Page 128 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 2

“He’s not playing with me,” I said, my voice rising slightly. “Amai hasn’t done anything wrong. It was his brother who?—”

“His brother who WHAT, Truth? His brother who got involved in your business? His brother who showed up acting like he didn’t know you? Ain’t no telling what else his sneaky ass been doing! I don’t like that shit at alllllll!”

My throat tightened. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And where was Amai when all this was happening?”

I didn’t answer. Because I didn’t have a good answer.

“Exactly,” my mama said. “He wasn’t there. He didn’t know. And now you caught up in the middle of whatever mess they got going on.”

“He wants to be with me,” I said quietly. “Amai. He wants to be with me, Mama. For real.”

There was another pause. Longer this time.

“Be with you,” my mama said finally, her voice softer now. Almost sad. “Baby, I knew that man wanted more. I saw it in his eyes when he came to the house. I saw the way he looked at you.”

My chest tightened.

“But he hiding something,” she continued. “And you need to get your head out the clouds and figure out what it is.”

“He’s not hiding anything?—”

“Truth.” My mama’s voice was sharp again, cutting through my protest. “That man is RICH. He got power. He got connections. Men like that don’t just fall for regular women like us without a reason. And if his own brother is doing sneaky shit behind his back, what makes you think he ain’t got secrets too?”

I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell her she was wrong. But the words stuck in my throat.

Because what if she wasn’t wrong?

What if Amai was hiding something?

I thought about the way he’d looked at me last night—the intensity in his eyes, the possessiveness in his touch. I thought about the way he’d spoken to me, the way he’d claimed me, the way he’d made me feel like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.

But I also thought about the things I didn’t know. The things he hadn’t told me. The parts of his life that were still shadows and secrets.

“Mama,” I said quietly, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, you do,” she said firmly. “You lock the fuck in. Immediately.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You stop floating around in this man’s world like you don’t got a say in what happens to you. You stop letting him—or his brother, or anybody else—make decisions for you. You sit up,you pay attention, and you figure out what the hell is really going on.”

Her words hit me like a slap. Not because they were cruel, but because they were true.

I had been floating. Reacting instead of acting. Letting things happen to me instead of taking control.

“You a smart woman, Truth,” my mama continued, her voice softer now. “You always been smart. But you been hurt, and you been tired, and you been trying to survive. And I get that. I do. But surviving ain’t the same as living. And if you gonna be with this man—if you gonna let him into your life and your baby’s life—you need to know who he really is. Not who he pretending to be.”

Tears pricked at my eyes, and I blinked them back. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay,” I said again, my voice steadier now. “You’re right. I need to figure this out.”

“Damn right you do.” My mama sighed, and I could hear the exhaustion in it. “I love you, baby. You know that. And I just want you to be safe. That’s all I ever wanted.”

“I know, Mama. I love you too.”