“Call me Cain. You gon’ see just how evil I can be when I kill your precious Abel.”
I mashed my lips into hers, then released her. “I love you, Mama.”
I punched her in the face, knocking her out cold, then hurried back to my whip. It was time to end this shit. Jela and Truce were going first, then Law’s bitch ass was next. I was tired of these motherfuckers playing with me. I was going to lie low for a while to make them comfortable, then I’d strike. I was tired of people playing with me like I wasn’t that nigga that would send them to hell.
All of them were about to feel the wrath of a menace.
Two WeeksLater
Truce was leaving in the morning.
This time, there was no anticipated date of his return.
I was happy but conflicted—happy because I was back home with my family and because Scottlyn was doing well with her grandmother and aunt. I was conflicted because, although Truce made everything feel so easy and worry-free, it wasn’t. The lingering darkness of my past relationship still hung over me like a dark cloud. And then there were other conflicting feelings: I was developing deep feelings for my child’s father's brother. None of this was okay, but with Truce, it felt so right, even though it was wrong.
Over the past six weeks, this man had done so much for me. He’d made me feel as if I had nothing to worry about. I hated how needy I was feeling, and he hadn’t even left yet. The way he had been fucking me and catering to me had my head reeling. I didn’t want to fall for Truce, but he wasn’t making it easy not to.
I was trying to find something wrong with him. He was just too perfect not to have a secret flaw or two. I found myself listening in on his phone conversations just to see if he had secret bitches or secretmencalling his phone.
Nothing. I heard and found absolutely nothing besides a bunch of work-related phone calls and calls from his family.
As I lay awake in his bed while he was in his office preparing for his departure in the morning, I knew this was something that needed to happen. I couldn’t fall for Truce even though every part of me wanted to succumb to the desires of my heart.
Who’s to say he even saw me as a love interest? It was easy to feel like that when having intense sex, but what about what happens after?
Who the fuck was I kidding? Truce wanted me just as much as I wanted him.
I tossed the blankets to the side and slipped my feet into my slippers. I left the bedroom and walked down to Scottlyn’s room to peek in on her. Truce had the room completely transformed into a toddler’s haven. Her gifts from her birthday were littered around the room. Truce had also bought her a heap of shit since we’ve been here.
When I saw her lying peacefully asleep in her bed, I pulled the door back closed, and headed down the hall to Truce’s office. It was only ten o’clock, and I couldn’t sleep because my mind wouldn’t stop thinking about my situation between two brothers.
I tapped on the door and waited.
“Come in.”
I pushed the door open and poked my head inside. He was sitting on a stool with a big drawing pad on an easel. His hair was pulled back, and he wore glasses, looking like a sexy-ass nerd as he looked up at me and smiled.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Can’t sleep…”
“Come here.”
I closed the door and moved over to him.
He pulled me in by my waist and kissed my forehead. “Stop doing all that worrying, Empress. You’re going to see me again. I low-key been in my feelings about leaving y’all too. And here you come making it worse.”
We both laughed which was perfect because I felt like I wanted to cry.
“I can’t help it, Truce. I just—I don’t know.”
“Talk to me, baby.”
“What if you run into Damien? You said he threatened to hurt you, Truce. What if?—”
“Aye, look at me.” He waited until my eyes met his. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“You don’t know that. Damien is crazy.”
