Rapture 2

Life is good.

I give all the credit to Alika Collins. Before Alika burst onto the scenes of my life, I was all about maintaining my empire. Business came first in every way. Protecting and maintaining my investments was what I prioritized. All work and my fair share of hard play-with the ladies. It was not uncommon for me to do frequent drive-by visits with a beautiful woman when I felt the urge to have my needs met. Sex was sport, and the women were on the sidelines providing whatever was needed to quench my thirst. I had long ago sworn off settling down into a monogamous relationship. Because why commit to being with just one, when I could do me and move easy without complicated scenarios. But this woman... this beautiful woman... came along and changed my entire outlook on life and love. She flipped the question of why commit, to why not commit? She is the substance that the dream woman is made of. Beautiful, smart, multi-talented, and she knows how to make her man feel like a man. Instinctively, I wanted to protect Alika. But it ended up being her, looking out for me. The Bonnie to my Clyde. I want to do life with her; to give her everything life has to offer.

But nothing is going to be perfect for long...

I have just been hit with a devastating, unforgivable blow-delivered by my own family. My sister, Jamie... I would kill for her. My father... even with our strained relationship, the reaction would be the same. For me, it's always been family first. But the news that I just got, told me loud and clear that the same rules don't apply with them. They broke trust, and have damn near broke the love; so cutting them off was the only option.

Because of who Alika has become to me, I shared the news with her. I'm hoping that she won't want to run for the hills; but if she decided to do that, I couldn't blame her. It's a huge shift to the life that we have begun to build. But I have to see this through. I would have never walked away from a life that I helped to create. I plan to do whatever needs to be done to ensure that I stand at least a chance to get to know my daughter.

But before I can even get the chance to right a wrong, someone has made sure that the world knows about her first. Somehow, the media has leaked information that they obtained from an anonymous source, and now my name is being dragged through the mud. A narrative is being spun, that is not true-that I'm a deadbeat father who tried to keep his Black baby, a dirty secret.

That's not all. My father has gotten on the wrong side of yet another person, and they want him dead. It seems that I'm not the only person that has a deep disdain for the man. But right now, him being a target is not my problem. Just like everything else, Lance Michael Cambridge will figure it out. In the meantime, I need to do what I can, to undo the damage that he helped to create.