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“You already know how this goes, Honey Bee. Either you live or we both die because I’m not going on with life without you,” Solo declared.

“Oh, please, save all that sappy shit in hell where the two of you belong.” Antonio pressed the gun into my temple with more force and I screamed out in pain.

“Let her go!” Solomon demanded with his gun raised. I notice Messiah glance at something behind me, and move to the left. He and Freedom slowly moved over while Solomon and Antonio argued. I held my breath as I waited for what was about to happen.

“I’ve got a better idea. How about I just⁠—”

Pow! Pow!”

Antonio’s body dropped in front of me. Solomon and Messiah rushed over to me and freed me from the chair. Solomon carried me in his arms and held me tight while I cried. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it out alive and the relief was overwhelming. When I glanced back I saw Dreaux as he bent down to check Antonio’s pulse and kick his gun away.

“Let’s get out of here. I’ma have my people burn the house down and burn these bastards up with it,” Dreaux snarled as he kicked Antonio’s dead body.

The men chatted amongst themselves as we all headed towards the stairs. I got an eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach. Almost like things had gone too smoothly and we were missing something. Messiah led the way as he headed up the stairs first and Dreaux followed next. Freedom stood on the other side of Solomon and I. I got ready to say something when I heard a familiar voice out “Long Live Rondell!”

Everything happened so fast. Dreaux and Messiah drew their guns and fired shots at the masked man, just as Freedom pushed Solomon and I out of the way. I watched in horror as two bullets ripped through his body. I let out a blood curdling scream as I tried to break away from Solomon. He tightened his grip on me as I watched Freedom’s body drop. Blood poured from his mouth as I screamed and pleaded for someone to save him.

“No! No! No! Please let me go! Let me go!”

My pleas fell on deaf ears and Solomon held onto me.

Messiah dropped to his knees and turned Freedom’s body over to see if he could find the entry wounds, but there was no use. Blood poured out of him like water as we watched life drain from his body.

Dreaux walked over to the other man’s lifeless body and removed the mask from his face. I didn’t recognize his voice the night he attacked me, but it came back to me after I left the party Freedom had taken us to. I never would have suspected Jarmarcus was behind my attack because he didn’t even live in the same state as me, but I guess I had grossly underestimated his hatred for me. Solomon attempted to lift me up, but I doubled over in pain as I clutched my stomach. My head was spinning and my vision began to go blurry as everything faded to black.

epilogue

FOUR MONTHS LATER

“Hey, you need to be careful. Your ass is supposed to be on bedrest,” Solomon grumbled. I knew he was tired of fussing at me, but I was just as tired of being confined to the bed.

“I just wanted to check on my babies, since you kicked them out of the bed.” I fussed.

Solomon had surprised me with a bunny and a puppy to cheer me up, but he refused to let them stay in our room. According to him, it was an invasion of privacy and they had their own room to sleep in. Little did he know they were my sleeping partners whenever he had to leave for work.

I still didn’t understand why I needed to be on bedrest because I felt perfectly fine. The night they rescued me, they rushed Freedom and I to the E.R. Freedom was rushed to emergency surgery while I was hooked up to a bunch of monitors to verify the baby and I were okay. The doctor said that my blood pressure and high stress put a strain on the baby that could have resulted in a miscarriage. They consulted with Dr. Malone, who recommended I get placed on bedrest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous, but Solomon wasn’t trying to hear it. The only thing he cared about was the safety of the baby, so that meant I was being chaperoned and watched like a small child. I couldn’t complain too much, because he waited on me hand and foot.

“Hey, Pebbles. Hey, Bam-Bam.” I greeted my fluffy black and white bunny and my golden-brown toy poodle. Bam-Bam wagged his little tail inside his cage while Pebbles laid in her little pen Solomon set up for her. I grabbed her first and then took a seat on the floor and let Bam-Bam out. They both ran around, taking turns jumping in and out of my lap. I giggled and scratched their fur as they passed by. My life had taken a turn I hadn’t expected, but I was grateful to still be alive.

I smiled when my phone buzzed and I saw my favorite cousin’s name flash across the scream. My heart settled the moment I saw his face in the camera.

“Free!” Tears welled in my eyes like they always did when I talked to him.

The night he was shot, the doctors weren’t sure if they were going to be able to save him. After the surgery, they told us he was in a coma and there was nothing else they could do. Our family came together and prayed for him daily, regardless of what his prognosis was. We had faith that God would heal him because he still had so much more to accomplish in life.

“Aye, don’t start that crying shit. Every time I call your ass, here comes the waterworks. I need you to hurry up and drop this little nigga, so you can stop with all this emotional shit. It’s fucked up because neither one of us can drink right now. I gotta hurry up and bounce back because I need a mothafuckin’ drank. Not just a shot, but the whole damn bottle.” Freedom griped.

“You can get that shit out of your head because you won’t be drinking a damn thing besides water and these Ensure drinks so you can get your weight up. You’re starting to look like a crackhead.” Breyoun teased him as she popped her head into the camera.

“Hey, Honesty. How are you feeling, pooh?”

I stifled my laughter as Freedom rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“I’m fine. How are you? I didn’t realize you were playing nurse today.”

My brow raised as I wondered what was going on. Breyoun and Freedom had a rocky relationship, but she had been by his side since the night he got shot. Her and her man Onyx sat with the family for hours while we waited for answers. I thought she would go on about her business once she realized he was going to make it, but she had been spending more and more time at Aunt Faith’s house, which was where he was recovering.

“Oh, no. Momma Faith needed to step out for a couple of hours and she needed a baby sitter. I now have a greater understanding of why our son is so hardheaded. He gets that shit from his dumb ass daddy.” She scoffed.