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“But that’s not fair!” she yelled softly. “Reek shouldn’t have to marry her just to keep my husband out of jail.”
“He’s not just your husband.” I took her hands into mine. “He’s the father of your child, my Goddaughter, and she does not deserve to grow up with her father behind bars.”
“What about what you deserve?”
I didn’t reply right away as my tears finally started to fall. “It doesn’t matter. This is beyond my control.”
“Nae…”
“It’s fine, Honey, really.”
Wiping my face, I left quickly. I didn’t care about her seeing me cry, but I didn’t want Tyreek to. I didn’t want to make him feel worse. I was sure if there was a way out of this, he would have found it. Holding onto my anger and sadness would only compound his feelings. As soon as I made it to my car, I hit the steering wheel as I screamed.
“God!” I yelled, tears pouring rapidly. “You gave him the password! Why would You do that and get my hopes up if we weren’t meant to be?” My breath came out shaky as I wiped my face. “I don’t believe You’re going to take him from me, not like you took my baby. You gave me confirmation that Tyreek wasmyhusband, and I have faith that You’re going to work this out. So I thank You in advance for whatever it is You’re about to do.”
Tyreek stepped outside, but I didn’t have the strength to talk to him right now. Not while he looked so sad and guilty. I cut my car on and quickly reversed. This wouldn’t be the end of us. I was confident about that. But dammit if this didn’t hurt…
CHAPTER26
Piper
As happy as I wanted to be knowing Tyreek would be coming over, I was nervous, and I honestly felt a little bad. It was clear he no longer wanted to be with me, and I didn’t want to force him to do anything he didn’t want to do. Even if we were to get married, if it was by force, I wouldn’t get the version of Tyreek that I’d fallen in love with years ago. He’d be bitter, angry, and closed off. Then, I’d find myself fighting for his love just like I’d been doing with my father.
He rang my doorbell again, and yet again, I couldn’t force myself to get up. My father was so adamant about Tyreek agreeing to the marriage that he told me to be dressed and ready to go downtown to file our marriage license. At first, I was excited, but the longer I thought about it, the less I wanted to go through with this. I’d done enough to hurt Tyreek when all he wanted was a better life for me. This couldn’t be how I repaid him.
After the third ring, I finally had the courage to get up and let him inside. When I opened the door and laid eyes on him, my guilt was even deeper. He wasn’t happy. In fact, he looked quite weighed down and sad. I hated being the cause of that. Scratching my ear, I motioned for him to come inside with my hand.
“Tyreek,” I called softly, but he lifted his hand to silence me.
“Just… Get dressed so we can get this shit over with.”
“Can we talk first? Please?”
“What is there to talk about, Piper?”
My eyes sealed shut. It felt so good to hear him say my name after all these years, even if he was upset.
“You’re talking to me like this is my doing.”
He scoffed. “It is!”
“No, it isn’t, Tyreek. This was Daddy’s idea.”
“Even if it was, you agreed, or I wouldn’t fucking be here.”
I couldn’t deny that. Tremors shot through my body as my knees weakened in shame. I wanted to look away from him, but he deserved better than that.
“Can we just talk, Tyreek, please?”
Without waiting for him to agree, I walked down the entryway hall toward the sitting room. It was clear I was in no rush to leave because I was dressed in leggings and a sports bra. Instead of sitting next to me on the dark orange sofa, he sat in the recliner that was the furthest away. I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was clear Tyreek didn’t want to be here, and I couldn’t blame him.
“Your brother’s blessed to have someone who loves him so much that you’d marry someone you can’t stand to even be in the same room with.” He looked at me but remained silent. “The person that loves me that much is sitting in a jail cell… where my fathershouldbe.”
His frame relaxed, finally, and so did his eyes. “What the hell is going on, Piper?”
“It was a job gone wrong,” I confessed, and he rolled his eyes and shook his head in annoyance. “The guy found out quicker than we expected. Three of his friends were there. He basically gave me to them as punishment.”
My head dropped. I was finally starting to realize how lucky I was. If my father hadn’t come when he did, they could have very well raped and beat me—all fucking three of them. As tough as I was, that was fucking with me. It was the reason I agreed to doing this when I started to have doubts. I felt like I owed him, but realistically, I didn’t.Hewas the reason I was there, and he was also the reason an innocent man was in jail. If I had to, I’d take the charges myself before I allowed Nathan to do my father’s time.
