"Oh, she was." Ms. Betty nodded. "I loved her dearly. We all did." She finally removed her hand off mine to pick up a napkin and dab the water underneath her eyes before continuing. "When she died…" her voice softened painfully, "I watched a piece of my son die with her. A young father with this beautiful new baby. Trying to navigate grief, parenthood, and a new business. He tried his best to smile and put up a good front for us." Her eyes lowered briefly. "But that sadness in his eyes… he couldn't hide that." Her voice cracked as her eyes came back to mine. "I lost my son for a long time, Gianna."
That line settled heavy between us. Raw and heavy. And before I could even process it fully, she reached for my hands again.
"I'm justnowgetting my baby back." Tears brimmed in her eyes openly now. "Please…don't let me lose him again. Do you understand?"
Oh God…
My bottom lip trembled and the knot in my throat grew so big I could barely swallow. I understood all too well. Looking at this woman with tears brimming in her eyes, fear in her voice and looking at me like I was the only solution to fix this…
Yeah—I understood.
I swallowed hard, sniffling while trying not to let my emotions overwhelm me. Inhaling sharply, I nodded slowly. "I understand, Ms. Betty." I replied, voice shaky. "You won't lose your son. I'll fix this."
Relief washed across her face instantly. She reached out at grabbed my hands again, tears spilling. "Bless you, Gianna."
Those words broke my heart even more.
Chapter 47
The only thing that kept me from killing that nigga was my kids screaming and crying.
It took Evaphysicallyjumping on my back, to stop me from running out there and doing that nigga in. Coming to my home and trying to check me—what the fuck?
And Devon's bitch ass—I know he gave him my address. But I had something for his ass.
And my wife—she had been throwing a fit since it happened. Fussing. Crying. Hollering. I couldn't even piss without her being on my back. Every time I walked out the door, she was right next to me smothering the shit out of me.
I couldn't live like this.
The way she was hovering made me feel like I was back in prison, and I'll be damned if I let anyone dictate my moves like that again.
Fuck that.
Me and Eva were taking the kids to her moms for Memorial weekend. Eva wanted us to have some private time as if she wasn't breathing down my neck already. I hugged and kissed my kids and gave them both $500 for the weekend to do whatever. They had been on edge too, but they were all smiles when that money hit their hand.
"I love y'all. Behave this weekend, aight?" I told them.
"Thanks, Dad! Love you too!" they echoed.
Eva stood by the passenger door when she noticed me get back into the driver's seat. "You're not going to come in and say hi to mama?" she asked.
"Nah—" I shook my head. "Tell OG I said what up though."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll be back in a minute."
"Take your time," I said. "I'll be here."
She stared at me for a few seconds before closing the door and leading the twins toward the entrance. Once I was sure they were in, I started the car and pulled off. She was gonna be hot as fish grease over this but I just needed a moment to myself. I would be back home eventually. To avoid snapping at her—she had to let me have this.
I made my way to my apartment, and as soon as I stepped in, my shoulders dropped in relief. I grabbed my bourbon and my glass plopping down on the couch. Sipping, I scrolled on Gianna's IG account from a fake profile I made.
She had hundreds of thousands of followers. Her sexy ass. I missed her so goddamn much that if she was in front of me, I would drop to my knees and beg her to give me a chance.
I knew that chef nigga loved her by the way he pulled up. I could give him my respect for that. But he didn't love her like I did.
Nah—he couldn't.
He wasn't ready to die behind her.
