Page 317 of Kentrell

“Why you go see my mama?” I asked, my mouth moving over her—neck, chest, breasts—anywhere her skin was exposed, I kissed.

Her breath caught, but her voice stayed steady when she answered.

“I’m appealing her case.”

I froze.

Pulled back from the crook of her neck, needing to see her face.

“She’s gonna get out,” she said, beaming, looping her arms back around my neck and pulling me into a kiss before I could react.

Still stuck on what she’d just said, I barely noticed she was peppering soft kisses all over my lips… until she bit down on my bottom lip, holding it between her teeth.

“Kentrell?” she murmured, lip still trapped in her mouth.

“Hmm,” I hummed back, keeping my eyes locked on hers.

“You got quiet on me.” She let my lip go just long enough to kiss me again.

I couldn’t really speak. Not right now.

When my mama first told me about her appeal… about the upcoming hearings… I told myself I was happy. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to believe.

But deep down… I didn’t. Not fully.

Not because I didn’t want to see her free. I did. God knows I did.

But because I thought I knew how that shit would go. I’d seen this story play out before—women in my mama’s position praying for miracles and getting let down hard. I pictured her putting her whole heart into it… believing… and then being broken when it all went to shit.

“When you start the process?” I finally asked, watching her run her fingers over my Kentrell chain, tracing each letter like she was trying to memorize it.

“You remember when my mama called that first time… after everything…” Her voice trailed off, soft and hesitant, like she needed a second to push past the weight of it before continuing.

On instinct, I leaned in and kissed her—slow but purposeful—trying to rush her through the memory she clearly didn’t wanna sit in too long. She giggled against my mouth, her fingers curling in my hair like she didn’t mind the distraction.

“It was that day,” she said when I finally let her breathe. “Well… a few days before that, I sent Attorney Williams her case to look over. She got back to me on the day my mama called.”

She paused, letting me catch up as I nodded, already piecing it together.

“You remember when I told you I looked into you?” she asked next, her hazel eyes low and sleepy, like she was fighting to stay awake just to lay here and talk to me.

“Well—” she yawned, then let out a soft, sleepy giggle. “That was the first time I read a little about Shaniece. So I did some more digging…”

“Meddling,” I cut in, smirking just enough to make her laugh for real this time.

“No… investigating.” She rolled her eyes slightly, but the smile stayed. “And from everything I found… I felt like an appeal was more than possible in her case. Both the prosecution and the defense dropped the ball. And honestly… me and Tasha’s whole team feel like your mother was an unfortunate scapegoat.”

I let her words hang in the air while my jaw clenched tight.

She didn’t know how right she was.

And I wasn’t about to tell her. Not now. Not when we’d just found our way back to each other.

This… was personal. On a level she couldn’t understand.

Including her in certain parts of it could put her in danger… or worse… get her second-guessing herself in ways that might mess with my mama’s case.

I knew who was behind most of this shit.

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