She tsked. "Everyone else respected my request for no visitors. I just needed some time with my thoughts. I would’ve called you back.”
“That ain’t good enough for me.” I was about to fuss some more until Kwamé reappeared carrying a little girl who had the same big brown eyes like her mama.
“I’m running next door for a second to get Jessie cleaned up. I’ll be right back,” Kwamé informed Bianca.
Salty that she didn’t introduce me to Jessie, I followed her out of Bianca’s room. Before Kwamé could fuss, I reached for the little girl.
“You’re going to make her cry…” Kwamé’s comment faded as I held Jessie who immediately attacked the glasses on my face.
Smirking, I asked, “What were you sayin’?”
She rolled her eyes at me.
“So, what nigga I gotta compete wit’ to claim her?” Kwamé’s eyebrows snapped together. Meanwhile, I said to Jessie, “Put ya hand up if you don’t fuck wit’ ya daddy.” I held Jessie’s hand up, causing Kwamé to burst out laughing. Seeing her mama laughing, Jessie joined in. Oh, yeah. They would have me acting really stupid about them.
“You’re the only man I know who is both as mean as he is funny,” Kwamé stated. “I haven’t seen you in a while, but nothing’s changed.”
“It’s prime time, we talk about us,” I said.
She shook her head. “There is no us.”
“Thereshould bean us.”
“You don’t even know me, Adrian.”
“I’m tryna get to know you, Kwamé.”
“Why?”
“‘Cause…”
“That’s all you got?” she asked.
No, that wasn’t all I had. However, Kwamé was the type that I had to show rather than tell. She was too intelligent to hang off my every word.
“You know what, Kwamé. How ‘bout I show you, baby?”
Her eyes blinked up at me as she bit into her bottom lip. Yep. I was going to show her ass a thing or two.
CHAPTER 6
ANTONIAS
“Youokay,baby?”
“Yes,” was Bianca’s barely audible reply.
Heryeswas a little too shaky for me, so I peeked my head into the bathroom. She stood at the bathroom counter, with her T-shirt pulled up to her breasts, exposing her surgical sites. They were still bandaged, and the sutures were still too fresh to remove them.
That wasn’t what caught my eye. It was the tears streaming down Bianca’s face that catapulted me into action. She was supposed to be showering and changing out her pad. All thesupplies was already prepared and waiting on the counter, but she was stuck staring at herself in the mirror. I stood behind her, grabbed her waist, and brought her back to my front. Through the glass mirror, I stared into her eyes.
“Look how beautiful you are,” I told her as my fingers brushed against the wetness on her cheeks.
She sniffled and angrily said, “You’re lying.”
“Contrary to what you think, Bee, I would never lie to you.”
“You shouldn’t have saved me,” she brokenly stated.
