"Come to New York," Heaven said over the phone. "Dior is doing a private showcase tomorrow of some designs."

"I can't just fly out to New York, Venna," I said. "We're doing this trading card rollout for Malcolm and—"

"Did you hear the part about Dior, Ara? It's a private showcase! You know they're gonna be selling exclusive pieces."

I chewed my bottom lip at the thought of a new, exclusive pair of Dior heels sitting in my closet. I hadn't grabbed a pair in a minute, and I had all the money I needed to do so.

"It's tempting," I said as I released a breath.

A voice whispered in the back of my mind, telling me that I should probably stay. Jeremiah was here, and I had only just worked up the sense to have some kind of conversation with him. I wanted to let him know that I was wrong in the way I went about it and that I was ready to hear the truth from him.

"I can hear the "but" before you even say it," Heaven said with a sigh.

"Trust, I wanna go and grab a pair of heels, a purse, something." I breathed out a laugh. "I just wanna talk to Jeremiah real fast and see what's up with him before I say yes."

"Don't tell me you're asking Jeremiah for permission—"

"Nah, it's not like that," I dismissed with the wave of my hand. "Some shit went down, and I wanna see if I can resolve anything before I cross the country."

"What happened?"

"Don't worry about it, Venna. I'm gonna call him right now; I'll let you know in the next couple hours."

I heard her begin to press me for more information, but I hung up the phone before I could hear a word. I fiddled with my phone for a moment before I pressed Jeremiah's name. The phone rang once before I was greeted with Jeremiah's chin.

"Uh, J?" I said as I raised my brows. I pursed my lips as I brought my face closer to the phone.

"Hold up," Jeremiah said. The audio bumped as Jeremiah fumbled with his phone before I could see his face. "You good?"

I squinted my eyes as my eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah...Are you good?"

"Nah, I got some questions," he said as he shook his head. He pressed his lips together as he fixed me with a look.

I averted my eyes from the screen. I'd forgotten that this was the first time I'd spoken to Jeremiah since the night of King's birthday party, the night we had sex. I knew we weren't gonna be able to brush past it, but I was hoping I'd get a few niceties before he brought it up.

"Yeah, I called you cause I wanted to talk to you. Where are you? I can—"

The call of a flight number in the background caught me off guard. I furrowed my eyebrows as I turned my eyes to Jeremiah's surroundings. My attention was split between avoiding Jeremiah's gaze and sneaking glances that I didn't even realize where he was.

"Are you in an airport?"

Jeremiah cleared his throat. "Yeah."

"So, you were about to leave the state without saying anything?" I looked at him expectantly. "You weren't gonna tell me? Your girlfriend?"

I'm over here on the phone with him because I didn't want to run away to a different state without settling what needed to be fixed. And here was Jeremiah, my wonderful boyfriend, sitting in an airport ready to dip without a word to me.

"Listen, it was a last-minute thing with—"

"You really wanna sit here and make excuses?" I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "I don't know what's making you act so outta character right now, but I'm tryna get this dealt with. I was gonna see if you were free now..."

"Let me start with I'm sorry," Jeremiah said after a deep breath. "I have to go to Baltimore to deal with—" He stopped short.

"To deal with something," I finished, a knowing expression on my face.

He's still trying to hold onto this tiny sliver of his life that I don't know about. Even when he knows it's over, he can't help but hide it from me, and that's what messes with me.

"Yeah," he affirmed with a nod. "I'm gonna be back by the end of the week, and then I'll tell you everything. I promise."

I considered him as my teeth gnawed at my lip. I did say that I was gonna let him decide when to tell me on his own time...I was hoping that he was thinking more like tomorrow or the day after, but it wasn't about what I wanted.

"End of the week," I said with a nod and a gentle smile.

"That's it?" Jeremiah looked over his shoulder before looking back at the screen, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "No push back? No nothing?"

"I needed to hear what you're saying, not just listen. And you said end of the week, and I gotta accept that's how long I gotta wait." I shrugged.

"Who are you, and what have you done to my girlfriend?" Jeremiah asked with an accusatory look.

"Let's not pretend like I'm not able to grow," I said as I smacked my teeth. "You'd be surprised at the new and improved Kiara."

He looked me over as best he could. "Ki, I saw you two days ago. Ain't much changed since then."

"One day, you'll learn to let me be great," I said with a huff.

"I always let you be great, but sometimes that head of yours has gotta be deflated," he said with a chuckle.

"Not even you could get my big ass head to go down; I'm just that girl."

"Would "that girl" really mess around in her brand new Maserati and cra—"

"I swore Michael to secrecy. I can't believe he told you," I said with a small pout. "You cannot tell my parents that I'm the one that actually crashed the car."

"Ki, it's been five years; you're good."

"Yeah, but they'll still get on me and my brother's asses for lying," I told him. "And I don't wanna deal with all that."

"I get you. If my pop ever found out what I did back in the day..."

"Ooh, what'd you do?" I asked with a mischievous smile.

Jeremiah froze, knowing he had made a mistake. A look of regret washed over his face as he shook his head. He knew that I wasn't gonna let up until I learned the stories of all the messes he got into. Maybe that'd help me figure out another piece of the puzzle.

"I'm calling your brother," I said with a smirk. "Demarcus is 'bout to tell me everything."

I swore I saw fear pass through Jeremiah's eyes, but it was quickly masked with a playful smile. "He's been waiting to snitch on me since he met you."

We stayed on the phone until whatever was wrong with his flight was fixed. Jeremiah said something about a tarmac and a delay, but he didn't go into much detail. All he said was that it was a private jet issue, which would add a little more light to the shadowy picture of the puzzle. Jeremiah explained away knowing so much about private jet etiquette with ease, yet caught himself up just now. Jeremiah knows so much about them because he owns one, which means he's got a different type of money.

After realizing that Jeremiah was fleeing the state, I decided that I was able to, too. If he's cool with leaving out for a minute before we can sort anything out, then I'm cool with it too. Mainly because I'm getting something from Dior out of it.

I called my sister back and told her the good news. Almost immediately, she arranged for a private jet to fly me out in a few hours. I tried to convince her that I was cool with buying a ticket and flying first class, but she insisted—who was I to say no?

I threw together a few outfits and packed them all up in my carry-on, along with my laptop. The rollout for Malcolm's trading card deal needed to go smoothly, and I wasn't about to let a little trip to New York stop me. This was the first big deal we've been able to snag, and it needs to go off without a hitch to show that not only does Malcolm's talent speak for itself, but his team will make sure he's good.

I was touching down in New York a handful of hours later. Heaven was standing next to the staircase, the crisp air causing her to pull her scarf up her face.

"Walk faster," Heaven said as she hurried me with a gesture. "It's too cold out here for you to be taking your sweet time."

I looked her dead in the face before taking one agonizing step after the other down the stairs. I heard Heaven groan as she rolled her eyes. I chuckled as I stepped onto the tarmac. My bag was handed to me with a slight nod of thanks before I was next to my sister.

"You should know better than to rush me," I said with a playful smile. Heaven rolled her eyes once again before she ushered me into the car.

We pulled off, and almost immediately, Heaven got to questioning me.

"So, you mentioned some shit went down with Jeremiah." Heaven turned her body to me and leaned in, her eyes wide as she asked, "What went down?"

"Everybody wants to get straight to the point today," I muttered.

"Ara," Heaven said, an eyebrow raised as her lips pulled to the side.

I let out a sigh before I filled my sister in on what was going on. I told her the whole story, starting from dinner with his parents and after. I realized about this entire situation that if you don't have all the pieces, everything in separate instances seems like a coincidence. But, put together, it's a pattern. Plus, I figured she'd end up gossiping with Michael and find everything out, anyways.

"It's giving silver spoon baby if you ask me," Heaven said once I finished recounting all the details. "And probably the son of a business mogul or something. Ooh, maybe he's the business mogul."

"Silver spoon baby, for sure," I agreed with a nod. "And I think you're right about that second part." I blew my lips together.

"How do you feel about that? 'Cause that means he's been lying to you for your whole relationship!" She shook her head as she blew a raspberry.

"Thanks, Venna, not like I didn't figure that out," I said with a humorless laugh.

"Sorry."

"Anyways, I don't know whether to be upset that he didn't trust that I could handle whatever it is or to be pissed because he's a liar." I waved my hand lazily as I shook my head.

"You don't sound that angry right now," she said as she looked me over. "You actually seem pretty fine."

"When I'm mad at him, that's it, you know? But after we slept together, I don't know, it feels real easy to slip right back into our rhythm."

It feels like I let my defenses down one liquor-filled time, and all of a sudden, I can forget about what's being left unsaid between us. It felt so simple to joke around with Jeremiah on the phone earlier. The only beef I had with him was that he was about to jet out of the state without saying anything to me. And all it took was one little apology for me to soften up.

But then I remember why he felt like he couldn't say anything to me before he left, why I don't know why he's even going to Baltimore in the first place. Why I'm questioning his casual use of a private jet like that's something anybody can afford. And those two things were messing with my head big time.

"All I know is I wish this would just be over," I said with a deep breath as my head dropped into my hands.

"Are you even that mad? 'Cause, how mad could you be if y'all ended up having sex after one night of drinking?"

I smacked my teeth. "Now you know that my emotions are in control when I get too drunk. Why you think we've fought so many times?"

"That was just your jealousy taking over, Ara," Heaven said with a wink. "But that would explain why you snuck out of your man's bed like some type of one-night stand."

I fixed Heaven with a glare, and she tried to hide a laugh behind her hand.

"Sorry, but I needed to laugh at that just a little bit," she said once I shook my head. "But hopefully, this retail therapy will take your mind off it for a moment."

I shot her a smile that didn't reach my eyes. I'd tried to take my mind off it all weekend, but something always managed to get in the way.

The next day came, and I found myself at one of the many stores the Upper East Side had to offer with Heaven. She rummaged through the options I brought for the showcase tonight, and of course, all of them weren't up to her standards. According to my sister, if I didn't buy the outfit in the last six months, it was way too "last season." I'd thought something from a collection from last spring would be acceptable. Still, it's apparently not up to the Heaven Suns standard.

"Isn't this fire?" Heaven asked as she did a little twirl in the mirror.

I popped my head out of the dressing room. "If you were to spill wine on that, it's over."

"Mm, you're right," she said after a moment of consideration.

Heaven stepped down from the podium as I emerged from behind the curtain and stepped up. I ran my hands over my curves, the material snug to my body. I twisted in the mirror, which caused my sister to speak up.

"Bam! That view from the side should sell you immediately," Heaven said as her hands followed the shape of my butt.

"Yeah, but if I get it, I'd have to cop a jacket, too," I said as I spun around to face her. "The material's warm, but not warm enough."

"You can borrow one of my jackets," she said as if it were obvious. "I have this cute little white fur jacket that'll go with that."

I admired the dress once more, the deep brown color complimenting my skin tone. I asked the price from the room attendant, grimacing at the high three-digit number she tossed out. It was quickly replaced with a smile of relief, the realization that the whole reason I was in New York in the first place was that I had money washing over me.

Heaven and I grabbed a light dinner before we headed to the Dior showcase. There was a small carpet set up, and Heaven and I couldn't help but pose for some sister photos. Heaven said, and I quote, "We didn't coordinate colors not to be seen."

We were barely two steps in the door before we heard a voice call our names. Heaven and I turned, a surprised Sienna walking towards us in a pair of glittering, gold boots.

"Ara, Venna, what are you doing here?" Sienna said as she greeted us with kisses on the cheek. "Venna, I'm actually not that surprised. But Ara?"

"She fled the state of Washington so she could forget about Jeremiah," Heaven wrongly informed her.

I rolled my eyes as Sienna's eyes found mine. Her mouth dropped.

"No! You two didn't break up, did you? I mean, I knew y'all were off at King's birthday party, but I didn't think it was that bad."

"You and Heaven have a bad habit of rambling about things I don't need to know," I said with a laugh. "But nah, we're still together. Just taking some time until the end of the week."

"Good. 'Cause you're here and Jeremiah's in Maryland so—"

"How'd you know that?" I asked, my eyes narrowing.

"King and him both had something to take care of out there, so they flew out together," Sienna explained. "King got an idea to open a casino out there, so he's been starting on that."

Heaven and I shared a look, my mind flashing back to our run-in with King a couple months ago. I could tell that's precisely where Heaven's mind went, too, by the way Sienna looked between us like we knew something she didn't. At least one of Jeremiah's lies actually brought some good instead of emotional turmoil.

"Anyways, what are you doing here, Si?" I asked, my lousy attempt at a subtle subject change.

"My mom got the invite, but she didn't feel like flying out for just a day, so I'm going in her place," Sienna explained. "She wanted to make sure there was still a Jones to represent us. Also, I wanted a new purse."

"Yeah, that last part sounds about right," I said as I bit back a smile.

I watched Heaven look away as she tried not to laugh as Sienna's jaw dropped, her elbow jutting into my ribs.

"Don't act like you're not here for the same thing," she chastised.

"Nah." I took a beat as my eyes rolled over the woman in front of me. "I'm here for some shoes."

"Girl, shut up, and let's go inside."

"Not the baby getting bossy," Heaven said with a small laugh. She shuffled into the showcase as Sienna scurried right after her, a hand raised ready to slap her.

I shook my head in mock disappointment as I walked into the room right after them.

Heaven, Sienna, and I spent almost our whole time in the showcase gawking at pieces and deciding which ones we wanted to bid on. Sienna was putting an insane amount of money down on this one purse while Heaven was over here spreading her cash out on all different items.

On the other hand, I was having a hard time fathoming that I was about to be in a five-figure bidding war for an exclusive pair of Christian Dior heels.

I knew they were going to be well work the price, but last month the most I had spent on a luxury item was a little over one grand. It was an adjustment acclimating to having to limit my spending, but I didn't think it would be one to go back to spending. All I'd known for most of my life was reckless indulgence, so why was it weird to go back to that? The idea of it in my head was one thing, but actually spending all that money...

I took an affirming breath before I placed my bid on the pair of shoes in front of me. I'd have to keep reminding myself, but I have money again. I can buy a brand new Maserati one day and a pair of designer heels the next without having to worry—all that was over with now.

My phone chimed with a text from Cameron, and I excused myself. Heaven and Sienna both pouted at me, and I had to remind them that work didn't stop, even when I was on the other side of the country. And especially not during the rollout we're doing right now.

I opened Cameron and my's thread, confused to find a link to Instore magazine. I clicked on the link as another text came in, saying congratulations for a cover and a full-page spread.

"Cover and full page spread?" I mumbled as the webpage loaded. "Who's cover and full—"

A breath hitched in my throat as my eyes met a beaming Jeremiah on the cover, his name written next to him in big, bold, white letters. I continued reading, the caption saying something about how this struggling CEO managed to save Diamond Jewelers from bankruptcy in the few short months he was in the role. And more, apparently, on page twenty.

I blinked once, twice, three times.

I kept finding the words "Diamond Jewelers" and "CEO," hoping that they would somehow magically disappear from under Jeremiah's name. Jeremiah Diamond's name.

"Ara, they're about to announce who won the bids," Sienna said as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

I spun around, my teeth chewing my bottom lip. And I guess I looked way more trouble than usual because Sienna's face dropped, dread almost imperceptible on her face.

"Kiara, what happened?"

"I had forgotten all about it chilling with you guys, but so much for my trouble-free trip," I said as an empty laugh shook my shoulders.

Sienna grabbed my shoulders. "Kiara, what. Happened?"

"The light turned on."