Page 52 of Creole Kingpin
“If she’s your best friend, why didn’t you tell her about me?”
His question scrapes off some of the veneer I’ve just regained. I walk faster, but his long legs easily keep pace no matter the speed.
“I want an answer, Magnolia. You ain’t running away from me until I get one.”
Finally, I stop in front of a shuttered building and face him, my hands on my hips. “Why do you care?”
Moses’s eerie green eyes scan my face, and it’s like he sees through the strong facade I’m trying desperately to keep intact. “Because I want to know if I’m right.”
“Right about what?” My tone warns him to tread carefully.
“Whether or not you loved me.”
I flinch as if I’ve been slapped.
Jerking my head to the left, I glance at him sideways after his whispered declaration. I take a step, intending to run away from this whole conversation, but I lose my footing on the solid ground beneath me. My world’s been shaken and my entire body flies forward, but instead of landing sprawled on the sidewalk, I’m surprised when Moses catches me.
He lifts me off my feet and brings me flush against his body, chest to chest. As he lowers me to my feet, every fiber of my being begs me to relax against him.
To let him hold me.
Keep me safe.
Protect me.
God, it’s so tempting. But I can’t.
I shove out of his hold and put space between us. If it’s the truth he wants, I’ll give it to him. Straight, no chaser.
“It doesn’t matter anymore what I felt for youthen, Moses, because I don’t trust younow. You can say whatever you want, be all smooth and slick, but if it’s an act, I’m not gonna fall for it. I don’t need a man to rescue me. I’ve done fine all by myself.”
“I hurt you, mama.”
He reaches out to take my hand, but I yank it back because if I let him touch me ...No.
His eyes narrow at my movement, and it’s the first time I’ve seen him annoyed since he’s been back.Good.I want to see the real him. Not this sugarcoated version trying to wine and dine me into driving off into the sunset.
So I decide to give him another bitter sip ofmy truth.
“Yeah. You did hurt me.Then.But you’re not going to hurt me now. I won’t let you.” If my words are bullets, then they find their mark, because his gaze darkens.
I lift my chin, determined not to let it make me pull my punches. He can’t think I’m going to cave for him easily, no matter what I felt back then or how much it hurt when he left and never came back.
With newfound power, I continue. “I’ve learned a lot in the last fifteen years too. Lesson number one: Magnolia takes care of Magnolia. I don’t need anyone else. I appreciate your help with the cop this morning, but I’ve got it from here. You can go on ahead with your day.”
His palms land on the sides of his forehead and his jaw rocks. “Just like that? You expect me to walk away just like that? Go on about my fucking day?”
“Shouldn’t be too hard. It’s what you’ve been doing since you left.”
“You know what I’ve been doing since I left?”
Moses takes two steps toward me, and I step back instinctively. A wrought-iron gate clangs when my shoulder blades bump into it. He stands in front of me, his features carved from granite.
“I’ve been trying to find my way back to you without putting you in fucking danger. It took me a while. I did a lot of shit I’ll never tell you about. But I’m finally free and clear, and so are you. That’s why I’m here now, after all this fucking time. Because life doesn’t always work out the way you hope, when you hope. But if you’re lucky, sometimes you get a second fucking shot at the one thing you want more than anything else. This is me taking my shot, mama. And I don’t fucking miss.”
His eyes are dilated, and his breathing is labored as he speaks.
“Fight me all you want, but I see through the tough-broad exterior you’re so used to wearing. I seeyou,Magnolia. That’s who I came back for.”
