“You’re going to dowhat?” she asked quietly.
“Kill them. You said it yourself that they won’t leave you alone. You think I’m going to tolerate that? It’s my job to keep you safe, keep you at peace, and keep you happy.”
“Yeah but… that’s my family. My blood.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I inhaled what I needed to be a calming breath.
“I know that’s your blood but?—”
“Blood should be… it is thicker than water. I can’t let you kill them, Draco. I can’t have their blood on my hands. I would feel guilty for the rest of my life.”
“People always get that quote wrong. The quote is not blood is thicker than water. The quote is: The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. Meaning, chosen relationships and friendships can be more important and special than family bonds. The bonds with people that choose to love you, treat you right, be in your life,… that’s what you should focus on. So saying that shit to justify your loyalty to people who have treated you like shit literally your whole life ain’t gon’ fly with me.”
Distress covered her face, and I hated that she felt bad about this shit, but this was something I was going to stand firm on. Even if she decided she didn’t want to be with me romantically, I was going to make sure none of them, not even Megan, fucked with her again. Now, I wasn’t going to kill Megan, but I was going to make sure she understood the same thing that was going to happen to her brothers would happen to her if she fucked with my girl again. Lily could get it too. Nobody was safe if they went against my girl.
“We can talk about this later,” she mumbled. “I don’t want to ruin your dinner.”
“Oh, you won’t,” I said with a laugh. I picked a piece of chicken up, and it was so tender, it instantly fell off the bone.“This is tendernism, boo. You oughta send this to that old man you be showing me on TikTok.” That got a smile out of her. “C’mere.”
Slowly, she made her way over to me, and I picked her up and set her on my lap. Without me even asking, she mixed the yams and mac, then put a forkful to my lips. Once I was done chewing, I said, “There will come a day when you’ll have to choose between the family you were born into and the family you can have with me. The choice will be yours, and I’ll respect your decision either way, but you will have to make that choice.
“Cam and Brandon have not only disrespected you but stole from my family too. Even if I don’t kill them, my family will. We aren’t the type of people to give people numerous chances to fuck with us. So they will die, Cordova, and there’s nothing you can do about that. If you can’t be with me knowing me or my family will be responsible, I’ll respect that but?—”
Her pointer finger went to my lips, silencing me.
“I don’t have to choose, because it’s not a choice. Yes, I don’t want them to die. Yes, I will feel guilty. But I’m not letting anything come between us. You’re right. They’ve bullied me my whole life, and I can’t count the amount of times they beat me up until I literally had no choice but to learn to fight back so I could eventually beat them up. In no universe will I ever choose them over you. Over us. Over our future.”
I let a few seconds pass before asking, “Are you sure, boo? I don’t want you to wake up one day and resent me.”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. Then we never have to have this conversation again. I will not ever let anyone hurt you or disrespect you and not punish them for it. I don’t give a fuckwhoit is. I love you, and every part of you will always be safe with me.”
Her jaw clenched before she rested her forehead on mine briefly. I heard her saying she chose me, but time would trulytell. It was easy to say that as a hypothetical, but I’d see how she truly felt when I found her cousins and released their spirits. Since they wanted her out of their parents’ home so bad, I was going to send them to their heavenly home. Fucked up part was, unless they repented before they got these bullets, I was pretty sure they were going to end up in hell.
Two Weeks Later
Cordova was drunk as hell. She’d finished the design and décor for Sugar Baby and Cash’s home, and they were so impressed they gifted her a twenty-five thousand dollar bonus. To celebrate, I took her to do her favorite things. We went skating, to a trail ride, and then to a late dinner. The girl she’d met at the mall, Raven, joined us with her man. It was cool hanging with a couple for a little while. With my upbringing, I learned to ride solo and actually preferred it. The only person I’d ever really clung to for friendship was Cordova. Other than that, I was a loner. They went skating with us and to the trail ride, but Cordova and I had dinner alone.
I didn’t think she was intentionally trying to get drunk, but when I told the bartender we were celebrating, he startedsending over shot after shot. After we ordered dessert, she went to the bathroom. When she came back, she extended her hand in my direction. I opened my hand to receive what it was, and when I saw that it was her panties, I immediately pulled them under the table.
“Yeah, yo’ ass drunk as hell,” I muttered, and she cackled as she plopped back down in her seat. “Mm,” I moaned, rubbing my thumb against the seat of her drenched panties before licking her essence off my thumb. Tasting her increased my territorial claim on her every fucking time. “Why they wet?”
“I want you.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Wait,” she said with a laugh as I stood and shoved her panties in my pocket. “We ordered dessert, and we have to pay.”
“Fuck that shit.” I pulled several hundred dollar bills from my wallet and tossed them onto the table. “Let’s go.Now.”
Her laughter as I helped her out of her seat made me chuckle, but I was dead serious. My dick was hard as fuck, and I wasn’t even about to wait until we got home.
I picked her up and carried her out of the restaurant, which she found hilarious.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you walk this fast,” she teased.
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be in yo’ pussy this bad. I love you, girl. I’m proud of you and excited about what’s to come in your future, and you really just made it worse being nasty. I was gon’ fuck the shit outta you when we got home, but now I can’t wait.”
