“I… he’ll…” she shook her head again, “no.”
“You call someone other than me to help you out? Get you cleaned up?” I pressed on.
She nodded. “Cher. She’s on her way. She’ll be here soon.”
Good. Cher. That bitch was smart, had her shit tight. She’d see to Serena.
I nodded back then, “Who was he?”
“He was… he was new.”
I nodded again then, “Tell me you didn’t see him here.”
She shook her head. “Never.”
At least there was that.
“He do more than what I can see?” I asked.
She closed her eyes. I held my breath. She opened her eyes.
“No,” she whispered.
I studied her, not getting it.
She’d been worked over, eye swelling, lip fat and busted open but only a small tear. It didn’t look like she needed stitches. It looked like it hurt like hell but it wasn’t that bad. Unacceptable but not that bad.
Why didn’t she call Knight? For this, Knight would make a statement then cut the ass**le off, he wouldn’t lose his mind.
She had to be lying.
“Serena, you gotta talk to me,” I pushed. “Why’d you call me direct? Why haven’t you reported this to Knight?”
“The girls say he gets angry,” she replied.
“He does and babe, he should. Your face is messed up. He does not offer protection so his girls can get messed up. He does not like that shit one bit. A statement needs to be made.”
“He’s scary when he’s angry,” she whispered.
That was the God’s honest truth.
“Uh… just sayin’, Serena, some ass**le worked you over. He’s a new client. You wanna tell me why you’re protecting him from Knight?”
“I don’t want Knight to get in trouble.”
God. Serena was relatively new. This had never happened to her.
Right.
“That is not yours to worry about,” I educated her.
“But –”
I leaned into the door and dropped my voice. “Serena, babe, it’s not yours to worry about. It’s what he does. It’s who he is. That’s why you’re with him. If someone works you over, you report it to Knight. Immediately.”
She held my eyes for a beat then nodded.
I went on, “Now, you meet this guy at his place, a hotel, what?”