Page 70 of Breeze and Melodie

“No, ma’am. I need to love on my man. Yvonne, Mari, and Harmonee agreed to take my clients.”

I hadn’t thought about work until just then. I looked at Shyne, and before I could ask him anything, he told me they had me covered.

I connected my fist with his, kissed Raine’s forehead, and helped Melodie into the passenger seat of her car. Seconds later, I joined her on the other side.

“Promise me you won’t do anything to them,” she pleaded.

“I said I’ll let the courts handle it.”

I started the car and prepared to back out of the parking spot. She put her hand on my arm, causing me to look at her.

“Promise me.”

“I promise you I won’t do anything to them.”

“Thank you.”

It was the night after I was falsely taken into custody. I hadn’t decided if I would let the situation go or press charges. Everyone in the crew thought I should do the latter, and the attorney Mr. Lincoln had referred me to, Ms. Carver, agreed. However, I still hadn’t made up my mind.

I wasn’t accustomed to being on the right side of the law, and I didn’t trust the system or anyone associated with it. It wasn’t until Ms. Carver started talking about the amount I could win and putting it into a trust fund for our twins that I began to seriously consider pressing charges.

We’d just finished dinner, and Melodie had gone to the bedroom to shower and get ready for bed. It had been a hectic day for her, and the babies were beginning to zap her energy.

I heard a knock on the door, and since I wasn’t expecting anyone, I looked through the peephole. When I saw Tia, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, so I looked again, and there she stood.

Before opening the door, I grabbed my phone, went to the voice memos, and pressed record. She’d already tried to set me up once. Who was to say she wouldn’t try again since she failed the first time?

“The fuck you want?”

“Breeze, don’t be like that. I came to apologize.”

I shook my head because this couldn’t be the same woman I’d dated for six months.

“Apologize for what?”

“You know.”

“No, Tia, I don’t know. Why are you at my door apologizing to me?”

“Breeze, . . . please just forgive me.”

“Forgive you for what?”

“For having you arrested. I wasn’t going to press charges.”

“If you don’t get your lying ass away from my door.”

I started to close the door, and she stuck her foot out to stop it. I was tempted to break her foot, but didn’t want her here longer than necessary.

“I’m sorry, Breeze. It was a dumb idea that went too far. I can’t lose my job over?—”

“Oh, that’s it. You found out about the recording.”

“If that gets out, my livelihood is gone. I swear, I’ll leave you alone and you won’t have to worry about me ever again.”

“I’m not worried about you now, but you should definitely be worried about me. Get the fuck on before I beat your ass for real.”

This time, when I pushed the door closed, she stepped back. If she didn’t have shit else, that bitch had audacity. After that bullshit, I felt I had two choices. I could either kill her and her brother or press charges. I’d promised Melodie I wouldn’t touch them, so my only option was to let the system handle it.

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