Page 36 of Love At Close Range

I couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped through my lips because he was definitely my son talking like that. Reiana’s head snapped toward him immediately. “Boosie, what did I tell you about your mouth,” she warned as she pointed toward the stairs. “And take your little ass back upstairs until I call for you.”

“But Ma… ” he started as he looked between us.

“I said upstairs, Boosie… now,” Reiana repeated as she gave him a look that ended whatever argument he thought he was about to have. “I’ll answer whatever questions you have later. Right now, do what I told you to do.”

He looked at her for a second before turning his attention back to me. He gave me one more look, then turned and headed upstairs without another word.

I waited until he disappeared before chuckling again and shaking my head. “I see he has a fly ass mouth on him.”

“Unfortunately, he acts like you more than I like to admit,” she countered.

“You call him Boosie,” I said as I glanced toward the stairs.

“Yeah,” Reiana answered as her expression softened some.

“Because of the rapper?” I asked even though I already had a feeling that was exactly where it came from.

“That was our favorite rapper,” she said lowly. “Now it’s his. He knows damn near every clean version I’ll let him listen to,” she simpered.

I glanced toward the stairs before turning my attention back to her. There were still a hundred things we needed to talk about, and the Kree shit did only added more to it, but I wasn’t trying to force everything into one night. I had some shit of my own I needed to figure out before I came back asking more questions.

“I’m not trying to come in here and turn his life upside down,” I told her as I kept my voice low. “But I need you to understand where I’m at with this. That’s my son, Ree. I missed almost eight years because I didn’t know he existed, and now that I do, I’m not walking away from him.” Reiana watched me without saying anything, so I continued before she had a chance to assume I meant I was about to start making demands. “I’m not saying I’m showing up tomorrow telling him I’m his daddy before we figure out how to handle this shit. You raised him, and it looks like you did a damn good job. You know him better than anybody, so I’m not about to disrespect that. But I want to know my son, and I want him to know me.”

Her eyes stayed on mine for a few seconds before she finally nodded. “This isn’t something you get to rush, Lennox. Boosie has questions about everything, and once we tell him, he’s going to have a million more. I need to know what I’m telling my child before I bring him into any of this mess.”

“I agree,” I replied. “That’s why I’m going to find out what happened eight years ago. I need answers just like you do. But while I’m figuring that shit out, I’m staying in Arbor Point.”

“For how long?” Reina frowned.

“As long as I need to,” I answered as I kept my eyes on her. “I got business here anyway, but finding out I got a son changes shit, so I’ll be here until I figure it out,” I responded.

She didn’t argue with me, but I could tell she was still trying to process everything. Less than a day ago, I was a memory and what she thought was a deadbeat ass nigga to me standing in her living room telling her the complete opposite.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I told her as I stepped closer. “Not to argue. We can figure out what happens next and how we’re going to handle things with him.”

“Fine… but don’t just keep popping up at my house, Lennox,” she asserted.

“I hear you,” I replied as I moved toward the door with her following behind me.

When we reached it, she opened the door and stepped aside. I should’ve walked straight out, but I stopped in front of her instead. For the first time since I found her again, neither one of us was arguing, and looking at her that close brought back more shit than I wanted to deal with right then. I leaned down and pressed a kiss against her forehead before she could move away. Reiana stiffened immediately, and when I pulled back, the look she gave me told me I probably should’ve kept that shit to myself.

“Lennox,” she started as she frowned at me, but I was already on my way out.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, Ree,” I repeated as I looked at her one last time.

I came here with one job to do. Pierce was supposed to be another name, another contract, and another nigga that somebody paid me to erase. I never gave a fuck about his relationship with Reiana because until a few days ago, I didn’t even know she was the woman he was dealing with. Now everything was different. That nigga had been around my son. He had spent the last two years occupying space in a family I should’ve known existed. I didn’t know how much of Pierce’s bullshit had reached Reiana, but I knew enough about Pierce to know he had no business anywhere near either one of them.

Cyrus might’ve hired me to kill Dorian Pierce, but this shit wasn’t just business anymore. I had a son upstairs in that house while Reiana was in the middle of some shit she didn’t even know existed, and Pierce was connected to all of it.

That’s when this shit just got personal.

15

Lennox

back in Cannon Hills…

The first place I went when I got back to Cannon Hills was Kree’s. I had spent the entire ride home thinking about everything Reiana told me, and the more I replayed it… the less I believed any of that shit happened by accident. Kree had been the one who told me Reiana was cheating, then after Reiana left, Kree somehow ended up close enough to me for us to start fucking around. Now I knew somebody had answered Reiana’s pregnancy message from my phone, and Kree was the first person who came to mind. Lennyn must’ve been looking out the window because she opened the door before Kree could get to it, and the second she saw me, her whole face lit up.