Page 50 of Certified Pressure

That was the truth. I wasn’t leadin’ her on, but I wasn’t fallin’ for the act either.

She smiled like that meant more than it did and walked toward me, slidin’ her arms around my waist. I let her do it, even though my gut told me her intentions wasn’t sittin’ right.

I ain’t return the hug, but I did let her lean in and then pulled back.

“I’mma get with you later,” I said. “Got some shit to handle.”

She didn’t like that, but she nodded. “Okay. I just wanted to let you know I’m not the girl people try to make me seem like.”

We locked eyes for a second, and I could tell she was hopin’ I would say somethin’ else. But I didn’t.

She dipped out, and the moment she did, I grabbed my phone off the desk. It had been buzzin’ since Imani walked in.

When I saw Ka’mari’s name on my screen, I raised my brows. My heart didn’t skip or nothin’, but my mind shifted immediately. It’d been weeks since she called my phone about that hoe ass nigga.

“Fuck that,” I’m mumbled, rejectin’ the call.

Then she called again.

I let it ring, not wantin’ that energy in my chest.

But then came the text.

Can you call me please? It’s an emergency.

I stared at the screen. This wasn’t the type of message I could ignore, especially from her.

Runnin’ my hand down my face, I hit the call button.

“Pressure?” Her voice was low, and she sounded scared. She was whisperin’ like she didn’t want nobody to hear.

“What’s goin’ on?”

“Donovan… he put his hands on me. I locked myself in the bathroom. I didn’t know who else to call.”

I was just about to tell her to call the fuckin’ cops ‘cause what the fuck she wanted me to do about it? Then I heard that nigga’s voice in the background.

“Iknowyou not on that phone, Ka’mari! You talkin’ to that nigga?!”

I could hear his bitch ass bangin’ on the door, like he was hard and like I ain’t just put my Glock to his shit and hoe him in front of all his people weeks ago. His voice was all loud and bold like he ran shit.

My jaw clenched, and that’s when the other part of me woke all the way up.

“Where you at?” I asked, already walkin’ out the room with my shit on my hip.

“At home,” she whispered.

“I’m on the way.”

My blood was heatin’ up like I’d been waitin’ for this, and shid… maybe I had been.

Deep down, I knew this wasn’t about closure. This was abouther.

And if that nigga Donovan lay another finger on her, he was gon’ pay for it in ways he couldn’t imagine.

While speedin’ my ass off to Sable Pointe toward Ka’mari’s crib, all I kept thinkin’ about was killin’ this nigga Donovan with my bare fuckin’ hands. I was behind the wheel of my matte black Maybach GLS, my hands grippin’ the leather tight. I ain’t even say shit to nobody at the estate.I just grabbed my keys, dipped out, and hit the road, on a mission to fuck somebody up.

I already couldn’t stand that nigga Donovan. Somethin’ about his hoe ass was just off, and now he done put his hands on Ka’mari.