To Love and Protect

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Selling lemon pepper wings to pay rent was wild, and Remedie could only blame it on love. She used to be a full-time chef at an upscale restaurant. Now she was just a full-time goofball trying to make ends meet with a part-time hustle.

She sighed as her phone buzzed across the clean, white kitchen counter. It was no doubt another person there to pick up their plate. How she went from making braised oxtails with truffle butter grits to lemon pepper wings, fried hard, with fries and ranch was above her at that point.

Remedie rolled her eyes at Zayden, her so-called boyfriend, who she could see from her view from the kitchen.

He sat on the couch with his legs cocked open and one hand tucked in the waistband of his joggers as he watched some game on the TV.

Lately, he’d been feeling more like extra heavy ass baggage she would rather not lug around.

Actually, she would rather toss that unnecessary baggage in the deepest sea, but her desires didn’t really seem to matter anymore.

“Hello?” She answered her phone with a phony voice, trying to keep her customers happy so they would come back. She desperately needed them to come back.

“Yo, I’m outside,” the voice on the other end said.

Her nose scrunched as she pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the screen. After confirming that she didn’t know who the hell it was calling, she asked, “Who is this?”

“This Rich. I had three plates with extra ranch.”

Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, Remedie looked on the counter at the last of the plates that needed to be picked up and found the stack with Rich’s name.

“Got you. I’ll be right out.”

“Bet.”

The line disconnected, and she grabbed the bag with Rich’s food, noting that she only had one more customer to tend to before she shut down shop for the day. Thank God. She was tired as hell and ready to get in bed.

As she passed by the back of the couch, Zayden asked, “Aye, you got any wings left for me?”

Remedie stopped in her tracks. She pushed her short light brown and ash blond curls behind her ear, certain she hadn’t heard him correctly. “What you just ask me?”

Zayden turned his head lazily so she could see his handsome face. Her weakness for his handsome features got her into this situation in the first place.

When they first met three years ago, he wasn’t an asshole.

He was charming, romantic, and an all-around catch.

Zayden was everything Remedie wanted in a man .

. . until he wasn’t. It all changed about a year ago.

He allowed his no-good friend to talk him into quitting his job as a construction contractor to make some fast money in the streets.

Remedie knew right away that was the worst idea ever spoken into existence, but Zayden was convinced otherwise.

He followed his friend’s advice, and Remedie had yet to see a single dollar from this get rich fast scheme.

Suddenly, he had to move in with her and funk up her space with his laziness and lame ass excuses.

How she allowed that to happen, she didn’t know.

She knew better. She thrived on being alone.

Since she grew up in foster care and never had a family of her own, loneliness never bothered her.

Zayden moving in with her bothered the fuck out of her, though, and now that she’d lost her job because of him, she wasn’t sure what her next move would be.

“I asked if it’s any wings left,” he replied with a straight face.

Remedie stared at him. The man even had the audacity to smile at her.

His dimples she used to love sank into his cheeks, and his straight white teeth gleamed, which further irritated her.

What irritated her even more was the fact that he needed a damn haircut.

She was sure he’d be sticking his hand out and asking her for fifty dollars to do that soon.

“You don’t remember me asking you if you wanted some food when I started cooking?”

“That was hours ago. I wasn’t hungry then. You ain’t save me none?”

“I didn’t make you none, goofy. The fuck would I make you some damn wings when you said you didn’t want any?”

His golden-brown eyes stared back at her. A year ago, that look would have made her melt, but she was too turned off by him lately to allow anything he did to make her cave in any form.

“You changed. You used to take care of a nigga.”

Remedie’s head reared back and she scoffed.

She opened her mouth to say something, because best believe she had a whole lot to say, but she clamped it shut again and turned toward the front door instead.

There was literally no use wasting breath on him.

He was dumb as a bag of dildos, and he never understood where she came from anyway.

Once outside, she spotted a blue SUV in her short driveway and a black car right behind it.

She realized that must have been her last order.

After glancing down at her phone and noticing a text from an unknown number saying they were there, she held up her finger to indicate that she would be right back and rushed back inside.

She grabbed the remaining plates and ambled out the door once again.

As she walked up to the blue SUV, the window rolled down. She recognized Rich because he’d ordered food from her before, but she was never one to save her customer’s numbers in her phone. She didn’t know him like that, or any of her customers, for that matter, so she didn’t see the need.

“What’s good, ma? How you?” Rich asked. She fought to keep her nose from scrunching and her lip from curling up. Instead, she pulled the phony shit up out of her again and smiled.

“Hey, Rich. I’m good. How you doin’?”

Rich surprised her by opening the door and stepping out of the car.

He wasn’t an ugly man, but he also wasn’t her type.

He was light-skinned and skinny with pretty eyes, a crisp cut, and plenty of tattoos.

Remedie already knew he had to have a few women that didn’t play about him.

She was already caught up in her own fucked-up situation. She didn’t need to join another one.

“I’m good. I was wonderin’ if I could take you out to eat and give you a break from cookin’ for everyone else?”

Remedie shifted her weight to one side as she thought of what to say. She decided to be direct and get him out of her driveway so she could finally rest. “I got a man, Rich. Here’s your food though.”

Rich grabbed at the back of his neck and smiled down at her.

She noticed he had freckles scattered across his nose, and she quickly decided she also didn’t like them.

She didn’t know why . . . She normally loved freckles.

But there was something about them on him that looked .

. . dirty. “If you ever change ya mind, you got my number. I’ll be back for your next sale. ”

Remedie simply smiled and nodded her head. She brushed past him and went to the black car. She quickly handed the food to the lady who had three kids in her car before she thanked her and walked back toward the front door of her townhome.

She exhaled a long breath as soon as she was back inside, immediately thankful that she had already cleaned the kitchen.

Zayden now stood by the window, and when she realized he was glaring at her, she rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was for Zayden to be on his bullshit, but she knew him well enough to know that was exactly what was coming her way.

“What, Zay?” she asked as she pushed away from the front door and walked toward her bedroom. All she wanted to do was shower and get in bed so she could calculate how much she made for the day. She needed to pay the rent, which was now late by two days.

Zayden followed behind her. “Who was that nigga?”

“A customer,” she replied as she entered her room and sat on the queen-sized bed to pull her socks off.

“A customer, huh? Looked like he was more than that. Why he get out of his car for?”

“Zayden . . .” Remedie drawled his name out, completely exhausted from the day, “Rich is just a customer. He got some food and that’s it.”

Zayden cocked his head to the side. “So the nigga’s name is Rich? What, he got money or somethin’? That’s why you like him? You think he gon’ pay yo’ bills now that you can’t?”

Remedie’s left eye twitched. That right there was her final straw.

She shot up from the bed and pointed a finger in his face.

“Are you fuckin’ stupid? Since you seemed to forget, I can’t pay our bills anymore because you decided to come up to my very good job, at the best upscale soul food restaurant in town, and act a complete ass. ”

She poked him in the chest with fire in her eyes as he frowned down at her. He sucked his teeth. “Man, fuck all that. You know what you did.”

Her eyes widened. “I wouldn’t buy you a car?

You did the shit because I told you I wouldn’t buy your bum ass a fuckin’ car.

So, you brought your grown ass to my job, caused a scene, and threatened my boss.

And then what happened? I got fired.” She screeched the last word as her body shook with rage.

“And let’s not forget that you are supposed to be the man in this relationship.

You should be paying the mothafuckin’ bills, you fuckin’ bum.

I do everything for you, and you know what?

I’m done with that. You need to get the fuck out. ”

Zayden stared at her. She could tell she bruised his ego. Good. Finally, he took a step back from her and shook his head. “Nah, I ain’t gettin’ out. By law, this my house too. I get mail here and been here for a year. This my shit.”

Tears of frustration gathered in Remedie’s eyes. All she wanted was to be rid of this leech. “Fine. I’ll leave then.”

She turned to go to her walk-in closet, but Zayden snatched her back by her arm. A searing pain zipped up her shoulder blade, and she cringed. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere either. You mine.”

Zayden wrenched her arm behind her back, and she cried out. He’d shown signs of anger in the past, but he never put his hands on her. Fear touched her icy veins as her heart beat wildly in her chest.

“Zayden—”

“Nah, you need to listen.” His voice dropped, and his breath was hot against her neck.

“You been walkin’ around here like you’re better than me for a long time now, and I don’t appreciate that shit at all.

You ain’t better than nobody. I’m the one that helped you through that expensive ass culinary school. You owe me, so act like it.”

He let her go and shoved her to the ground.

Angry tears fell down her face as she quickly stood and rubbed her arm.

They eyed each other for several seconds before Remedie broke the silence.

“Here’s what’s about to happen. I’m leaving, and you’re going to let me.

If you don’t, then I’ll call the police.

I’ll tell them about everything you been up to in the last year, and if I have to lie and make some shit up to get you the fuck up out of my face for good, I will. You got that?”

His eyes widened in disbelief. “You snitchin’ now?”

“I don’t have to if you let me leave.”

Zayden clenched his jaw before he scoffed and turned to walk out of the room without saying another word.

Remedie slowly sat down on the bed again as she processed what had just happened.

If things between her and Zayden weren’t over before, they sure as hell were now.

She never had a mama, but she was sure if she did, the woman would have raised her to never allow a man to put his hands on her in any form.

Unfortunately for Zayden, he had officially crossed the line of no return.