Chapter 5
Devyn had worn the floor in Koren’s living room all the way out from all the pacing she had done.
Her mind wouldn’t allow her to sit still. Or maybe the guilt she felt clawing to get out of her caused her to want to try to outrun it. Whatever it was, Koren and Emilia were clearly over it.
“Will you tell us what the hell is going on? We were supposed to be having a girls’ night, and you haven’t had a glass of wine or even eaten a piece of gotdamn cheese off the charcuterie board I slaved over.
You’re pissing me off, Dev.” Koren placed her wineglass on the wooden coffee table in front of her and crossed her arms over her large chest.
Devyn cut her eyes at her cousin and then glanced at Emilia, who sat next to Koren on the couch with a worried expression.
“She’s right, Devyn. You’re making me anxious with all that pacing. Did something happen?” Emilia’s gentle voice and obvious concern grounded Devyn, and she sighed heavily.
Forcing her legs to stop moving, she stood in front of her best friend and cousin and tried to find her words. Finally, she blurted them out and hoped for the best.
“I saw Haze.”
Emilia’s mouth hung open, and Koren snickered.
“I know you fuckin’ lyin’.” Koren was the first to speak.
“When?” Emilia asked.
“Earlier today. He showed up at the dealership, of all places. He bought one of those cars I was telling y’all about.
The ones that are basically plastic and junk on wheels?
He came in there raising hell because it broke down on the side of the road.
Of course, I had to come deescalate the situation.
Never thought I would come face-to-face with him. ”
“No offense, love, but I knew this day would come. Desmore might be a big city, but it ain’t that big. Plus, God and Karma weren’t about to let you off the damn hook,” Koren said as she eyed her cousin with a cross between sympathy and an I told you so expression.
Devyn couldn’t even be mad at Koren’s truth, because it was just that—the truth.
Deep down, Devyn knew she would have to deal with the consequences of her decisions.
Whether it was to tell Haze about their daughter or to answer Hazel’s questions about her father as she got older.
She knew how she went about things might not have been right, but her instinct to protect her daughter had consumed her.
She needed Hazel in a safe environment at all times.
End of story. Deep down, she knew that didn’t justify her actions, though, and now that Haze had popped back into her life, that guilt only multiplied.
“What happened after he saw you?” Emilia asked. Her empathetic friend, who felt sympathy for everyone, peered at her with glossy, beautiful brown eyes.
“He wants me, like for real. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. He took me to lunch and made me give him my number . . .”
Her words trailed off as she thought about Haze and all his fineness. Truthfully, he really didn’t have to fight all that hard to get her number, and that was the problem. Two for two, Devyn’s brain turned to straight mush when in his presence, and she made insane ass decisions.
“Damn,” Emilia responded before she zoned out and chewed on her lower lip.
Devyn instantly plopped down next to her best friend and put her head on Emilia’s shoulder. “Talk to me.”
Emilia shrugged. “Hard not to think of Haze without thinking of that night.”
“Trust me, I know.” Devyn nodded in agreement.
Emilia getting shot was the gist of why she never reached out to Haze.
She couldn’t allow the same kind of fate to come to her or her family.
Haze oozed danger. He exuded trouble. And for some reason, her heart still did a funny ass dance whenever he was around. It baffled her.
“So, what you gonna do?” Koren asked as she grabbed her wineglass and took another sip.
Devyn shrugged. “I don’t think he’s going to let up, K.”
“How do you feel about that?” Emilia asked.
“How do you feel about that?” Devyn countered. Emilia’s feelings mattered to Devyn.
“Girl, what?” Emilia asked with confusion written all over her face.
“I mean, how do you feel about Haze popping back up?” Devyn clarified.
“I’ve always encouraged you to tell him about Hazel. I hope you take this opportunity to do so,” Emilia said matter-of-factly.
“Tell her.” Koren snorted.
Devyn elbowed her cousin and focused back on Emilia. “But I thought he triggered you.”
“Why would you think that?” Emilia asked.
“You just said it was hard to think about him without thinking of that night,” Devyn pointed out.
“Right, . . . but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about him or to him. He wasn’t the one that shot me, was he?” Emilia asked.
“Well, no,” Devyn replied. That she knew for a fact. It was one of those men on the cheap blue motorcycles that shot her friend.
So why do you hold this against Haze?
She shook her head as she tried to focus on what Emilia said.
“You need to do what’s best for you and Hazel, love. I’ve always said that. We all have.”
“And I’ve been stubborn,” Devyn said, her tone sad as she looked down at her lap.
“Say that again,” Koren said.
“Koren, hush,” Emila chastised.
“No, she’s right. I just . . . that man . . .” Devyn sighed heavily before she gathered her thoughts and admitted something she had been holding in for the past three years. “I think I fucked up.”
Tears slid down her cheeks as she settled into her admission. By trying to protect her daughter, she now had to face that she may have caused more harm than good.
Heaviness had settled onto Devyn’s chest as she moved through work the following day.
She stayed cooped up in her office all day, shuffling through paperwork, responding to emails, and dodging her employees aside from the meeting she held that morning.
She had to clean up the mess that’d happened the day before with HR before anyone got any ideas and decided to sue her for an unsafe work environment.
She didn’t think any of her employees would actually do that, but in this business, she had learned not to put anything past anyone.
People saw an empire and would automatically work to dismantle it out of jealousy or greed.
A knock at her door startled her out of her thoughts.
“Come in,” she called out.
A woman she didn’t know stuck her head into Devyn’s office. “I have a delivery for Ms. Frost?”
Devyn stood and rounded her desk. “That’s me.”
The delivery woman handed her a large vase of roses. After thanking her, Devyn closed her office door once again and placed the flowers on her desk. A card rested on top of the beautiful arrangement. Quickly, she flipped the card open and read.
For any damage I caused yesterday. Forgive me and let me take you out tonight.
-Haze
A thin piece of paper fell out of the card, and Devyn bent down to grab it. When she straightened up and realized what it was, she almost dropped it again. It was a check for twenty-five thousand dollars.
“What the hell?” she muttered, and without thinking, she grabbed her phone and dialed Haze’s number.
“Thicka.” His deep voice startled her out of her confusion. Her pussy wept at the sound of him, and she was at a complete loss of words for a second. “Hello?”
“Oh! Hi. Uhm, I just got your flowers . . . and the check.”
“I’m glad you got them. How you doin’ today?” he asked.
Her brows furrowed. He completely brushed past the fact that he sent her such a fat ass check.
“Haze, the money is too much. I mean, yeah, you didn’t need to come up in here, putting my employee in a headlock, but I don’t need twenty-five thousand.”
“I ain’t the type of nigga to take shit back, so find somethin’ to do wit’ it. You gonna answer my question?”
She slowly sat down in her chair. “It’s that easy for you?”
“That easy. How are you?” he asked again with impatience dripping from his tone.
“I’m alright,” she lied. Really, she was terrible, and the fact that she called him with no thought troubled her because now that she confronted him about the money, she remembered her guilt.
“You wanna tell me why you aren’t amazing now or when I pick you up?”
“I can’t go out with you,” she said automatically. The thought of spending more time with him made her heart ache.
“But you are.”
She shook her head as if he could see her. “No, Haze.”
“Look, I know where you work. Don’t make me come back up there,” he threatened.
She snorted. “You gonna keep causing scenes and sending me checks?”
“If that’s what it takes. Damn, Thicka. I ain’t ever had to beg a woman for a little time and attention before. You breakin’ my heart right now.”
She sighed. She knew this was a bad idea.
Or it’s the right idea. You need to tell him.
With tears in her eyes and nerves dancing around in her core, she whispered, “Fine. What time?”