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“If I don’t, I’ll die trying. I’m not going to over promise because I know the reality of the situation. You’re what’s important, Divine. You and this baby are what I care about. Protecting you is what matters.”

“Well, do what you have to do to be here for us. That’s what’s important to me. I want to see you as a father, Lee Lee. I don’t want to lose you to this shit.”

“I promise.” I kissed her lips and pulled away before I got lost in their softness. “I need to go. Don’t stress my baby out while I’m gone, Cookie.”

“I won’t,” she said, smiling as I backed out of the room.

There was no way I was letting this charade go on any longer. There was too much at stake to let Divine keep dealing with this clown. The videos and everything he had on us only connected me to the murder. Divine had nothing to do with it. If nothing else, I had to face the music. The idea of trying to raise my child from behind bars made my stomach hurt. There had to be another way.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

I didn’t get many visitors, so the banging on my front door caught me off guard. I’d sent Psalm a message as soon as I left Divine Smoothies to let him know I needed to see him. He responded, saying he would hit me up when he was free.

I’d only been home for about an hour, strategizing and trying to talk myself out of either turning myself in or snapping Zane’s neck. From the sound at my door, the cops might already be here. I couldn’t put shit past Zane. Just in case somebody was on the bullshit, I grabbed my gun off the counter before heading to the door.

I frowned, seeing Syre Reign on the other side wearing his permanent scowl. My frown matched his own as I raised my gun and opened the door to see what the hell he wanted.

“What the fuck you doing here?” I asked him.

“Man, what the hell?” he asked, looking at the gun. “What you got that shit for? I told you I was going to pull up on you.”

“Shit, I didn’t think you were talking to me,” I said, never lowering my fire.

“I know we had a couple of heated exchanges, but I came to talk to you man up. I’m in the doghouse with both of the women I love. My wife got me sleeping in the guest room and won’t give me none. I can’t keep going like this. I have to do something. Now, can you get that shit out of my face, and let me come in and talk to you like a man?”

I thought for a beat before lowering my pistol and stepping out of the doorway. If he tried some shit, we were just going to have to shoot it out.

“Come on,” I said, motioning with my head for him to come in.

He walked inside and let me close the door before he started talking again.

“I know I overreacted the other day, but you gotta understand that’s my baby girl. I’ve always felt responsible for her. How you think I felt seeing her like that? I wanted to kill you.”

“I’m not backing down. I love Divine to death, so if it has to come to that, then so be it. I told her that there was no one inthe world that could make me come up off her, and I meant that shit. I love her, man. I’m not on no bullshit. I want to marry her. Divine means the world to me. I’m not running or hiding. I’m right here telling you that, with or without your blessing, I’m going to be with her and raise our child.”

“Are you done?” he asked, tilting his head.

I gave a quick shrug. What else did I need to say? He couldn’t stop me from seeing Divine, and from what I heard her say, she felt the same about me.

“Listen, man, this shit is more serious than that. This nigga Whitmore wants blood. He’s a bitch. I never liked him from the start, and to find out we were getting in bed with him only made it worse. Honestly, whether I like it or not, I know you’re the best person to protect my cousin.

“I’ve watched you love her like you were one of us from the start. I should have known there was more to the story. I like you for her actually. I’m just having a hard time getting that picture out of my head. Up until then, I could convince myself that she was a virgin. As long as I didn’t have to see her face down ass up, I could think of her as my perfect angel.”

“I would never do anything to hurt her, man. I know you worry about our girl, but I got her. You know that. She’s having my baby, man. The only thing I need to worry about is her safety. I love her, man.”

He chuckled under his breath.

“When you gave her the gun instead of worrying about trying to save yourself, I was like that’s some shit I would do.” He nodded in approval. “Smoke a blunt with me. We need to talk. She’s having your baby. Soon, she’s not going to be able to hide it. We have to figure some shit out.”

Seventeen

Divine

“Hey, TT Divine,” my gorgeous niece Shy sang as she greeted me at the door.

“Hey there, smarty pants. How you been doing? You haven’t called me in a while. Let me find out you’re too cool to talk to your auntie.”

“My mom made me give her my phone,” she said, rolling her eyes.