The guilt that I thought I’d feel over Draco killing them didn’t consume me—only rage. I wanted themallto fucking pay. Let Lily tell it, Megan was on her way to Atlanta to be with her, but Brandon? He had to still be in Memphis. What he’d done was unforgivable, and I’dneverbe able to move on with my life as long as he had his.
I didn’t know what had been done with Cam or his car, but Draco assured me that he’d been taken care of. I sat in the dining room of his dad and stepmom’s house, staring at the wall. While Clover and Derrick may not have been close to Draco,they hadn’t left my side. Both were leaned against the doorframe while Keem and Nathan were sitting at the table with me. Draco was kneeling in front of me with his hand on my knee.
When I finally looked down at him, tears fell from my eyes. But these weren’t sad tears—they were angry tears. They were tears that said what I couldn’t.
“What chu want me to do, boo?” Draco asked gently.
“Find him,” I commanded through gritted teeth, “and make him pay.”
He looked back at his brother, and Clover nodded.
“Keem and Nathan will take you to the house. We gon’ get a team together and try to find this nigga tonight, aight?”
With a nod, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Thank you,” I whispered, and before I could stop myself, I sobbed. I had no idea what I’d done to deserve this, and when I said that through my tears, Derrick said…
“You ain’t do nothing to deserve this, baby girl. Their actions aren’t a reflection of your character; it’s a reflection of theirs. Sometimes a person can be so good, so loving, so kind, that it brings out the worst in other people. And when it comes down to men, sometimes the better a woman treats them that they don’t like, the more it disgusts them and makes them want to treat her worse. Draco told me a little about your childhood, but I can promise you, you didn’t do a thing to deserve this. And I can also promise you we gon’ make that nigga pay.”
For some reason, that made me feel better. I allowed Draco to wipe my face as Clover said, “If anybody understands toxic family relationships, it’s us, but some shit you just don’t do. We gon’ take care of you, sis.”
I could tell his statement caught Draco off guard because his brows wrinkled, and he frowned as he turned to look at his brother.
“For her to be yo’ sister, I would have to be yo’ brother.”
“I can claim her and not claim you.”
“Nigga, you claim me.Idon’t claimyou.”
“Lord, here they go,” Derrick groaned, making me laugh. “Take my daughter home so we can handle this business,” he told Keem and Nathan, who wasted no time standing and doing what their father said.
I thanked them all again before giving my man a hug and kiss goodbye. It felt silly praying for them, knowing what they were about to do, but I prayed anyway. What would have made me feel guilty was if anything happened to them while they were trying to look out for me.
4:00 AM
It didn’t matter how much I tried to sleep, I’d been restless. There was no way I’d be able to sleep until Draco made it home. Keem and Nathan tried to distract me, but I assured them it wasn’t necessary, so they started doing their own thing. How the guest suite was set up, it had a sauna, pool table, a few arcade games, and a beautiful view of the lake, so they’d been up there. I usually cooked when I wanted to relax, so I made them some hot wings, meatballs, and Rotel.
They devoured that shit and was asking for more. Cooking for them was the perfect distraction. It led to me joining them in the guest suite and playing pool for a couple of hours. They couldn’t believe how well I could play, like they forgot their brother was my man. He’d taught me just enough to beat everybody else,… except him.
Eventually, I retired to the primary bedroom and let them do their own thing. That was when my thoughts started getting the best of me again. I kept telling myself no news was sometimes good news, but I still couldn’t get to sleep.
At the sound of the door chiming, relief immediately filled me. I had to keep myself from racing out of the room and charging downstairs. If I hadn’t showered and taken off my clothes, I would have. I did unlock the door so Draco would be able to come right inside. The second the doorknob turned, I had to stop myself from pouncing on him. I was on my hands and knees in the bed, wiggling my ass and shoulders to keep myself from jumping out of bed.
Draco chuckled at the sight of me. His eyes were low,… tired.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’re all good. We couldn’t find Brandon, but we’ve put word out and put a price on his head. It won’t be long. I’m confident about that.” Nodding, I climbed out of bed and walked over to him so I could undress him. “How you feel, boo?”
“I’ve calmed down. I’m good now that you’re here. Lily was blowing my phone up begging me not to let anything happen to her and Megan, and now I know why. Since you put a price on Brandon’s head, it’s already started to circulate. Someone who knows them has called her or Megan. I told her it was above me now and that if they knew what was best for them, they’d stay in Atlanta and away from me.”
“Yeah, I don’t usually touch women, but for you,anybodycan get it. As long as they don’t come to Memphis starting shitwith you, I’ll let them live. Hell, if they ever accidentally find themselves in the same room as you, they better act like they don’t even fucking know you.”
I knew he was serious, which only made me laugh harder. By the time I was done undressing him, it seemed his body was already starting to shut down. We went into the bathroom, and I washed him quickly in the shower. After drying him off, I covered his body with oil, then we brushed our teeth and washed our faces, then climbed into bed. As soon as I snuggled up against him, I tossed my leg over him. Like always, my hand went to his belly, and his went to my scalp.
“Hey,” I said softly before yawning.
“Wassup?”
“Thank you, pooh. I’ve never doubted you when you said you’d always protect me and take care of me, but you really showed me today that you’ll do literally anything for me. I don’t think I could ever repay you for that, but I just want you to know that I’m grateful.”
