Page 5 of Nothing Without You

“Breathe, Doll. Five is fine. I’ll be there. You sure you don’t need me to meet up wit’ you before that?” I asked. She always rambled when she felt like she was a burden on someone. I’d peeped that early on. I thought it was cute, but I also wanted those independent reflexes of hers to quiet down when I was around.

“I’m sure. Keegan?” she asked.

The urge to say “Yes, my love?” felt more overwhelming than it ever had, but I stuffed it back down and said, “Yeah?” instead.

“Thank you. You’re my superman, I swear.”

My heart swelled with pride at her words, and that smile only she could pull up out of me came back. “I got you. Call me if anything else happens in the meantime. Promise?”

“I promise,” she replied before we ended the call.

I grinned at Desmore Bay as I took in the view with a more positive light.

Jean cleared her throat behind me and almost made me jump out of my skin and yelp like a bitch. My signature frown took over once again as I slowly turned back around and glared at Jean. “Yes, Mrs. Jean?”

She smiled at me goofily and asked, “Are you focused enough to properly go over your schedule for the week?”

I rolled my eyes upward and laid my head on the back of my chair as I looked up at the ceiling. It was only just after eleven o’clock. Five seemed like years away. A brilliant idea came to mind, and I peeked at Jean. “How about we just cancel the rest of the week?”

Her thin lips pursed. “You know better.”

I groaned. If anyone was going to keep me on track, it was Jean. “Fine. Can we at least cancel the rest of the day?”

“Negative. You’re booked with meetings today,” she replied.

“What’s the point of bein’ a CEO if I can’t come and go as I please?” I grumbled.

Jean looked at me pointedly. “If you stopped trying to control everything and hired people you could delegate your tasks to, that would be an option.”

I fought the urge to stick both my middle fingers up at her. Instead, I waved a hand at her and said, “Go ’head, man. Fill me in on my schedule. Just make sure we’re done at four thirty today. That’s nonnegotiable.”

“I can do that.” She smiled at me.

I didn’t return the sentiment as I tilted my head on the back of the chair once again. My mind drifted to Chyna. Hearing the sadness in her tone made me want to run to her. I just hoped if she really needed me, she wouldn’t hesitate to call. Until then, five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough.

I felt tiny eyes on me as I drove down the highway. Every time I looked into the rearview mirror, Liam’s eyes bore into mine. The lil nigga studied me . . . Like, his ass was really studying me. Just as I was about to open my mouth and ask lil homie what the problem was, he spoke.

“You old, Mr. Kee?” he asked. If I didn’t have my own three-year-old son, I probably wouldn’t have even understood his mumbling ass, but I was a pro at toddler babble by now. I probably would have been offended by his question, too, but I understood kids didn’t have filters. Even though KJ was like me and thought before he spoke, his little mind didn’t understand a lot, so some of the shit he said had me shaking my damn head at him too.

“I don’t think so,” I replied as I switched lanes.

I still felt his eyes on me.

“You not got gray hairs,” he noted.

How old did this lil nigga think I was?

“Nah, I don’t,” I confirmed.

“My pop pop got gray hairs,” Liam said.

“’Cause ya pop pop is old.”

Liam nodded. “He like a hundred.”

I shook my head. I knew for a fact that Chyna’s dad wasn’t a hundred years old, but I would let Liam have that.

“What’s a pop pop?” KJ asked.