Page 73 of Chosen By a Baller 3: Playin’ For Keeps

“What you apologizing for?”

“I never meant for any of this to happen. If I had known being with me would’ve caused all these problems…”

“Nawl.” I shook my head before sliding my hand beneath her chin, making her look at me. “Don’t do that.”

“But—”

“Nawl,” I cut in. “You ain’t gon’ sit here and carry no guilt that don’t belong to you.”

She stared at me.

“But ever since we got together⁠—”

“Ever since you got with me,” I corrected. “Don’t get that shit twisted.”

I let out a slow breath before rubbing my thumb across her cheek.

“You ain’t the problem, baby. I am.”

Her brows pulled together.

“What?”

“I’m Kyrie Maddox.” I let out a dry chuckle. “If it wasn’t you lying next to me, It’d be somebody else they were trying to drag through the mud just to get to me.”

She looked down at her hands.

“But I hate seeing you go through all this because of me.”

I leaned forward until our foreheads touched.

“You still ain’t listening.” My voice dropped. “They ain’t doing this because of you. They’re doing it because they know getting to you…” I paused, looking her dead in the eyes. “Is the quickest way to get to me.”

“And I hear you, Kyrie, but what does any of this have to do with Mani? How the hell would they even get pictures of him and me together when that was way before your time?” she asked, giving a small shrug.

“I don’t know…” I admitted. “But I promise you this: I’ma get to the bottom of this shit. Whoever’s behind all this done got a little too comfortable, and I’m finna change that.”

She studied my face for a second before letting out a quiet sigh.

“I guess…”

“Nawl.” I slid my fingers beneath her chin, lifting her face until her eyes met mine. “Don’t ‘guess’ me, ma.”

My thumb brushed across her cheek.

“When have I ever let somebody play with what’s mine and not handle that shit?”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to.

“Exactly,” I muttered. “So, trust me. I got this.”

She stared at me for a long moment before letting out a shaky breath.

“I know you keep telling me it ain’t my fault, but that don’t change how I feel.”

My brows pulled together.

“How you feel?”