Baby Momma 2 Read online

  Sitting at the counter, I flipped through most of the day’s mail and drank my tea, wondering where everyone had wandered off to. I was halfway through with my glass when I thought I heard Lataya laughin’ upstairs, and I got up to go see what she was up to. The room swayed and it felt like I had the worst case of vertigo ever. Everything in the kitchen was rocking back and forth, and as hard as I tried I couldn’t focus my eyes on anything in the room. I fell down to my knees. My only option was to crawl to the stairs.

  “Larissa.” Yelling, I waited down there like a damn invalid for her to come help my ass. Listening, I waited a few more minutes. Shit. The shower was running. The queen of forty-five-minute showers would not be coming to help my ass anytime soon. My eyes were rolling in my head every time I tried to look in any given direction, and, I mean, I’d had vertigo before, but never to this extreme. I pulled myself up the stairs one at a time, surprised I made it all the way to the bedroom without puking before I collapsed in the middle of the bed. The last thing I remembered was jasmine soap and body oil while Larissa stood over me, naked and wet, looking down at me, drying her hair with a towel. And then there was nothing.

  CHAPTER 9

  DON’T BE EYEBALLIN’ ME, MISTER

  Hopefully this date would be more exciting than the last one. It was late, midnight when the car came to get me, and my ass was tired but ready to make this money. Lania said this dude was into some kinda kinky bondage-type shit so I put on an all-black cat suit. She was like he usually just be on some step on his balls or paddle his ass type of craziness that I ain’t know people really paid for, but as long as I ain’t have to fuck him, it was whatever.

  The car let me out in front of nice hotel no more than twenty minutes from the house. This was a little too close to home for my taste, but Nino, this big-ass Italian muscle gorilla–looking muthafucka, one of Lania’s bodyguards, would be outside if I needed him and would be followin’ me back home, so fuck it, I was all in. Nino escorted me through the lobby up to room 376. He stood a few feet down the hall away from the door so he wouldn’t scare the client. Knockin’ on the door, I took a couple breaths ’cause I noticed my hand was shakin’. The door swung open and a tall shirtless white guy was standin’ there. He was tan as fuck. I mean so tan he looked brown and all the hair on his chest and on his head looked white.

  “How you doin’, beautiful?” He had a friendly smile that made me feel comfortable, so I smiled back and walked in. He offered me a drink but I turned it down as I was instructed.

  “What would you like to do, um . . .” Embarrassed, I realized I couldn’t remember his damn name.

  “Call me Leslie.”

  I stared at him, ’cause I wasn’t sure if that was part of his fetish, but I was damn sure Leslie was a woman’s name.

  “It’s a unisex name, darlin’.”

  Damn can this muthafucka read minds, too? I besta stop thinkin’.

  “Well okay then, Leslie, you can call me Trista.” I made it up and cringed. I coulda come up with somethin’ better than that, but oh well.

  “Okay, Trista. That’s fine an’ dandy but I’ma call you Chocolate Thai. Now, c’mere. Take your clothes off.”

  Did this bitch . . . I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be offended or if that was a racial thing, and, naked? I could have sworn Lania said he don’t do sex.

  “C’mon now, Chocolate Thai. I ain’t got all night.”

  “But, Leslie, I’m sure they told you I don’t have sex, right?” I was still close enough to the door that I could run my ass up outta there if I needed to.

  “I’m sure they told you I like other things. Now. Naked. Here. Please.”

  He stripped down to his ugly-ass tighty whities and lay across the bed and, fuck, if I ain’t feel stuck between a damn couple thousand and a hard Leslie. I took my shit off, gritting my teeth the whole time all the way down to my damn draws. If this fool tried to slide anything up in anywhere, I swear I was screamin’ for Nino so damn fast.

  “Now, come over here, beautiful, and lemme see what Chocolate Thai taste like.” Ladies and gentlemen, when this fool said he wanted to see what it taste like, I kid you not . . . Climbin’ up on the bed, I’m preppin’ myself to ask his ass if he got a dental dam or some shit, ’cause he wasn’t ’bout to be puttin’ his mouth all over my pussy unprotected. Before I could get the words out he scooped my ass up—y’all know I’m small—and had me squattin’ over his face so he could rub his eyes, yes, his eyes, all up in my stuff. I could feel him blinkin’ and shit. His eyelashes were tickling the fuck outta me an’ I was tryin’ not to laugh while I just squatted there. His free hand was in his draws strokin’ away and I was just perched up there lookin’ around like what the fuck kinda freak nasty shit is this?

  Easiest $8,000 I’ve ever made in my entire life.

  CHAPTER 10

  GIVING ME HEAD . . . ACHES

  Wakin’ up was hell. It felt like my arms and legs were disconnected from my head and my torso. I was all kinds of groggy and couldn’t remember why. Larissa and I hadn’t spoken more than a few words to each other since Saturday night and not only was she being an asshole, but she was doing it in the most frustrating ways possible. Aside from her time with the kids she spent almost every day walking around the damn house butt-ass naked. I swear the woman was intentionally boycotting her damn clothing. There were times when I’d have to literally tell myself to close my mouth and stop staring. I was so sexually frustrated, I knew for a fact if you put me on a treadmill hooked up to a generator I could provide enough power to run half of Miami for at least a week. I was also having to either cook or order something because most of the time, aside from some tea or a sandwich, she was refusing to cook or lift a finger and I was starting to get beyond fed up with her bullshit.

  Every day I’d been home from work on time and today would be the first day that I’d be late. I’d met with Jim Bartell from Strong Arm Security. Until Rah or whoever decided to show their face it just seemed like the logical thing to do. Jim was a much older white man with a leathery tan face, head full of white hair, and the clearest blue eyes I’d ever seen. He made it a point to come meet me at my office in case I was being followed. He didn’t want to raise any suspicion or draw the attention of whoever was harassing us. My meeting with him was a blur of paperwork and certifications, where I pretty much put the protection of my life and those of the Ris and the kids at the mercy of his security team. It cost an arm and a leg but knowing that I’d have someone at the house around the clock in addition to someone trailing me wherever I went was a definite relief.

  I’d purposefully been ignoring texts and phone calls from both Keyshawn and Lania. Their persistence was damn amazing. If the roles were reversed I’d have given up on myself by Tuesday. I was leaving the office as usual when my phone went off. It was a text from Keyshawn:

  It’s Thursday, haven’t heard from you. Dinner party @ Curtis’ place Friday 9. Hope you’re a woman of your word. Would be honored if you’d make an appearance. Bring wifey if you’re feelin’ scary.

  Damn. The nigga knew how to get my attention. I drove the rest of the way home silently debating whether I should stay or go, take Ris or leave her. There were just so many variables to consider. Was Lania going to be there? Was his entourage of random hoes going to be there? If I asked Key about any of them would it come across as strange? Would Lania act funny toward me since I’d pretty much shut her down and been brushing her off ever since?

  My phone vibrated again but it was Jim calling from the security company. I’d been waiting to hear back from him since setting everything up on Monday.

  “Answer call.” I rarely used the in-car mobile audio feature but figured I’d might as well since I had it. “This is Michelle.”

  “Michelle, this is Jim. How are ya?”

  I smiled when I heard his heavy Southern accent; he sounded like a straight-up farm-raised country boy. “I’m doing well thank you.”

  “Good. I’ve been looking
into yer situation. The bad news is Rasheed is no longer in custody in Virginia.”

  My vision momentarily blacked out. If I weren’t sitting in traffic I might have crashed, or run off the highway at the sound of those words.

  “Rasheed isn’t what? You mean transferred? Right? Jim?” I couldn’t even form a complete coherent sentence.

  “Well now, Michelle, I mean escaped.”

  The depth of meaning behind those words alone threatened to swallow me alive.

  “Apparently three weeks ago a female CO helped him escape. She’s been missing in action ever since. Suspected to either be out on the run with him or paid ’nuff to disappear. Put him in a K-9 trainin’ unit cage—pretended he was a sick dog, needed to see a vet. Guards on duty were useless pricks, didn’t even bother checkin’ the crate as required. She drove him out in the mornin’—they ain’ know ’til they did the night count.” My mind was reeling. God I felt like I was gonna be sick. I fought the urge to vomit and waited for Jim to continue. My worst nightmare was coming true.

  “Now don’t panic. I want you to go ’bout yer business an’ keep livin’ as you normally would. Possum only play possum ’til you walk away. So we don’t want him to know we watchin’ you or the li’l ones.”

  Did this muthafucka just say, “don’t panic”? I almost hysterically laughed out loud. He obviously didn’t know how calculating Rah was when it came to getting his revenge.

  “Rasheed is a very dangerous man, Jim. As I told you before he’s just tormentin’ me right now. His revenge is never a pretty or fair thing.”

  “I read his file, seen his face, I know what he’s done. My boys know exactly who they’re lookin’ fer an’ what kinda man they’re dealin’ with. We’ve protected folk from much more dangerous people than yer ordinary street thug, ma’am. All I’ma do is double up on yer security an’ there’s no extra charge fer that. There’s already a wanted bulletin out fer him across all states from Virginia all the way down here. The reward to turn ’im in is bigger than the payout fer helpin’ his ass, I can assure you that much.”

  All the blood had drained from my hands, my grip was so tight on the steering wheel. I removed them and tried flexing my fingers. I took a few deep breaths and tried focusing on the traffic as it began to move ahead.

  “Jim? I need somewhere to take my children. He isn’t going to want to hurt the kids. It’s jus’ me an’ my wife he’s really after. Do you have anywhere, like a safe house?” My voice was shaky from fear and from the tears I was fighting back. I refused to cry. I got myself into this shit, and I’d fight my way the fuck out of it.

  “Well yes, ma’am. I’ve got a few places—quieter than gerbil piss on cotton if ya know what I mean. They’re well off the grid, very limited access. Gonna take a li’l time tho’—gotta get y’all all clear. In the meantime please try ta relax. You hired some of the best men in the business, I swear on my own life. Summa my boys are retired Seals, Secret Service, and CIA. We ain’t lost a client yet and I don’t plan on losin’ one anytime soon, baby doll.”

  I tried to find the reassurance that Jim was offering. He sounded like an overprotective older grandfather, talking to me like I’d just skinned my knee. But this was no skinned knee and I wasn’t his granddaughter; to him I was just another dollar. Shit, another couple thousand dollars a day, but you get my damn point.

  “All right, Jim, I’m not gonna panic. I’m gonna do my best to trust you on this.” I was saying it more to convince myself than to convince him.

  “That’s good, sweetheart. Now if you have any events, attend ’em as usual. We want to draw this summa bitch out. You sittin’ up in the house ain’ gonna do it.”

  “Really! You want me to do what?” What he was suggesting went against every molecular instinct in my body. The last thing I wanted to do was leave the safety of my home, not after knowing for a fact Rah was out and most likely out for blood.

  “Sweetheart, I been doin’ this pro’ly since you were in pigtails. When’s all the stuff been happenin’ that you told me ’bout—when you were goin’ or comin’, right?”

  I sighed and it felt like the longest, most drawn-out damn sigh I’d ever sighed in my entire life. He did have a point. Everything happened when I wasn’t in the house. If this was what they needed in order to draw him out and haul his ass back to prison, all I could do was shake my head.

  “All right, Jim. My wife and I have a dinner party to attend tomorrow evening with Keyshawn the basketball player. Unless she decides not to go, then it’ll just be me by myself.” By this point fear literally had me shaking from head to toe; it was like I’d just jumped out of a tub of ice water. I turned on the seat warmer, hoping it would help me regain some of my composure.

  “No problem, ma’am. I believe one my boys said they’d seen him stop by the house one day. But the other miss talked with him so there seemed to be no problem. Just call me with yer itinerary before you leave. Jus’ lemme know where yer headed, an’ what time, an’ the information fer the sitter who’ll be keepin’ the kids while yer gone. We’ll handle the rest.”

  “Okay, thank you.” I disconnected the call and pulled over to the side of the highway, on to the shoulder for vehicle breakdowns. All of this had to be a bad dream. At any minute Ris would kiss me and wake me up and everything would be back to normal. I was momentarily stunned. And Keyshawn was at the house? He talked to Ris? Why? The only thing that came to mind was that he was looking for me, since I hadn’t been answering any of his messages. I just hoped he’d made something up good enough to convince Ris of why he’d stop by unannounced.

  My mind was overloaded. I couldn’t fight my tears anymore. Technically this was a breakdown, just not a mechanical one. I was freezing in the middle of summer, scared, and I had no idea if I could go through with this shit. I jumped as something hit the driver-side window hard and loud. It was a younger white guy with dusky blond hair, wearing dark sunglasses. I was afraid to roll down my window and only cracked it slightly.

  “Yes?” I barely croaked out the word and tried to find something to wipe my nose with.

  “Ma’am, Strong Arm Security. I’m Keith.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Keith pointed at the hood of my car. To anyone watching it would appear as if he were just a Good Samaritan asking if I was having car trouble.

  “You need not be stoppin’ on the highway like this. Are you okay?”

  I sniffled loudly and shook my head yes.

  “All right, I’m gonna radio in for a switch in case my vehicle’s been compromised. But I’m right here until my relief arrives.”

  “I’m sorry, okay. Thank you.” I pulled myself together and put the car into drive, feeling slightly secure with my paid guardian angel trailing me.

  The rest of the drive home I was on auto pilot as I silently debated exactly what Ris needed to know. It wouldn’t be fair to hide something like this from her but I had two things to consider. Ris already thought I was doing wrong by her and this would further fuel her bullshit misconceptions. Her track record for dealing with Rasheed stress has always been to use and I definitely didn’t want to start her on that path again. It would make the most sense for her to go with me to the party, if I could convince her. With us both out of the house I would at least know my babies were okay. After what happened with Derrick, and Rasheed’s oldest son, I could almost bet every dollar to my name that he wouldn’t dare touch the kids.

  Ris and I were the targets. If we kept ourselves busy and away from the kids then hopefully Rah would surface and everything would play itself out. By the time I pulled into my driveway my mind was completely made up. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely type Key’s name into my directory to pull up his information.

  Send me Curtis’ address. Rsvp +1 thanks Chelle.

  I sat there with the car still running, trying to pull myself together while I waited for his reply.

  Gotcha Lady. 1610 Medallion Arch Miami see you there ;)

  I knew the are
a very well; some of the wealthiest people in Florida had properties in that area. I called to see if Darla was available and called Jim back with all of the information he’d requested before going into the house. I didn’t want Ris listening in on anything that would alarm her.

  “So we gotta have private convos in the car now?”

  Where the fuck did she come from? I wasn’t even a good two steps in the door before Ris was in front of me, splendidly naked and pissed the fuck off, eyes glaring up at me—hands on her hips.

  “Damn, so we spy out of windows now? We don’t speak for an entire week, and these are the first words we say to someone who gets us an exclusive invite to a party with the owner of Keyshawn’s team?” I glared down at her, my own anger fueled by my stress.

  “Fuck a party. Who da hell were you out there talkin’ to dat you couldn’t talk in da damn house?”

  Wow, she was fuming. That’s the best word for anger that I could think of to accurately describe a Ris who wouldn’t get excited over a party. As if on cue, the kids came bursting downstairs as they always did. They were oblivious to Ris’s lack of clothing, letting me know she’d most likely been like that all damn day. I knelt down and kissed both my babies on the tops of their heads, wondering why they were still in their PJs. She at least could have washed them up and put clothes on they asses.

  “Hey my loves, Mommy and I need to talk, go play upstairs. Are you guys hungry?” They both yelled yes in unison, and I rolled my eyes. She apparently hadn’t bothered fixing them anything to eat either.