Page 80 of Omar

"It didn't feel good." She kept her eyes on the window. "Sitting at that table giving up everything about the man I lived with. Even if I hate him, it's still..." She trailed off.

"I know."

"Do you?"

I pulled up outside the building and turned off the engine. "My Pops built something that Kadeem runs now. Every decision Kadeem makes, every territory move, every operation, it started with Pops. And now we're tearing down the man whose money might be connected to why Pops disappeared." I looked at her. "Yeah. I understand what it costs to dismantle something you were part of."

She reached over and took my hand. Held it for a moment. Then she got out, checked the street both ways, and walked inside quickly.

I scanned the block for a minute. No unfamiliar cars, no one sitting in a parked vehicle, no one on the corner who looked like they were waiting. The search teams were out there somewhere but they weren't here yet. I got out and followed her up, taking the stairs fast, locking the door behind us.

Chapter 31

Asha

The apartment was quiet when we got back from Portia's. Omar locked the door behind us and I stood in the hallway for a moment, just breathing. The debrief with Kadeem was done. Stone had reviewed everything. The Associates meeting was set. All the pieces were moving now.

I went to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed with my small bag next to me. One change of clothes, my phone charger, my wallet. Everything I owned that Supreme hadn't bought me fit into a bag the size of a purse.

All of it. The performing, the smiling at the right times, of making sounds while Supreme wanked himself off, of eating dinners across from a man who ordered people killed between courses. Three years of saving money in an account he didn't know about, of planning exits I never took, of lying in the dark counting the days until I could leave.

And now I was here. In Omar's apartment. In Bed-Stuy. With my bag on the bed and Supreme's people searching for me and no plan beyond tonight.

I didn't know what to do with myself. I'd spent so long planning the escape that I hadn't thought about what came after. The freedom had no shape to it. No schedule, no performance, no Cee in the waiting area, no Supreme coming home expecting dinner and compliance. Just quiet. Just this room and this bed and the sound of Omar moving around the kitchen.

He came in after a while. He didn't ask if I was okay because he could see the answer. He sat down beside me on the bed, close enough that our shoulders touched.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"Portia fed me enough for a week."

"That's Ma. She thinks love is measured in portions."

I almost laughed. "She's wonderful."

"She is."

We sat there for a minute. His hand found mine between us on the bed, his fingers lacing through mine.

"I've got you," he said quietly. "Whatever happens next, I've got you."

I turned to look at him. His face was serious, steady. He meant it. Every part of him meant it. This man had put his family's operation at risk for me. He'd told Kadeem everything, brought Stone to the table, sent Shanay into the salon. He'd built an entire extraction around getting me out of Supreme's cage and he'd done it because he genuinely cared about me.

I kissed him. Softly, my hand on his face, my thumb against his cheekbone. He kissed me back with the same softness, his hand coming up to the back of my neck, holding me gently.

This kiss was different from all the ones before it. There was no urgency, no stolen minutes, no Cee waiting in a car, no Supreme coming home. There was just us in a quiet apartment with the whole night ahead and nowhere to be tomorrow.

"Take this off," I whispered, tugging at his shirt.

He pulled it over his head. I ran my hands across his chest, his shoulders, the scar on his arm. I kissed the scar again because I'd done it before and I wanted to feel him react to it the same way.

"Asha." His voice was rough.

"Yeah?"

"I need you to know something."

"What?"