“Thank you.” I nodded.
“I’ll be right back,” Amethyst said as he stood. “Figure out what you want to eat so we can go back on the dance floor. He kissed me and then left our private room.
Chapter nineteen
Amethyst
“She looks like her mama,” Tulane Forrester chuckled as he sat behind his desk. His dark brown eyes were glued to the screen, and I knew they would be the entire time we were here. “She got the same smile as her and everything.”
“You’ve seen her, now tell me what I want to know,” I said as I took my seat. Dealing with Tulane was a play I knew that no one would see coming. It wasn’t public knowledge that he was Yale’s father, but those who did know kept the information close to the vest.
“You know you young niggas always got a lot of fucking mouth,” he chuckled and shook his head. “And no matter what us old heads try and teach y’all, y’all don’t learn until shit hits the fan.” He turned his attention from the computer to me and mugged me. “You walked your ass in here with my daughter onyour arm, and you think I owe you something? You didn’t do shit that another nigga couldn’t have done in the past.”
“But they didn’t,” I countered. “And we both know it didn’t have shit to do with your word and everything to do with mine.”
“You’re one cocky ass nigga,” he said as he sat back in his seat. “You know that?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “Which is why you respect me just like I respect you, but understand something, my love for your daughter is the only thing that’s stopping me from putting a bullet in your head if you say the wrong thing.”
“Yale doesn’t even know about me,” he laughed. “You threatening to kill me doesn’t change that fact.”
“Then go meet her,” I said, nodding at the screen. Tulane’s attention went back to the computer, and he sighed. I could see the love for Yale in his gaze. He wanted to get to know her, be a part of her life, but he wasn’t. And I needed to understand why.
“I can’t, young blood,” he sighed. “For her safety, I can’t.”
“Who knows she’s your daughter?”
“Very few,” he answered with a shrug. “After her mama went MIA, I tried to make sure I was only in the shadows, and I thought I did a good job.”
“You did, but I know people who know people who watch their surroundings, and all it took was one look, and I connected the pieces,” I said as I sat back. “Now I’m going to ask you one time, and then I gotta get back to my woman. Why the fuck did the Kilmores set her up?”
Tulane stared at the computer screen, then ran his hand over his face and sighed. “They set her up?” he questioned. “They fucking set her up and then Grant fucking married her?” His face twisted in anger. “Out of all my fucking kids, they setherup?” He let out a humorless laugh and shook his head. “Are you sure?”
“According to Grant’s baby mama, they set her up to take the fall for Quincy, and I need to know why.”
“His baby mama?” he angrily asked. “That nigga had kids on my daughter?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Three of them.”
“And you let my daughter marry that nigga?” he chuckled and shook his head. “What kind of nigga are you, Amethyst? You swear you love her, but you allowed her to marry another nigga, and he’s cheating on her? The fuck are you doing?”
I sat forward, resting my arms on my legs, and dropped my head. I was trying so hard to control my anger, but this nigga had just stepped over the line. He had the nerve to question me like he had done everything in her life. He hadn’t done shit! Where the fuck was he when she was growing up? Why wasn’t he around? Why was he looking at me as if I’d failed her when he was her damn father?
“I’m the only muthafucka that’s been protecting her!” I yelled as I stood. “I’ve been watching out for her for damn near fifteen years.” I slammed my fist on his desk and grilled him. “Where the fuck were you, Tulane? Huh? Where the fuck were you because the last time I checked, you left your daughter to figure out her shit on her own, and that’s how she got mixed up with that nigga Grant.”
“The Kilmores knew not to touch her,” he yelled back. “Them niggas knew the agreement!”
“Yet they did!” I replied. “They set her the fuck up, and I need to know why.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he chuckled and shook his head. “I’ll handle this shit from here on out. Thank you for bringing my daughter, but your services are no longer needed.” Tulane sat in his chair and crossed his arms. “I got it from here.”
“Nigga, did you just try to dismiss me?” I laughed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his security start to move towards me,and I pulled my gun from the back of my pants. I turned to the security guard, shot him in the chest, and watched his body drop to the ground, then turned back to Tulane. “The only person I move for without a second thought is Yale. You aren’t her. You might have played a part in a conception, but that’s where your power ends. That’s my fucking woman, understand that shit and right fucking now.”
I mugged Tulane one last time before leaving his office. Coming here was a mistake, and as soon as I finished dealing with the Kilmores, I was going to handle Tulane. He wouldn’t have to worry about having a relationship with Yale because I’d kill him before he got a chance.
When I got back to the private suite that Yale was in, I stood outside the door watching her. She was lost in her own little world, swaying to the music and gazing at something on her phone. I wiped my hand over my hair, took a deep breath, then pushed the door open and stepped inside the room.
Toni Braxton’s ‘I Love Me Some Him’ was playing as I approached her, and I put my hand out. “Come on, you know this is my song,” I said. Yale didn’t hesitate to take my hand, and I led us to the middle of the private suite to dance. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me.
