Page 97 of The Don’s Virgin Obsession

“I’m on my way.”

I hopped in an Uber and told him to roll down the windows. I was sipping warm 7 Up, trying not to throw up in this nigga car. My stomach was fighting me. Hands shaky. Mind racing.

As soon as I got to Cedars, I saw Vanessa standing outside the room, crying quietly while my uncle Darryl talked to a doctor down the hallway.

Vanessa looked at me and shook her head before I even asked.

That told me enough.

I walked into the room.

My father looked smaller in bed with tubes and machines connected to him.

He looked over at me but didn’t say nothing at first.

My mother stood beside him, holding his hand.

The doctor came in a few minutes later with my uncle, and I barely heard the words until one sentence finally landed.

“It has spread to the brain.”

My mother and I looked at each other.

“A couple months at best.”

I looked down at the floor and nodded, but honestly, my mind stopped right there.

A couple of months.

My father looked at me from the bed, calm as hell, while my mother quietly cried beside him.

That man spent his whole life moving strong just to end up dying in a hospital room.

I stayed there for an hour before leaving.

By the time I got back to the Ritz, I was depleted.

I walked inside the suite, still wearing the same clothes from the night before.

The room looked filthy suddenly.

I sat at the edge of the bed and stared out at the city.

My phone kept going off.

I turned the phone face down.

I hadn’t cried since my grandfather died when I was ten, but tears started falling before I could stop them.

And after that…

I stopped answering everybody for days…

Sade

“The silence from Vaughn started bothering me more than our arguments ever did.”

The weekend was over, and it was time to get back to work. I had spent the whole weekend with Marcus trying to get back on track. He had taken me shopping, to the movies, and instead of an expensive restaurant, he cooked for me at my place. I was controlling the space between us, making sure things stayed surface level. Minimal kissing, only hugging, and no cuddling or spending a night. For me not to have a relationship with Vaughn, I kept thinking about the things he said to me.