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Still, instead of telling him I loved him, I covered his lips with mine. His smile made it hard for him to kiss me back.
“You scary as fuck, but you still my pretty lil baby.”
“What?” My hands rested on his chest as I chuckled. “How am I scary?”
“I know what you want to say. You’re just too afraid to say it.” Aspen licked his juicy lips and kissed mine. “Will you be less scared if I said it first?”
Nodding, I gripped his forearms. “Yes, but only if it’s true. I don’t want you to say it just because—”
His thumb caressed my lips as he said, “I love you. I’m in love with you.”
I felt that in his actions, but hearing him say it made it real.
“I love you too,” I confessed, the words lifting the weight that had been sitting on my chest. “I’m in love with you. And I was scared.” My chuckle was quiet and quick. “I didn’t want to say it first. Didn’t want it to be too soon.”
“I didn’t believe in love at first sight until I laid eyes on you. And maybe it wasn’t love. Maybe it was confirmation. Whatever it was, I knew you were the one. I gave my heart and mind time to get on one accord, and I was willing to give you time too. But I’m glad to finally feel like you would trust me when I told you I love you.”
“The layers.” I muttered against his lips before kissing them. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe the layers this man had. The way he talked, acted, loved. I was truly grateful for our time together and prayed it had no end.
20
Aspen
The last time I talked to Thomas, he didn’t admit to anything Blaze told me. I went directly to Marco, and he told me the same thing he’d told them. Even without me knowing why Thomas was lying, my gut told me he was lying. There was absolutely no reason for Channing to say Thomas had paid him to pull off the heist unless he did. I pulled my men from Thomas and dissolved the contract. For the last two weeks, Thomas had been on his own, and he was finally ready to sit down and come clean.
I didn’t want to spend time before my date night with my woman talking to his ass, but curiosity had me agreeing to the meet. Blaze lowered his frame in his seat. His head tilted as he eyed Thomas. There was no doubt in my mind he wanted to put a bullet between his eyes just for the inconvenience of this conversation. While I was a defensive protector, Blaze gave no fucks. Unlike those who went to meetings for alcohol or drug addictions, killing was Blaze’s vice.
He was probably one of the most lethal lovers I’d ever known. The way in which he could take his mother and grandmother to brunch before spending the rest of the day torturing and ultimately killing someone was beyond me. If ever there was a class to study the mind of a nigga capable of shutting his heart off like it had a literal switch—Blaze was the one.
“Can we make this quick?” I requested, realizing Thomas was in no rush to speak.
“Fine.” He tossed his hands up in surrender as he sat up in his seat. “I did hire Channing, but that was after I found out he planned to rob me. I knew you wouldn’t kill him without a reason. My logic was if I had him pull off the robbery, you’d kill him during the process. I wasn’t expecting him to stand down after you approached him and his men. So yes, I hired him to make him a defensive target that I wanted you to shoot.”
“So let me get this straight.” The situation wasn’t amusing, but that didn’t stop me from laughing. “You thought you could control me. Like a puppet? You thought telling me about the robbery would make me less calculated. That I would just… kill a man because you perceived him as a threat to you?”
“Aspen, I—”
“Make no fucking mistake about it, Thomas. The issues you have are child’s play. Lightwork. There’s no scheme you can cook up to control me.”
“Look, I—” His words were replaced with a gasp before his head flung back. In a literal blink of my eye, Blaze had sent three knives into Thomas’s forehead and chest.
“Really!” I yelled, jumping up from my seat. “Really?”
Blaze’s expression was nonchalant as he stood. “He disrespected you, so I handled that. Wasn’t nobody finna sit here and listen to his spiel.”
All I could do was sigh and massage my temples. “Just… go home. I’ll get my cleanup crew out here to handle this. This is why I don’t be wanting to take yo’ ass nowhere. A nigga can’t even have a conversation with yo’ crazy ass around.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” His hand did a dismissive wave as he headed toward the front door. “You ain’t wanna hear that shit either.”
I didn’t, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. I returned my eyes to Thomas. Blood had begun to leak. With a shake of my head, I pulled out my burner phone to call Rebecca Joy so she could come out and take care of this with her crew.
Christmas Evening
I hosted Christmas this year. My family, Malay’s family, and our friends came through. We’d exchanged gifts, ate good, got lit, and danced the night away. Karrington was the last to leave. As I walked him to the door, he said, “I’m proud of you.”
“For what?”
“For going after it all. For not letting what you do keep you from investing in who you are. For being the beast and having the beauty too.”
