I stood slowly, shaking my head. “She’s not going anywhere.”
“Stop,” his voice was low now, warning. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
“No,” I said flatly, grounding myself even though I was shaking on the inside. “You don’t get to walk in here and start issuing orders like you still run shit in my life. You set mefree, remember?”
He took a step closer, eyes narrowing. “You think I’m here to stop that?”
“I don’t knowwhatyou’re here for, Nyce,” I snapped, my voice cracking as I climbed off the bed.
“I told you,” he gritted. “I’m here to check on you.”
“Well, I’m fine. Now, please… get the hell out.”
Mora stepped between us, glaring at Nyce. “I don’t know what kind of trauma bond y’all got, but you don’t get to drag her back into your bullshit.”
Nyce’s nostrils flared. “It’s not for you to understand.”
“You’re right. It’snot.” She turned to me, eyes wide and pleading. “But itisfor you to wake up, Princess.”
I didn’t speak. My throat was tight, and my hands were clenched at my sides. I wasn’t ready. For him. For her. For any of this. But something in his eyes, underneath the tension and anger, had me stuck. After a long silence, I exhaled and turned to Mora. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Her face twisted like I slapped her. “Wow.”
“Mora…”
She shook her head. “Don’t. Just don’t.” She backed away slowly, snatching her phone and keys off the dresser. “You’d better know what you’re doing,” she said through clenched teeth. “Because I swear to God, I’m calling every cousin I got if he hurts you.”
Nyce didn’t even blink as he smirked. “Then tell ’em make peace with God now.”
“Fuck you,” she hissed, storming toward the door.
He didn’t stop her, and I didn’t either. The door slammed hard behind her, and just like that, we were alone. The silence wrapped around us thick, bitter, and familiar. I stood in it, arms wrapped around myself, eyes locked on the man who’d cracked me open.
“You got two minutes,” I whispered. I barely had time to inhale before his hand came up to my throat in his usual fashion. “Nyce…” I started, but he didn’t let me finish.
His mouth crashed into mine, hard and consuming, his tongue sliding past my lips like he had every right to be there. The kiss was reckless, angry, and desperate all at once. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t sweet. It was the kind of kiss that carried everything we hadn’t said and everything we absolutely should not have been feeling. And for a few dangerous seconds, I melted.
My hands came up on instinct, gripping his hoodie, my body leaning into his before my mind could catch up. My heart was racing so hard I could hear it in my ears. Heat floodedthrough me, traitorous and unwanted, and I hated how easily my pussy seemed to remember him. The throbbing between my legs became intense, and I hated how good it felt to be held like that. Then reality slammed back into me.
I shoved my palms into his chest and pushed him away with everything I had. “No.” He stumbled back a step, more surprised than hurt, his hand dropping from my throat. I sucked in a breath, my eyes burning, my emotions spilling over all at once. “You don’t get to do that,” I said, my voice shaking despite my effort to steady it. “You don’t get to show up and then touch me like I belong to you when I don’t.”
His jaw tightened. “You didn’t push me away at first.”
“Because I’m human,” I snapped. “Because I’m tired and confused and still trying to understand why I feel anything at all when it comes to you.”
The air between us crackled, thick with frustration and unfinished emotion. He ran a hand down his face like he was trying to pull himself together, but his eyes never left mine. “This is why I told you to let it be,” he said, words slurring again. “This is why I walked away.”
“You didn’t walk away,” I said quietly. “You let me go. There’s a difference.”
His shoulders rose and fell with a controlled breath. “I was tryna protect you, Princess.”
“From what?” I demanded. “You?”
That hit him. I saw it in the way his gaze sharpened, the way his mouth opened and closed before he finally spoke. “I don’t dofeelings and relationships. I just don’t, especially when business is involved. But you blurred lines I don’t let nobody touch.”
I laughed bitterly, wiping at my eyes. “Then why are you here?”
He stepped close again, stopping just short of touching me. “Because no matter how much sense it makes to leave you the fuck alone, I can’t.”
