Page 50 of Divine

“Why not, Lee? If I could talk to my mom one more time, there would be nothing in the world that could stop me.”

“That’s where we’re different.”

“Don’t wait until it’s too late, Liam.”

I could see that this conversation was going in the wrong direction, but I knew just how to redirect it. As much as I hated to leave her presence, I knew when I was about to lose my temper. The last thing I wanted to do was lash out and take something out on Divine that had nothing to do with her.

“On second thought, I do need to be somewhere,” I said, hopping on my bike.

“Wow. Do you run away from all of your problems?”

“When it’s necessary.” I shrugged.

She rolled her eyes and sighed before speaking. “Fine, but make sure you’re at the store by twelve thirty.”

“I’ll be there,” I confirmed.

“See you at lunch, Liam.”

It took a lot of convincing,but between Royelle and Psalm, we were able to get Syre to loosen up on the security measures. Bishop’s shooting and my mom’s murder were solved resulting in my brother Deacon’s arrest.

Apparently, he’d found out from Monroe Black that our mom wasn’treallyhis mom. In fact, she had actually murdered his mom when he was a baby. Although our mom raised him and treated him like her own, Deacon couldn’t see past his anger. He’d tried to have both Bishop and our mom murdered as retaliation. Now that the dust had settled on that whole situation, there weren’t many direct threats to our family. My cousins had all pulled back from the street shit since they had families to think about. Bishop had finally gotten married, and Syre and his wife had a son. Having a family of his own to aggravate helped keep Syre out of my face.

My only prayer was that they would back off and let me have a life of my own. So far, the jury was still out on that. Reducing my security was a start. I now only had escorts to and from work and overnight surveillance while I was at home. If I was going to the club or somewhere crowded like a game or concert, Liam or Bobby went with me.

I was going to speak to Syre about swapping Bobby out, but I had to find the right words. I didn’t want him flying off the handle and killing the poor guy just because he had a crush on me. I already knew that he had given anyone who worked with us detailed instructions about keeping their eyes and hands to themselves.

I couldn’t blame the man for having eyes. At the same time, I didn’t feel comfortable being around him after having to pretend I didn’t catch on to his advances. Sooner or later, I was going to have to come right out and tell him that I wasn’t interested. That’s not something I wanted to do with someone who had been hired to protect me.

Now that he had a family, Syre was a little more receptive to company. Well, that’s not entirely true. He liked for me to visit. I couldn’t vouch for anyone else.

As I left the city limits, I rolled my eyes at how far out into the abyss he chose to live. Syre irked my nerves sometimes, but I loved him just like a brother. Sometimes, I forgot that Syre was actually my cousin. I was sure he had dismissed that concept when we were little, and he told me that I would always be his sister.

After too damn long of a drive, I finally made it to his house. It was always weird seeing a black house, but somehow it worked. I smiled as I drove down the driveway and watched Elle sitting out in the yard watching Sir play in the grass.

He could barely stand, but I could tell that his little legs were getting stronger. I parked my car on the opposite side of the yard from where my sister-in-law and nephew were playing before jumping out of the car and making a dash for them. I missed his cute little face. As soon as I reached them, I picked him up.

“Hey, little guy. I missed you,” I said, peppering his chubby cheeks with kisses.

“It’s time for you to have one of your own.”

“Keep your husband out of my business, and maybe I can finally find a husband of my own.”

“I try to keep him as busy as possible, but you never know the lengths he will go to.”

“Tell me about it.”

“It’s sweet that he’s so protective.”

“Yeah, but he got a wife and son to protect.”

“He’s gonna have a daughter of his own soon. Maybe that will keep him off your back a little bit.”

“I’m having a niece?” I asked, stretching my eyes.

“So they tell me.” She smiled.

“Oh my God! I can’t wait to spoil my little baby girl.”

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