Page 112 of Til Death
“Of course you do. Your dad sacrificed your family’s reputation to build his empire, but wait, he did it all wrong, didn’t he? I recently heard he skipped out on his court date and now is a wanted man.” She faked a pout. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Daddy Dearest is, would you Xylina? Harboring a fugitiveisillegal, you know?”
I hadn’t been keeping up with my dad’s court stuff since meeting with him. I’d mentally cut him from my mind. The few times he’d continued to reach out to me, I deleted and blocked the numbers without responding. So I wasn’t aware that he was on the run right now. It oddly didn’t bother me as much as it would have months ago. My life was starting to look up. I was no longer worried about money and what my dad had going on no longer affected me and my life. But still seeing Aaliyah getting satisfaction from it all caused my blood to boil. I was tired of her indirect shade and constantly being on the end of her attacks.
Tiara attempted to intervene. “C’mon, Aaliyah, this isn’t the place for that conversation.”
“Why are you guys crowded around here? Let’s take another shot,” Angel came over suggesting.
“Yeah, why does it feel so tense all of a sudden?” Savannah followed up.
Ignoring all them, I continued my stare down with Aaliyah, refusing to let up. “No, I don’t. My husband and I have too much to lose to be involved in my dad’s affairs.”
“Right, your ‘husband’. Rumor has it the marriage between you two isn’t even real.” That struck a nerve. Fire exploded throughout my body as it tensed with fury.
“Aaliyah! C’mon, you’re killing the mood!” Tiara objected.
“What! I’m just repeating what I heard. Her mom has been seen around town with a new man and no cares in the world and not being very quiet about the Foxes' inner affairs after one too many drinks. It’d be a shame if the rumors are true and we all learn your marriage has been a lie.”
“God, Aaliyah, you can be such a bitch.” Savannah walked over and grabbed me. “Let’s go to the bathroom, Lina. Aaliyah, sometimes you need to learn when to shut the hell up!”
Since Savannah was the only one who knew the truth behind my marriage and what was going on, I appreciated her trying to deescalate the situation, but there was no way I was going to continue to let this slide. I didn’t care what rumors Aaliyah spread about my parents. In my eyes, that part of my life was dead to me, my marriage, however? I refused to allow her to speak on it and taint the good space we were now in.
I allowed Savannah to pull me up. Just as she started to drag me toward the opening of the section, I yanked away from her, turned, and snatched Aaliyah by her hair, yanking her head forward. The section became a chaotic mess with everyone yelling and attempting to loosen my grip on her hair.
“Get her off me!” Aaliyah shrieked.
“Xylina, let her go!”
I blacked out, ignoring those around me and continuing to yank. I let too much shit pass with Aaliyah and now it was time for her to see I wasn’t going to keep going shade for shade with her.
“Next time learn not to speak on my marriage, bitch!” I finally released her, thrusting her head back.
I laughed as I finally allowed Savannah to pull me away while bringing a few pieces of Aaliyah’s extensions with us.
It might not have been the brightest decision but it felt good to do.
“Bitch!” Savannah laughed when we were steps away from the section. “I can’t believe you just did that?”
Flicking my hand to get the hair off me, I shrugged and tilted my chin upward. “She had it coming.”
“I agree, but damn, I didn’t expect that at all.”
The moment we were in the bathroom, I went to the mirror to check myself out. I no longer was in the clubbing mood and was ready to go home and cuddle under my man. Even though she was disappointed that I was calling it an early night, Savannah didn’t fight me on it.
While up until this point I’d enjoyed being out and having a good time, I was sure this would be the last time I came to the club while I was pregnant at least. Itdefinitelywas the last time I planned to be around Aaliyah’s jealous, miserable ass.
After spending the next morning handling business with Simone, I was surprised to have a text from Yosiah asking me to stop by his office before I headed home.
When I arrived, he was on the phone and locked into whatever was on his computer screen. His assistant gave me a nod while leaving the office as I stepped in. His staff wasn’t exactly welcoming, but they no longer gave me the runaround when I tried to get in contact with Yosiah.
My left eye twitched seeing the mass of papers scattered on top of his desk once I was inside the room. Shaking my head, I walked to the couch, pulled my purse off, and sat it down then walked to Yosiah. He took his eyes off his computer screen and watched me as I slowly approached his desk and started straightening it. His brow rose and his mouth twitched watching me. It didn’t take me long to organize the papers on top since they were mainly blueprints and developmental things.
Once satisfied, I moved around the desk, lifted his arm, and slid into his lap. The arm I lifted slid around my waist, resting peacefully while I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. Since becoming pregnant, I had become clinger than before. I knew it but Yosiah didn’t complain, so I had no plans to stop.
Whatever he was talking about seemed important. He was rapidly typing away on his keyboard, his voice stern, and I tried to listen in but somewhere along the way I dozed off.
“Xylina,” Yosiah called out, waking me out of the short slumber I had fallen into.
“I’m woke.” I covered my mouth, yawning and fluttering my eyes open.
