***
The ride back home was silent, except for Liberty in the backseat humming to herself, legs swinging as she scrolled through her phone. She was on cloud nine.
“Did you have fun today?” I asked, forcing my voice to stay light.
She nodded fast. “Uh-huh. Daddy bought me the biggest sundae. And Mel said I could help her pick out baby stuff if it’s okay with you.”
I gripped the steering wheel. “She said that?”
“Yeah,” she smiled. “She’s really pretty. And she smells good… like something sweet.”
I couldn’t even be mad at her for it. She was nine. This was the first time she got to be around her father. Of course she’d be excited. Of course, she’d cling to the first woman her father trusted.
“I’m glad you liked her,” I said softly.
“I did,” she smiled. “And I liked the way Daddy looked at me. It felt… normal.”
That broke something in me. I blinked fast and kept driving. I hated she felt like she wasn’t normal or that she was deprived of her father’s love and affection because of my choices.
***
By the time we got home, the sky was fading into the sunset. Liberty headed straight for the room with her iPad. I didn’t even have a chance to kick off my shoes before I saw Sean standing in the kitchen, arms crossed, a half-eaten sandwich in his hand.
He looked me over once. “So?”
I closed the door behind me. “So what?”
“You meet with him?”
I walked past him and dropped my keys in the dish. “Yeah.”
He followed me into the kitchen. “And?”
I turned to face him. “And he brought Mel… his fiancée.”
Sean frowned. “He brought her?”
“Yeah. Introduced her to Liberty. She was nice… too nice.”
Sean chewed slow, eyes narrowing. “After the shit you pulled? That sounds calculated.”
“Maybe. Or maybe he just wanted to show me he’s not stupid,” I said. “He watched everything I did like he was waiting for me to slip.”
“He say anything else?”
I paused. “Not directly. But he said I better not make him regret doing it.”
Sean tossed his sandwich on the plate. “That nigga might know something.”
I shook my head. “He might suspect something, but I’on think he knows it was you.”
He stepped in closer, voice low. “Then keep it that way.”
I snatched my arm away. “Don’t talk to me like I owe you some shit.”
“You do owe me,” he snapped. “You owe me for nine years of helping raise that girl. For making sure you never had to worry about shit. For keeping your little secret tucked so tight even Kilo’s own mama ain’t sniff it out.”
I stared at him. “That was your choice. You didn’t do it for free, and you damn sure didn’t do it for love.”
