He told her everything and didn’t leave anything out. Caleb opened up about his life from the fighting down to the change with Henry where he became his own boss.
“You’re the boss?” she asked. “You have the final decision?”
“No and yes. Henry has a scar down his face, and he doesn’t like to deal with the front of the business, so I take that role. We let others believe that I’m the one in charge while he’s simply my guard. It’s not the case. He’s my best friend, and I won’t let anything happen to him.”
His cell phone buzzed, and he looked down to see it was Henry.
Henry: Deal’s done and brunette is up to speed.
“So, you’re not the boss?”
“I help decide shit, Donna. I don’t pass that buck along to Henry. I’m in this with him.”
“Why can’t you stop and do other things, legal things?” she asked.
“I could. It doesn’t earn me enough money to do what needs to be done. If I wasn’t running this, someone else would. Those women, they came to me because another guy was roughing them up and forcing them to take drugs. I don’t force anyone to do shit they don’t want to do.” He pocketed his cell phone. “All of the women, they can leave when they want. I don’t force them into the lifestyle. This is their choice, not mine. I’m the muscle to take care of them. A lot of men try to rough them up, and I stop them.”
“I just can’t believe this is true.” She stared down at her cat.
“You can’t tell anyone. If you call the cops then you’re dead. There’s only so much I can do to help you.”
“I could die for knowing this about you?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I don’t want to die.”
He saw the tears start to fall. Going to his knees in front of her, he tilted her head back.
“You’re under my protection, and I won’t let anything happen to you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, surprised when she didn’t pull away. “I’m going to go to the pharmacy to get that kit. Stay here and don’t let anyone inside.”#p#分页标题#e#
“I won’t.”
He stared into her eyes to make sure she wasn’t lying. Convinced she’d do as he asked, he got up and took her keys. She wasn’t going to risk her life. Even the cops would give him the head’s-up if she turned up at the station.
Leaving her apartment he called Henry.
“Everything clear on your end?” he asked.
“Yeah, Lydia’s going to keep her thoughts to herself. It helped she had a shit load of bills. We paid them off and put some cash in her account. Darren is out of the question. I went to see him, and the fucker pulled a gun on me. I didn’t have a choice, and he was going to shoot Lydia. I’ve paid to clean away the body, and Lydia won’t say anything. She looked pretty pissed he was using her as a shield. It’s probably a good thing he’s gone. He’d been talking to too many people. Fucker didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, but he does now.”
“Lydia’s not going to cause us problems, is she?” He was done with problems for tonight.
“No, she won’t. I’ve told her plain and simple, keep her mouth shut or get a bullet in the head. She’s decided to stay silent.” Henry cleared his throat.
“What is it?” Caleb asked, rubbing his eyes.
“I’ve told her not to say anything to Donna. She’s to tell her that Darren broke up with her and left town. Your woman won’t know the truth of what went down or that we interfered to make him go away.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it, but I’m going to tell her the truth.”
“Are you sure about that?” Henry asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks for taking care of the problem.”
“Anytime.”
Hanging up the phone, Caleb climbed behind the wheel. Now he needed to find out what was going to happen in his life.
****
Donna sat on the toilet seat with the bathroom door closed. She heard Caleb pacing outside of her door. His movements continued to unnerve her. Closing him out of her mind she focused on the white stick in her hand. She was shaking so bad she could barely see the section that was about to determine her fate. Was she pregnant?
Would she be able to love her child?
The very question had her in knots.
“Baby, you can’t keep me out,” Caleb said.
“I’ve asked for these few moments. Please, let me have them.” She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, any hope she had dropped.
She was pregnant with Caleb’s child. Tears welled in her eyes, and she stood up, going to the door.