Page 34 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

“You scared me.”

The guilt hit instantly. I never wanted either one of my parents to worry. I didn’t go out to try and spite them. I had intentions of being back before anyone even noticed that I was gone it just didn’t work out like that.

“I know.”

“You turned your location off.”

“My phone died.”

“Maliah, I thought something happened to you.”

Her voice cracked slightly, and that was worse than yelling, way worse.

“I’m sorry,” I looked into her eyes and spoke.

And I meant it. Every single word. Before either of us could say anything else, another voice cut through the foyer.

“You just had to go play detective, huh?”

I looked over and found MJ leaning against the wall. His arms were folded across his chest, and his expression said he was annoyed. The relief in his eyes said something completely different, though. A small smile pulled at my mouth.

“I wasn’t playing detective.”

“Sure, you weren’t,” he nodded sarcastically.

“You just up and disappeared.”

I rolled my eyes. MJ rolled his right back and did his face expression to mimic mine.

“You know Mama been crying?”

Immediately my eyes shifted toward my mother, and she looked away. The guilt that I was feeling in the pit of my stomach got worse. Then another voice joined the conversation.

“I told them you were okay.”

I looked up, and Maylee was standing halfway down the staircase just watching everything. Apparently, she had found the perfect spot to be nosy without getting sent to her room. The second our eyes met, she pointed at me.

“You had everybody stressed out.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The response sounded entirely too much like our mother. A laugh escaped because this girl was a mixture of everybody in the house.

For a brief moment, the tension eased. Then I felt it, that feeling that told me somebody was watching. Slowly, I looked toward the living room. And there my father was. Sitting quietly in his chair. The second our eyes met, every bit of relief I felt from making it home disappeared. Not because he looked angry. That would’ve been easier. He was calm as hell, and the entire room seemed to go quiet as he and I looked at one another. Then my father slowly stood. His eyes never left mine, not even once.

Finally, he nodded toward the hallway and then nodded his head toward the end of the hall. The gesture was simple, but I knew exactly what it meant.Let’s talk.His office was down that long hallway tucked off in the back. I already knew that this was it. This was the talk. And judging by the look on his face… This wasn’t going to be a short conversation.

BLEEK

The second my office door closed behind us, the silence settled in. I walked around my desk and took a seat while Maliah lowered herself into one of the chairs across from me. For amoment, neither one of us spoke. I wasn’t in a rush. I preferred it when it was silent. It made me think clearly before I spoke. And judging by the way she kept twisting her fingers together in her lap, neither was she. The room suddenly felt smaller than usual. Maybe because I already knew where this conversation was headed. Or maybe because I knew there wasn’t a version of it where either one of us walked away happy.

I’m sure that Tahari had told her everything. That meant that she now knew pieces of me that she never knew existed. I leaned back in my chair and looked at my daughter, and I mean really looked at her. This was the same little girl I’d spent my entire life trying to protect. The same little girl who used to run and jump into my arms every time I walked through the front door. The same little girl who thought I could fix anything. A slow breath left my lungs.

“I never wanted to be anything other than Superman in your eyes.”

The words came out before I could stop them. Immediately her brows pulled together.