But She Knew

Chapter 8

"Oh come on, the story can't be that bad." Anika laughed.

The waitress returned with a bottle of wine, which I happily poured into a glass and started drinking.

"To make a long story short," I answered behind my almost empty glass. "Yes, me and Lucious dated. Things didn't work out that well. And now here we are."

Lucious just shook his head at me with a small smirk on his face. "Ouch. You sure made 12 years short."

Anika gagged on the piece of fish she was chewing, and Lucious patted her back. I wanted to laugh because I knew she must have been shocked someone could deal with Lucious for that long. I didn't blame her for nearly choking to death.

"12 years?" She inquired. "Why did you never tell me about this, hun?"

I poured myself a second glass and just lifted an eyebrow at the my ex. "It wasn't a conversation that I thought was relevant to bring up is all. It's not liking dating Laylah was a secret. We," he said gesturing to me, "as Laylah said, didn't work out so it ended. But like any couple we obviously had good times and the bad times."

"Clearly the good outweighed the bad if you lasted 12 years." Our attention fell on James when he said this. "Beretti told me you two used to be a power couple when you were at Creedmour. Laylah kept you on your feet and you kept the music coming."

Anger filled Lucious' eyes, but he hid behind a forced smile. "Beretti, huh? You tell Beretti that I said hello."

I knew that James brought Beretti up on purpose. And if James hadn't excused himself to go to the bathroom, I might have lashed out on him for it.

"Baby, I'm also going to use the bathroom. I'll be back in a second. Laylah," Anika smirked. "Don't try to steal my man."

"Trust me- I won't."

Lucious sat staring at me. "I'll punch that white bitch in his head." I just shook my head. "Why out of all the people in the world would you date an artist from Creedmour? Give me this." He took the wine glass from my hand.

"I'll date who I want. Give me my drink."

"You did this to hurt me, ha?"

I looked into his green-hazel eyes. He looked so hurt that I couldn't help but sober up a bit. "It's a long story, Lucious. I had to do it to get Anderson behind bars. Trust me." His eyes just flicked from the side back to me. "Anyways, how are my sons?"

"Your sons? You still claim them?" The expression on Lucious' face changed. It went from mad to happy to guilty.

"I raised them, didn't I? Or did your Halle Berry convince them differently?"

He laughed. "You aren't jealous are you?"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Lord, Lucious, you have not changed at all. Except for that fancy getup you're wearing."

He then cocked an eyebrow. "A-huh, and look at you with your Valentino's." Lucious' eyes again fell on the diamond earrings. "I remember the day I bought you those. It was the first thing I bought without drug money. To be honest, I thought you would've gotten rid of them."

I smiled before shaking my head. "No, I kept them. Reminds me of how far we came."

"I've missed you." He admit. "Since the day you left, I always thought about you."

I snatched the wine glass back from him at this point and took another sip. "Sure you did, Lucious. I'll believe you when our sons talk to me again." He laughed at this.

Anika returned to the table, which made me wonder why James was taking so long. "I better go check on James."

"I got it," Lucious smiled. "You stay here before you fall." He took the wine bottle from where I was reaching for it. "You've had enough for one night."

I let myself laugh this time, rising my glass to him. "Touché."