“What’s wrong?” Consonance asked.
“The Kilmore church is on fire,” I answered as I turned up the volume. “Turn on your TV.”
“To what station?”
“I don’t think it matters,” I said as I watched. The news reporter who was on site stood far enough away that he wasn’t in danger, but was still close enough to the action. The camera panned to give a full shot of the destruction, and the second I saw the Stone brothers sitting in the background, my heart dropped into my ass.
“Is that who I think it is?”
“It is,” I answered with a nod. “It’s him.” Amethyst stood behind the reporter with a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. “His crazy ass just publicly declared war.”
“And you said he wasn’t going to show out,” she laughed. “You were so damn wrong.”
A few hours later, Amethyst walked into the house. He dropped his keys on the table next to the front door, kicked off his shoes, and then walked into the living room. When he noticed me on the couch, he smiled, then pulled me from my spot, sat down, and pulled me into his lap.
“Why are you up?” He nuzzled the side of my neck, then kissed it.
“I was waiting on you,” I answered as I closed my eyes. “I turned my ringer off on my phone, but didn’t want to fall asleep until you were home.”
“Why did you turn your ringer off?”
“Grant keeps calling,” I answered, and he grunted. “His father is calling a family meeting because of the church.”
“Luther is calling a family meeting?” he asked, and I nodded. “I doubt it, but you can answer and tell that nigga to stop calling, cuz you’re with your family.”
“I don’t want to answer,” I said, shaking my head.
“Sunshine, answer for that nigga or I will,” he said, then kissed my neck again.
“I’m not worried about what he has to say,” I sighed. “I do need to go home, though.”
“You are home.”
“You know what I mean,” I sighed and opened my eyes. “I need to go home and grab something.”
“Like?” He reared back to look at me. His eyes were low like he was tired, and I ran my thumb over his eyebrows. “Because ain’t shit there I can’t replace.”
“I have a few pictures of my mama that I want,” I said, and he nodded. “I want to go get them while his attention is on this church stuff.”
“You can walk in that bitch any time you want,” he replied with a twisted expression. “This church shit is going to be the least of his worries.”
“What do you have planned, Amethyst?”
“Nothing you gotta worry about, Sunshine,” he said, shaking his head. “Now tell me what else you want from that house?”
“Just the pictures,” I yawned. “That’s all I want because everything can be replaced.”
“Alright,” he said, nodding. “We will go get them for you tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “We can go tomorrow.”
**
“Am!” I called out from the bathroom the next morning. I needed to go to my office today to meet with a new client and was almost running late. My hair wasn’t doing what I needed it to, and I was two seconds from calling Corinthians DeCorte to make an appointment to cut it off. “Am!”
“Yeah, Sunshine.” He stepped into the bathroom as he tucked his top into his scrubs. He looked so damn good that I had to do a double-take. I freely took him in, making sure to stop at his pelvis to make sure that his dick print wasn’t visible. “What do you need, baby?”
“My hair won’t go into a bun,” I whined and stuck my bottom lip out. “Fix it.” I held out the brush and ponytail holder to him and waited.
