Page 39

Keyani

W hen Cruz finally walked back in the house after leaving with Maasai, I couldn’t hide my relief.

As much as I couldn’t stand him at the moment, I was definitely happy that he was alive and in one piece.

That’s why for the last couple of days I’d been trying not to be so mean to him over the Raya chick.

Despite having a nutty ass hoe trying to kill me over my man, I decided to keep my baby.

It wasn’t our baby’s fault that my dumb ass got caught slipping, and it didn’t deserve to die just because of it either.

Plus, I’d made Cruz stand on what he said about writing me that check.

At least if he left me with three kids, I’d be one rich ass baby mama with three kids.

That money was as good as in my bank account too, because I made sure to deposit it as soon as he wrote it.

I was trying to be smart this time around, and the first step in being smart was making sure my money was right.

The next step was going to be figuring out what I was going to do with my life.

I was too damn old to still be doing odd jobs and depending on other people to sign my checks.

I needed my own income that brought in good money and made me feel fulfilled.

It wasn’t too many things that I liked to do besides help people shop, but the likelihood of me becoming a celebrity shopper was going to be slim in Chicago and with children in general.

I did like helping people though, and there were a few jobs that would allow me to do that and paid really well.

The one that appealed to me most was nursing, but almost any position in the medical field would do.

With a million dollars sitting pretty in my account, I had more than enough cushion to spend a couple of years in school before I actually started working.

I’d already gotten information sent to the house about a nursing program near me and had an appointment scheduled to meet with an advisor, both of which I was excited about. Now all I needed to do was see if Cruz would let me out of the house to attend.

I came over to where he was sitting on the couch with a hot plate in my hands, and he instantly looked up curiously.

“I made you a plate.” His eyebrows dropped, and his expression was nothing less than suspicious.

I had to bite back a laugh because he genuinely looked scared when he had no reason to be.

“Why?” He shifted against the pillows and looked around like there was a hidden camera somewhere, and I stood up straight, placing my free hand on my hip.

I guessed I couldn’t really blame him for wondering since I hadn’t been that friendly after Raya shot up my house…

unless I wanted some dick, then I was really friendly.

His baby definitely had my hormones on one thousand.

“Because I cooked,” I told him smartly, holding out the plate for him to take with an encouraging nod.

“Stop acting like that, I didn’t do shit to your food.

” It wasn’t like I never cooked for him, I just wouldn’t make his plate.

I’d never done shit to his food before, but I guess he figured eating out of the house pot was much safer than a single plate made just for him.

The longer it took him to accept the plate, the less funny it became because now my damn arm was getting tired.

He eventually leaned forward and took it from my hands, but he didn’t pick up the fork.

Instead, he inspected the chicken alfredo, asparagus, and garlic breadsticks like he’d be able to spot anything I put into it with the naked eye.

“Thanks, bae,” he said slowly, setting it on his lap as if to appease me. Narrowing my eyes, I rested against the back of the couch and rested my chin in my hands.

“Taste it, matter fact, come eat with me and the kids.”

Now he was really suspicious, but he didn’t object. I left and headed for the dining room, where the kids were already seated, and he came behind me, taking his seat at the other end of the table.

“Cruz, if you don’t eat, can I have yours?” Kani was the first to stop stuffing his face long enough to speak after a couple of seconds passed with Cruz not touching his food.

“No, Cruz wants his food. It’s more in the pot if you want seconds, greedy lil’ boy.”

“Naw, he can have mine, and I’ll just get more.” Cruz was thirsty for an excuse not to eat, and I rolled my eyes.

“Not you tryna poison my baby. I told you there’s nothing wrong with your plate.

Look—” I made my way over to where he was sitting and stood next to him, scooping up a forkful and shoving it in my mouth.

“See?” I said around the mouthful of food.

I saw the minute relief washed over him, and he finally gave me a sheepish grin.

“I believed you,” his ass lied, and I twisted my lips in denial.

“Whatever. I can’t even be nice,” I grumbled, sitting back down.

After that though, he tried sparking up conversation with me, but I was annoyed until I realized him trying to get back in my good graces could work for me.

He eventually started talking to the kids, but it was already getting close to their bedtimes, so I let them get seconds and sent them off to their respective rooms. They’d definitely made themselves at home and had already let me know they didn’t want to leave, but if they had to, then they wanted bedrooms decorated just like the ones at Cruz’s house.

I had to admit that he’d gone all out for them and had added a few of their favorite character decorations in the rooms. It was sweet and one of the reasons why I hadn’t given him the hell I was truly capable of.

“I wanted to ask you something,” I mused when he tried to leave the room behind the kids.

Turning around slowly, his eyebrows shot up, and he dropped back into his seat. “Oh yeah?”

I nodded, walking over to him and sitting down. “Yes, and it’s important.” He’d started to smile, but his face instantly fell when I said that. “It’s not bad, just…important.”

“Ooookay, and what’s that?”

“I wanted to know if it would be okay for me to go out in like two days.” I shrugged noncommittally, but he was already shaking his head.

“It ain’t safe yet until I find that crazy ass bitch.

No,” he refused, still shaking his head, and I groaned.

“That’s why yo’ ass was tryna butter me up with a plate and shit?

You’d have been better off asking while you was sitting on my dick or something, at least then you would’ve got a yes.

I would’ve renigged after I got my head together, but you was gone almost get it. ”

“That’s not funny,” I scoffed as he rubbed my thighs, looking like he was already thinking about it.

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

“Ughhh, what if I took security with me? The kids go to school every day with security.” I frowned as his hands went around my waist, and he slumped lower in his seat.

“She don’t want to kill the kids, she wanna kill yo’ ass.

They’d just be a casualty to that bitch.

You’re the target, and I need to keep you under lock and key until I find her.

” He sighed like it pained him to say, and despite my annoyance, I melted.

That was the main reason why I tried to keep my distance from him because he didn’t have to do much to make me putty in his fine ass hands.

“What’s so important that you wanna leave the safety of these walls anyway? ”

“I have a meeting with an advisor at the university,” I said, quickly following it up when I saw him about to speak.

“I know you gave me the job at the shop, and I know you gave me the money, but I also want to make my own money. I spent all these years just working where I could instead of finding something long term because I had to take care of the twins, but if I get my nursing degree then I can more than provide for them and the baby. Plus, I’ll have a specific career.

That way, if anything happens, I can always find another place to work. ”

“Oh really?” He smiled genuinely. Even the look in his eyes was different, and my stomach fluttered.

“That’s what’s up! Shit, I’ll take you to something like that!

Anything to better yourself and the life of my kids, I’m fuckin’ with it.

” Once again, I swooned like a drunk bitch.

Here he was being all sweet and making me want to fuck him again.

“Really!” I squealed, throwing my arms around his neck.

The fact that he was willing to break his own rules for me to get started showed just how much he believed in me, and I didn’t miss him claiming all the kids.

It warmed my heart but scared me at the same time because I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop with him.

His chest rumbled with a deep laugh as I damn near choked him out from how tight I was hanging on to his neck.

“Damn! You tryna put my ass to sleep or something, loosen up, baby!”

“Sorry!” I pulled away and peppered his face with kisses.

“I just haven’t been this excited about anything in a long time.

It’s like…I’m starting to feel soooo…optimistic!

” I choked out, getting emotional. The way this man was able to get me to open up was something I wasn’t used to.

I’d always sucked shit up and kept my emotions in my back pocket until I was all alone because no nigga truly gave a fuck.

Either they were looking for an angle or a way in, and they never had solutions or gave a damn about helping, but since the day he’d walked into my life, Cruz had been going out of his way to look out for me.

Caressing my cheek, his expression turned serious.