Page 68 of Search My Soul (Taylor Family Saga #3)

“When are you going to take the test? I don’t know why you’re sitting here playing.

” Puma fussed as I sat on her couch with dried tears on my face.

Last week had been hell for me, and I had no idea what to do.

Now, Puma was trying to push me to confirm some news I had been putting off for the last month.

Too much was going on, and I wasn’t ready to face the truth.

“Puma, please. I can’t deal with this right now.

Do you not see my life is falling apart at the seams right now?

” I came over to her house as soon as Soul left to handle business.

Since I got sick at the party, he had been watching me like a hawk.

I had to force him to leave the house today because he was worried about me.

I assured him that there was nothing wrong and he could go handle business.

“I understand you’re worried, but it doesn’t change the fact that we need to know what’s going on with you. If you are pregnant, then the two of you have more than one thing to discuss.”

“I don’t even know how any of this will turn out. Soul isn’t going to give me a pat on the back when I tell him the truth. What if I tell him about the baby, and he tells me to get rid of it? I mean, I couldn’t blame him if he did.”

“I wish I could give you a real answer, but I can’t.

When you first told me about the situation, I thought you would be able to take it to the grave.

However, I think his grandmother was on to something.

Men dislike finding out things from an outside source.

While I’m sure this won’t be easy for him to digest, it may be easier for him to understand if you break down everything that happened.

From Kamesha stealing your savings, Riya being kidnapped and Majesty lying to you.

As bad as it may seem, you weren’t the one who pulled the trigger, and you never meant for any of that to happen.

” Puma’s words did absolutely nothing to calm my nerves.

At the end of the day, I made a mistake, and it could cost me the person I loved.

Hell, knowing the type of man Soul is, it may cost me more than I even realized.

“Soul isn’t the forgiving type. I don’t even know what it would be like trying to co-parent with him after all of this.

Maybe I shouldn’t keep the baby.” To be honest, a pregnancy test was nothing more than a formality.

I haven’t seen my period since I moved in with Soul, and my body was already going through changes.

I had been putting off finding out because there were so many other things going on.

Ever since I met Remi at the birthday party, I haven’t been able to sleep through the night.

His face kept recurring in my dreams, and I would jump out of my sleep covered in sweat.

Soul kept asking me what was wrong, but I couldn’t give him a solid answer.

I overheard him on the phone with Remi the other day and damn near pissed my pants when he told him that he needed to meet with him.

While I was aware they did business together, I wondered when my secret would be exposed.

Remi may not have said much, but it was clear that he recognized me.

I hated feeling like I had to walk on pins and needles, which was why I decided to come clean to Soul. Even if he broke up with me, it would be better than having this secret hanging over my head.

“Now you’re talking crazy. Normally, I would be in complete support of a woman’s right to choose what she wants to do with her body, but you are making irrational decisions based on your emotions.”

“What else am I supposed to do? I don’t want to be a single mother, and you and I both know that Soul isn’t going to want anything to do with me once this is over.

What am I gonna do with a baby? I know nothing about being a mother.

” It wasn’t that I didn’t want my baby, but I was terrified of what the future would look like.

My support system was already small, and without Soul, I would be completely lost as it is. The timing could not have been worse.

“You have Normandee and me to help you navigate through all of this. I know it’s scary, but you are not in this alone. Besides, I’m pretty sure Soul will want to be there for you and the baby, even if the two of you aren’t together.”

“I don’t know, but I guess I’ll have to face the music sooner rather than later.”

“Exactly. It’s best to know exactly what we’re dealing with so we can come up with the best solution.

” My phone chimed as Puma talked, and it was from an unknown number.

I already knew who it was because of the contents of the message.

Something told me this wasn’t a message I should ignore, so I made up an excuse to leave and headed to my car.

I received another message from Majesty telling me that I needed to meet her and that it was urgent.

As much as I wanted to ignore her, with the recent run-in with the man we robbed, I figured she was the best person to talk to about this.

I could barely sleep at night because I was worried that my life was going to blow up in my face at any moment.

Puma assured me that it wouldn’t be as bad as I anticipated, but she didn’t know Soul the way I did. There were two things Soul hated more than anything: liars and thieves. The way things were looking, I had committed both sins.

I sent a text to Majesty letting her know that I would meet her and that I would need the address. She insisted that I come alone, and I agreed. I made two additional stops before I entered the address into my GPS.

It took me thirty minutes to get to the address, so I sent a message to Soul and told him I was visiting with my aunt at her new house.

It was a lie, but since I knew he checked my location often, I needed to cover my tracks.

Soul was a worrier, and if I sat at a location too long, he would often check in to make sure I was okay.

There were a few times when he pulled up on me to see for himself, so I needed to make sure I stayed on top of things.

I broke down and decided to tell Puma where I was really going just in case some shit hit the fan. She begged me to let her come, but I couldn’t risk something happening to her so close to her due date. Murk would never forgive me if I put her in danger.

The moment I pulled up to the address, a sinking feeling settled in my stomach.

I wanted to turn right back around and go home because I had a feeling whatever was between the walls of that house would only cause me more grief.

Majesty had also sent a message that I had to leave my phone in the car, so I reluctantly placed my phone in my glove compartment.

Since my people had my location, I wasn’t too worried.

Puma made it clear that if too much time passed, she was coming with her bedazzled gun and Normandee as the getaway driver.

I loved my best friends, and I appreciated the fact that they were ready to ride for me.

Against my better judgment, I stepped out of the car, took a deep breath, and walked through the door. It was now or never.

“It’s about time you made it. It shouldn’t have taken you two hours to get here.” Majesty fussed, mean-mugging me as she stepped to the side to allow me into the house.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you, so I wasn’t going to put my errands on hold because you decided to reach out to me at the last minute,” I shot back.

“Did you come by yourself?” she asked as she stepped out to check the area.

“Yes. Do you think I would be going around telling people about this shit? I value my life way too much to incriminate myself.” I scoffed.

The house appeared to be brand new. The smell of fresh paint was the first thing that caught my attention.

The walls were bare, but I could tell someone lived here because of the small mat by the door with shoes sitting on it.

“Where’s your phone?”

“I left it in the car.” Majesty eyed me up and down as if she didn’t believe me.

She stepped closer to me, and I squared my shoulders in case she tried some funny shit.

I might not have a weapon, but I spent my younger years beating bitches asses for trying to bully me.

These hands were lethal, and I would fight my way out of here if I needed to.

“Hold still.” Her voice was flat but serious.

I stood there as she patted me down like the security guards did at the club.

She got down to my pants legs and yanked them up.

Once she was satisfied with what she saw, she told me to follow her.

We passed the living and kitchen area, and I could tell there was more than one person occupying the space.

There were multiple plates and cups everywhere.

She led me to some door in the kitchen, and I heard the sound of music and men talking.

I didn’t want to go to the basement because there usually wasn’t an exit down there.

I stalled at the top step, but she nudged me to continue.

Once we got halfway down the stairs, the voices grew louder, and the smell of smoke permeated the air.

One of those voices stuck out to me, but it couldn’t have been possible, could it?

“Yeah, mothafucka. You thought you were gonna cheat me, but I got skills!” My eyes damn near bulged out of my head when I laid eyes on the man behind the voice.

No fucking way. How could this be possible?

A barrage of questions raced through my mind as I observed him.

This couldn’t have been the same cousin who I’d recently seen in a wheelchair.

“Aye!” Majesty yelled out, gaining the attention of the men who were engrossed in their game of pool. When my eyes locked with Remi’s, it felt as if all the air had left my body. None of this made any sense given what I thought I knew about the situation.