Page 153 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 3

“I choose where. Not you.” I held his gaze. “You buy a new bed because I’m not sleeping in the one I know you had hoes in. My sisters can come and go as they please, no clearance, no waiting for permission. Nobody makes a single medical decision about me or these babies without my say. I want the names of every guard assigned to me and their schedule in writing, so I know exactly who’s watching my house, and if/when you change out these two.”

He was quiet for a long moment, studying me the way he did sometimes, like he was recalculating something he’d already thought he understood.

“My bed was customized and cost twenty grand, Truth, but agreed,” he said. “On one condition of mine.”

“What.”

“You don’t leave without telling security first. Not because I’m keeping you somewhere. Because I need to know where you are if something happens.” His voice softened, just slightly at the edges. “That’s not a rule to throw around my weight. That’s the only way I can actually keep my end of the deal.”

I thought about it—really thought about it, weighing what it would cost me against what I’d already lost that afternoon on my own front porch—and nodded once. “Fine.”

“You can put your gun away, killa.” Priest smiled at Raven.

Aww, shit.

“I ain’t no killa but don’t push me.” She giggled. “I’m Raven.”

“I’m Priest.” He extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I need to get your number so I can call and confess all my sins.” She bit her bottom lip.

“Not now, Raven.” I rolled my eyes.

“I can multi-task. Your man here now, you good.” She turned back to Priest. “Here’s my business card. Call me.”

“I most definitely will.” He smiled and walked off.

Priest was already directing two of the men toward the box. Gloved hands, an evidence bag, the quiet efficiency of people who’d cleaned up worse than this before. My sisters moved through the house behind me, gathering what I’d need for a few nights away, their voices low, their movements quick, none of the earlier banter left in them.

I stood in the doorway one last time before we left, looking back at the brick two-story I’d claimed with my own money, my own signature, my own stubborn refusal to be anyone’s dependent—the house that was supposed to be proof that I could build a life on my own terms.

It still was. That hadn’t changed. But safety had a different shape now, and I understood, standing there with the smell of copper still caught somewhere in the back of my throat, that the war I’d been watching from a careful distance had just walked up my steps and knocked.

It wasn’t going to wait for an invitation again.

Chapter 16

AMAI

Ipulled through the gate first, watching it swing shut behind Truth and Raven’s beat-up cars in my rearview before I let myself exhale. Three cars. Four women. One war that didn’t know how to stay in its lane. I knew it would only be a matter of time before they came for Truth and my twins. I tried to do it Truth’s way, and now it was time to do it mine.

I parked in the circular drive and got out, leaning against the door of my truck while I waited for them to catch up. Truth’s headlights swept across the front of the house as she pulled in behind me, and I watched as she leaned forward, taking it in. She hadn’t been here since her interview.

Raven got out first. Stood there a second with her hand still on the car door like her ass may have to take off running at any given moment.

“Lord have mercy.” She said it low, almost reverent, tilting her head back to take in the second floor. “This a house or a hotel?”

“It’s a house,” I said.

“It got a turret, Amai.”

“It’s not a turret.”

“It’s shaped like one.”

Honor climbed out next, sunglasses pushed up into her hair, even though the sun had already given up for the day. She didn’t say anything at first. Just walked a few steps onto the grass and looked up slowly, taking the whole thing in one level at a time like she was appraising it for auction.

“Okay,” she finally said. “Okay, okay, okay.”