Don't be sorry just be careful baby, you know my heart is fragile

"Yo."

"East where you at man? You forgot about the interview?" Wayno's voice came out in frustration.

It's understandable though. It was his job to make sure I was where I needed to be.

I sucked my teeth and checked the time on my watch. I was already in the middle of getting dressed. "Nah I ain't forget nigga. I'ma be down there in ten."

"Nigga you can't get to Brooklyn in ten minutes."

"Fucc you mean, I'm already on the highway."

"East who you shittin'?!"

"Imma be there aight." I hung up before he could say anything else.

I emerged from the closer and on the other side of the bed, I watched Laya's entire body sprawl

over it.

She was a worse sleeper than Kairi. If her knee wasn't in my back, then her entire leg was thrown over my waist.

"Get up..." I whispered in her ear, just to aggravate her.

"Dave I'm sleeping..." She moaned.

"No you ain't." I nuzzled my nose under her ear.

She used that as an opportunity to pull the comforter over head and sprawl out even more.

"Yes I freakin' am! Now gooooo." Her voice muffled.

I smirked slyly. One of my favorite things to do was get on her nerves.

I stood at the foot of the bed and yanked the covers off her in one quick motion.

Lowkey, I wasn't expecting her to look this good under there at seven in the morning.

Her long ringlets were on display over the white pillow. She wore my faded Wu-Tang t-shirt with her left hand under it as she gripped her chest, like she always did when she slept.

And on her bottom half.

The smallest pair of boy shorts that somehow made her fine as hell.

She sucked her teeth loudly and sat up abrubtedly. Her brown eyes squinted from annoyance and the bright sunlight.

"Oohh my God! You gin' cause me fight you this morning'!?"

"You ain't gon do shit." I smirked before kissing her.

"I'ma see you at the party tonight baby."

She grumbled something that I couldn't quite understand before pulling the sheet over her and burying her head under the pillow.

I closed the door softly behind me, and after checking on Kairi and Lilo in their rooms, I made it out of the elevator and into my parking garage when James stopped me.

"Sir we just did a third sweep, and I've got eyes on the streets. There is no sign of Blake Woods."

I nodded at him to acknowledge what he said, then spoke lowly as if there were other people around. "I want someone in the penthouse, with her, watching her wherever she go. Don't let Laya or my kids out y'all aight."

Besides it being Halloween, Laya had other freaks out to get her and I wasn't about to let anything happen to her or my kids. Especially since the meeting with her pops was only a few days away.

James pulled put his phone from his pocket and quickly typed in a message.

"Consider it done."

I turned to get into my car.

"East." James called out to me. "You know she ain't gon' like that." He referred to Laya.

"It ain't about what she like or dislike. It's about her safety. That nigga fucking harassed her and she don't wanna do shit about it, so I'm gon' do something."

I closed the door and sped onto the street. Way more that ten minutes later, I was seated in one of the city's hottest radio stations for an interview.

Usually, I'd never do shit like this. These interviews were never about my career or my music, they were just a way for the media to explore my private life.

"Welcome to Hot 97. It's Toni D. your fav voice to hear in the morning and I'm joined by my guest cohost for the week Charlamagne. We got a hot ass interview for y'all today. Tell em' about it Charla."

"Right right, it's Halloween and we're here with New York City's Ghost... one of the greatest in the building right now. Dave East, reppin' for all East Coast rap. Thanks for joining us man."

"Thanks for having me. You know I gotta' show love to the station that supported my come up." I spoke into the mic. "Why I gotta be a ghost though?"

"Cause ain't no one seen you around nigga. Does that mean you got some heat for us in the studio?" Charlamagne asked.

"I got a lil' somethin' cookin. But I've been home with my girls for the most part."

I kept it short and simple, to avoid anymore intrusive ass questions.

"Let's talk about what a hell of a come up it has been. You're only five years into your career with over seven Grammy nominations, 3 wins, and I don't have the stats in front of me, but how many plaques you got now?" Toni asked.

"Too many to count." I joked which caused them to laugh.

"I mean you have achieved so much, so I wanna ask you...what is your greatest achievement to date?"

"We'll give you some time cause that's a lot to think about." Charlamagne's fake ass added.

"Ion really need no time. I'd say my greatest achievement this far has been my two girls you know? Kairi is five and Lilo is eighteen months...them girls are my world. I ain't shit without them. Everything I do is for them." I stated truthfully.

"Awwwwe. I lowkey get excited whenever you post them on Instagram. They're adorable." Toni gushed.

I was about to thank her when I was cut off by her co-host.

"Now your youngest daughter is the child you had with Allaya Daniels your ex...who was also your assistant right? Let's talk about that."

"Nah let's talk about yo' pussy ass life nigga." Was what wanted to say but I kept calm and went with this instead,

"Well there ain't really nothin' to talk about cause it ain't nobody's business. But I will correct what you by saying, that I am currently in a fully committed relationship with the mother of my last child. So, you can scratch that ex-girlfriend shit from your notes." I sized him up in that chair.

Toni laughed awkwardly before saying, "Ladies y'all hear that? Dave East said to get y'all assess out his DMs."

I grinned along with with her.

"Dave I know you prefer to keep your private life...private and the purpose of this interview is supposed to be to learn more about your next project and east coast rap. But your fans (including everyone here) wanna know more about your relationship. Allaya is a mystery woman to us."

"Well, she a mystery to me too. We've been together on and off for about three years now. She came into my life as my assistant...I pursued her and that's when we got together. Some shit I'm not gonna explain happened, and we broke up for a good while. But sometime later we got back together." I summarized the bare minimum of our relationship.

"Everyone talks about my achievements, but for a moment, on radio in front of thousands of listeners. I wanna shed some light on some of hers. She's a hotel tycoon in the making, with one of the most popular resorts in the Caribbean. She's a mom, not only to our daughter Lilo, but to Kairi as well and she's the love of my life." I shrugged. "That's all anybody really need to know."

"Wow that's beautiful. Congratulations on finding that man." Charlamagne reached over to dap me up.

"Real shit, that's amazing." Toni smiled. "Alright we're gonna play Dave's top song from his double platinum Grammy-award winning album and when we come back we'll have A-boogie, Fivio Foreign, and some more of yo' city's favorites in the studio, as we talk more about hip hop."

I lifted the headset from my head and went behind the studio to talk to Wayno about the party tonight.

For the time being, I may have been focused on that, but the only thing going through my mind was that I was ready to take the next step in my relationship with Laya.

But before I could, I needed to tell her something first.

/•/

Relationships get harder but we all got that one person we stuck too.

Allaya Daniels is fo' sure my person.

This shit been on my mind all day. The same shit that I should've told her after we first got together.

My eyes cut through the darkness and flashing lights to focus on her. My head bobbed to the music around us and my mouth spoke words that added to the conversation I was in.

But my eyes...and my mind only had her in them.

Allaya was mackin' it up with her girls and some industry exec, that was eating up every word she said.

I excused myself from the conversation I was having with Durk and some other rap niggas to make my way over to her.

"Lemme talk to you for a minute." I whispered smoothly in her ear.

Her hand gently brushed against her lips as she laughed at something Bri said. Then she looked up at me...a hint of the same smile I stay trippin' over in her eyes.

I extended my hand to her and she slipped her soft palm in mine.

"I'm borrowing yo' girl Bri."

"She's all yours!" Bri shooed her away. "I'm tired of her ass anyway."

Laya stuck up her middle finger up before grabbing my hand and following me through the party.

We stopped briefly to acknowledge some of the people that waved at us, then finally made our way to my private studio room, all the way in the back.

"Whewwww, these shoes hurt." Laya balanced on me to remove one of her shoes. "Baby I can-can't get this one off." She whined with a pout.

"Sit down and let me do it"

She followed my instructions by sitting in the olive leather chair near the sound board, while I struggled to untie her heel.

"How the fuck you put these things on?" I laughed.

"I honestly have no idea, but I knew they looked good af."

"You having fun?" I asked her.

She arrived later than me and we barely spoke due to other guests.

"I am...I always have fun at your parties. But I am..." She covered her mouth when she yawned. "Excuse me. I'm getting kinda tired. I've been avoiding Shad all night cause I don't wanna talk about his music."

"That nigga don't stop." I shook my head.

"No his persistent ass does not."

"What about you? You look tired too...and stressed." She reached over to tilt my chin up.

"How you know?"

"You've been sipping the same drink all night and you haven't been talking much."

I raised my brow, impressed by her observation.

"Oh I know you Mr. Brewster. Something's been on your mind. I'm just waiting for you to tell me." She shrugged then spun around in the chair like a kid.

"What if I'm ready to talk about it now?"

She stopped spinning and looked at me.

"Then have a seat so we can hash it out. Fuck the party, fuck the guests... let Wayno deal with them."

I shook my head. "Nah I can't sit down for this."

"It's that bad?"

"Yeah." I chuckled dryly then ran my tongue

over my bottom lip. "Let me ask you a question. Two years ago today, what were you doing?"

She raised her eyebrows then looked at her hands on her lap, like she was embarrassed. "I was sitting in my grandmother's backyard trying to call you...to tell you...that I was pregnant."

"And I was sitting exactly where you were. Drunk off my ass, angrier than a muthafucka', watching my phone ring with your name on the screen." I admitted. "I still regret not picking up that day."

"Dave...I regret not DMing you or calling from another number. We were both wrong...you know this. We can't change the past baby."

"Yeah...you right about that." I muttered audibly.

I should've drank the whole bottle of henny before deciding to do this.

Why am I doing this shit now?

Cause it's a party outside and I know she ain't gon kill me in front of company.

I scrubbed my hand over my face. "Fuck!" I shouted aloud.

My unexpected outburst caused Laya's head to jerk back in surprise.

"What's going on with you?" She started to get out of the chair.

"No don't get up."

"You're really starting to scare me. What's got you like this?"

"Promise me you ain't gon' leave." I stood in front of her. "Promise me that if I tell you...you'll stay. Cause I love you Laya and I mean that shit with everything in me. I never wanted to hurt you."

Somehow I ended up on my knees my arms around her waist as she sat down.

Damn, I'm acting like a bitch.

Layas eyes went wide and became glossy. Almost as if she knew she'd cry when she heard what was coming.

She threw her head back and looked up at the bright lights on the ceiling. Then she blew out a shakey breath before looking back down at me and nodding.

"I promise."

I spent a solid two minutes just staring at her. Listening to the party in the background. Then, I had to stand back up. She smelt too good, like brown liquor and caramel. It was clouding my thoughts.

"I slept with Zora."

I couldn't move.

Didn't blink.

Hell, am I even breathing?

I don't fucking know.

The bottom of my bare feet hit the laminated wooden floor, as I stood up abruptly.

My swift movement almost caused Dave to lose his footing and trip over the chair behind him.

With the bare remnants of my drink in hand,

I didn't even look at his face. I headed straight to the red door that hid the studio's exit.

My feet stopped right in front of it and I looked down at the knob before...

"You said you wasn't gon leave Laya." He half yelled at me.

I'm not leaving.

....I pushed the button on the door handle to lock it.

Then I turned around to face him.

"Repeat what you said for me." I rocked on the balls of my feet to simmer everything boiling inside.

"Laya let me explain first..."

"Repeat. It. David!"

"Nah cause you heard me. I'm not gonna say it again baby." His voice softened.

I took a menacing step forward.

"You like ya' fuckin' life right!? If you like ya' life Dave you ga' say it again!"

He seemed taken aback.

Dave sighed and scrubbed his large hand down his face again. "I slept with Zo..."

He never got a chance to finish, because I hurdled the crystal glass still half full with liquor at his head.

Dave was smart enough to dodge it, but not quick enough to avoid the shard that flew from the glass after it hit the wall and shattered.

He didn't even flinch when it cut him above the brow.

"Was that necessary?" My subconscious questioned.

It wasn't, but it made me feel a little better.

The man I loved just told me that he slept with my sister.

It was either I sink to my knees and cry, or I cuss and scream.

And I'd be damned if a nigga ever caught me kneeling outside of a bedroom.

Dave's eyes grew dark, but there was a silver lining around them. He was mad as hell but he knew that he couldn't show it.

He had no right to.

Meanwhile, I was about to experience five different emotions in the span of five seconds.

"Allaya...let me explain."

In therapy, I was working on giving people the benefit of the doubt and the time to explain their actions. Now I'd have put what I learned into practice.

"You have sixty seconds Dave."

I watched him swipe the small droplet of blood from his forehead with his finger before he tried to approach me.

"Stay right there." I held up my hand to stop him. "You're down to fifty seven seconds."

"I slept with her ass almost two years before, I even met you."

I wish I had another glass to throw at him.

Why didn't he start off with that?

"Our labels were tryna push us together as some kind of publicity stunt. I was a hood nigga turned rapper, quickly gaining attention and she was some kind of boujie R&B singer from the U.K. It was good PR."

I listened intently and watched every muscle in his jaw move as he spoke.

Searching for a lie.

Because I knew that if he did, it would completely obliterate the trust we were building in our relationship.

And I don't know if I could start from scratch again.

"What else?" I prompted him to go on.

"We took a few pictures together, attended a few of the same events...only for the cameras." He swiped more blood from his forehead before it reached his eye.

"Damn." He winced when he accidentally touched the open wound. "We kicked it casually a few times. One of them times...lead to us messing around in a hotel room while I was on tour. It was nothing more than sex Laya and she knew that shit too."

His eyes seemed sincere. His words seem true.

"Y'all only fucked once?"

His head hung, then he looked back at me. "About twice more whenever she came into town. It was only se-"

"Where?" I cut him off.

"What you mean where?"

"WHERE DID YOU HAVE SEX WITH HER DAVE?"

"Baby why does it matter?"

"Because I need to know if she's been in the bed that I sleep on."

He stared at me for a minute, his nose flaring with ever breath he took.

"Only in her hotel room." He gritted.

"You said it was casual correct? Explain that to me. Cause if y'all was hugging and kissing and going on dates and shit...that ain't casual."

"Allaya...nothing ever happened but sex. I never kissed her, never took ha ass on a date. I never wanted more." He stalked closer to me with each sentence, until the tip of my nose was only a few inches away from his chest. "She knew what it was too."

"But?" I asked.

Judging from Zora's hoe ass track record of taking shit that don't belong to her, I refused to believe that she thought it was casual.

"After you left that night and I was in here mad and drunk..."

My heart stopped beating so that I could listen carefully.

"She tried coming on to me and then tried again in my dressing room...the night of my last show."

"Did you let her?" I whispered