Cherry Morgan was his drug of choice.
Chapter Ten
One month later
“Do you think he likes me, Cherry? I mean, we sit together through biology and I have to tutor him in math, but he’s so nice. Well, he’s nice when no one is looking, but that still counts right?”
Cherry listened to Mindy talk about the boy at school. For the last two weeks, she’d been listening to her talk constantly about a boy named Daniel. She placed the sweet potatoes in the shopping trolley, chuckling at her companion.
“Laughing? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Mindy asked.
“It’s neither. You’re young, Mindy, too young to even be thinking about boys. Your father finds out and there will be hell to pay.”
“Why? It’s not like he’s my boyfriend. We’ve done nothing to each other.”
“If you want him to live you better keep it that way.” Cherry pushed the trolley down the aisle toward the fresh vegetables. It was Saturday, and Elijah had to leave early for work. Caleb and Henry were expecting him over at Ecstasy. She didn’t know why and refused to get involved. Cherry wasn’t interested in the working side of her man, only the side she needed to see. The less she knew, the better. She wasn’t an idiot and understood the role she took.
The last thing she wanted to do was put him in danger for knowing the wrong thing.
“This is really hard.”
“It’s not really hard. You’re making it really hard by over-thinking everything.” Cherry smiled, heading toward the meat section. “You’re supposed to be helping me shop. This was your idea, and you’re leaving it all to me.”
Mindy had come home two days ago begging for a huge cookout. Cherry waited until Sunday seeing as they were both at home together.
Elijah had given her a credit card in his name for her to use. She didn’t like the thought of ever having to use the credit card, not that she had any money of her own. There was no choice at all.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. Were you ever like this?”
“No, I can safely say I wasn’t like this. I didn’t care about boys at your age.” She didn’t need to tell the younger girl that she’d already been forced to have sex. Mindy was young, fresh, and on the verge of love. “I’d tell Elijah though. He’s going to hate you keeping secrets from him.”
Mindy growled. “He doesn’t understand. He never understands everything.”
“You’re giving him too much of a hard time. Elijah was a boy once.” Cherry paused, tilting her head to the side. “Actually, he’d probably hurt this boy, Daniel did you call him?”
“Why?”
“He was a boy once. If he thinks Daniel is bad news, that’s it.” She threw a can of peaches in syrup at Mindy to put in the trolley. Cherry marked them off the list before moving along. Mindy took over pushing the trolley.
“See, this sucks. This is what you get when you’ve got a hard-ass for a dad.”
Rolling her eyes, Cherry listened as Mindy spent the whole shopping trip complaining. It wasn’t half bad, cute almost, but by the time the shopping was finished, Cherry was getting a headache.
Once they paid for their packages she followed Mindy outside to the car.
“Are you listening to yourself? You’re a strong young girl, Mindy. You don’t need a boy to make you feel better. You don’t need anyone but yourself. Remember that.”
Mindy stopped pushing the trolley, turning to look at her. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Can we talk about something else now, please? You’re giving me a headache.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
They walked toward her car, and the hairs on the back of Cherry’s neck stood on end. Turning around, she spotted Tom’s car, and froze. He was leaning against the steering wheel, unconscious.
“Cherry, we meet again.”
She recognized that voice. Turning back toward her car, she saw Marcel leaning against the side. On either side, she saw two of his men from the warehouse coming toward them.
“Cherry?”
“Mindy, run back into the store.”
It was too late. Before Mindy got a chance to take off a guy held her steady, stopping both of their escape.
“What are you doing? You know I belong to Elijah,” Cherry said, hating the sudden fear that gripped her.
“Exactly, you’re Elijah’s woman, and this sweet morsel,” he stroked Mindy’s face, “is his daughter.”
“Get your fucking hands off her.” Cherry fought the man that held her.
“Take them to the van. I don’t want any trouble,” Marcel said.