Page 30 of Butterfly 6, Phase 1

The home smelled like home cooking, and as Mara escorted Alani to the kitchen table, she noticed the spread of food that was prepared.

“You cooked?” Alani asked, confused. “Are you here as my nurse or our chef?”

Mara smiled. “I’m here as your full-time health coordinator, Alani. That includes making sure you eat, and that you don’t overexert yourself trying to care for your family. I’m support. I know it can feel a bit intrusive, but I’m here for you and you alone, so please utilize me.”

“Smells amazing,” Ethic said as he walked into the room. “And it’s healthy. Thank you.”

“If you want to have a seat, I’ll fix you a plate,” Mara offered.

“What’s that smell?” Eazy asked as he came into the room. “Smells like dessert.”

“Eazy, you just ate. You not even hungry,” Alani said.

“It’s just a good old dump cake. If you guys ate already, I can save the food for dinner,” Mara said.

“I’ll take cake,” Eazy said.

“I’ve got to run, but thank you for making sure all this was prepared,” Ethic stated.

“I’ll put a plate up for you, for when you return,” Mara offered.

“That would be…”

Ethic’s sentence was interrupted by Alani’s death stare. “Actually, that’s not necessary. I’ll just grab something on the go,” Ethic said, playing it smart. He walked over to Alani and leaned down to kiss her lips. “Play nice, baby. She’s just here to help.”

“I don’t like it,” she whispered, sadly. Her whine was more than being spoiled; she was truly bothered.

“I know. It’s only temporary,” Ethic assured. “Until our girl is back on her feet. I’m just grateful to have you home. I’m so blessed to call you mine, Alani. Daddy love you. You know that, right?” he asked. He kissed her and then leaned toward her ear and whispered, “All I want you to do is sit back and be pretty. Let her do the work. You don’t have to worry about anyone stealing my attention. You ain’t got to starve me, Lenika. That cake smells good, though, you know you want some.”

Alani giggled as he bit down on her earlobe softly.

“Okayyy, Dad,” Eazy complained, causing Bella to snicker.

Alani pulled back, all smiles and blushing as he gave a final kiss.

“Hurry back,” she whispered.

“As soon as I can,” he promised. “Walk with me, baby girl,” he said, turning his attention to Bella.

Bella hurried behind him, and when they were alone in the garage, Ethic pulled her into his arms.

“Daddy, what’s happening? Who was that?” Bella fired off the questions with urgency.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. I’m sorry I involved you, but you did very good, baby girl,” Ethic stated. “I shot at the tires because my family was with me, but I want to be very clear with you. I taught you to use a gun to walk a nigga down if you ever need to, but you don’t pull it for fun. If it ever comes down to your life or someone who wants to harm you, you pull the trigger without hesitation, and you shoot to kill. Then you touch nothing, and you call me.”

Bella nodded in full understanding.

“Are you going back for them?” Bella asked.

“I’m keeping my family safe. All you need to know is that you’re safe. I need you to stay here. Look after Alani and your siblings. I don’t want Alani to know what’s going on. She has enough to worry about,” Ethic said. “Nobody knows where we live. You’re safe here. I’ma put a man at the gate just in case, but on the off chance that anyone knocks on this door or tries to step across that threshold,” Ethic said as he walked to one of the cabinets against the wall. He opened it and revealed a safe, punching numbers into it. Inside lay another gun. Ethic removed it. It was small, a .22 caliber. Something she could handle. He knew she knew how to load and fire this weapon because she had done so many times before when he would take her to the gun range. “You shoot first and ask questions later. My people won’t come inside the gate. They’ll guard it from the outside. Not even an Amazon worker should be knocking on this door. So, if anyone comes that you do not know, that means you’re in danger. You shoot, Bella.”

Bella was absorbing the information, and it was overwhelming her in real time, but she nodded anyway.

It was a big assignment for a teenage girl, but Ethic couldn’t stay. He had to circle back to find out what was going on, and then he had to get to Morgan to make sure that she was safe and Yara was okay.

“Are we in danger?” Bella asked.

“You never know you’re in danger until danger reveals itself. You anticipate it anyway. You think two steps ahead,” Ethic schooled. “Me being able to protect this house is one step ahead. You being capable to protect this home is the second step.” He reached for the thigh holster in his safe and went down to one knee. He lifted her foot and rested it on his thigh.