Page 47 of Trading In A Broken Heart

“What’s taking so long, bae?” His eyes drifted to me, and he licked his lips. He was lucky Savion wasn’t standing here with me or else he would’ve ripped them bitches off.

“This ho right here thought she was bigger than the program.”

I smirked. This bitch had a lot of audacity.

“Getcha service animal,” I warned and turned to walk off but was caught by the wrist.

Snatching away, I swung the bottle back, cracking her jaw. “I’on argue with bitches. I make examples out of them,” I told her.

“Ho, is you cool!” The guy’s eyes bucked. He knew he was gon’ have to make a trip to the hospital with her ass tonight. They’d better get going, or else they’d be in there all night.

“Watch your mouth,” I softly spoke with the bottle still hanging in my hand. He charged toward me, and I swung on his ass too. Nigga’s nose and mouth gushed blood.

More people began to approach me. Knowing that it was just me and a bottle, I took off running to my family. I didn’t even have to make it far. Wicked, Grim, Maniac, and, surprisingly, Savion were all lined up by the time I bent the corner. I slipped in between Wicked and Grim, and they formed a barrier in front of me.

All I heard in my head was, “You like getting people killed for me?” just as I saw my brothers swinging.

* * *

The club shut down after the fight I started in there. Someone had sliced Grim’s arm with a knife, and he just started letting off shots. People were running and screaming. Savion grabbed me and Imani and got us out of there.

He drove Imani home, and then we headed home. Told me that he’d send someone to get my car from the club for me. I didn’t even know that he’d come back home. I assumed that he thought he was gon’ surprise me at the club and walked in on a surprise himself.

I sat there in silence on the ride home. Savion turned onto our street. I felt his eyes kept shifting to me, but he didn’t speak a word. Headlights shone on the garage entrance, and there was a box sitting out there with a bow on it. The car halted.

“What’s that? You got me a gift?” I asked him. My mouth spread wide as I opened the door and hopped out.

“Solei, no!” he shouted behind me, but I’d already picked up the box. I pulled the bow apart and took the lid off. The box dropped to my feet when I saw a bloody heart resting inside it.

I had to get her away from that house. For so long, no one knew where I lived, and I kept it that way where people weren’t able to reach me. Somehow, people found where I lived and were trying to send a message. Normally, I didn’t scare easily, but I had shit to lose—more like someone. I couldn’t risk anything happening to Solei, which was why I told her to pack a duffel, and we were leaving the house for a while. At least ’til I eliminated the threat.

Where I was taking her, I think she’d like. It was secluded from the outside world, but she wouldn’t feel trapped. It was my safe space. The place I went to when the world got too hectic—my lake house.

Solei sat there, staring out the window into the darkness as I drove through the woods. I could only imagine what was racing through her mind after she opened that box. If only she would’ve listened to me when I said no. I could only fault myself for it, because I had been leaving her gifts at the door of her apartment. She knew I was out of town and probably thought I left her something because I was thinking of her.

The headlights shone on the lake house as I pulled into the driveway. I hit the fob for the garage and it let up. At this house, I had a Range Rover and Maserati parked in the garage. The door let down behind us. I got out and opened the door for Solei before grabbing our bags.

We entered the house, ending up in the kitchen. “Where’s the bedroom? I’m ready to go to bed,” Solei said.

“This way.” I led her down the hallway to the staircase that took us up to the second floor of the home. Flipping on the light switch, I dropped the duffels on the floor by the dresser. Solei took one look at the bed and headed toward the bathroom. The light came on, and the shower sounded off.

She walked as if she had the world on her shoulders. All I wanted to do was take everything off her and carry that shit on my back for her. I watched her as she unzipped her bag and grabbed a nightgown out of there. Whatever liquor was in her system was long gone by now, especially after all the events that took place tonight.

Solei went into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. Pulling my shirt over my head, I went into the bathroom behind her and stripped out of the rest of my clothes. I stepped into the walk-in shower behind her, pressing my body against her frame from behind. Her head tilted back and rested against my collarbone.

“I promise you don’t have anything to worry about. You gon’ always be safe with me.”

I washed Solei up and lotioned her body down when she got out of the shower. She put on her nightgown and crawled into bed. I sat there in the corner of the room with my strap resting in my lap. Whoever was coming for her, they were gon’ regret coming this way by the time I was done with them.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up, and Solei wasn’t in bed. I looked over at the clock and saw that it was eleven thirty. Getting up, I called out her name, “Solei!” but didn’t get an answer. I maneuvered through the house in search of her.

“Solei!” The alarms in my head were going off at this point. I didn’t normally sleep that hard, and somehow, I managed to have lost her.

My heart kicked up a notch when I saw the back patio door open and the curtain swinging in the wind. I approached the door and checked it for any forced entry, when I heard a noise in the distance.

Stepping out onto the patio, I looked over at the lake and saw Solei diving into it. I trod out to the side of the lake and watched her as she swam out. The way her body glided in the water, one would think she was a mermaid.