Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I nod at the guard who is standing in the exam room I enter. Not making eye contact, I move to sit on the stool by the bed.
“We have incoming,” the guard says.
I nod but say nothing else. Hopefully this is the patient I am looking for. The inmate comes through the door and Michael steps in behind him, dressed as one of the correctional officers.
I keep my head down submissively. The guard who warned me of the newcomers steps out, leaving me and Michael alone with our patient.
Demarco ambles over with a gash on his head. He takes a seat and grumbles to himself. He glares at me as I remain silent, waiting for my signal.
“What are you waiting for, bitch? For me to bleed out? Let’s go, you stupid cunt.”
I snarl as he calls me names, but I don’t lift my head. Not until Michael pulls out his pocket watch and flips it open.
“Cameron sends his regards,” Michael says as the sound of “Für Elise” fills the room from his watch.
Before Dez can comment, I plunge a needle with poison into his neck. He is dead before he can register what I have done. Not as satisfying as pulling a trigger but the job is done. My friend and godchildren are safe once and for all.
“This problem has been hushed,” I say as we go to head out.
EPILOGUE
Forever My Lady
Cameron
Two years later …
He did it. Cal sat before all those folks and spoke his truth. I’ve never been more proud of him.
Well, the day he stood before everyone to give Nicole the wedding of her dreams comes a close second. My little buddy, Tiger, did good as well. Everyone was afraid he was going to have a meltdown in front of all those people, but I had faith in him.
I haven’t stopped smiling since we arrived home. Today was a great day for my family. Looking around at everyone, I realize I have no regrets.
I wouldn’t be as happy as I am if I changed anything. Getting to see Ladybug and Kay reminded me that I have the life I chose. The one meant for me. I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Kay wanted Chanel and the boys to hang out together, so she took them and Cecilia back to her hotel for a sleepover. I wasn’t surprised to see Sammy appear with his sleepover bag to follow them. He’s become friends with my boys and he’s very protective over Cecilia.
I know they will all be safe around him. That kid is a scary twelve-year-old. I know grown men who don’t have the presence he has.
The Reese family is in town because of Cal’s conference and Jareil’s game here tonight. It worked out for everyone. It’s his last year playing.
He and Kay spoil my kids as much as Amina and I spoil Ladybug and Junior. Kay and Amina are actually friends. You can thank my mama for that. It’s funny how life works out.
I stand in my bedroom, removing my suit as small hands glide up my chest from behind. I cover my wife’s hands and smile. I can’t remember the last time we had an empty house to ourselves.
I reach behind me to pull her in front of me. She’s in only her panties and bra with the sexy heels she had on today. The smile in her eyes says a million words.
Images of our life together begin to play through my mind. I remember the first time I laid eyes on her. The time I ran into her in front of the Chinese spot, the moment I spotted her at that party, our first kiss, the day she gave birth to our sons, there have been so many great moments between us.
I think I love her more today than I ever thought possible. I pull my phone and connect it to the home system. This will forever be our thing.
“Forever My Lady” begins to play through our bedroom speakers. Amina looks back at me with sparkling eyes and a grin. I raise a questioning brow.
“What’s going on in your head?”
“I find it funny you would pick this song. It’s perfect.”
“Oh yeah, why is that?”
“The first verse says it all,” she says with a wide smile.
I think of the first verse and my heart swells. She can’t be telling me what I think she is. I drop to my knees and palm her belly as she stands before me.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yup, we’re having another one. I must be crazy. We already have two who think they’re grown men and a two-and-a-half-year-old who acts like she’s forty.”
“But can you say you would change any of them? God, I love them and you.”
I palm her breasts as I plant open-mouthed kisses across her belly. I had been hoping for another baby. I couldn’t allow my little brother to outdo me. Hopefully, this will be another set of twins.