“You’re just going to give up on Natanya after everything?”
He reminded himself not to raise his blood pressure over someone who no longer held a significant place in his life.Still, her arrogant assumption made him mad all over again.
The clatter of cutlery interrupted words better left unsaid, and he stalked to the kitchen.His mother had transformed the place where they shared family dinners into a hub filled with chrome appliances, including the fridge and oven.A nice upgrade, but he was too incensed to appreciate the renovation.
Pointing over his shoulder, he snapped, “What is she doing here?”
Mother and Chelle jumped at his harsh tone and turned from the counter to face him.
“Mari.”Chelle hurried to where he stood and hugged him around the waist.
He didn’t reciprocate, so she stepped back to study him.“I’d ask if you’re all right, but I can tell you’re not.”
“You’re ignoring my question.”His gaze slid to Mother.“Why is Christy in this house?”
Hand to her chest, Chelle said, “We thought … well, you can’t …”
Mother stepped in closer.“What she’s trying to say is that you can ignore a problem, but it won’t go away.”
“I didn’t think it would, but the two of you have no right to interfere.”He glared at Chelle and tipped his chin toward Mother.“Is there anything you don’t tell her?”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze, but admitted, “You sounded so out of it when we spoke, I was worried about you.”
He huffed and dragged one hand over his beard.“For heaven’s sake, I’m thirty-six.”
Mother quirked her lips, as if to say he wasn’t handling his business at that ripe age.
Standing taller, Shomari focused on her.“Even if my life doesn’t look like it should, this is out of order.The two of you overstepped your boundaries.I would have dealt with it in my own time.”
“Like the way you allowed her to rob you?”Mother folded both arms across her stomach.“I told you from the beginning, that child …”
His deepening frown was enough to stop her words.
“That’s right.I don’t want to hear it.”Pointing at her, he added, “When I needed your support, you never gave it, so now isnotthe time to butt into a situation that doesn’t concern you.”
“With all due respect, Shomari.”Chelle placed both hands on her hips.“This is our mother.”
“Did you hear me speak any lies?”he asked in a measured tone.
Chelle lowered her chin, but cut him with a vicious look.
“I didn’t think so.”His gaze went to their mother.“Like that Marley song says, the truth might offend, but it’s not a sin.”
Her eyes shot fire at him, and she opened her mouth.
Shomari stopped her with one finger.“Don’t.Let me finish with Christy, then I’ll come back and deal with you two.”
He left them, seething.
Before financial troubles hit his family, he’d always been soft.Admittedly, Mother had spoiled him in his early years.Then with the split and his parents’ subsequent divorce, he withdrew into himself and became a lone wolf.He’d had partners before Christy but by the time they met, he was thinking about a family.Too bad he hadn’t seen from the outset that they weren’t meant to be a couple.
She was staring through the front window when he walked back into the room.Turning, she tipped her head higher.As if bolstering her defenses, or daring him to call her out for her dishonesty.
It occurred to him how different Lizette was, and now, because of this mess, he was back at ground zero.He couldn’t see the forest for the trees, and was uncertain he’d get past this additional mess he was in.He shut Lizette out of his mind and concentrated on the woman in front of him.
Christy licked her bottom lip, but before she could speak, Shomari said, “Don’t.”
While filling his lungs with air, his gaze swept over her.She was pretty, fit, and intelligent.Yet, too late, he understood that she lacked substance.Christy wanted what she wanted, and she had to have it now.His modus operandi was different.Everything for him was a long game—saving, working toward his goals, creating a better future one day at a time.
