“Islah.”
Everything in me went still.
I already knew who it was before he said anything else.
“Gio,” I said, my voice tightening. “Why are you callin me?”
He let out a small laugh.
“I’ve been trying to find you...” he said.
“I am not doing this with you,” I said immediately. My heart was beating in my ear.
His tone shifted. Lower, sharper.
“So, where are you now?”
I didn’t answer.
That made him breathe heavier.
“Come on now, baby girl, you known me for seven years, you know I’m not gonna let this or you go this easy.”
“Gio, you need to leave me alone.”
“Oh, I will leave you alone, alright, once I know where you are.”
“Hell no!” I yelled into the phone.
Those words changed everything. That nigga voice snapped.
“You still talking like that after everything?” he asked.
I walked away from the counter now, pacing without thinking.
“Gio, everything with me and you is DONE,” I barked into the phone. “You need to leave me alone.”
He went quiet for a second, then he said something that made my stomach drop.
“I talked to your man…”
I stopped walking.
“What?”
“I talked to him,” he said it again, slower this time. “He told me to stay away from you.”
My chest tightened as he continued. “But I can’t do that, not just yet.”
“You didn’t talk to him.”
Gio laughed. “I did, baby girl. He tried to tell me what I can do and what I can’t do,” he said. “Like I’m some random nigga.”
“Listen Gio?—”
“No, bitch!” he yelled into the phone. “You are going to listen to me! You and your nigga have been doing a lot of talking, and you sit there and watch that nigga put his hands on me and don’t stop him. You can’t erase me, Islah. I am coming for both of?—”
I hung up immediately and blocked his number.
