Page 552 of K.I.N.: Karma Is Near

I didn’t regret my babies.

Never.

But I regretted damn near everything it took to get them here.

Nothing was going to be fixed for a long time.

I knew that.

One little sitting didn’t erase a year and a half of betrayal.

And being sisters didn’t guarantee Sam would ever trust me the way she once had.

Maybe she wouldn’t.

I had finally learned that loving somebody didn’t mean they owed you access to them after you hurt them.

But she had left the door cracked.

Not even really for me.

For the children first.

Maybe somewhere underneath all that hurt, a little bit for us too.

For now, I’d take it.

My hand slid across my stomach when my son kicked.

I looked down.

A boy.

Another piece of Xavier Lawless left behind.

And this time, I wasn’t waiting on a man to tell me what happened next.

I had already fucked up enough of my life doing that.

Whatever came next⁠—

I’d figure that shit out myself.

HEATHER

Four months later and I was finally back where the fuck I belonged.

“Make some noise for Heather!”

I bent forward, grabbed the pole between my thighs and slid down slow while a nigga at the edge of the stage threw another stack of ones.

Yeah.

I missed this shit.

The money.

The attention.