“She said she had it under control, Bro. She thought they were harmless threats.”
“I know, Kannon. There was a note on her desk. Something about asking for your opinion about some messages or something, and she scribbled in that you thought she should mention them to me.”
“I shoulda done something.” My voice cracked, but I didn’t try to hide it.
“There was nothing you could do, and you know it. That woman was as strong willed and hardheaded as they come. That’s why I loved her.”
“It’s not too late for Carteay though.”
“You’re right. She’s off the grid for now. You sure she’s good?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. Kross and I both knew you could never be too sure.
“Just give us two days. Leave her wherever she is until then. Patience, grasshopper.”
“Pumpkin.”
I heard my mom call my name, but I refused to roll over. I heard her footsteps coming before she sat on the bed.
“Get up, baby. I know you miss your man, but we have a full day ahead of us.”
“Ma, I don’t feel like doing anything. Besides, Kannon asked me to keep a low profile until he comes back. It’s been three days. Now I’m worried sick about him.”
“What in the world is going on, Carteay? Why in the world did y’all show up out the blue like this? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
I took a deep breath as I rolled around to face my mama. “I want out of my deal.”
“Why, baby? What happened?”
“It’s a long story. Just know that I want out before the baby comes. I don’t even want the stress of dealing with them during my pregnancy.”
“Well, I can’t blame you for that. So what are you doing to get out of your contract?”
“Kannon wants me to let him handle it. They’ve being doing some weird stuff, and he’s worried about me. That’s why he brought me here.”
“What kind of weird stuff, baby?”
“I’m pretty sure somebody drugged me at the studio one day,” I revealed.
“Carteay, what the hell?”
“I know. Kannon has been staying close to me since it happened. Ceasar had the nerve to threaten to tell the media that I overdosed. He’s trying to ruin me. He said he would do it if I crossed him.”
“Oh, baby,” my mom said, pulling me into her arms.
“He says he’s gonna fix it, Mama.” I sobbed into her shirt.
“I take it you trust him.”
“I do. I’m just so worried about him. Somebody shot at us. The day we came here, someone shot at us.”
“What the hell? Did you call the cops?”
“Ceasar and his minions are crafty. He would have just had someone pretending to be a crazed fan to come forward and say it was them.”
“Baby, you should have told me what they were putting you through. I don’t even know what to say right now.”
“I didn’t want you worrying about me. Now everything feels so out of control. I can’t believe this is my life, Ma. If Kannon wasn’t there, I hate to imagine where I would be right now. I couldn’t even think straight, and he was the one dodging the bullets. I hadn’t even got out of the truck yet.”
