“I’m not taking you home. I’m taking you to Marz.”
My eyes rolled as I shook my head. Lord knows I wasn’t trying to be difficult, but the last thing I wanted to do was hear Marz’s mouth. He was going to tell me this wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t try to handle things on my own. Jay was a little too comfortable approaching me, and had I let Marz handle the situation, that wouldn’t have been the case.
“I can’t go to Marz. He’s going to yell at me.”
Winston tried to cover his smile by running his hand over his mouth, but I’d already seen it. “If I don’t take you to him, you gotta come to my house. Jay knows where you live, so that won’t be safe.”
“Uh,” I groaned, hating that he was right. “My parents are there though. I don’t want him to do anything to them trying to get to me.”
“Marz will take care of that. For right now, I just need to make sure you’re good, aight? So what’s it gonna be? His house… or mine?”
With a huff, I looked out of the window. “Your house.”
Winston chuckled and looked back at me. “Aight, Heir. I got chu.”
I feltlike I’d just calmed down enough to get to sleep when the sound of Marz’s crisp, Southern drawl woke me up.
“Get ya shit and come on. And I’on care if you want to or not.”
Tugging my bottom lip into my mouth, I held back my smile as I sat up. “Are you upset with me?” I asked sweetly, watching as he grabbed my shoes and purse from the bench in front of the bed.
“No,” was what he said, but it was so harsh I knew it was a lie. “I’m upset with this situation. I’m upset that nigga thought he was safe enough to approach you. I’m upset that I didn’t kill him and Iman even after that bullshit ass truce.” As he kneeled in front of me and slipped my heels on, Marz added, “Because you know that shit is over now, right? Jay just demolished the deal you made with Iman in one night. It’s done.”
“We don’t know that. He might not tell Iman what happened and?—”
Marz rifled through his pocket and pulled his phone out. After pulling up his text thread with Iman, he showed it to me.
Iman: Your boy put his hands on my son. The deal is off. I hope you’re ready for war.
“S-son?” I whispered, clutching my chest. “He can’t mean his blood son, right? Jay never told me Iman was his father. Well, I haven’t really had the chance to ask.”
“You never met his family while y’all were dating?”
“N-no,” I stuttered as I stood. “He always told me he wasn’t close to his mom because she left them and moved to another state, and that he had a strained relationship with his father. Something about expectations and never really making him proud. He would always say he didn’t want me to think less of him because of how his father talked to and treated him.”
Marz’s head bobbed as we walked out of the room. “That would explain why he offered you to Iman. To impress him. Iman is heavy in the streets, but Jay is a nobody. He probably figured you were the key to him finally getting his father’s approval.”
Blinking back my tears, I released a shaky breath as I gritted my teeth. At the door, I gave Winston a hug and thanked him again, making him laugh when I told him he wasn’t shit for tattling on me.
“It’s all love,” Winston said as he released me. “Marz, don’t be yelling at my girl. She done been through enough tonight.”
Marz sucked his teeth as he looked down at me. As upset as he was, his expression softened when he took in my watery eyes.
“I ’preciate you looking out, bro. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Always.”
It blew my mind that I was connected to a man whose friends were willing to kill to protect me. That said a lot about theircharacter and Marz’s. That truth made it impossible for me to stop a tear from falling.
Marz held my head as we walked out of the house. On the drive, I waited for him to yell. To tell me this was my fault. To tell me this wouldn’t have happened if I wouldn’t have left the safehouse. None of that was the case. All he did was hold my hand and stroke it with his thumb every few minutes. And for some reason, his softness made me cry.
As we pulled into a circular driveway, Marz said, “Shiloh is staying at Onesty’s house for the night. She’s good but a little shaken up. I’ve already put two guards on your parents’ house. You might want to call them and let them know what’s up, so they’ll be aware of their surroundings when they’re out and about.”
“Okay,” I mumbled, looking out into the darkness. “Where are we?”
“My house.”
Marz got out and walked over to my side of the car. He waited until we were inside of the large two story home to say, “I’m glad you’re okay, Wifey,” as he embraced me. I didn’t realize how much I needed to be in his arms until I was there.