Page 7 of Certified Pressure 3 (Certified Pressure #3)

Nzuri International Airport

After going through TSA, I found myself dragging my feet until I reached the waiting area.

The flight boards weren’t even moving yet, and the clock above the gate said I had three long hours before my plane even touched down.

I lowered into one of those stiff airport chairs, the ones that never let you get comfortable, and wrapped my arms across my stomach like that would shield me from the storm rolling through my chest.

I had been holding myself together since I walked out of Pressure’s mansion, but now that I was finally alone, it felt like everything started to collapse at once.

Pressure had eliminated me. He had chosen Kashmere.

That was the part I couldn’t wrap my mind around no matter how many times I replayed it.

Kashmere, with her big ass fucking mouth was standing by his side while I was sitting here with a boarding pass and a positive pregnancy test still fresh in my mind.

The same man who had been my first everything was now the man sending me home.

He was my first real kiss, my first love, the first man I had given myself to completely, and now I was carrying his child.

It was too much to process, and all I could do was sit here staring out the glass wall at planes moving across the runway, feeling like I had lost something I might never get back.

And Kashmere… just the thought of her made heat rise in my chest. She hadn’t told him the whole truth, only the piece that made me look like I was scheming.

She had read that message out loud in front of him like she was exposing me, but she made sure to leave herself out of the mess.

She was just as guilty as I was. We both walked into that house with a plan, but the difference was I never expected to fall in love with him.

She had twisted the knife in my back in a way that made it look like I had only come for the money, and I couldn’t even defend myself because the damage had already been done.

If I was honest with myself, I wished I had slapped the life out of her ass right then and there, but I wasn’t about to drag myself down to her level. I wasn’t about to play dirty just because she did. I would take my loss, carry my pain, and move forward.

Still, the thought of being Pressure’s baby mama and nothing more burned in my chest. I didn’t want that life, but I wasn’t about to sit around and beg a man who had just made his choice.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I barely noticed when someone dropped down in the chair beside me.

My mind was a million miles away, back in that damn foyer, and back to thinking about the look on his face when Kashmere humiliated me.

It wasn’t until I felt eyes drilling into the side of my face that I blinked and turned.

It was Pressure… staring at me…

My heart sank so hard it felt like it landed at the bottom of me. I swallowed against the lump in my throat, wishing my body didn’t react the way it always did when he was near. His presence filled every inch of space around me like the airport itself had shifted to make room for him.

I didn’t even bother asking how he got past security. This was Trill-Land, and if there was one thing I knew about his family, it was that there were no doors closed to them. For all I knew, his father owned the airport itself.

We stared at each other like neither of us wanted to blink first. His eyes were sharp and heavy, cutting through all the walls I was trying to hold up.

Mine were softer, wet around the edges, refusing to let go even though I wanted to look away.

That was the problem with Pressure. One look from him had me ready to fold, and I hated myself for it.

He didn’t say a word at first. He just reached out and placed his hand low against my stomach, right where I had been holding myself.

The warmth of his palm seeped through the thin fabric of my dress, sending chills racing up my spine until I had to suck in a slow breath to steady myself.

From the look in his eyes, I could tell this meant something to him.

“You need to stay in Trill-Land,” he finally said, his voice low but full of weight. “I gotta keep an eye on you and my baby.”

The word “my” landed heavy.

I lifted my head and met his eyes, forcing myself to stay calm even though my chest was tightening. “You have a fiancée,” I reminded him, my voice low but firm. “That’s who you need to be tending to.”

He broke eye contact, leaned back slightly, and sighed like the reminder scraped against his pride. When he looked back at me, his eyes were darker, edged with frustration but full of something else I couldn’t name.

“My baby is my number one priority,” he said flatly. “I ain’t about to play with you about that. I’ll go to hell and back for mine, and I ain’t lettin’ you walk around doin’ whatever the fuck you want while you carryin’ my son.”

His hand never moved. His thumb brushed slow across the flat of my stomach like he was already connected to the life inside me.

“You might as well grab Zurie and move closer to me,” he went on.

“So you can have the best prenatal care, the best everything. Don’t even think I’mma let you handle this on your own, ‘cause I won’t.

I ain’t missin’ no doctor’s appointments, no ultrasounds, no nothin’.

I’m not just some baby daddy sittin’ on the fuckin’ sidelines while you move how you want. That shit ain’t happenin’.”

The way he laid it down left no room for argument, but I still found the strength to frown up at him. “You don’t even know what I’m having,” I said.

Pressure’s lips curved, and his eyes softened in a way that almost broke me. He rubbed my belly again, slower this time, his palm spreading across me like he could already feel what I was carrying.

“Man,” he murmured, shaking his head with a little grin. “I know I put a son in you.”

The conviction in his voice made my stomach flip.

I should have been rolling my eyes, but instead I found myself turned on by the love he was already pouring into a baby I had only just found out about this morning.

My heart ached because as much as I wanted to hold onto my anger, I couldn’t deny what I felt for him.

Still, I had to be strong…

“I need to get back to Zurie,” I whispered. Saying her name reminded me of my responsibilities. It reminded me that I couldn’t let myself get lost in him again no matter how much I wanted to. Besides, he’d made his choice.

We sat there in silence for a long stretch, his hand never leaving my stomach, his thumb still moving in slow circles that made my skin prickle. My throat tightened when I finally spoke again.

“I wasn’t using you,” I said softly, my eyes locked on his. “Yes, I needed money for Zurie, but I fell in love with you. That was real. It still is.”

He exhaled heavy through his nose, like my words hit him but he didn’t trust himself to respond. Instead, he leaned back in his seat, kept his hand right where it was, and held me there in silence.

Three hours passed like that. Him steady and unmovable beside me, me fighting tears that slipped down my face anyway, the two of us wrapped up in something that words couldn’t fix.

When my flight was finally called, my chest caved in.

I stood slowly, adjusting the strap of my bag, and looked down at him.

His eyes were waiting for me, sharp and tender all at once, pulling me in like they always did.

For a second I wanted to throw my boarding pass in the trash and stay, but I knew I couldn’t. Not with Kashmere still at the mansion.

So I gave him one last look, strong as I could manage, and turned toward the gate.

I walked away with my chin high, but the moment I stepped onto the plane and dropped into my seat, the tears came harder than they ever had.

I buried my face in my hands and let myself cry for everything I had lost, everything I was carrying, and the man I couldn’t stop loving no matter how much it hurt.