“You can work for me. I’ll get you a place in my name. You can be responsible for the rent.”
With a slack jaw, she shifted her entire body in her seat, so she was facing Lethal. “Why would you do that for me after what I did? I mean, I know this is your baby, but you don’t know for sure. Yet, you’re helping me.”
“Because I’m not a fuck nigga. I don’t have kids, but I’ve always heard there are instances where a man can havesymptoms of pregnancy when he has a child on the way. I’d think that it only occurred if he was around the mother but whatever the case is, I could barely stand the aroma of raw meat for months. If that isn’t my baby, then I need to go get my shit checked out. And even if it’s not, my offer still stands.”
Even if Khrome could find words, they would have been interrupted because the lab tech called her name. Simultaneously, her and Lethal stood at the same time. He allowed her to take the lead as they ambled toward the waiting technician. Lethal didn’t have a real job for Khrome. He wasn’t big on social media, but he knew having a social media presence on various platforms was beneficial. He would pay her to post on his pages, teach her how to edit his YouTube videos, small things that he didn’t have the time to do some days.
If the child Khrome was carrying belonged to him, then she would be taken care of her with no hesitation. He wouldn’t take care of Khrome financially, but he would make sure that she had a life good enough for his daughter to live. If she lived in a bad area, then his child lived in a bad area, and he wasn’t having that. Brazil was able to tackle parenthood because he had a good support system. If Khrome ended up in jail or simply just not capable of raising their child, he would step in, but with his career, he would certainly need help just as his brother did. Lethal was barely able to list five things about Khrome.
He didn’t know her last name, birthday, or any of her favorites. There was no way for him to decipher if she’d be a good mother. Only time would tell. The way his parents raised him to be, Khrome struggling and him being a dead beat were two things that wouldn’t happen. He’d give her a couple of tasks a day to do, let her respond to emails, enough for him to justify paying her enough money to cover her rent and utilities. He was also contemplating letting her drive his Benz until she was able to get a car. Lethal had a Benz, Land Rover, and a Genesis.
They both got their blood drawn, and when they were done, the pair walked outside. When Khrome unlocked her phone and went to the rideshare app, Lethal sucked his teeth. “When have you ever been in my presence and I not taken you to the hotel?”
“And I keep trying to tell you that you don’t have to do all that. No offense but I’ve been in two situations where men swooped in like saviors that were going to change my life and protect me, and they ended up being my worst enemies. It’s time for me to start learning how to save myself. I’m about to be somebody’s mother. I have to be independent.”
“Don’t mistake me trying to save my child with me trying to save you. I sympathize with what you’ve gon’ through but this is about that baby in your belly and nothing more. Regardless of the circumstances that she was conceived under, it’s not her fault. My child will never suffer behind the next person’s choices. Let’s go.”
Khrome hated that his authoritative tone turned her on. Maybe she had daddy issues, or maybe she just appreciated a good person. She had been fooled more than once but even through the scars and the trauma, she got the feeling that Lethal was cut from a different cloth than the men she dealt with in the past. He could say he was looking out for his child but giving her a job and helping her to get a place was a direct benefit to her. Any man that came along in the past and ‘saved’ her always had an ulterior motive. They also used everything they’d done for her as an excuse to treat her like shit.
Her motto had turned into “Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.” Lowkey, Khrome felt pathetic. She had needed saving enough times to qualify to be a Disney Princess. But rather than finding Prince Charming, she kept being saved and seduced by villains. This time, she wasn’t out in the world alone. Now, she was carrying a child inside of her. Khrome didn’t knowwhether to be grateful for Lethal or triggered because history was repeating itself.
In the car, neither of them spoke for the first ten minutes of the ride.
“What does the job consist of?” she asked in a low tone.
“I have a business email, social media platforms, need hotel rooms and flights booked for various events coming up. Things that an assistant would do, but I usually do it myself.”
Khrome gave a slight nod. It sounded easy enough. When she woke up that morning it seemed as if her stomach had grown overnight. Soon, hiding it with a pouch or even a loose-fitting shirt wouldn’t be possible. Khrome wanted to bartend for as long as she could because the money was fast and came daily, but a pregnant bartender wasn’t sexy. She would still get tipped but not as much as her scantily dressed co-workers. The further along she got in her pregnancy, standing for long periods of time made her ankles swell, hormones made her less tolerable of drunk assholes, and her motherly instincts had her on constant alert as she looked out for Cam.
He hadn’t come back to the bar, but Khrome knew better than to ever think he’d given up. That would only happen if he was dead or in jail.
“Maybe on your next day off, we can meet and go over everything. I’ll look at some places too. There’s a lot of apartments and townhomes in the area that I live in. I’ll pay you enough that you’ll be able to afford the rent.”
That part made Khrome relieved. She was happy that he expected her to pay her own rent. Even if the apartment wasn’t in her name, she would be responsible for keeping a roof over her own head. Even if something happened with her and Lethal and he fired her, put her out of the apartment, whatever, at least she would have proven to herself that she could pay rent and take care of herself. Khrome also vowed to never let her savingsget under $5,000. If Lethal stopped being so diplomatic and left her for dead, she didn’t want to be broke.
Over the years, Khrome had learned a lot. Plenty of women wanted to be ‘put up.’ They wanted to be taken care of, but she no longer did. Khrome wanted her own motion. She wanted to be able to provide for herself and to give herself a good life. Khrome longed for the day she’d log into a bank account and see five figures in both her savings and checking accounts. Even if she had to work up until the day she pushed her daughter out, that’s what she would do.
She had told Lethal the absolute truth when she said she didn’t want anything from him. But if he would pay for daycare after the baby was a few months old, she would continue to work for him and find another job or create a business of her own. Juggling motherhood and working hard couldn’t be easy, but she was determined. It was time that men stopped coming along and offering to save her. Khrome had to save herself.
“I have some money saved. So all I ask is that, if you get me an apartment, you let me get my own bedroom furniture. I don’t care if it takes me a few months to get a living room set. I want to get my own bed. It’s important that I start doing for myself as much as I can. Whether you’re doing this for the baby or not, you’re the third man in my life that will be the reason for me having a place to live and money in my pocket. I really want to do something for myself.”
Lethal’s head bobbed as he drove. “I respect that. I can dig it.” The silence resumed for a bit. “You hungry?” he asked.
“No. I ate before I left for the lab. I’m about to try and get some rest before it’s time for me to go to work.”
“Bet. My brother that will be there tonight is Block. He was the one that knocked ole boy out last time.”
It was Khrome’s turn to nod. Lethal’s dick had stroked her snug walls for more than an hour the night they met. She’dsucked his tongue and came all over his pipe. Yet, each time she’d been in his presence since then, she was a ball of nerves. And why wouldn’t she be? She stole from the man. Still, it felt weird to be having a child with a man she didn’t know and was always nervous around. She peeped that he had replaced the necklace she stole, and she was glad.
“How many brothers do you have?” she found herself asking.
“Three.”
His answer was short and sweet. Khrome had to remind herself that just because he was being nice to her didn’t mean he had forgiven her for violating him. He wanted to have sex with her, so she didn’t rape him. But she knew that her drugging him was the only reason he slid back up in her without protection on his member. One could say she had tricked him into getting her pregnant even though that hadn’t been her plan. He really could have said fuck her and not cared about her dilemma carrying his child or not.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Lethal spoke again. “We got time to figure this shit out. I can’t say I’ve completely forgiven you, but my Baby Girl saved you.” He chuckled.
Hearing him refer to her daughter as Baby Girl made Khrome’s heart skip a beat or two. Swallowing hard, she resisted the urge to cry. Khrome wouldn’t wish the life she’d lived on her worst enemy. Knowing that her daughter was going to have a father who would move heaven and hell for her made Khrome emotional. The back and forth battle she endured daily trying to figure out whether or not God actually liked her had finally been solved. All those years she never got pregnant by Cam, but she got pregnant by Lethal after one night. God did love her, and He loved her child too.
