“See, now you fucking with me. You that cold, Bali? What if that man had a wife and kids depending on him?”
“What if that shit would have killed my sister? Fuck him! He ain’t here to fuck nobody else up!”
I’d gotten loud, and I noticed some of the family staring at us. I took a deep breath as Noni approached us. Carter was angry. He was practically snarling like a dog. Without saying a word, he walked away from me, leaving the barn.
“Carter!” I yelled as I followed him outside.
He spun around and got in my face. “That was fucked up. What if you get caught?”
“How would I, Carter? Nobody knows but me, Daddy Mayor, Ali, and now you.”
His brows lifted. “Your dad is cool with that?”
“He didn’t know until after the fact. I’m his daughter. Why would he not be cool?”
“You know what . . .”
He slowly shook his head and walked away from me with his lips turned up in disgust. I watched him get in his truck and leave me standing here like I wasn’t the love of his life . . . like I wasn’t his fiancée. My shoulders slumped as I turned to walk back inside, and I nearly walked right into Noni. She was staring at me wide-eyed. She’d heard the conversation.
“What did you do, Bali?”
I shook my head, and instead of going back inside, I sat on the bench outside. Never in a million years did I think doing that would cause me to lose Carter. I was now seeing that shit was possible. I couldn’t even focus on what they were doing to find Uncle Marcus.
Noni sat beside me and asked, “Have you started the Clomid?”
“I’m finished with it. I’ve already ovulated.”
“What if you’re pregnant?”
“What if I am? So what. He didn’t say he was breaking up with me. If he is, then I guess I’ll be a single parent.”
“Bali—”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But what about?—”
“Leave me the fuck alone!”
She took a deep breath and stood. I didn’t want to think about that shit right now. Leaning over, I brought my hands to my face, doing my best to hold my emotions in. When Red stepped outside, he looked around for Carter. When he didn’t see him, he asked, “He left?”
I didn’t respond. I just stood and went back inside, heading to a conference room no one was in and locked the door. I literally sat in the dark, thinking about Carter. I didn’t understand why he was so angry. That pharmacist’s actions caused my sister to lose her baby. I didn’t have proof of anything, but if that bitch said that she gave Maui the wrong prescription, then he knew about it. How many other people had he possibly done that to? History didn’t lie.
There was a knock at the door, but I refused to respond. I just wanted to go home and curl up in my bed until it was time for me to go to work tomorrow.
“Bali, open the door.”
It was my daddy. Although he already knew what was going on, I didn’t feel like talking about it. I lowered my forehead to the table, trying to calm down about the unknown. When the door opened and the light came on, I didn’t bother to lift my head. I knew if I didn’t open it, he would find the key. Without saying a word, he sat next to me and pulled my hand from my lap, caressing it between his.
After a minute or so, he said, “Everything we do has consequences, baby. I don’t think he’ll stay away from you, though. Just give him time.”
I still didn’t lift my head. Carter had never been that angry with me, not even when I was ghosting his ass because of Mythic. He was always so tender with me. He cursed at me. This was bad. What if I was pregnant? Lifting my head, I stared at my daddy . . . the man that understood me most. My soul was in turmoil, and I knew he could see it through my gaze.
“Is what I did a dealbreaker for marriage? Was it something that would cause him not to trust me anymore? Does that make me undesirable?”
He pulled me to him, and I rested my head against his chest, probably rubbing makeup all over it. Totally unlike himself, heremained quiet. After a few seconds, my head popped up, and I stared into his eyes. “Daddy . . .”
His silence in this moment was deafening. He was responding to my questions. What I did could be a dealbreaker for marriage. Carter no longer trusted me. I was now undesirable. Refusing to cry, I took a deep breath and nodded, then stood from my seat.
