Page 134 of Justice II

“Are you okay? Did Julian hurt you?”

“No, but he has my phone. I’m sorry I couldn’t call you. I didn’t remember that number,” he said, looking disappointed.

I looked at Aria over his shoulder.

“And you let him?” I barked at her.

“Girl, if you don’t get out of my house!” she yelled at me.

Keenan pulled back, but I kept his hand in mine.

“You’re coming with me.”

His eyes widened. “Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“He’s not going anywhere,” Aria snapped.

Justice stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

I turned toward my sister, who stood with her arms folded over her stomach. She had the nerve to look offended after everything she had allowed to happen under that roof.

“You don’t get to keep my child.”

“Roman left him with me. I adopted him. He ain’t goin’ nowhere!”

“Roman left bruises on him. What the fuck have you been doing besides watching?” I snapped.

“Don’t act like you know what it takes to raise him. You haven’t been here.”

My hand left Keenan’s before I even thought about what I was doing. I punched her in the face, and she stumbled backward, catching the edge of the couch before sinking to the floor.

“Ma!” Keenan shouted.

Blood ran from Aria’s nose onto her hand. She stared at it, then looked up at me as I stepped toward her.

“You helped him take everything from me!” I yelled. “My husband, my freedom, my fucking children. Then you wanna stand here and tell me I haven’t been around?”

Justice caught me around the waist before I could reach her again.

“Melody, stop.”

“Get off me!”

“You pregnant. You ain’t doing this,” he said against my ear.

“I don’t give a fuck!” All of my rage spilled over. Everything that had happened came out in that punch. I didn’t care if she was pregnant. She never cared about my children or my well-being either.

“Well, I do.”

He pulled me back against him while Aria started crying. I wanted him to let me go. I had spent years thinking about what I would say to her, and now that she was right there, I wanted to beat her ass until she understood what she had done.

“You think you can just hit me?” she cried, holding her hand beneath her nose.

“You stood there while they hurt my baby.”

“Roman was trying to raise him!”