Page 109

"Ma'am, you need something?"

She quickly dropped the pretzels into her cart and kept moving.

Jru covered her face with one hand. "Oh my God. You're embarrassing me."

"Embarrassing you?" I let out a disbelieving laugh. "Girl, you got some motherfucking nerve."

For six months, I'd been dealing with two people who'd apparently made it their personal mission to drive me into an early grave.

Ezra had been losing his shit over Jru's disappearance. Every lead we followed turned into a dead end, and that nigga took his frustration out on anything within reach. He'd even cussed out a printer for jamming one afternoon. I stood there watching a billionaire threaten to beat the fuck out of office equipment.

Meanwhile, Ashlynn was eight months pregnant with our twins, and her hormones had been beating my ass worse than any enemy I'd ever faced. We'd already had one hospital scare that left me terrified for her and the babies. I wanted my wife resting, but she couldn't stop worrying about her best friend.

Now here stood the very woman everybody had been looking for, holding a basket full of snacks with Ezra's child sitting in her stomach.

And she had the audacity to look irritated with me.

"Girl, do you have any idea what the fuck I've been dealing with?" I asked, dragging a hand down my face. "My wife been threatening to divorce my ass every other Tuesday because I can't find you, and Ezra been acting like somebody stole his last fucking brain cell!"

Jru pressed her lips together, but I caught that little smile trying to sneak out.

"Ain't shit funny, Jru! What the fuck?" I threw my hands up. "I'm catching hell from both sides, and here you are, pregnant as fuck, asking me not to tell nobody!"

"Malachi, please lower your voice." She tightened her grip on her basket, glancing at the people passing us. "Everybody's looking, and I really don't want to do this right now."

"All right. Bet. You don't wanna do this in here? We can take this shit outside."

"No, Malachi. That's not what I meant." She shook her head, attempting to step around me. "I have to get home. We can talk another time."

Another time?

This girl had lost her motherfucking mind.

Before she could escape, I slipped one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees, carefully lifting her without putting pressure on her stomach.

"MALACHI!" Her basket swung from her wrist as she grabbed my shoulder. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"Girl, hush! You said you didn't wanna talk in here, so we going the fuck outside!"

A couple of shoppers stopped to stare as I headed toward the entrance with Jru fussing in my arms. I ignored every last one of them.

"Everybody's staring at us!" she complained, hiding her face against my shoulder.

"Well, tell 'em to take a motherfucking picture! I ain't got time for this shit!"

By the time I reached the automatic doors, she was threatening to kick my ass, which would've been a whole lot more convincing if she wasn't holding on to my neck.

I carried her over to a bench near the storefront and carefully lowered her onto her feet.

She immediately straightened her blouse and glared at me.

"Have you lost your damn mind?"

"Several times. Thanks for asking."

"Malachi, you can't just pick people up like that!"

"And you can't disappear with my brother's baby and expect me to act normal when I find you!"