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“What’s the move?”
“You’ll tell them that you and Thurston were dating and that you’d stopped by to see him before he left the country. Nathan and I were waiting for you in the car, which is the truth. Say that one of his friends were stealing from him while he was in the shower and when you called him out on it, he tried to accuse you. You’ll say that you called me because you were scared and that’s why me and Nathan came up. Say that they were trying to rape and beat you and Nathan shot them all to protect you. Depending on how believable you are, it might be excusable or justifiable homicide or manslaughter at the most. Maybe he won’t get any time or maybe he won’t get more than ten or twenty years. Regardless, without this story, he’s looking at life and the death penalty, and you will be too.”
“And what about you?” I asked, anger intensifying the more I listened to the selfish bastard speak. “You just… get off scot-free? Like you weren’t the one who killed them all?”
“Yes,” he replied nonchalantly. “If you do this for me, I’ll give anything on this earth you desire.”
I scoffed. “There’s nothing you can offer me to make me betray my best friend, Daddy. I can’t choose you over another man I love. I did that with Tyreek and…”
“That’s it.” A slow smile spread to the corners of his lips. “Nathan is going down for this regardless. I refuse to sacrifice myself for him. However, if you lie and say he did the shooting to protect you instead of me, you can help him get less time, if he has to serve any at all. In exchange, I’ll get you Tyreek—permanently.”
I needed to know. My curiosity had definitely been piqued. A second chance with Tyreek was all I’d been wanting since he called things off, not that I blamed him. If I could have gone back in time, I would have chosen him, us, normality, a future that didn’t include me doing whatever it took to secure a father’s love that should have been freely given.
“How can you do that?”
“I’ve been trying to give Tyreek time to come back to me on his own, but now, I’m starting to see that I will have to force him. I have something on him that he won’t want to get out. If you agree to do this for me, I’ll use it to get him to marry you instead of using it to work for me. Does that prove to you how dedicated I am to make sure we both get something good out of this?”
It was clear he was determined to make Nathan pay for this, whether I helped him or not. At the most, I could reject the offer and he would flee. Even if I tried to get Nathan out on my own, without my father, the police would need someone to bring to justice, and it was going to be me or Nathan. At least this way, I could help Nathan get the smallest amount of time possible, if any, and get what I’d been wanting for what felt like forever—Tyreek.
My head hung and chin lowered to my chest as my hands went limp.
“Fine,” I agreed softly as my voice cracked. “I’ll… I’ll do it.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, tears escaped my eyes. Nathan had been there for me since we met. I trusted him with myself far more than my father, and this was how I was going to repay him for his loyalty? The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. Making my way out of the room, I ignored my father as he said, “You won’t regret this, Piper, I promise.”
My eyes rolled as tears continued to pour from them. This was the final straw. At this point, what hope I had to gain my father’s love and respect was gone. I didn’t care about how he felt about me, and I didn’t care to have him in my life at all. I felt forced into doing this one last thing for him, and the only good thing that came from it was getting a second chance with Tyreek. My father was about to cost me Nathan, and that was unforgivable. After this, I wanted nothing more to do with him.
CHAPTER21
Janae
It said a lot that one of Tyreek’s students had given him for their emergency contact instead of their parents. I saw him rushing down the hall the moment he arrived, but I wanted to give him time and space to check on David first. Once he came out of his room to take a phone call, I decided to make my presence known. We hadn’t spoken to each other since the wedding a month ago, and I’d been thinking about him a lot. In a way, he was motivation for me to take my healing seriously.
Every day, I was using journaling with prompts to really deal with how I was feeling. I felt like I’d finally forgiven myself for the miscarriage and started the process of forgiving Michael. There was no use in me being upset with him for being who he was. Quite simply, I just had to make up in my mind that I didn’t care for that version of him. Not having to be tied to him for life was a blessing. Shifting my perspective had been working wonders for me.
Instead of focusing on what I’d lost, I was choosing to focus on what I had and would soon gain. Instead of being hurt over the way Michael treated me, I was grateful to have seen that side of him before we got married and had children. His biggest flaw was his selfishness, and that helped me to see how important it was to me to be with someone who was selfless and committed to partnership. Instead of harboring hate and resentment in my heart toward God for the loss of my baby, I thanked Him for giving them to me… even if for a brief moment. Whether I gave birth or not, I was still a mother, and that was the highest honor I’d receive in my life.
I told myself, I had an angel in heaven who would be there waiting for me when this life was over, and I still had time to try again while here on earth. No matter how many babies I gave birth to in the future, my angel baby would always be my number one.
Aside from inner work and connecting with my feelings, I’d been taking time off from work and getting back into my hobbies and passions and visiting a smash house weekly to release lingering anger. I’d also been spending more time with family and friends. The only person that I hadn’t been with was Tyreek, and that was driving me crazy.
As I made my way over to him, I held my breath. I wasn’t sure how he would respond to seeing me or if he even wanted to talk to me for that matter. Maybe he’d already started seeing someone. Or maybe he was tired of my shit. It was easy to say you’d wait for someone, or you understood why they were the way they were, but lonely nights were a motherfucker. I wouldn’t blame him if he’d met and started seeing someone to entertain him. As if he felt someone nearing, Tyreek looked up, brows furrowed. At the sight of me, he relaxed and smiled.
He looked good as hell, even dressed down in a cream sweatshirt with matching sweatpants. Like always, chains were hanging from his neck. This time they were silver. And he had on cream and white Pumas.
“Hey,” I greeted, resisting the urge to hug him.
“Hey, Nae. It didn’t cross my mind that you’d be here tonight. How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you?”
“Good.”
Silence lingered between us for a few moments before I said, “So David really trusts you, huh? That’s sweet and sexy.”
Tyreek blushed. “I’m honored that he wanted me here, but I still had to call his parents. He’s worried about getting in trouble because he was riding a motorcycle that they had already told him not to ride.”
“Ohhh.” I stretched, smiling. “That makes sense.”
