Page 48 of Daddy’s Favorite Girl

“Yes.” She gave me a soft smile. I knew she would say yes. She loved being up under me, and the sentiment was returned. We’d been joined at the damn hip over the past few weeks.

“And I want you here wit’ me, so you should be here.”

She looked down at her feet. “Okay.”

“Aight then.” I kissed her forehead, and we continued walking. Once we were at the courthouse doors, they were about to close. “Aye, hold up,” I told the little old lady who had started to close the doors.

She peered up at me and looked like she wanted to continue closing the doors. I flinched at her, and she jumped. The lady scurried away, and I snatched the door open and slipped inside behind Yara, who had hit me in my chest on the way in.

“What?” I mouthed as we sat in the last row of seats.

She simply cut her eyes at me. I didn’t pay her any mind as I slipped my arm around her shoulders.

The arraignment was boring. I kept yawning and nodding off. Yara kept jolting me awake and telling me to, “Grow up.” Whatever that meant. Shit. I was bored. Maybe I should have stayed my ass at home and let my lawyers sit in this boring-ass shit and keep me updated. Lesson learned for future court dates.

When Aniya stood up to plead not guilty, she looked behind her, probably looking for her family, and spotted me. Her eyes widened, and that was when all hell broke loose.

“You bitch-ass nigga! You did this!” she shouted, pointing right at me.

She wasn’t about to out-crazy me. She definitely looked the part with her wild, curly hair, which looked dry and matted. Her eyes had bags under them, and orange definitely didn’t look as good on her as she probably thought before she got arrested, but we knew that I was the crazy one here.

I hopped up and pointed at her, shouting louder so her wails were drowned out. “How could you do this, Niya? How could you? You ruined me! You ruined everything! They took the house! Did you know that? What did I ever do to deserve this?”

I flung my hands all around before my hand landed on the elderly woman sitting in front of me. I gripped her wig and snatched it right off her head so I could use it as a tissue to wipe my fake ass tears.

“Gino Grant,” Yara hissed. I peeked at her from behind the scratchy wig, and baby did not look happy. “Out. Now.”

I chanced one last look at Aniya, who was now being escorted out of the room in shackles while flailing around and trying to look at me. Better her ass than me.

Yara gripped my arm and led me out of the courtroom and then out of the building. I still went on ranting and raving about what Aniya ‘did to me,’ but as soon as we were alone, I cut all the theatrics out and went back to thuggin’ shit out. All that fake hollering and shouting had worn me completely out. Being fake was hard as hell. I was ready for a nap.

I glanced at Yara once we were in the car. She stared at me with her mouth hanging open.

“What?” I asked with my face frowned up in confusion.

“What the hell was all that about, Gino?”

I shrugged. “I had to sell it. I had to make everyone believe that I was blindsided by the charges she’s facing.”

Yara stared at me for a few more seconds before she shook her head. “Something’s wrong with you.”

“You ain’t caught on to that yet, fave?” I cheesed at her as I started the car.

She scoffed, but I saw a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

“Whatever. Remind me not to go out in public with you again.”

I lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I got somethin’ to show you.”

This was what I really wanted to do today. Going to see about Aniya and make sure her ass was right where she deserved to be was low on the list.

“Yeah?” she asked as she tapped on her phone, probably responding to a text from Paris. Those two had been yapping nonstop about the new company and working hard to implement the necessary changes to make it Paris’s.

“Yup.” I held her thigh the entire drive while she tended to her phone.

When we pulled up to the house I’d purchased, she looked around.

“Where are we?”