Page 169 of Rah

I didn’t know what to say. My mind was spinning. I hadn’t worked since I lost my job at Chase. My record was stained. I had three kids to care for. Priest was doing more than enough, but deep down, I’d been scared about how I was supposed to rebuild on my own.

And here she was handing me a second chance.

My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes. “Thank you.”

She smiled faintly and turned to leave.

“And, Aaliyah,” I called out. So, she looked over her shoulder. “You don’t have to be sorry. He manipulated you, just like he did me. We’re both victims, so I don’t blame you. Thank you for welcoming my kids into your home.”

“No problem. We’re family now… Right?”

I smiled through tears. “Right.”

Smiling, she left out of the door. Once it closed behind her, I sat there for a long minute, clutching that bag. My heart was beating so hard, I was starting to feel a bit faint.

I stood, wiping at my tears, and tucked the bag in a safe place before letting out a long, shaky breath.

The door slowly opened again, breaking me out of my thoughts. Priest stepped inside wearing this curious expression. “I was just coming to check on you. You’ve been in here a minute.”

I turned toward him, still dazed, still trying to process what had just happened. I sat back down on the edge of the bed, telling him, “Aaliyah gave me the money from Carlos’ murder.”

His eyes widened, and for a moment he just stared at me. “You serious?”

I nodded.

He let out a low whistle, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “Damn. That’s some real shit right there.”

“Yeah,” I said, exhaling. “It really is.”

I patted the space beside me. “Come here.”

He hesitated cautiously, like he could feel something coming. Then he sat down, close enough that our knees brushed. “What’s up?”

I took his hand in mine, feeling the roughness of his palmagainst my fingertips. “You’re not the only one that’s been keeping secrets.”

His brows pulled together. “What you mean?”

I turned his hand over and placed it gently on my stomach. “That prison food isn’t why I was getting thick.”

For a second, he just stared at me. Then his eyes went wide, and his mouth parted in shock.

I smiled through the tears gathering in my eyes. “I found out during intake. I didn’t tell you because… I couldn’t bring myself to say it across a table in visitation. I wanted to—”

Before I could finish, his arms wrapped around me so tight it knocked the air right out of my lungs, and we tumbled back onto the bed. Both of us laughed and cried at the same time. He kissed me hard and messy.

His hands traced the sides of my face, neck, and body like he was experiencing me for the first time all over again.

The kiss deepened, turning soft and slow, then desperate, then slow again. It wasn’t about lust; it was about me finding him after surviving hell, about him promising with every touch that I was home for good.

And as I laid there beneath him, his hand still resting protectively on my stomach, I couldn’t stop the grateful, happy tears from falling.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn’t haunted by what Rah had done to or taken from me.

So muchhad been taken from me; my freedom, my faith, pieces of myself I wasn’t sure I’d ever get back. But somehow, I’d found my way to something real.

I wasn’t naïve enough to call it healing yet. I’d seen and lost too much to pretend I was healed from the trauma Rah had caused. But this—Priest, the life growing inside me, my babies—this felt like the beginning of restoring what Rah tried to take from me.

I was no longer fighting to survive a broken heart. I’d already done that. Now I was claiming the love I should’ve had all along.