When A Playboy Loves

|| 55.

King

Streaks of sunlight penetrated the window behind me, highlighting the oil splatters and tomato puree staining the wall tiles. Maintaining a safe distance from the pot of simmering stew, I stirred the thick mix rich with assorted proteins, wiped the sweat dripping down my brows with my sleeve.

Sweat formed under my armpit, I turned off the cooker and took a step back to inspect the damage on the wall. My hands moved to my waist, I chuckled. This cooking thing was not for me. I didn't even cook, all I had to do was heat premade stew and boil rice yet here I was repainting everywhere.

The iPhone on the island pinged with a message, I rushed to it with the same level of enthusiasm that had been present for days since his last report. I half-expected it to be him and my excitement tripled when I saw the sender, it was him. The private investigator I hired to find out the bastard behind the wheels of the grey Bentley.

Uti knew nothing about this but I was eager to tell her about our findings, about the idiot we managed to lock up in prison. We needed more evidence, a witness willing to testify which was what he had been on the lookout for. One of the perks of being wealthy was the ability to bypass laws. The arrest was easy, a few phone calls, greasing of palms but taking it up in court was a different ball game entirely. When I would tell Uti, I wanted everything to be in place.

The last couple of weeks were awful, a period I hoped never to relive but the sentence on my screen took me back to the hospital and that familiar feeling of helplessness washed over me. Not today. I wiped my face and reread the message out loud, more to convince myself I wasn't hallucinating.

Good news and bad news.

At this point, I could only handle good news. One more fucking bad news and I would lose my shit. The guys were still in the dark about this whole thing but it was only a matter of time before I spilt my mind to them. Tomiwa's suit fitting for a wedding I had long forgotten about was next week, the guys would come. I would love to skip it but I couldn't. It was unfair how a person was celebrating while another one mourned.

On a sigh, I dialled his number with a lump lodged in my throat. My fingers rapped against the island, he was taking too long to pick. Granted, I just dialled the number but he should be right beside his phone. You couldn't send a message such as this and forget to call. He was being paid to talk directly to me not send texts. If the little fucker was worried about my reaction, now, he would get it. Enough with the bad news.

My hand slightly shook when I picked the phone, it vibrated so much I had to return my phone to the island and place the call on speaker. The person on the receiving end greeted me and I grunted in reply. There was no time for pleasantries. Thankfully, he got the memo and dived into the content of his text.

"Oz," I said, "what do you mean good news and bad news?" My voice raised by a notch, I grabbed the edge of the island, glowered at my screen with my jaw clenching. "I don't pay you for bad news." The responding silence grated my frayed nerves, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Oz, talk to me."

And he did. Maybe he shouldn't have. Once he started talking, his rubbish didn't end.

"Hold on," I cut him off. "Riddle me this, will you?" Oz hummed and I continued, "He was released but you have found a witness?"

Oz spat out his reply, "Yes."

Those words were a direct punch to my guts, my heart dipped into my stomach, I forgot all about dishing out the food before Uti and Esther arrival. Yes, we were shady in the method we used to arrest this guy but he deserved it and now, he was out. Freed.

"How the fuck is that good news?" I took the phone off speaker mode, closed my eyes while taking deep, calming breaths to stop the torrent of expletives waiting to be let out. "Oz," I said, "guy, I'm sorry but you're talking trash." I yanked my beards, stepped away for some fresh air by the window. We didn't come this far to end up here. "How did that escape you? What do we do now?"