Page 42

7 months later

My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles damn near turned white. Ciara sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through her phone like she wasn’t clocking my every move. She thought I didn’t notice, but I did. She didn’t want me spending too much time around Angel. She wouldn’t say it outright, but I knew what the fuck it was. When I mentioned picking up Ekon, she insisted on coming. Claimed she wanted “fresh air.” Yeah, right.

We were pulling up to Angel’s new house—the one she bought after selling the house I gave her. That shit still didn’t sit right with me. Felt like she was trying to erase every trace of me. But good luck with that. She’d be stuck dealing with me for the next eighteen years, like it or not.

I parked and glanced over at Ciara. She was staring out the window, her face blank, but I knew better. She was watching me, watching the house, and probably making sure I didn’t breathe too hard when I saw Angel. She knew I still had feelings for angel. I wasn’t hiding it. Why bother?

Angel opened the door before I even made it to the steps. And damn, she looked good. Too good. Like, what-the-fuck-have-you-been-doing good. Her body was toned, and she’d dropped all the baby weight. She gave me this polite-ass smile, like we were strangers or something. Like she hadn’t crashed out and broken the window out of my house and I didn’t have chest hurting. I was still surprised by her behavior back then.

Then she waved at Ciara, who, of course, didn’t wave back. Angel shrugged, unbothered, and shifted her attention to me. That irritated the fuck out of me. I wanted her to care. I wanted her to feel something. Jealousy, anger, anything. But she didn’t give me shit.

“You look fucking lickable,” I said, just to get a reaction out of her.

She didn’t even blink. “Stop playing with me and go play with your son.”

“Let me in to get him, then,” I said, stepping toward the door.

She moved to block me, crossing her arms. “He’ll be here in a second.”

My whole vibe shifted when that Rico suave mother fucker came up behind Angel to hand her my son. Didn’t even say shit to me. Just handed Ekon over like I didn’t exist and went back in the house..

Ekon’s little hands reached for me as soon as he saw me, calling out, “Dada! Dada!”

I grabbed my son, holding him close. Then I leaned into Angel, my voice low. “Why the fuck is he around my child?”

She rolled her eyes and laughed like I was stupid. “Be for real, Cassius. I don’t ask you about the women you have around our son because I trust you to keep him safe. Give me the same courtesy.”

But I wasn’t trying to hear that. I couldn’t stop myself. “Were you fucking him before we broke up?”

The question had been sitting heavy on my chest for months. I hadn’t asked it before because my pride wouldn’t let me. But fuck pride. I needed to know.

Angel opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get a word out, Ciara leaned on the horn, letting it blare.

The sound made my blood boil. My jaw tightened, and I turned back to the car, pissed as hell. I didn’t even look back at Angel as I stomped away, though I could feel her eyes on me.

When I got in the car, Ciara was smirking clearly satisfied with herself.

I tried to calm down as I strapped Ekon into his seat.

But it didn’t work.

“Could you be any more fucking rude?” I snapped when I got in the drivers seat, slamming the door and yanking the gearshift into reverse.

“You mad now because I would let you spend time with your ex. Just take me to the airport, Cassius,” she said, her tone dry and flat. “I’m going home.”

“Fine,” I muttered, focusing on the road.

The car was dead silent, but my mind wasn’t. I couldn’t stop thinking about Angel, about Ekon, about that dude who had no fucking business being in my son’s life. And that was my fought. I fucked up.

Then there was Ciara. She was a distraction at first, but now her trips to Florida were starting to wear on me. I’d never say it to her face, but the less time I had to spend with her, the better.