Page 79 of The Prodigy

“That’s serious business, Malika.”

“I know.”

He nodded. “Lemme think about it.”

Forsomeoddreason,Jakari thought it might be a good idea for me to help his mother cook tonight’s dinner while he finished up with the numbers. I wasn’t interested in that at all, but I figured it was the least I could do after everything he’d done for me. I mean, everything after him kidnapping me and forcing me to marry him.

When I thought about that now, it seemed like a lifetime ago, and it almost seemed like a joke in my head. Like a funny story I’d tell our grandkids one day. But what the fuck did that say about my mental state? Was I one of those people who starts to love their kidnapper? Stockholm syndrome, I think.

I hoped not.

Because I was in deep now.

“You’ve never done this, have you?”

Gab was staring at me, watching me cut tomatoes into tiny cubes like she asked me to. I was failing miserably, but what difference did it make if they were shaped a certain way? They were still gonna taste the same.

“Not like this, no,” I answered. “Sorry, I’m not very good at chopping vegetables.”

“Yeah, I see.” She chuckled and went back to chopping onions. “Jaz, check those beans for me.”

“Gab, I have a question. Have you ever thought about hiring somebody to cook?”

She stopped chopping. “It crossed my mind before, but I never did. My husband liked my cooking. Besides, my mama taught me you never let another bitch come in your house and cook for your man. And Lester wouldn’t have wanted a strange man in our house like that.”

“Oh. Makes sense.”

“Beans are done, Mama.”

“Pour the water off and take the shells out.”

With a loud sigh, Jaz did as she was told. She was especially on point today in her Gucci dress, so I knew covering it with an apron and getting bean aroma in it had to be killing her.

“Hey, Mama.”

I turned at the sound of Jakari’s voice. He breezed in and planted a kiss on Gab’s cheek before popping Jaz on the back of the head. I shivered when his eyes locked on me and roamed my body.

“Malika, I need you for a second.”

Thatvoice. So deep and rough.

“Okay, let me finish these tomatoes real quick.”

“Nah, I need you now. It won’t take long.”

I glanced at Gab. “Okay.”

He nodded and walked out. I wiped tomato juice off my hands with a paper towel, then followed him out. He didn’t say a word, just led me to his room. Once inside, he closed the door behind me.

I looked at him expectantly. “Everything okay?”

He licked his lips. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong. I just need a nut, that’s all.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. It ain’t gon’ take long.”

My eyes traveled down from his face to his print, rock hard and straining against the fabric of his jeans.

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