Page 4 of Mia

Yes, the Monroe brothers were Titan’s cousins. Their mother was Titan’s mother’s sister.

“All you gotta do is say the word and we can wrap this shit up.”

“I know.”

Lord knows I was tired of going on dates with this man. He was a creep, and he made my skin crawl. I hated having to play a fake ass bitch and pretend that I was interested in him when all I wanted to do was put a bullet in his head.

The ride to the restaurant took about thirty minutes. Nightlife in Paris looks like something straight out of a movie. It was so beautiful and lively. I hated that I couldn’t enjoy it the way I wanted to. If I wasn’t with JacQues, I was working on the case. If I wasn’t working on the case, I was trying to catch up on sleep because this baby did not let me be great.

He or she had me running to the bathroom multiple times a night. My back hurt. I still had slight morning sickness, and I couldn’t eat to save my life most of the time. It took everything in me to hold down the meals I shared with my mother or the team at times. I was ready for the next five months to fly by so my body could be my own again.

Even with that being said, I’d finally begun bonding with life inside me. At first, I was in denial. I figured if I pretended it wasn’t there, it wasn’t real. The shit was very much real and I was very much pregnant. As much as I didn’t want to be, I knew I could never get rid of our child. Titan would never forgive me and if I was honest, I wouldn’t forgive myself either. This baby didn’t ask to be here and it didn’t deserve to be punished because we were stupid. I didn’t have a choice but to coparent with this man.

That’ why I had to get this mission over with so I could go back home and let this baby finish baking in peace. Would there be a falling out once I revealed my pregnancy? Hell yeah. By that time, the worst part would be over and we could move the hell on.

We pulled up to the restaurant, and I saw JacQues standing outside, talking on the phone. His eyes perused the black SUV as we came to a stop. When Elum got out to open the door and he saw it was me, he smiled.

“Mon amour,” he said, as he opened his arms to me.

Emmon held out his arm to block him from coming closer.

“I keep telling you to slow your roll, homeboy. Ask the lady if you can touch her. Consent, muthafucka.”

“E, it’s okay,” I said, lowering his arm.

JacQues looked between the two of us. “I think you should hire new security. This one is very unprofessional.”

I waved him off. “He’s just passionate about his job and takes protecting me very seriously.”

Emmon smirked. “Yeah. You never know when a nigga will get too handsy and I’ll have to chop them muthafuckas off.”

JacQues gave him a side eye before turning back to me. “May I hug you, beautiful?”

“That’s better, nigga,” Emmon said, slapping his arm so hard that the stumbled a bit.

I tried not to laugh as I answered. “You may.”

I put on my fakest smile and went into his arms. He squeezed me tight and kissed me on the cheek. Behind us, my mother and DaVinchi got out of their car. She smiled, and he winked at me as they headed inside.

“You look beautiful tonight,” JacQues complimented, as he released me.

“Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself.”

“Thank you. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starving.”

“Well, let’s not keep you waiting.”

He linked our fingers and led us into the building. The hostess seemed to recognize him right away. She smiled and grabbed two menus.

“Right this way, Monsieur DuPont.”

She led us to a private table in the back. Emmon walked past us and claimed a seat where he could survey the entire restaurant. JacQues pulled out my chair and waited for me to sit before pushing me in. As he was taking his seat, the server came over to get our drink orders. While he ordered wine, I ordered a sparkling lemonade.

“Still not drinking?” he asked once we were alone.

“Nope.”