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I was pretty sure I knew all of Max’s dirt from back in the day. I watched him go from a bright-eyed novice, looking over the shoulders of real G’s, trying to soak up the same shit that made them hood royalty, to being a street god himself. I’d locked away some of his deepest secrets for several years and counting, so I couldn’t imagine what this man was into that was crucial enough to warrant a NDA. Still, the fact that he served up an NDA instead of a prenup had me wondering just what I was getting into by agreeing to become Mrs. Maxwell Calloway...
“Damn, his ass just put a fuckin’ ring on your lil’ bougie ass finger. Why y’all in such a hurry?” Zee scoffed, tearing my attention away from the same clouded thoughts that now had my head hurting.
I planned on taking a break from her for a while after our last little tiff. As much as she worked my nerves, I knew what it was with her and kept my expectations in check. Zee was attached to the old me, to Raveniesha, and she’d probably never really be able to rock with Raven. I think, in some ways, she felt left behind, which is why she could never be over-the-moon happy for anything attached to me.
“That’s all him. I haven’t had to do a damn thing yet. Shit still doesn’t feel real.” I squinted, straining to read the notification that had just popped up.
“Hmm, I bet. Well, we know it ain’t cuz yo’ ass pregnant because you don’t have them type of problems.” Zee went back to blending whatever liquor concoction she had in the blender. Perfect timing, because I was two seconds from laying her shit foul.
“But for real, though. It’s ‘bout time y’all got that shit right. He chased you, you tried to lock him down, he curved you, you ran, he knocked a pretty bitch up, reclaimed yo’ bougie ass, now he ‘bout to wife you. The perfect pretty lil’ ghetto ass fairytale.” Zee smirked, tasting her special mix before filling her glass and offering me a serving she already knew I’d turn down.
“Girl, I’m good. I need to head out anyway. I need to call you later this week, though, so we’ll get up later.”
“Oh nah, you can go on and ask me now. Get that shit out the way because I need time to plan...”
“Huh?” I frowned, clueless about where this was headed. Zee had ADD and smoked weed like a choo choo train, so her mind was always all over the place.
“Listen, you know we go way back, so I don’t need no formal invitation or no shit. Of course, I’ll be your maid of honor, girl! All I know is this shit is finna be turnt!” Her plumply ample ass checks playing patty cake, Zee did a happy dance while draining her glass—yes, that quick. Deep throat ass!
“Umm, honestly girl, I haven’t even thought that far ahead.” I tried to laugh off her presumption, hoping to rush past the awkwardness of the moment. There was absolutely no way in hell Zee was about to show her natural black ass and embarrass me at my wedding.
“Shit, what you gotta think about? Ain’t nobody else qualified to do the shit...don’t nobody give a damn about them fake ass, proper ass, ‘only fuck in one position’ ass bitches you call your friends out in The Heights.
I was already warm because her cheap ass refused to let her AC run after the sun went down, but the heat from her gaze brought a few more beads of sweat to my brow.
MAX: Garage in 30
Right on time, that text gave me just the escape I needed because I wasn’t ready to tackle this delicate issue with Zee.
Promising to call her in a few days, I scrambled gathering my purse, phone, and charger to get the hell on. There was no way I’d get to the parking garage in thirty minutes, so I was hoping Max would be a few minutes late. He’d been on edge all day and I didn’t want my tardiness to add to his sour mood.
Seeing Max ease past my rear bumper in the rearview mirror, I killed the engine and made sure I had everything. Ever the gentleman, Max was at my door, hand extended to help me out of my car and into the plush luxury of his truck.
“Wha—”
Hands cradling my face, the hunger of his heated kiss taking the lead, my words were halted by the famished pursuit of his tongue. This man devoured me with such urgency that my pussy was drooling ten seconds in. He stole each breath the minute it left my lungs, returning them with sensual thrusts of his tongue that were so erotic...tongue-fucking my mouth is what he was doing, and damn if my clit wasn’t ready to join in.
“Mmmm, what was all that for?” My breath came back in a choppy pant as I tried to recover from the voodoo his mouth had just seduced me with. Shit!
“For being you...keep biting your lip like that and I’ma punish that pussy. Slide your fine ass up in there.” His eyes said it all: we had business to tend to, but punishment is exactly what he had in mind for my pussy later...and I was all for it!
Once he was satisfied that I was safely settled in the massive passenger seat of his truck, we were on the highway in a matter of minutes, destination still unknown because we rarely came out this way. I wasn’t really in the mood for another ultra-dramatic Max Calloway surprise, so I started the internal pep talk I’d need to keep my composure if Max was about to drop more foolishness in my lap. I’d asked to see, with my own eyes, why he felt a NDA was needed and after finally signing the document, he promised to show me exactly why.
His phone kept jumping in the console tray, vibrating what seemed like every other minute for the past ten minutes. He let each call roll to voicemail, the tautness of his jaw exposing his growing irritation with each new call. Bluetooth disconnected, he finally answered on what seemed like the tenth ring. Doing more listening than speaking, he quickly ended the call and busted a sharp U-turn, detouring from our original destination.
“Everything okay?” I tried not to overstep, but was still curious what the hell was going on.
“We’ll see,” was all he said as he sped up the road.
Nearly an hour later, we pulled up to a high rise in Indigo Cove, a quiet town that you had to know about to pass through.
“Keep it up front,” Max ordered the valet while helping me step down onto the pavement a few feet from the building’s entrance.
I was quiet the entire walk to the elevator, quiet the entire ride up, even quiet as he produced an oddly shaped fob from his breast pocket, which he passed across a transponder until it offered a green light of acknowledgement.
Extending his arm to invite me into his space, he sealed the embrace with his left arm, holding me close as though he thought I might make a run for it.
I frowned when the audio system announced an arrival on the thirty-second floor because the panel only offered buttons for twenty-eight floors. Max caught my eyes in an almost pleading gaze just before the doors eased open and delivered us into the foyer of what I now knew was a luxury condo.
“I-I’m sorry to bother you, sir. Her fever...I-I didn’t know what else to do...” a fresh-faced young lady stuttered, meeting us in the foyer as though she was anticipating our arrival. Her energy felt almost naïve, but the colorfully elaborate tattoo peeking from the edge of her sleeve told another story.
Clearly familiar with this place, Max set off down a hall to our right, capturing my hand so I’d stay close behind him. Stopping at the last door on the left, I saw something wash over him that was usually foreign to this man who was a pillar of strength, courage, and power: apprehension. He took a deep breath before easing the door open and pulling me over the threshold with him.
Once again, Max had my jaw on the fucking floor because I was now face to face, up close and personal with the same cinnamon-skinned little girl I’d watched skate and frolic about the playground.
“Daddy...you came,” her little voice strained, a weak smile teasing the corners of her pouty little lips.
“You know it, princess. How are you feeling?” Tender. Gentle. With just a few words, his daughter had reduced him to mush.
“Like dog food. Yuck. Everything hurts, Daddy. But enough about me. She’s pretty. Is she the one, Daddy?”
I needed a forklift to pick my jaw up at that point because this whole situation had me speechless.
“Malaysia, I’d like you to meet my beautiful fiancée, Ms. Raven. Raven, meet my pride and joy, Ms. Malaysia Calloway.”
The brightest copper orbs gave me a full head-to-toe inspection before she spoke. Whole time, I’m standing there looking stuck on stupid, simply enthralled by this gorgeous little doll. I committed every detail of her features to memory, my brain scanning a shitload of familiar faces to see if this girl bore a resemblance to anyone I might know. Max swore she wasn’t a factor, but part of me felt like I needed to see her myself, needed to feel her energy to be certain his words held truth.
“You’re preeeetty, Ms. Raven. You can call me Mali.” She greeted me with a huge smile that lit up the room. I couldn’t help but to return it because this little girl just oozed sweetness.
“You, Ms. Mali, are the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen. It’s nice to meet you.”
“And about time, right? Daddy, I need you to do better. You took so long that Ms. Raven missed my recital and my solo. It be you own people, Ms. Raven.” She laughed at her own sass so hard, it sent her into a coughing fit. The young lady that greeted us came running in, so I stepped back to let her and Max tend to the diminutive beauty.
The mere thought of Max having created a life with another woman still bothered me, but all the animosity I felt about the situation dissipated as I stood there in Malaysia’s presence. She was absolutely adorable and so charming; clearly her father’s child.
“Please don’t go, Ms. Raven...” her little voice squawked just as I turned to make my exit. I felt like a voyeur, an outsider eavesdropping, so I wanted to give them some privacy.
“Please...” she pleaded, and Max’s eyes rose to meet mine.
“We need you...” he spoke barely above a whisper.