Her hand found the side of his face and Jahlil welcomed that touch. The kiss to his lips wasn’t a precursor for anything else. Just a soft reminder that their home had been each other.
“I love you too.”
“I know. Crazy that I felt that this whole time, even when you were pissed off.”
“Me being pissed off was a dead give away,” Emani said laughing softly. “You got to be the only man on this planet to make me mad for years.”
“You should know that Andrew reminded me that I had you messed up. That first year and a half, he cried for you almost every day.”
“I did too. I missed my guy.”
“Damn, what about me?” Jahlil joked.
Emani half yawned to reduce the pain in her face. “Boy, shut up. You know I missed you. Before you go whip Malik’s ass, can you lay with me?”
“I wa-”
“Ashton, Kyrie, and Carson haven’t left. I know what’s up. Make sure you remember who you are and don’t leave a trace,” Emani cut him off before sitting up. “You don’t need to lie to me about shit. I’d rather know and deal with it instead of being blindsided. Okay? I don’t care what it is or how bad you think it’s going to hurt me. Respect me enough to tell me.”
“I got you.”
“Thank you. Come put me to sleep, without your dick, my back hurts,” she stated, roaming back into the bedroom. Jahlil climbed into the bed behind her, wrapping her in his safety and gingerly kissed her face and rubbed her back.
“I’ll have someone come and give you a massage.”
“Your hands broken?”
He chuckled. “You know how that ends up.”
“It ends up how it ends up. You got the touch. That’s what I need.”
“I got you then. No complaints when I got you folded,” he hummed, feeling her drift.
“I won’t have one. I’ve been praying for this. I’m not going to complain about answered prayers.”
Within an hour, Emani was sound asleep and Jahlil was pulling his sleeping arm from under her. Before he tucked her in tightly, he rubbed her bareness. She’d wiggled out of the shorts and tangled her legs around his. He loathed pulling himself out of her web but he believed the most effective ass whipping was done while it was fresh. Dressing in all black to include a pair of black leather gloves he kept tucked away for times like these, he looked in on his kids sound asleep and jogged down the stairs. His trio of friends, dressed the same, were lounging around waiting for the command.
“Let’s ride,” Jahlil spoke with authority and roamed to the garage.
Carson was the driver, Ashton in the passenger seat and Kyrie and Jahlil sat in the back.
“Where is he?” Jahlil asked.
“Strip club,” Carson shared.
Ashton scoffed. “Nothing screams I want my ass beat than to be at the strip club after you let your baby momma be whopped by her son’s god mama.”
Carson snickered. “Can’t wait for the office to open so we can cancel that lease.”
Jahlil frowned then laughed in disbelief. “Who’s name is it in?”
“Emani’s credit is A plus, I made sure of it. Malik ain’t paid shit in that house since the first year. His money has gone to strippers and gambling. The nigga hasn’t even taken care of his kid. Emani has been covering everything,” Carson responded. “The proposal wasn’t just to get her from you but to have more access to her money.”
“This nigga,” Jahlil grumbled.
“I made some calls. Guess who this nigga was gambling with? The 60thStreet Vultures. The only reason they didn’t touch him is because Lucci said no one touches nothing close to E. Whole time this nigga was being spared and walking around here arrogant as fuck,” Ashton informed.
“Well, I’ll let Lucci know I handled his light work,” Jahlil stated.
