Chapter 20 Ava Reynolds
AVA REYNOLDS
My phone rang just as I was checking my makeup one last time in the mirror by my front door. The make-up artist had just left, and I was dressed and almost out the door.
I looked at the screen and, when I saw Zahra’s name, I answered, “I’m on my way out the door. The MUA just left.”
“Why can’t I just come pick you up?”
“Because this is not my wedding day. It’s just a baby shower. I can drive myself.”
She sucked her teeth. “Fine. I’ll meet you there.”
“A’ight.”
“Hurry up.”
I hung up, then grabbed my purse and headed out. I rushed through the building, onto the elevator, and got off on the parking garage floor, where I had parked last.
I had just hit the unlock button on my key fob when a voice behind me called, “Ava Reynolds.”
I turned and saw a woman in a dark coat, low heels, and her hair pulled back into a slick bun.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
She stepped closer and pulled out her badge. “I’m Agent Mallory. I just have a few questions about your relationship with Tariq Horton.”
Street code kicked in instantly. I shifted my purse on my shoulder as I continued on the path to my car. “I don’t have a relationship with Tariq.”
Her mouth twitched like she didn’t believe me. “That’s interesting, considering the photos online of your pop up event.”
I said nothing.
“You’ve been seen with him repeatedly. He’s been at your residence. He was at your pop-up event. He appears close to you.”
I looked back at her and shrugged. “That’s my sister’s husband’s friend.”
“That all?”
“Yes.”
Mallory watched me, clearly hoping I’d get nervous and start filling the silence.
I wasn’t stupid, though. I didn’t know what she knew, what she thought she knew, or what she was fishing for. But I did know I wasn’t about to give a federal agent anything about Reek or anybody tied to the Cartiers.
Finally, she asked, “And you’re not carrying his child?”
I looked her in the eyes. “You seem way too interested in my uterus.”
“I’m interested in the people around Tariq Horton,” she said.
“Well, be interested from a distance,” I replied. “I’m late.”
Then I turned and walked toward my car before she could ask another damn thing.
Pulling onto the block where the baby shower was being held, I saw that the whole street was blocked off.
There were security guards at both ends, black trucks lined up along the curb, and a checkpoint set up at the entrance to the long driveway leading to the property.
After what happened at my pop-up, I understood and appreciated the extra security.
A guard checked my name at the gate, then waved me through. The venue itself was a mansion that had been converted into an event space, but from the outside, it still looked like somebody’s rich auntie lived there.
As I drove up the long driveway, I saw even more security spread out around the front of the mansion. There were men at the door, near the side entrance, and just standing around keeping their heads on a swivel.
Reek was also out there waiting on me. He was at the bottom of the steps, with his coat open, revealing his three diamond chains.
His hands were in his pockets, looking like he belonged in a GQ magazine and on a wanted poster at the same time.
He spotted my car before I even parked, and when I got out, his eyes stayed on me in a way that made my stomach do somersaults.
I had on a soft, fitted dress in a warm cream color that hugged my bump and fell off my shoulders.
The material was smooth and stretchy enough to show every curve the baby had given me, and the slit up one leg gave it sex appeal.
My hair was curled and pinned back on one side.
My face was beat. I was supposed to feel beautiful, but my pregnancy had made my body fuller, softer, and more unfamiliar in ways that changed depending on the day.
Some days I felt cute. Other days I felt enormous and out of place in my own skin.
Today was one of those days I felt enormous.
But Reek was standing there staring at me with this pleased smirk on his face like I was the finest woman he’d ever seen.
As I walked up to him, all I could think about was the fact that he had spent the last few days texting me apologies about Kam.
I had ignored every last message because I was still pissed.
I hadn’t known Kam long, but I missed his company.
Reek was an asshole for getting rid of Kam when he wasn’t willing to replace what Kam brought to my life.
I had tried to call Kam to apologize for whatever my crazy baby’s father may have done or said, but I was blocked, since each call went to voicemail. I had even tried to contact him on social media, but I was blocked there too.
By the time I reached Reek, my feelings were all over the place.
Reek’s eyes dragged over me one more time before he said, “You look beautiful.”
I laughed a little because hearing that from him while I felt this swollen was almost ridiculous. “I feel huge and not that attractive.”
That offended him. His expression tightened up like I had said something reckless. “You’re carrying my child.”
I folded my arms over my stomach, suddenly self-conscious all over again. “I know that.”
“So, you’ve never been more beautiful to me.”
I playfully rolled my eyes, trying to fight the urge to grin all in this niggas face.
Before I could say anything slick to the blushing, he added, “You’re still a bad bitch. Stop talking crazy.”
I laughed, “There you go with that again.”
“I mean it.”
I changed the subject before I started feeling too much. “Agent Mallory cornered me in the parking garage when I was on my way here.”
Reek’s glare went from flirtation to rage. “About what?”
“You. My relationship to you. The baby. She was fishing.”
He muttered a curse under his breath and glanced toward the street. “Yeah, Langford called the other day. He saw photos of your pop up. Me and you were in the background, so he knows that’s my baby. Now he really thinks there is more to Sienna’s disappearance.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not going to hide my shorty because of that fake ass relationship I had with his opp-ass daughter.”
“Mallory got nothing from me.”
His eyes came back to mine. “I didn’t think she did. I’ll handle it, though.”
He held his hand out for me, and after a second, I let him help me up the steps.
The second we got inside, both of us stopped in our tracks.
The decorator had done her thing. The mansion looked beautiful.
Soft blue, cream, and gold were everywhere, but not in a childish way, in a rich, polished way.
The entry had huge balloon installations framing the doorway, and the front hall was lined with florals and candles in glass hurricanes.
Every room we could see had been transformed.
But the biggest surprise, for the guests, was that instead of doing some dramatic reveal later, the whole shower was already decorated with “It’s a Boy” in decals and signage everywhere.
And my baby’s name, Cairo Zaire, was in gold script over the main dessert table, little acrylic signs, custom napkins, and on the favors.
I put my hand over my mouth, inhaling in disbelief of how the space looked like I had walked into a fairytale. It was truly breathtaking.
“Oh my God,” I whispered as I looked around with my eyes bulging with shock and awe.
Reek looked just as caught off guard as I felt.
Then we heard a sharp scream behind us. We both turned to see Zahra and Saint coming in through the front entrance.
Zahra abandoned the stroller and ran straight toward me with both hands already reaching as she continued to scream.
By the time she got to me, she was crying and laughing at the same time.
She threw her arms around me carefully, mindful of my belly, and started rocking me from side to side.
“Oh my God, Ava,” she cried. “It’s a boy! Our boys are going to be best friends.”
I giggled, already feeling my eyes sting. “Stop crying before you make me cry and mess up my makeup.”
Then she must have seen his name, because she let out another scream, right into my ear, making me cringe. “Cairo! Oh my God! Czar and Cairo! They are going to be besties!”
Behind her, Saint came up pushing Czar in the stroller. He dapped Reek up with a grin and said, “Congratulations, nigga. Me and you finna be on the field together watching our sons play pee-wee football.”
Reek looked genuinely happy, and I loved seeing him happy about our son. I loved seeing that pride on him and how it was naturally there.
But it was bittersweet, and this day felt emotionally complicated as hell. I still felt like the messy one in a room full of women who had been loved right through their pregnancies. I felt like I was standing in the middle of something beautiful with my shoes on the wrong feet.