Page 54 of The Prez

“Omari, I’ll ask you again and if you lie to me, I’m going to be really fucking pissed.” His eyes roam my face, zeroing in on all the spots with bumps and bruises. “Who. Did this. To you?”

My bottom lip trembles. “Brock.”

“Last name.”

“Flynn.”

Raf grunts. “Zeke.”

“Prez,” Zeke says, appearing behind Raf as if he materialized. Just like Raf, his eyes burn with anger as they roam over my face.

Raf hands me the baby, who I gratefully accept. “Grab your keys. Let’s go.”

I open my mouth to ask him to stay with me, but Zeke beats me to it. He lays a hand on Raf’s shoulder and says, “Prez, we can handle it. Stay with Omari.”

Raf growls, fire dancing in his eyes as his eyes ping pong around my face. They turn stormy when I lick my lips and hiss. His jaw ticks as he runs a thumb under my eye where I’m sure I’m bruised from Brock’s fist. The indecision is clear on his face and I pray he doesn’t go. I don’t want to be alone right now.

After a few tense moments, Raf curses and nods. “Yeah, okay. Get Jace and go find …” his lips curl in disgust, “Brock Flynn. Send him a message for me, yeah?”

“You got it,” Zeke says, a sinister smile on his face. Maybe I should be more afraid of Zeke than I am. No one that doesn’t like violence would have that look of glee on their faces. But for that very reason, I’m not afraid of him. I know his need for blood is on my behalf. I’m half in love with him for it.

“You tell that piece of shit,” Raf says as he looks at me, “he doesn’t touch what’s mine.”

Zeke grunts in approval. “We’ll get him, Omari. Don’t worry.”

I nod, holding Little Raf close to me. “Thank you. Don’t … kill him.”

Zeke laughs. “No promises.” He winks at me and hustles out the door.

“Come on,” Raf says, pulling me to the main bathroom. “Let me clean you up,”

His jaw clenches as he wipes my face, fire still blazing in his eyes. When he’s done wiping the blood from my mouth, he goes back to the sink to rinse the cloth. “Fuck!” he snarls, throwing the rag into the sink. I jump violently, which scares Little Raf and he starts crying.

“Ssshhh.” I comfort the baby, patting his back. “It’s okay.”

Raf holds on to the lip of the sink for a moment, then comes over to us, kneeling in front of me. “You don’t know how badly I want to go rip his fucking arms off and beat him to death with them. I didn’t protect you. I let you down.”

I give him a confused look. “Baby, you didn’t know you had to protect me from him. I didn’t know he was still harping on me owing him money.”

Raf’s eyes widen. “Owing him money? I thought you paid him. That’s what you needed the advance for, right?”

Sighing, I tell him what happened when I went to pay Brock the money I owed for the pills and how I blocked his number after he started sending me harassing texts for a made-up amount of money I still owe him.

His hands on both sides of my face, Raf says, “Don’t keep secrets like that from me again. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what you’re up against. I could have gotten rid of that motherfucker weeks ago.”

“No,” I say, hugging Little Raf closer to me. “I’m not worth you killing anyone over.”

Vehemently, he asks, “Says fucking who?”

I shake my head. “All he did was knock me around a little. It’s fine. I’m okay. After what Jace and Zeke will do to him, he won’t bother me anymore. Brock likes to beat on people smaller than him.” My mind flashes to Kit, hoping he’s not being hurt. I’ve tried to call him a few times since I saw his bruised face, but he sends me to voicemail. I don’t know how he is and that hurts. After what he said to me, I shouldn’t care, but I do, especially because I know Brock is a piece of shit abuser.

Little Raf yawns widely and rests his head on my shoulder. “Let me put him down for a nap. Then I’ll get you some ice and hold you until you’re better,” Raf says, holding out his hands.

I nod and pass him the baby. Then I inch towards thecouch and sit down heavily, listening to Raf talk quietly to his nephew. The lilt of his accented words washes over me and I feel safe.

I’m not sure what he meant about letting me down though. He could never do that. He’s my home, my safe space.

When he comes back to the living room, Raf sits behind me, wrapping his arms around me. “Are you hurting?”

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