After that, I was going to take away her India. The bitch she liked to munch on. India made those calls to get my baby arrested, so she was gonna feel some of this heat too.
The only problem was, I needed to go back to DC to handle her. And I swear, I didn’t want to leave my family alone. But it would only be for a day or two.
Tonight though, we were having a family dinner.
Zainab had been craving Indian food all week. So I ordered from the best Indian spot in LA—butter chicken, lamb biryani,garlic naan, samosas, the works. Had it delivered and spread out across the dining room table like a feast.
Yusef came downstairs when he smelled the food. He was looking better these days. Still quiet, but his eyes weren’t as hollow as they’d been when we first got him back. Sloane was doing good work with him.
“Come eat, lil man,” I said, pulling out a chair for him.
Zainab waddled in, one hand on her lower back, the other cradling her belly. She was getting bigger every day. Beautiful as hell, but uncomfortable. I could see it in the way she moved.
“This smells amazing,” she said, lowering herself into the chair I pulled out for her. “Thank you, baby.”
“Anything for you.”
We fixed our plates and started eating. For a few minutes, it was just the sounds of forks against plates, the occasional “pass the naan,” the comfortable silence of family.
Then I cleared my throat.
“I gotta go to DC in a couple days,” I said. “Handle some business.”
Zainab’s fork paused halfway to her mouth. “What kind of business?”
“The Vivica kind.”
Her jaw tightened. She set her fork down slowly. “Prime…”
“She’s the reason you got arrested, Zai. She made those calls. Her and India. They served you up to the police and I can’t let that slide.” I kept my voice steady, but the anger was there, simmering beneath the surface.
“I’m not asking you to let it go. I’m asking you not to leave.” She gestured around the room—at herself, at Yusef, at her ankle monitor barely visible beneath her dress. “I can’t go anywhere. I can’t protect myself. I can’t protect him. And you want to fly across the country?”
“It’s only for a day or two.”
“A lot can happen in a day or two.”
She wasn’t wrong. I knew she wasn’t wrong. But I also knew that Vivica wouldn’t stop until she destroyed everything I loved. The only way to protect my family was to take her out first.
“This is how I protect us,” I said. “By making sure she can never come for you again. For any of us.”
Zainab stared at me for a long moment. I could see the war happening behind her eyes—the fear battling with the understanding. She knew who I was when she fell in love with me. She knew what I was capable of. And she knew that when I said I was going to handle something, I handled it.
“You promise you’ll come right back?” she asked quietly.
“The second it’s done, I’m on a plane home.”
She nodded slowly. Still not happy about it, but accepting. “Okay.”
“I’ll hold it down.”
We both froze.
The voice was small. Quiet. A little rough from disuse.
But it was Yusef.
I turned to look at him. He was staring at his plate, pushing rice around with his fork, like he hadn’t just spoken for the first time in months.
