Mister Moneybags(59)

Isn’t that ironic? “Both.”

“How about some coffee?” He motioned to the bottle I was still clutching. “I think that might be a better idea than whatever you have in that brown paper bag.”

Jelani ground some beans and put up a pot of coffee in an old silver percolator on the top of his gas stove. While he was busy, I took a seat and checked out the new carvings he had lined up on the kitchen table. The first one was a small walrus, the same spirit animal Jelani had suggested I buy the first time we met. “I bought the billy goat, but you were right in suggesting the damn walrus.”

“Ah. The keeper of secrets.” He set two cups of black coffee on the table and slid one in front of me. “Your lady friend has some skeletons in her closet that have brought you to question if she is the right woman for you?”

“You could say that.”

Jelani sipped his coffee, contemplating me over the rim of the mug. “We have an old saying where I come from. Smooth seas do not make a skilled sailor. As men, we become stronger by learning to ride the waves while keeping the ship on course.”

“Yeah…well…” I scoffed. “This one is more like a tsunami. You got a lot of sailors who survive a tsunami?”

“There is no problem too big that God cannot solve.”

I sipped the bitter, black coffee and decided it needed a little something if God was going to get involved in this conversation. I was pretty pissed off at the big guy in the sky at this point. Pouring a shot of Fireball into my coffee, I stirred it in with my finger while Jelani looked on. After a medicinal gulp from the mug, I set it on the table and looked at my unlikely friend. “I fell in love with a woman.”

Jelani smiled.

“And tonight I found out she and I…we very likely might have the same father.”

Jelani’s smile fell. Then he slid his mug to my side and motioned for me to pour him some Fireball.





“You wanna know something screwed up?” I’d just explained the whole sordid mess with my father to Jelani.

His brows arched. “There’s something more screwed up than that? How much of that nasty stuff you have left in that brown paper bag?”

We both laughed. “I’m not sure I care if she is my sister. Even drunk and thinking we might share DNA doesn’t make me want her any less.”

“Many royal families keep their blood lines intact by marrying within family. The Monomotapa monarchy in Zimbabwe practiced incest on a regular basis. The king frequently married his daughters and his sisters to produce pure-blood offspring.” He paused. “Cleopatra married both of her brothers.”

“Got anything more recent? Say in the twenty-first century?”

Jelani forced a smile. It was then that I realized how much the bones in his cheeks had become pronounced. I’d been so caught up in wallowing in my latest drama, I hadn’t even noticed he’d lost more weight. “You’re not eating. Is your treatment making you feel worse?”

As usual, he acted casual. “It has its bad days and good days.”

“When was the last time you ate a real meal?”

“Not too long ago. Soup is my friend these days.”

I stared at him. “Tomorrow night. I’m taking you to dinner at my favorite restaurant.”

“I suspect you might be the one feeling too nauseous to eat tomorrow after drinking that stuff.”

We were both quiet for a minute. Eventually it was Jelani who spoke. “You need to tell her.”

“I know.”

“Everything will work out how it was meant to be.”

I sure as shit hoped he was right. Because today, more than ever, I realized what was meant to be was me and Bianca.





The coffee had woken me up, but not completely sobered me—which as far as I was concerned was a damn good thing. The Uber dropped me off in front of Bianca’s building, and I stood there motionless for a solid twenty minutes staring up at her window. I could see from the street that her bedroom light was on, but I wasn’t sure if she had left it on when we were leaving earlier in the evening. I needed to grow some f*cking balls—actually go into the damn building and check if she was home—and then suddenly the light flicked off, and I got my answer. She’s home. I took a deep breath and went for it before I changed my mind.

“Dex?” Bianca opened the door just as I raised my hand to knock a second time. She took one look at me and was immediately concerned. “Are you okay? Is the sickness worse or something?”

“Can I come in?”

“Of course. Of course.” She stepped aside.

Bianca locked the door behind me. “You look terrible. You should be in bed.” She reached out to feel my head. God, I’m so f*cking in love with you. “You’re not warm. No fever, at least.”

I couldn’t stop myself. I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her against me, giving her the biggest, tightest hug I’ve ever given anyone. I might have been crushing her a little, but I couldn’t let go. After a long time like that, she finally attempted to pull back a little.

Our noses were barely inches apart when she looked up at me. “You’re not sick. Are you?”

I shook my head.

“What’s going on? Does it have something to do with my mother? Was it freaking you out that you were going to see her and knew what she had done? I had a feeling it was going to upset you more than you realized.”