Kaseem didn't know. There was no way he knew. His mother had kept this secret just like I'd kept mine. Just like she'd kept so much hidden.
And now Demontae was searching for her. Trying to find answers about his past while also being a fucking menace to the streets. This shit was crazy and unreal.
I picked the letter back up with shaking hands and read it again. Trying to make sense of it. Trying to find some logical explanation that would make this NOT true.
But it was true. The DNA doesn't lie. Ancestry doesn't make mistakes. This was real.
Demontae Sullivan was asking his biological mother to call him.
The same Demontae Sullivan who was Nariyah's father. Who I'd loved when I was seventeen. Who'd killed his foster mother. Who'd become a monster.
The same Demontae Sullivan who Kaseem was at war with.
I stood up and started pacing. My mind was running through everything. Zuri testing her DNA. Demontae looking for his mother. The timing of all of this. The fact that Zuri had been acting strange since I met her ass. The way she'd tested me at the salon. The way she'd said "I know girls like you."
Maybe she knew more than she was saying. Maybe she'd figured out who Demontae was. Maybe she knew her son was her enemy. Or maybe she didn’t know at all. What if she didn’t expect any of this to blow up in her face?
Maybe this letter was about to change everything.
The security system beeped.
I looked up, confused. That alarm only went off when someone was circling the property. Not at the gate. Not approaching the entrance. Just... circling.
I pulled up the security camera feed on my phone.
A white Tesla was driving slowly around the compound perimeter. Going around. Around again. Looking for an entry point.
And inside that Tesla was Mallory. She had the window down and I could now see a clear image of her face.
Kaseem's ex side bitch. The woman he'd thrown away when he snatched me up. The woman who he had made clear that he was done with.
She was circling the compound like she was hunting.
I watched her on the camera, watching her drive slowly past each section of the property. Watching her brake at the main gate. Watching her stare at it like she was trying to figure out how to get through.
She knew this place. I could tell by the way she was moving.
But she didn't know how to get in.
I felt ice water run through my veins.
This bitch had picked the wrong day to show up here. I had so many problems weighing on me, I damn near felt bad for what I was about to do to this bitch.
And I was holding a letter that revealed Kaseem's mother had given up a son who was now at war with my husband.
Everything was falling apart at the same time.
I watched Mallory circle again, her Tesla moving slowly past the fence line. She was on her phone. Talking to someone. Gesturing. Getting frustrated.
She tried the gate code. It didn't work.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
She reversed and circled the property one more time, her frustration evident even through the camera feed. I stood there watching her like I was watching my prey.
Then she parked the Tesla at the far end of the property where the fence was closest to the road. Where the security cameras had less coverage. Where she thought she couldn't be seen.
