Page 81 of Love At Close Range

“There ain’t no me and you to do.” I glanced toward the stairs when her voice started getting louder. “And I’m done with this shit. You need to leave,” I said.

“I came to get my daughter,” she protested.

“I’ll bring her home later,” I mentioned.

Kree stared at me like she hadn’t heard me correctly. “I’m not leaving here without Lennyn.”

“Yeah, you are. I’m not bringing her downstairs while you standing in here arguing, calling Reiana out her name and ready to fight. Go home and calm down. I’ll bring Lennyn to you later,” I said again.

“So she gets to stay here with my child while you put me out?” Kree questioned.

“Reiana ain’t the one causing a fucking scene,” I countered.

Kree’s eyes went back to Reiana, but I stepped farther into her line of sight before she could start again. She could be pissed at me all she wanted, but Lennyn wasn’t coming downstairs to watch her mother and Reiana go another round.

“Go, Kree,” I told her. “I’ll call you before I bring Lennyn home.”

She stood there for another few seconds before snatching her purse higher onto her shoulder. “Fuck this shit,” she spat.

Kree headed for the door, then looked back at Reiana one last time. Reiana didn’t say anything, but the look on her face made it clear she wasn’t backing down either.

I opened the door and waited until Kree stepped outside. Without another word, she walked toward her car, and I closed the door before she even pulled out of the driveway.

“You need to get a handle on her before I have to beat her ass every time I see her,” Reiana warned.

I walked up to her and pulled her body into mine.

“You ain’t gotta do all that. I’m not thinking about Kree past Lennyn,” I admitted truthfully.

Kree may have fucked with our relationship all those years ago, but I wasn’t giving her the space or opportunity to do it this time around.

27

Reiana

some time later…

Afew days later, I was back at work and finally caught up enough that I didn’t feel like I was chasing my own tail. Tasha had handled most things while I was out, but there were still contracts I needed to look over, invoices that needed my approval and a few clients who insisted on speaking directly to me. I spent most of the morning in my office taking care of everything I had pushed to the side. Around lunchtime, Tasha came in and dropped a folder on my desk.

“That’s the last of the new client paperwork,” she said as she sat down across from me. “Once you sign those, I don’t need anything else from you today,” she concluded.

“That sounds too good to be true,” I responded as I looked through the folder.

“It probably is, but enjoy it until somebody calls with a problem,” she countered with a laugh.

I laughed and signed where she had flagged the pages. Having Tasha there made running RÉIA a lot easier than it had been when I first started. She knew the clients, the crews and how I liked things done. Most days, she handled whatever came up before it ever reached my desk.

My phone buzzed while I was finishing the paperwork. Mona had texted the group chat asking what everybody was doing for lunch, and Taryn immediately responded that she was hungry.

I told them I was at work and wasn’t leaving yet.

Twenty minutes later, Taryn called to tell me they were downstairs.

I shook my head and went back to what I was doing until they walked into my office carrying food from Rhythm & Brunch.

“I told y’all I was working.”

“And you still gotta eat,” Mona said. “Problem solved.” She shrugged.