Page 24 of Dominated By Love

“What’s understood doesn’t have to be explained. Get that material to me, bro. Don’t make me have to hound you. You’re getting in the way of my money. You know I don’t like that.”

“I got you, broke-ass boy,” he said, ending the call before I could respond.

My conversation with Supreme was a reminder that although we had been married long enough for Sage to take everything I had in divorce court, there was a rush on me talking to her dad about us.

I didn’t plan on ever letting her go again. It was going to be weird as hell for Sebastian to discover us living together out of the blue without knowing what was going on ahead of time. I didn’t like leaving her people in the blind, but that was never my decision. From the start, Sage felt some kind of way about her family knowing about us. I was done letting her drive. With that in mind, I scrolled to Sebastian’s number in my contacts and hit send.

“What’s up, son?” Sebastian answered after his designated two rings.

“I need to holler at you about something. You still in Jade Harbor?”

“The question is, why areyoustill in Jade Harbor.”

“I had to take care of a little business while I was out here.”

“Where are you staying?” he asked.

“I grabbed a spot.”

“A spot, huh? I got time today before me and my little guy pull out. Where do you want to meet? At your spot?”

“I’ll meet you somewhere. I need to grab a few things.”

“OK, hit me up before it gets too late.”

I didn’t know why Sebastian’s wording reverberated in my head, but it did. It was time for us to let him and the rest of the world know that Sage was mine. She was finally coming around to accepting it. It was time for everyone else to do the same.

I tried it her way. I gave her what she thought she needed at the time. Sage wanted to be with the father of her child, thinking it would fix her perceived mistake. I knew she was just trying to save face, but that didn’t make the heartache any less painful. Knowing that she had probably never been truly happy fuckedwith me. I lived in misery thinking that at least the woman I knew was the only one for me was somewhere happy. That shit was dead now.

The nigga I let have her fumbled the ball, so now I was back to pick it up and score. I should have done more than beat him within an inch of his life the first time he tried to play with her. The night before I married Sage, I went to his fuck ass to give him a chance to right his wrongs. I loved Sage, but I knew the only reason she agreed to marry me was because she was desperate and pregnant. I cared enough about her to want to protect her from whatever was worrying her.

Ten Years Ago . . .

It only took a quick social media search for me to track Jaylen Jackson down. Not that I had to find his account. He was all over the internet. Plus, he called himself dating the woman I loved. I knew exactly where to find him. Nobody questioned me when I walked into the fraternity house and spotted the university’s golden boy standing over a pair of girls, spitting game.

The look on the blonde’s face told me that whatever he said to them was working. He kissed the one with the afro on the cheek right as I walked up. A chick with long blonde hair and another one with an afro was a wild combination. Clearly, ol’ boy didn’t have a type. Neither did I, but that was another topic. My hand landed on his shoulder while he was whispering in her ear.

“I’m not signing no autographs tonight, bro,” he said after shooting me a quick glance.

“Do I look like I want your autograph?”

“Oh shit. You’re Sage’s little brother or something, right?”

“Or something. I need to holler at you right quick,” I said.

He was really testing my patience. Seeing Sage cry over him already had it thin as fuck. This bitch-made punk had just toldmy baby to get rid of their baby, and he was out partying like he didn’t have a care in the world. I wanted to give him one more chance to make shit right with her. The music was too loud at the house party for him to hear what I had to say, so when we finally stepped outside, I turned to face him.

“I’m not sure if you heard, but Sage is pregnant.”

“Yeah, she told me. I told her it’s not a good time for me.”

“What do you mean it’s not a good time for you?” I questioned.

“I can’t have a baby right now. I’m going into the draft at the end of the season.”

“It’s too late for all that. You should have thought about that shit when you were raw dogging.”

“I don’t even see how that’s your fucking business. I was the one fucking her, not you. Unless you got some shit to tell me.”