby listen, no. It’s nothing, I promise. Look, we’ll talk about it more tonight, after the gala. We can meet-”

“
I’m not going to that shit!” Slim barked in a harsh whisper and Noelle was shocked.

“
Why not?”

“
You serious? I’m not going to no fucking party for that nigga’s company while he parade you around like you his bitch! Fuck that, I’m good. You go have fun wit’ ya
husband
, ma. Shit seem to be going real smooth wit’ y'all now.”

Noelle rolled her eyes, not liking the way the conversation was going. She didn’t want to remind Slim that she
was
in fact Julez’s bitch. She wanted things back to normal; she wanted Slim back to normal.

“
What I gotta do to show you Slim, it’s you. What I gotta do?” She knew she sounded desperate and that was out of character. But she was falling for him, that’s what she felt like. He looked at her like she already knew the answer.

“
Where you gonna be tonight, Noe? Wherever you gonna be is wherever you wanna be ma.”

Noelle bit her bottom lip and looked up at his fine ass with passion in her eyes.

“
With you,” she whimpered, coming into his space and taking his smooth chocolate face into her hands. “I’m gonna be right here…with you.” And then she kissed him fervently, showing him better than telling him.

On-Screen Or Real Life Romance?

“
What?”

“
I’m just not feeling well, Julez…why you making such a big deal? I always go with you.”

“
Exactly. ‘Cause you’re my wife and that’s what you’re supposed to do. You were just fine this morning.”

“
I know, but then I went to go get a manicure and I came back and I felt so sick. I hope I didn’t catch some swine flu or some disease from dirty utensils or something,” Noelle declared, reaching into the refrigerator for a bottled water. She stood back up and caught Julez shaking his head at her dramatics.

“
Well fuck it,” he said throwing his hands in the air. “I don’t gotta go.”

“
No! Go!” She screamed, almost forgetting her sick act but then lowering her voice to a sickly one. “I mean…you should go papi. Take Jordin, she really wants to go. She bought a nice dress for it and everything.”

Julez looked at her like she was crazy.

“
Take Jordin?”

Noelle nodded, not thinking once, twice, or three times about her proposal. All she was thinking about was Slim.

“
Yeah, take Jordin. I mean, I know she’s looking so forward to it, and I would hate to ruin it for her.” Noelle had to look away because she knew Julez would probably be able to read her eyes.

“
What about her man?”

“
She’s already upstairs upset ‘cause he told her he had to handle something tonight, and she didn’t want to be a third wheel with us so she said she wasn’t coming alone. Now, this will cheer her right up.” The truth was Noelle and Slim had planned this, and Slim had told Jordin hours before Julez came in that he had somewhere to go and that he wasn’t going to the gala.

Julez wondered if Slim was playing Jordin off for some street business or for that lil’ freak that had called him earlier. Either way, he knew that Jordin was probably hurt by it. He felt a little bad for her.

“
You sure, Noe? You don’t want me to stay here with you? This shit aint really that important ma…if you aint feeling well….”

“
No… no, please. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, just…just show J a good time. Please. She deserves it.” Noelle really did mean every word she said. She figured between Jordin getting her dream job, being a great friend and godmother to McKenzie, and for the bullshit that her and Slim were, unknowingly to Jordin, putting her through, she deserved a night of joy.

Julez came close to Noelle and placed his hands on her small waist.

“
You see, that’s why I love you. You’re a good friend mami, always thinking about someone else.”

Noelle swallowed hard, facing the reality that his words were the furthest thing from the truth. As he kissed her lips and headed upstairs to get ready for his event, Noelle reflected on the day that she stopped being a friend to Jordin.

***

“
J, I aint beat for no jails. C’mon now.”

“
Noelle, please. We’re already here. I told you I hate doing this whole process by myself. Slim already added you to his list.”

“
Yeah, but Jordin, I took the long ass ride and the busses with you. Don’t you got it from here?”

Jordin looked at her and sighed.

“
You really wanna sit out here and wait for me? I mean, you’ll be bored as hell. And you know they say the best brothas are locked down, you might meet your next boo,” Jordin joked. “Although you
are
messing with fine ass Julez now, so I don’t know…”

“
Okay, okay. I’ll come.”

Jordin knew that no matter who Noelle was messing with, she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be the center of attention. And Noelle knew that a sexy bitch like her, in a skin tight Dior t-shirt and some painted on jeans, stilettos, flawless make-up, and freshly layered and highlighted hair would be pure eye candy to the fellas who were locked down. This day, her friend Jordin had opted for a Juicy sweat-suit that hid the slight weight gain that had started taking place during these first two years of Slim’s incarceration.

The girls went through the whole check in process and were seated waiting for Slim to emerge as they small talked.

In the back of her mind, Noelle had wondered what it would be like to see Slim. Before he got locked up, she sort of avoided being around him, never wanting to give away the fact that she had slipped and slept with him when she was only fifteen years old. But the few times they had been around each other, it had been decent. She knew that he checked her out every now and then, but so did everyone, and it was innocent, nothing worth mentioning. And she definitely didn’t feel anymore attraction to him, even though she did find him attractive. He was Jordin’s man now, and they were serious, and plus she had just started getting serious with Julez. He was on the verge of taking it to the next level, and she would never….

“
What’s going on Miss Noelle?”

Noelle looked up at the ebony God who she had given her precious cherry to about seven years prior and couldn’t believe what he had transformed into. He was sexy, in a rugged way, always had been, but now tattoos adorned his lean body and he had an extra dose of
damn
. He had a swagger about him that read laid back but also not to be fucked with. And she could tell all of the guys respected him by the way they all looked and nodded. The attraction was so strong, she had to look down.