Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I did my best to recover. “I'm proud of you and all you have done while I was away.”
She watched me with a skeptical look.
I dove my hands into my pocket, grabbed the wallet Anthony had given me earlier, and wrenched out all of money that had been stuffed in there. “Here. This is probably close to 10k. It's just the start. I owe you a lot of money.”
I was worried she was going to battle me about where the money came from or say she didn't need anything from me.
But she took the money and stuffed it right in her pocket.
I'm taking that as a small win.
Yet, the scowl didn't go away.
“Zuri, I promise that I will call you before I come. I just need your number.”
“I'll give it to you right before you leave.”
“Perfect.” My gaze inadvertently fell upon the vase of roses standing near us. The name Alonzo was now etched in my mind, right next to Francesca and Crimson Mob.
Envy tugged at my gut.
Don't do it. You're lucky she even let you remain in the apartment.
I fisted my hands at my side.
Come on, man. Pretend they’re not there. Please, don't do it.
Jealousy won over common sense, and the question slipped out of my stupid mouth. “Who is Alonzo?”
Zuri's eyes followed mine to the vase, and she swallowed hard, her expression shifting. “You not only broke into my home, you went through my things?”
There was a hint of accusation in her voice, but also an underlying note of vulnerability.
“I was being nosy and trying to figure out. . .everything I had missed about you.” I cleared my throat. “And then those roses. . .I wondered. . .”
“It's none of your business anymore.”
“It isn't.” I looked at her, still not willing to let it go.
She sighed. “Alonzo is. . .he's just someone I met a few months ago.”
“So. . .this is new?”
“Yes.” She frowned. “You told me to move on, Dante. Never sent a letter or let me visit, so. . .it took me years, but I finally did move on.”
Anger bubbled in me, but I kept it off my face. “Oh yeah?”
“Yes.”
“So. . .what does he do? How did you two meet?”
“This is new so at the moment, it is none of your business.”
I tilted my head to the side. “It isn't.”
“When I decide that he is more. . .a boyfriend or whatever, then maybe we can have that conversation due to co-parenting.”
“But for now, you don't think I need to know?”
“Exactly.”
“Why not?” I shrugged. “I won’t kill him.”
She widened her eyes in horror. “No one had that as an option.”
Pissed, I ran my fingers through my hair. “I’m just saying. I want to know more. Does Carmen like him?”
“Carmen hasn't met him.”
Relief washed over me.
To my surprise, Zuri continued, “Even though this is the first guy I've started dating since you've left, I wouldn't bring anybody around her for a very long time.”
This is the first guy. Interesting.
She shook her head as if the topic had been something she mulled over for a long time. “I don't even know. . .what length of time or moment would be good to introduce her to someone in my life. She's young, and there's all these horror stories about single mothers dating men.”
“You are smart and careful.” I wanted to say more, feeling a pang of regret and rising jealousy. “Is he. . .good to you?”
She blinked. “He's nice.”
“Respectful?”
“Always.”
“Never tried to. . .violate you or anything.”
“Never.” She gestured to her purse and gave me a weak smile. “I would shoot him if he did.”
“Now that I'm out, you can put that gun away.” I touched my chest again. “I'll do the shooting for you.”
She scowled. “It was a joke, Dante.”
“Not to me.”
“You don't need to be shooting anyone.” She pointed at me. “You need to lay low, so you can remain out of prison and help me raise Carmen into a happy, young woman.”
“Once I'm done, I will.”
She rolled her eyes. “Going after Crimson Mob is dangerous.”
“Trust me, Zuri. After what they've done to me and the years I've had to think about what I will do to them, I'm way more terrifying.”
She inched back.
I gritted my teeth. “Sorry. I'm not trying to scare you.”
“Don't get yourself killed.” Those gorgeous eyes watered some more. Soon a tear would fall, and I would yearn to wipe it away. “Carmen needs you.”
“And you need me too.”
A tear spilled from her eye. She wiped it and turned away. “Dante, you left a void, a deep wound that took years to even begin to heal.”
My heart broke. “And I'm not asking you to forget or to forgive me right away. I'm just asking for a chance to show you that I learned that hard lesson, and I know I'm an idiot.”
Zuri let out a long breath, a soft, almost inaudible sound that spoke volumes. “A part of me wants to believe you, Dante. But another part is terrified of letting you back in, only to be hurt all over again.”