9. AMAI
AMAI
The sun was setting over the water, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple that should have been beautiful.
I didn’t see any of it.
I sat on the back patio of the lake house, a glass of bourbon in my hand that I hadn’t touched in twenty minutes. The ice had melted. The drink was watered down and useless now.
Like me.
The thought came unbidden, sharp and vicious.
I stared at the lake. Watched the light shift across the surface. Tried to find something—anything—that would quiet the noise in my head.
It didn’t work.
Nothing worked.
Behind me, the sliding glass door opened.
I didn’t turn around.
Didn’t need to.
I knew Priest’s footsteps the way I knew my own breathing.
He walked across the patio and stopped a few feet away. Didn’t sit. Just stood there, waiting.
The silence stretched.
Finally, he spoke.
“You okay?”
I took a slow breath.
Let it out.
“I’m always okay,” I said.
Priest didn’t move. “What next?”
I turned the glass in my hand. Watched the amber liquid catch the dying light.
“They all pay,” I said simply.
Another beat of silence.
Then, “What happened?”
I set the glass on the small table beside me.
Carefully.
Because if I didn’t move carefully right now, I was going to break something.
Or someone.
“The baby might not be mine,” I said.
The words came out calm. Detached.
Like I was discussing a business transaction instead of the thing that had ripped my chest open and left me bleeding.
Priest went still. “What?”
“Winston had Dr. Beaumont use both our sperm,” I continued, my voice never changing. “Mine and Kaisen’s. As backup.”
“What type of sick shit they got going on?” Priest’s voice was low, dangerous.
I almost smiled.
Almost.
“They didn’t even wait,” I said. “Didn’t wait to see if my sperm would work. Didn’t give me a chance to prove I could do this one fucking thing right.”
I picked up the glass again.
Stared at it.
“They just assumed I wasn’t enough,” I said quietly. “Assumed I’d fail. So they made a contingency plan. Used my brother as insurance. Like I was a bad investment they needed to hedge against.”
The glass felt fragile in my hand.
Breakable.
“There was no faith,” I continued. “No trust. Just Winston covering his bases because he knew—he knew—his broken son couldn’t deliver.”
I set the glass down again.
This time, I wasn’t careful.
It hit the table hard enough to crack. “And it was easy considering every Landry man’s sperm is stored there.”
Bourbon spilled across the wood.
I didn’t move to clean it up.
“Kaisen knew,” I said. “He had to know. Winston would’ve been arrogant enough to tell him. Which means my brother looked me in the eye for weeks—weeks—and said nothing.”
Priest was quiet for a long moment.
Then, “You think Truth knew?”
“No.” The word came out sharp. Certain. “She would have told me. She’s not built for that kind of deception. But she overheard something at the clinic about two samples.”
“Damn.”
“She didn’t understand what it meant then.” I leaned back in the chair. Stared at the darkening sky. “Now she does.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
I thought about Winston standing in his office. Like he had any right to claim ownership over something he’d sabotaged from the beginning.
I thought about Kaisen, calling to check on me, pretending to care, all while knowing he might be the biological father of the child I’d been promised.
I thought about Dr. Beaumont taking orders from my father, playing God with my genetics, treating me like a science experiment that needed a backup plan.
And I thought about Truth.
Carrying a baby that might not be mine.
Looking at me with those eyes that saw too much.
Asking me if I was okay.
“They assumed I’d fail,” I said quietly. “They built their entire plan around my inadequacy. Didn’t even give me the dignity of telling me that shit to my face.”
I stood up.
Walked to the edge of the patio.
The water was dark now. The sun almost gone.
“So, I’m going to show them what happens when you treat Amai Landry like he’s not enough,” I said. “Winston wanted to control the outcome. Wanted to make sure the Landry name survived even if I couldn’t deliver. Fine. He’ll get his wish. The name will survive.”
I turned to look at Priest.
“But he won’t.”
Priest’s expression didn’t change. “You’re going after your father.”
“I’m going after everyone who thought I needed a backup plan,” I corrected. “Winston. Kaisen. Dr. Beaumont. Victor. Yahmaria. Every single person who looked at me and saw failure.”
“That’s a lot of bodies,” Priest said quietly.
“Good.” I walked back to the table. Picked up the cracked glass. “I want them to know it’s coming. Want them to feel it the way I felt it when I found out they violated me. Most of all, they violated Truth. That is something I won’t allow to stand. They gon’ feel me.”
I threw the glass.
It shattered against the wall of the house.
“They wanted a demon,” I said. “They’re going to get one.”
Priest nodded slowly.
“What about Truth?”
I went still.
Thought about her in the house. Safe. Protected. Carrying a child that might not be mine but who I’d claimed anyway.
“Truth is mine,” I said. “The baby is mine. I don’t give a fuck whose sperm fertilized the egg. That child is mine. And anyone who tries to take that from me…”
I didn’t finish the sentence.
I didn’t need to.
Priest understood.
“When do we start?” he asked.
I looked out at the water one more time.
“Now,” I said.
And I meant it.
The lake house was quiet except for the sound of water lapping against the dock. I stood on the back patio watching Truth inside.
“I’m on standby,” Priest said. “Whatever you need, I got it.”
“Did you bring what I asked for?”
“Food, clean clothes, and her purse from the clinic. All of it’s in the house.”
I nodded. “Good. She’s going to need to call her mama,” I said. “Tell her she’s staying here for a while.”
“How long is a while?” Priest asked.
“As long as it takes,” I said quietly. “As long as it takes for Truth to be okay with this. Okay with how life is going to be for her after we leave here.”
“Amai—”
“I need you to prepare the penthouse,” I interrupted. “She’ll be living there once we get back to the city. Full security. Nobody in or out without my approval.”
“Consider it done,” Priest said. No hesitation. No questions.
“What about Rahsaan?” I asked. “Any movement?”
“Nothing today. Docks have been quiet. Shipments coming in smooth. I vetted the dock workers myself—replaced the ones we terminated with soldiers I trust.”
“Good.” I exhaled slowly. “Then don’t bother me unless someone’s dead. My entire focus is on Truth right now. That’s the only thing I care about.”
Priest took a breath like he was about to say something he knew I wouldn’t want to hear.
“Are you sure you want to start a war over her?” he asked finally.
The question hung in the air between us.
I thought about Truth at the clinic. Thought about the way her face had shifted when Kaisen revealed the truth. Thought about the way she’d looked at me like I was the one who’d betrayed her, even though I’d been just as blindsided.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” I said.
“Amai—”
“I haven’t even touched her yet,” I continued, my voice dropping lower. “Haven’t been inside her. Haven’t slept with her in my arms. Don’t know who she is outside of her file—what makes her laugh at three in the morning, what she dreams about, what scares her when she thinks nobody’s watching.”
I paused.
Gripped the patio railing tighter.
“And I need that,” I said. “I need her. Not just the baby. Not just the legacy. Her.”
Priest was quiet.
“It’s like our souls remember each other,” I continued, and I could hear how raw my voice sounded. How desperate. “The pull. The hold. The way I would give anything to see her smile and ruin anything or anyone who made her cry.”
I turned away from the water.
Looked back toward the house where Truth was still trying to process the weight of what she’d learned.
“Truth has become my truth,” I said simply. “And I will burn this entire city to the ground to keep her safe. I will kill my own father. I will destroy my brother. I will end Rahsaan, Victor, Yaya—everyone who stands between her and the life she deserves.”
“That’s a lot of blood,” Priest said quietly.
“I know.”
“That’s a lot of enemies.”
“I know that too.”
“You sure you’re ready for that?”
I thought about the way Truth had defied me in the car. The way she’d told me she belonged to herself. The way she’d stood beside me in the street and fought Destiny without hesitation.
I thought about the way she’d looked at me when we got to the lake house after everything fell apart.
Like I was worth believing in.
Like I was worth fighting for.
“I’m ready,” I said. “I’ve been ready my whole life. I just didn’t know what I was ready for until I met her.”
Priest exhaled slowly.
“Alright then,” he said. “I’ll get the penthouse ready. Full security. Nobody touches her.”
“Nobody,” I confirmed.
“And Rahsaan?”
“Let him think he’s winning,” I said. “Let him think the docks are vulnerable. Let him think I’m distracted. When he makes his move, we’ll be waiting.”
“And if he moves on her?”
I heard the real question underneath it. What if he gets to her first?
“Then he dies,” I said simply. “And everyone who helped him dies. And everyone who knew about it dies. And we burn their families to ash and salt the earth so nothing grows there again.”
I wasn’t being dramatic.
I was being factual.
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Priest said.
“I know you will.”
“I gotta get back to Truth,” I said.
“Amai—”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful with her,” Priest said. “She’s not built for this world.”
“No,” I agreed. “She’s not. But she’s going to survive it anyway. Because I won’t let her do anything else.”
“Is everything okay?”
Truth emerged onto the patio wrapped in one of my robes. Her hair was wet and dark against her shoulders. She looked exhausted. Fragile. Like she might break if I breathed too hard in her direction.
But I’d seen her fight.
I’d seen her stand.
I’d seen her refuse to flinch.
She wasn’t fragile.
She was just scared.