Page 30 of Make Me Your Hitta

“You know damn well what it is to me,” he growled. “Don’t play games.”

I sucked my teeth, the sound hollow even to my ears. “I’m not.”

“Then what are you doing sneaking around so late?”

“I need to go to the store.”

His brows cinched together. “The store? For what?”

“It’s personal.”

“Cut the bullshit, Xenobia, and go back to your room,” he ordered.

“I’m serious, Adonis. I need to make a store run. It’s important.”

“To get what? Why can’t you put in a delivery order?”

“So I can have all the guards looking at my tampons? Is that what you want, Adonis?” I fumed.

Adonis frowned. “Shit, Nobi. That’s T-M-I.”

“Are you happy now? Maybe next time, you’ll take my word for it.”

“C’mon, I’ll take you.”

I paused. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Reaching the back door, I took a deep breath and slowly opened it, wincing at the slight creak it made at the forty-five-degree angle. We slipped out into the cool night air and headed to the garage, where he quietly started one of the less conspicuous cars and drove toward the gates. As Adonis maneuvered through the dark streets, my mind galloped with thoughts of how I’d purchase a pregnancy test under his watchful eye, what it might reveal, and how the results could change our lives forever.

I huffed while focusing my attention out of the passenger window. “Why the fuck can’t I be useful? How am I supposed to run this shit one day if no one gives me anything to do?”

Adonis’s jaw clenched. “I—”

I rolled my eyes before cutting him off. “That’s what I thought. I’ll be the patriarchal figurehead, but in reality, useless as a three-dollar bill, and everyone will know it.”

He glanced at me, his eyes softening momentarily, and I felt my determination flicker.Dammit, why did he have to look at me like that?

“Xenobia, please,” he said, his voice low. “I can’t protect you if you—”

“I know you mean well. I swear, I do. But I want to fuckinglive, Adonis. Can’t you understand that? I need to do something to help,” I said, hearing the tremor in my voice.

He ran a hand down his beard, frustration radiating off him in waves as he stopped at a red light. “So what’s your fuckin’ plan, Xenobia? What happens if you get hurt? Or worse, when a nigga’s got a gun to your head ready to finish what he started?”

I swallowed hard, fighting back the lump in my throat. “Then, at least, I’ll have lived.”

I watched his face, the moonlight casting shadows that made his expression sharper. He took a step closer, and suddenly, I was hyperaware of every inch between us.

“Nobi,” he said, his voice softer. “I get it, alright? But trying to sneak out in the middle of the night for some fuckin’ feminine products ain’t the way.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore how my heart was racing. “Oh yeah? Then what is?”

His eyes searched mine, and he heaved a heavy sigh. “We’ll find something for you to do and learn so that you can help more, alright? It’s not like you don’t know how to shoot a gun or administer basic first aid. You’re not useless, Nobi. You’re the center of our world. My world, at least.”

The intensity in his gaze made me look away. I couldn’t deal with it, not now. Not when everything inside me was screaming to run. Not that it would matter. He’d just catch me, lock me in my room, and incinerate the key.

“Whatever,” I muttered, folding my arms across my chest.

---