Chapter 8 #4
I was going to go home, make a snack, take a bath and wait for him to arrive.
These days, my life was pretty domestic and I didn’t have a problem with it.
By the time I got to the lobby, Ivy was watching herself in the glass with her earbuds, listening to music and working on her steps.
Simpering to myself, I shook my head and hit the lights on the way to her.
“You are becoming a real natural.” I complimented her.
She removed one of the buds from her ear. She wore her hair in some neat box braids, and she looked older than twelve to me in that moment. Her dark, rounded eyes scanned me from head to toe.
“I guess that’s a good thing. Pretty soon, you won’t be able to keep up with me.” She taunted, and my mouth slipped open.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” I asked.
She stared back at me like I should have known better.
“You’re pregnant.” She declared, stalling me where I stood.
I couldn’t find my words, and her little ass seemed to be getting a kick out of it.
“Very pregnant, and ain’t no hiding that.”
“How long have you known?” I couldn’t believe I’d been walking on eggshells all these months and her little ass was watching the whole time, knowing exactly what was going on.
“Um… since that six-pack turned into a solid roll.” She joked, and I dropped my head shamefully, cracking the hell up at her analysis. “Are you sure it’s just one baby in there?”
“Ivy, I wasn’t trying to hide this—”
“You were just afraid of how I would react, right?” She guessed. “I mean, I have been a little… bratty.”
“A little?” I shot back at her teasingly.
“But… this is different. This baby is my sibling. I guess I gotta grow up sometime.” She shrugged.
“I don’t know where the hell this personality shift came in, but… I like it. Let’s lock up so we can get home.” I led her to the door, and she wasn’t far behind me.
Deviance was at the curb and I kept my back to the street while Ivy skimmed her snapchat account.
My cell rang, distracting me. When I glanced at the display, I could see it was a restricted number.
These had been coming in once or twice a week now for months.
I thought it was some bill collector or telemarketer.
Deciding to ignore the call, I slipped the phone into my big Tory Burch bag and held it at my side.
Turning away from the building, Ivy and I started toward the car.
Deviance went to get the door and opened it for us.
Ivy’s head dropped down to her phone screen.
Surprisingly when I turned to go toward the car, there was that blonde bitch, Lyra was what I found out her name was after all this time.
Why the fuck she was standing all smug in front of me was beyond me at this point.
Off the rip, her bright, beautifully crazy eyes soaked in my growing stomach.
Slowly, unhappiness submerged the cocky smile she wore.
A genuinely amused grin fell on my lips.
Ivy prepared to get in the car but stopped when she saw us about to square off.
“Can I help you? I don’t have any cardboard boxes on the market at this time.” I joked, rattling her.
“Cute, very.” Lyra chimed in. “Looks like things are… progressing for you. Funny, when I fucked Frequency right before his birthday, he didn’t mention anything about you or anything. I wonder why that is?” Lyra taunted.
Squinting at her, my heart began racing in my chest at her revelation.
I definitely had no idea about their rendezvous, if she was even telling the truth, and that sent me into adrenaline pumping anger.
A woman’s hormones when she was pregnant was not to be underestimated.
I downplayed that shit, but it was not a laughing matter.
Anger, fears, and unhappiness were all amplified when you were carrying a child.
“Is that what you came here for? Trying to air out your dirty fucking laundry?” I accused, aiming a scowl at her while bringing my brows together.
The way she stood all confident and unbothered in front of me only enraged me more. This bitch popped up on some random shit and now was in my face like I wasn’t ready to drop her ass six ways from Sunday, pregnant and all.
“I was passing by, don’t flatter yourself.” Her pretty model face contorted into a tight grimace, ugly and sinister. Men always fell for the outer layer of a woman, completely ignoring her ugly ass, trap house interior.
“Passing by, yeah, sure.” I muttered, unbelieving. “You came through, thinking you were going to rattle some shit and make me second guess Frequency. I’m not some na?ve ass little girl. If he fucked you, good for him. He got someone to fulfill his need in a desperate hour—”
“Desperate? Pssh, definitely wasn’t no shit like that.” Lyra jovially responded.
“And I don’t care what it was. Has he reached out to you since? Returned any calls or made you feel like you meant anything to him other than a nut?” I questioned.
Lyra came up short for her words. I could tell I had rattled her.
She wanted to press my buttons and get me bent out of some shape over some shit.
Yeah, it hurt, but I wasn’t fucked up about it like she must have expected me to be.
What was between me and Frequency was something that didn’t need to be explained to anyone, especially not this peasant ass bitch.
“I didn’t think so. How about you trot along, and don’t dare approach me again about some weak ass shit like this.
Frequency could give two fucks about you or anything you have to offer.
Keep sniffing around him or me, and you’ll find out how easy it is for a bitch to disappear around these parts. ” I threatened.
“Don’t let that gas in your tank he been filling you up with get too heavy, sweetie. Didn’t your mama ever tell you not to put all your eggs in one basket?” She mocked me, licked her full lips and sauntered around me.
I watched her until she was out of sight.
Ivy was still at the car, not inside because her little nosy ass was too busy watching shit unfold.
Deviance waited outside the door, and as I took a couple of steps toward the car, what sounded like fireworks erupted around us.
Like I had been struck with some electrical force, my body jolted.
I watched in horror as a quarter sized bloody hole stained his shirt near his stomach.
My hand slipped over my mouth, blocking the gasp I released.
Deviance went for his gun on his hip with what energy he had left.
He pulled it from his waistband and extended his arm to pass the piece off to me, face shifting into pain.
My eyes darted around and panic engulfed me.
I wasn’t sure where the shot had come from.
My eyes wandered up to the top of buildings and down lower to the ground, but I didn’t see anything.
Deviance’s body hit the sidewalk and Ivy screamed.
More shots went off around us. I moved swiftly, big belly and all as I ducked to avoid any random shots that might come my way.
“Ivy, get in the car!” I screamed, and she remained low while doing what I told her.
A dark shadow behind the building at the corner grabbed my attention, and without even taking into account who it was, I squeezed off. I watched them hide behind the brick for safety, and used the back door to the car as a shield. My priority was Ivy and this baby, in no particular order.
Since me and this baby were currently intertwined, that meant that I had to protect myself.
On the ground near my feet, Deviance stared up at me helplessly while bleeding out on the sidewalk.
The panic behind his warm, usually unafraid eyes left me damn near paralyzed.
I wanted to help him, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to do that.
I was making sure that Ivy was tucked safely into the backseat before I closed the door and tried to scramble around the back of the car to the driver’s side.
Before I could get too far, I felt the strong hand gripping my hair, tugging me back toward the sidewalk. A deep, raspy voice was in my ear, sending chills down my spine. I no longer had control as I was pulled in the opposite direction.
“And where the fuck do you think you’re going?” My assailant growled in my ear.
“Please, my baby—” I pleaded, but it was falling on deaf ears as his grip tightened on my hair, damn near lifting it from my scalp.
“Bitch, you think I give a fuck—”
More gunshots sounded off. This sharp, stiffening pain bolted through my body, from my back and around to my abdomen and stomach. I had never felt it before, and it alarmed me as my baby went crazy in my stomach.
“Agh!” I howled, doubling over with my arm cradling my stomach.
The guy who had me in his hold hit the ground.
When he hit the ground at my feet all I saw was the gaping hole in the middle of his head.
His eyes were still wide with shock. Staring down at him, stunned, I took a couple of seconds to suck in a few breaths before bringing my eyes up.
Ledge stood near the building, gun smoking from the shot he’d just taken.
We both seemed floored by the events. He had saved my life.
Unable to speak, I gripped the back of the car as this undeniable agony filled me.
I sank to the hard pavement, and I could feel the warm liquid sliding down my legs.
It felt like I was having a period, but that couldn’t be right.
Lightheaded, and suddenly dizzy as hell, my eyes pushed back into my head and I could feel my balance slipping from me.
“Harbor!” Ivy’s panicked voice was the last thing I heard before me and the ground collided.
Chevy