Chapter 1 #3
Gemma had an answer for every question. But the more she defended her new relationship, the more I questioned it. In my eyes, Karma was like every other bum Gemma introduced to me. Unlike JaMarcus, though, I couldn’t wear her ass out if she stepped out of line.
“Please, Asa,” Gemma sighed. “I’m finally in a great place.”
“Alright. You know what you’re doing. I just want you to be happy.”
“I am. I love her.”
“So you say, but you’ve loved a lot of people.”
Gemma gaped. “Wow, really?”
“Hey, I always tell you the truth.”
“Except when you’re lying,” she tossed back. “Like there is no way you ordered cauliflower for yourself.”
“Let it go, Gem.”
“No, nigga, because you just gave me the third degree over Karma. It was Rissa, wasn’t it?”
“I gotta go.” I pulled my wallet out. “You can take that cauliflower with you. And the pizza.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” I dropped a couple bills on the table. “Share it with the love of your life.”
Her shoulders fell. “I thought we agreed to move forward. Don’t do her like that.”
I lifted my hands in surrender. “Fine. If you like it, I love it.”
“Now I know you’re lying.”
I barked out a laugh. “Whatever, Gem.” I stood and tugged her to her feet. “You look good, though. Healthy and not swollen.”
She smacked me. “That was baby weight. And my blood pressure was a little high.”
“Because you needed to slow yo’ ass down and stop moving so fast.” I hugged her. “I’m proud of you, though. Doing that mom thing, working . . .”
“And planning a wedding.” She groaned, pressing a hand against the small of her back. “This shit is painful.”
Concerned, I tilted my head and assessed her. “You need to go to the hospital, Gemma.”
Ignoring me, she waved a dismissive hand. “I’m fine. You know I want you to be my best person.”
I raised a brow. “If there’s really a wedding, I got you.”
“There’s gonna be a wedding,” she argued. “She’s the one.”
“Whatever you say.” I kissed her brow. “Call me tomorrow.”
“Yep. I told Paityn we were hanging out and she said I could bring the baby to her.”
“Who’s with him now?”
“My neighbors’ daughter. She’s responsible, intelligent, and needs extra money for band camp.”
“Look at that. I’m surprised you let someone watch the baby. I bet you gave her a book of instructions.”
Gemma had always been organized. Developing SOPs was part of her job because she’d created them all her life. Procedures for cleaning her bathroom, mopping the floor, washing her clothes. I was sure it was ten times worse now that she had a whole baby to take care of.
“And did,” she agreed. “I gave her your number because you’re my emergency contact. I also gave her the address of where you’re staying while you’re here. Just in case.”
“You probably have it in a color-coordinated binder.”
“With annotation tabs.” She giggled. “Seriously, I love you, bro.”
“Love you, too.”
She turned to walk away but paused. Whirling around, she said, “Tell Rissa I said hello.”
“You can tell her the next time you see her.”
She winced again, placing a hand against her back. “I don’t know what I did.”
Still concerned, I told her to go to the hospital again. But when she rejected the idea, I suggested she put some heat on it when she got home. “And try to get some sleep tonight.”
“I will.” She forced a smile. “Bye, Asa.”
The drive back to my place was quiet. My thoughts were racing ahead to a conclusion I wasn’t even sure I was ready to make yet.
Rissa had sent one more text asking me to call her when I got back home.
I rented Demi and Duke’s property near Santa Monica, right on the beach.
The two of them kept it to make extra income.
Short-term housing was lucrative, and with the way my family traveled back and forth to Cali, it made sense.
Once inside the house, I dropped my keys on the table and opened the refrigerator. After grabbing an apple, I bit into it just as the doorbell rang.
I set my fruit down and walked to the door, peering into the peephole. Sighing, I swung it open.
Rissa leaned against the frame. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
She approached me. “I’m not one to act like I’m not wrong when I am.”
I stared at her, tracing the lines of her face with my eyes. Even when I was irritated with her, I still wanted her. “Okay.”
Inching closer, she placed her hands on my stomach. “I’m wrong.”
“Why?”
“My behavior was over-the-top, childish in a way that surprised me.”
“Why?” I repeated.
“Because, Asa, it’s kind of hard to admit that there’s more between us than we imagined when you stepped into my hotel room a couple years ago. I don’t want you to think that I am ashamed of you, that I’m not positive that you’re flipping my world upside down.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Jury’s still out.” She stepped even closer.
“But . . .” She sucked my bottom lip into her mouth.
“Full disclosure. I thought I found the love of life. I married him. Then I divorced him. We hadn’t even celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary when my marriage imploded.
I just can’t afford to put myself back into another situation where I’m wrecked because my heart is broken. ”
I swept my thumb across her cheek. “Do you think I would hurt you?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I want to say no, but I’m not sure I can trust myself right now. Let alone someone else.”
“Do you trust me to be honest with you?”
“Now that’s an answer I can give you. Yes.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her the rest of the way. When her body crashed against mine, I kissed her deeply, possessively. “Good.” I brushed my nose against hers. “I promise to be honest. If you promise the same.”
“You got it.”
Lifting her in my arms, I kicked the door closed and carried her to the couch. “Then you came at the right time.” I dropped her on the cushion and pointed at her pants. “Take those off.”
With a gleam in eyes, she did as she was told.
“Turn around,” I commanded, pressing my dick into her ass.
Again, she followed my instructions. Glancing at me over her shoulder, she winked. “Hard and fast.”
I placed a finger over my mouth. “Don’t tell me what to do.” I smoothed my hand down her spine and smacked her ass. “Now, bend over.”
I woke up with Rissa curled into my side and my phone buzzing across the table.
With my family, I’d learned a long time ago to keep that shit on do not disturb.
Because Dallas had no problem calling in the dead of night for no reason.
To keep my peace, the only people on my favorites list were my parents, Tristan, Bliss, and Gemma.
Reaching out, I grabbed the phone and cracked an eye open to peer at the screen. Gemma.
“Who is it?” Rissa murmured.
Gemma rarely called anyone after nine o’clock unless it was an emergency. “What’s up?” I asked, accepting the call.
“Asa?”
Frowning, I sat up. Because it wasn’t Gemma. It was Karma. And she was crying. “What’s going on?”
Rissa propped herself up on her elbow.
“I don’t know,” Karma cried. “Ezra . . . I was asleep and he woke me up with his crying. I thought Gemma was in the nursery with him, so I went in there … Oh God.”
I stood up and pulled on a pair of joggers. “Slow down. Where are you?”
“Sh-she wasn’t in th-there,” she sputtered. “I went into the bathroom, and she was on the floor. Unconscious.
My heartbeat slowed as I waited for her to say the words. “Is she . . .”
“It doesn’t look good,” she wailed. “We’re at Cedars-Sinai. Please hurry. She—”
“I’m on my way.” I grabbed my keys off the table. “Call me if something changes.”
I hurried through the house, tugging on a T-shirt, stuffing my wallet in my pocket, and slipping on my shoes as I moved.
“Is Gemma okay?” Rissa asked.
I wasn’t sure when she got dressed, but she was right there next to me, concern in her brown eyes.
Shaking my head, I replied, “I don’t know. She passed out. I have to go, though.”
“Let me go with you.”
“No, I’m good.” I wrapped my hand around her neck and pulled her in for a quick kiss. “You can stay here if you want. Sleep.”
Her shoulders fell. “You’re worried.”
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “She probably had too much wine at the restaurant.”
The lie rolled off my tongue easily because I wasn’t ready to face the truth.
Karma barely spoke to me at the restaurant, but she was hysterical on the phone.
It was alarming. Unsettling. The best-case scenario was that Gemma had tripped on something and fell.
But the worst case . . . I shook my mind clear of the possibilities.
Rissa didn’t look convinced either. “I’m gonna go home then. Call me as soon as you get to the hospital.”
Nodding, I swallowed past the hard lump in my throat and left.
My eyes burned with unshed tears as I climbed into my truck and took off toward the medical center.
Because I didn’t know what I’d walk into when I got there.
My bond with Gemma, a connection that spanned decades, was strong. And I couldn’t explain it, but . . .
My chest tightened as an indescribable dread swept through me, settling in my gut. My instincts had always been impeccable and they were confirming something I didn’t want to believe. Not now. Never.
I’m too late. I lost her.