Page 50 of A Hood Wife And A Rich Goon 2

“Goodnight, Niva.” He climbed into his truck, started it, and backed out of the driveway. His headlights flashed over her standing there with glistening eyes and a heaving chest.

Panic. Anger. Pain. A tornado of emotions swirled inside Niva in that moment. She knew he’d checked out. Maybe if she had come back, they could have stood a chance. It was clear now that Lotus owned this nigga’s soul, though, and Niva was never getting access again.

Approximately four years ago…

“What’s wrong with you, man?” Bull demanded, bursting into the room where Toni slept inside his home.

He caught her propped up in bed, remote in her hand, bawling her eyes out and watching fucking Where the Heart Is. He knew because he’d come in here more than once and caught her on this shit. Now, it was pissing him off because she wouldn’t even get up and move around. Even now, pregnant as hell, she sat surrounded by plates and snacks, a bedside table full of cups and water bottles she’d gone through.

“Nothing. Why are you in here? Just… leave me alone, please.”

“You need to get out of this bed and move around so I can clean in here. Go downstairs or outside on the porch. Something.”

“You trying to tell me I’m ugly and I stink?” Toni snapped, eyes stabbing him like two daggers.

“Wh—the fuck?” Bull’s face crumpled into pure confusion.

Lucky for him, he’d been reading up on all this pregnancy shit when it came to hormones and all that other shit. He thought most of it was bullshit, but now he was starting to reference some of her behavior to what he’d ingested in his research. He didn’t like fiction. He preferred facts. Shit had to make sense to him, whereas, from what he could see of her reading habits as he picked up an urban fiction novel off the dresser and skimmed the cover, she preferred fantasy.

He marched over to the curtains and yanked them open, allowing the sunlight inside as he cracked the sliding door to the balcony, too. Fresh air blew through, and Toni took a breath. She turned the TV off and rested her back against the headboard as Bull took in the view with his back to her. She found herself watching this man, so curious about him, every single day. What was on his mind? What made him smile? Why was he so damn mean? How did he get the name Bull? You’d think with him being her husband she could get him to open up a little more.

“Ah.” Toni’s stomach tightened. Her baby boy balled up in the furthest corner of her womb and was making it so uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” Bull rushed over, pausing on the empty side of her bed.

“He’s balled up again.” Toni winced and curled up on her side.

“Lay back. Try to relax,” he urged her, bringing his knee onto the mattress and leaning forward to cradle her bump in his hand. Bull placed his ear against her stomach. Mostly water sounds invaded.

“Come on, kid. I know all that crying got you thinking something wrong. Ya mama is fine, though. She’s just dramatic.” Bull glanced at Toni, who rolled her eyes as she got comfortable against the pillow. “She knows she’s safe. You’re safe. I’m not letting anything happen to you. So, give her a little relief, aight? You ain’t got long to go in there.”

“Oh, my God.” She gasped as he uncurled and stretched, sending an alien wave over her stomach that Bull got to witness with both his eyes. “He likes the sound of your voice,” Toni whispered, placing her hand on the other side of her belly.

Bull’s hypnotic eyes latched onto hers. He was still positioned on the bed, hand on her belly, eyes full of admiration. She’d been in here crying for days, no makeup, hair a mess all over her head, but she was still one of the prettiest women he’d ever laid eyes on. It seemed the harder he tried to avoid getting close to her, the more this pregnancy progressed, it only did the opposite. It showed him her true strength, and it was something that came from within. He imagined it was hard being pregnant, witnessing your child’s father die in front of you, and then marrying his brother all within a couple of weeks. Here it was months later, and the two of them seemed to constantly be adjusting.

“I’m gonna run you a bath and order something to eat for you. Then I’m going to come in here and clean up, change these sheets, and put a list together for groceries, since I know cooking is one of your ways to stay busy.”

A small smile claimed her lips. “Can you do something with me later?”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know.” She half shrugged. “Watch a movie, play a game. I’m so bored. All we do is sit in the house all day. I don’t have one friend. I don’t have a car, or a job. I need… something. And I love reading, but I like other stuff too.”

Bull nodded, fully understanding. She was young; she had to still have dreams or things she wanted to do, places she wanted to see. This baby and this entire situation had flipped her life around. That night, after disinfecting her room, feeding her, and going on a walk after dinner, Bull came back, made popcorn and baked chocolate chip cookies. The two of them sat in bed watching Marvel flicks, and Toni was a DC girl. Bull even talked to the baby some more, getting comfortable stretched out beside Toni with his hand over her protectively. Eventually, she fell asleep, but she woke up with the urge to pee not too much later. Eyes fluttering open, she couldn’t help the warm smile that came to her lips watching Bull sleep with his head against her stomach, cradling it close. The little kick inside her made her heart flutter. She didn’t know what this was, but the feelings swirling inside her were the kind she never expected or even knew she could harbor.

Toni stirred from her nap to the sound of keys clicking beside her. She popped her head off the pillow and found Bull clicking away on his laptop, a serious expression embedded in his face. Her dream took her back to another time as she rolled onto her side and squinted at him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, yawning and stretching beside him.

Looking toward the window, she saw that it was starting to get dark outside. Bull didn’t look at her, but his fingers kept swiping across the keys.

“Thought I’d work from home the rest of the day after my meeting,” he told her.

“I just had a dream.” She rubbed her forehead. “About us, back when I was pregnant with Breeze.”

Bull heard her, but he was also distracted by what he was doing.

“Where are the kids?” Toni sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes.