Page 17 of His to Have
I scoffed, the bitterness about everything dripped from my words. “You know what? Don’t bother. You can stay doing whatever has you so busy tonight.”
“Is there something you wanna ask me, Yanna?” His eyebrows lifted.
“Nope,” I bit out, “I’m good. Enjoy your... company.”
The muscle in his jaw twitched, but his voice stayed maddeningly calm. “You sure? Because if you’ve got something to say, now’s the time.”
I swallowed hard, my pulse thrumming in my neck. “It’s okay. You don’t owe me anything. Clearly, I caught you at a bad time, and you’ve got shit going on. I’ll just talk to you later.”
His eyes narrowed just slightly, and I could see it. The shift. I looked away trying to focus on the room around me, searching for anything to distract myself from the intensity of his gaze. The shine from the freshly polished hardwood floors suddenly seemed fascinating. I traced it with my eyes, willing my heart,and my feelings to not be affected by things that shouldn’t hurt me. The silence stretched between us.
“Call me when you are on the way,” I murmured instead of looking at him.
“Look at me,” he commanded, and my eyes snapped back to my screen where his hazel eyes pierced through me.
The room felt smaller, my skin prickling with frustration. I was caught between wanting to scream and... something else.
“There’s nothing going on here,” he drawled, as if daring me to doubt him. “But you need to say what’s really bothering you, Yanna. Because we’re not doing this back and forth if you don’t ask the right questions. Now, I gotta go.”
“Fine,” I muttered reluctantly, feeling the weight of his words. “We can talk later, but I’m not flipping my life upside down. I don’t care what you or my father say. I have my own life.”
He smirked. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Amore. I expect you will have dealt with that little situation you call yourself being in.”
“I’m not breaking up with Corey.”
“You will. If you know what’s best for him. You know how I get down. You don’t want me to handle it.”
I swallowed hard because he could be a teddy bear when it came to me but a straight up menace when it came to everyone else.
“I’ve already murked a nigga over you today. Don’t make me add a body, Amore.”
His tone was devoid of any humor, and the icy edge in his voice made me pause. I knew he wasn’t bluffing. As much as I wanted to dismiss his words as mere bravado, deep down, I understood the lengths he would go.
“Handle it. And I will see you tomorrow.” He hung up the phone, leaving me more confused and angry than before.
The static silence in the room was deafening, amplifying my frustration. I sank back onto my bed, my mind racing withconflicting emotions. On the one hand, I wanted to say fuck Teo, my dad, and anyone else that thought they had a say over how I lived my life. But on the other... Teo wasn’t wrapped too tight. His threats weren’t empty. As much as I wanted to fight him, to prove I had control over my own life, I couldn’t put Corey in the crossfire.
He didn’t deserve that.
So, I did the responsible thing. I picked up the phone, dialed Corey’s number, and inevitably saved his life.
When he answered, I led with, “We need to talk.”
five
Teo
“Long day?” A voice I was all too familiar with purred from across the room. “You seem like you could use a drink... or maybe even a listening ear.” Gianni’s daughter batted her long lashes at me, leaning comfortably against the door frame.
Her light eyes tracked my every movement as I typed out instructions to Keem for tomorrow’s trip to Atlanta. I took my time with the message, making it a point not to give Isabella the attention she was so desperately seeking.
“What part of... give me a minute, wasn’t clear?” I closed out of the message, dimmed my screen, and slid the phone into my pocket before my gaze settled on her. Patiently waiting for an answer, we both knew she didn’t have.
“Oh, it was clear.” She rolled her eyes, pushing herself out of the door frame and strolling further into the room, her hips swaying gently in an all-white tennis skirt and matching top. “But you looked so tense when I saw you earlier. I heard aboutthe attempt on Yanna and just wanted to see how you were holding up, considering everything.”
“It’s Ayanna. And I’m fine.”
“Right,” she scoffed. “I forgot how sensitive you get abouther.
