Page 20 of Taming a Menace

Eight

K eywan

Fuck!

My eyes shot to Iyla as I defended my actions to my brother.

My baby was terrified. I had disarmed the man waving a gun like a fool, but she was still scared.

I didn’t owe Kannon an explanation, but I knew he was responsible for making sure the place was secure while Carrie was here.

He had more explaining to do than me. Someone had pulled a gun on me in a room where his security people had been working to ensure everybody’s safety.

How the hell did that fool even get a gun in here? That was the question. I couldn’t worry about that, though, because the look on Iyla’s face had my feet moving in her direction. She recoiled, taking a step back as I got closer to her. She wasn’t just afraid. She was afraid of me .

Fuck.

I was messing this up before I even had the chance to prove myself to her. I wasn’t the one trying to shoot people. I defended her. I diffused the situation, and yet again I was viewed as the bad guy for not backing down.

I didn’t even know what to say to her. The terror in her eyes made me want to comfort her, but that was almost impossible when I was the source of her fear. The last thing I wanted was for Iyla to be afraid of me.

“Let me take you home,” I offered once I was close enough to touch her.

She didn’t respond. That was new for her. Iyla always had something to say even if she was telling me off. Thankfully, she let me touch her. I took her by the bicep and ushered her through the exit.

Iyla didn’t put up a fight, but now I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear. When we made it outside, I stopped and turned her to me.

“Talk to me, Moon,” I urged, looking down into her deep brown eyes.

She was irresistible. I couldn’t stop myself from touching her face.

She moved out of my reach, causing my heart to sink.

I had to say something. I didn’t want to negate her feelings by trying to justify my actions.

She knew exactly what happened. She was standing right there, and yet she was more afraid of me than the man who’d put his hands on her.

“I apologize for what happened, Moon. I planned to diffuse the situation peacefully, but I lost my head when I saw that gun. I didn’t know what he was gonna do.

I couldn’t let him hurt you. I’m not trying to defend what I did because I would do it again.

I just want you to know that I would never hurt you. ”

“How can you say that, Key? You weren’t even in control of your own actions.”

“Because I would burn this city to the ground with me in it before I let someone hurt you, including me.”

“Can you just take me home?” she requested.

“Yeah. How are your feet?” I asked, remembering that she’d mentioned them being tired earlier.

“Screaming.” She shook her head.

“Come on,” I said, turning and stooping so that she could get on my back.

“Key, what in the world are you doing?”

“Right now, I’m waiting on you. Come on.”

“I’m not getting on your back.”

“All right,” I said, standing to my full height before turning around.

Once I was facing her, I scooped her up and wrapped her legs around me.

Her middle was sweltering hot, making me want to dive in headfirst. I tugged the back of her dress down, making sure all that ass was covered.

We seemed to be the only ones out here, but that didn’t mean I wanted her ass hanging out for the world to see.

“You better not freaking drop me,” Iyla cautioned, tightening her arms around my neck.

“Shit as long as I been dreaming about this moment, I wouldn’t drop you even if I didn’t have any hands.”

“Shut up.”

She giggled, causing my heart rate to speed up. I wondered if she could feel it. She had to. Hopefully, she was letting her guard back down. I had made so much progress over the past few weeks and reversed it all in the blink of an eye.

I could feel Iyla’s heart pounding as I carried her across the parking lot. Her chin rested on my shoulder, so I couldn’t see her face. I knew she was still scared. I needed to say something to try to salvage what we were building.

It was still early on, but the burning desire to find ol’ boy and finish what I started made me realize that I was crazy about her, crazy over her, and just plain crazy. We already knew that though. As I walked to my truck, I thought about what I would say.

“I saw the look in your eyes.” I finally spoke up.

I needed to say what I had to say before I had to look in those sorrowful brown eyes again.

“The last thing I want is for you to be afraid of me. I’m always going to defend you no matter what it takes.

I apologize for scaring you and for losing my temper, but I’m never going to apologize for protecting you, Moon. ”

She didn’t say anything and that was fine. I didn’t want her rushing to answer because her response would likely be one that I didn’t want to hear. I wanted her to think about what she would say. I wanted her to give me another chance. Hell I wanted her to give me the first chance.

When I made it to my truck, I placed her on her feet and held on to her shoulders as she steadied herself. Once I was sure she was good, I pulled out my key fob and unlocked the truck. I opened the door and held her hand to help her inside.

“I appreciate you for defending me, but you could have handled it differently. What if you would have gotten shot, Keywan?”

“I didn’t care about that. I cared about you.”

“What do you mean you didn’t care?” She snapped.

“I mean I wasn’t thinking about what could happen to me.

I was thinking about you. I wanted to protect you.

I want to protect you from any and everything.

I agree that I could have handled the situation differently though.

That’s why I need your help. I need you to help me figure out why I always go to the extreme. ”

She sighed before climbing in the truck with my help. I hurried around to the driver side and hopped in. I looked over at her as she put on her seat belt. I wanted to say something else to her, but I felt like I had already said enough. Maybe we could work the rest out in therapy.

I fired up my truck and tore out of the parking lot, driving toward Iyla’s house.

I couldn’t believe that she was letting me drive her home after everything that had gone down.

Granted I didn’t think that I had done anything wrong.

I knew that I had scared the hell out of her.

Anyone in their right mind would have gotten away from me as fast as they could.

For some reason she was still right there with me.

My Bluetooth connected to the radio, and I pressed play on my phone to let my old school R&B mix help settle my nerves.

I would probably stay up and cook something tonight.

I had been working a couple of recipes out in my head that I wanted to play with.

It was two in the morning, but I wasn’t going to go to sleep any time soon.

When we made it to Iyla’s house, she opened the door and hopped out before I could turn my engine off.

“Iyla, wait,” I called behind her as I stepped out of the truck onto the ground.

“I’m fine, Keywan. I know how to get inside.”

Ignoring her statement, I jogged the few steps to catch up to her. When I was next to her, I reached down and grabbed her hand, taking it into mine.

“I told you I was walking you to the door. I’m a man of my word.”

“I’m not letting you in, Keywan.”

“I don’t want to come in. I just want to walk you to the door. I want you to know that you’re safe with me. You’re safe around me. Don’t be afraid of me, Moon. You don’t have to be. Let me show you better than I can tell you.”

“What do you want me to say, Key? Part of me has been wishing and praying that everything I’ve seen in your file is a mistake.

I’ve been holding out hope that you’ve just been misjudged or misunderstood, but what I saw tonight confirmed it.

What am I supposed to do with this information?

I can treat you if that’s what you want, but I don’t see anything other than that for us. ”

“Help me, Moon. I told you I’m going to take my therapy serious.

I need you to help me figure out why I blank out like that.

I can apologize a thousand times for losing my temper, and I will if I have to.

I saw red when that man had his hands on you.

I don’t even know what happened after he pulled the gun out. I just knew I had to protect you.”

“At what cost? Your life? His? What price were you willing to pay to protect me?”

“Whatever it took.”

“You can’t live your life like that, Keywan.” She sighed.

“Tell me about it. That’s why they sent me to you. I want to change. I just don’t know how.”

She nodded. “I hear you.”

“Don’t cut Key off because of what Keywan did. He’s in therapy trying to get the help he needs.”

“First of all, I never turned Key on in the first place, so I can’t cut him off.”

“You were in the process of doing it. Don’t back pedal, Moon. Let me in. You already know all the reasons not to fuck with me. Now let me show you why you should.” I smirked.

“Whatever. It’s late. Good night, Key,” she said, unlocking the door and pushing it open.

“Good night, Moon. I’ll let you know when I make it home.”

I’d spent the last couple of days preparing for what I would say when I saw Moon again.

I knew she was in her head about what happened at the club.

I couldn’t blame her for that. Some part of me was relieved that she’d gotten a chance to see the side of me that she’d read about in her so-called files.

I wanted her to know what she was up against. I wanted her to be able to actually try to help me. I wanted to be better for her.