Choosing Us: The Pierced Hearts Duet: Book One Read online

  He bowed his head. “No, ma’am.”

  “Oh, now I’m ‘ma’am’?”

  “I don’t like it when my girl’s mad at me.”

  “Curtis, I’m not your girl.”

  “Right.” Thinking about it for a second, he looked up at me with a toothy grin. Adamantly responding, “You’re my woman.”

  Trying to hide back a laugh, I choked on my coffee instead.

  This kid…

  “I’ll tell you what … you go to school all week without complaining about it, and I’ll take you out for your favorite ice cream this weekend.”

  If there was one thing I learned about kids throughout the years, it was if all else failed…

  Bribe them.

  “Throw in a cream soda and a cookie, and you got yourself a deal,” he negotiated, stopping in front of his school bus.

  “Alright, Little Man, you drive a hard bargain, but you got yourself a deal.” I extended out my fist. “Knuckles.”

  “Knuckles,” he repeated, bumping his fist into mine.

  “Be good in school, okay? And really try on your math test, don’t just fill in the questions with random answers.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He smiled, stepping onto the bus.

  I waited until his bus driver drove away before walking a couple streets over to my stop. I needed to make sure he didn’t play hooky once he couldn’t see me anymore.

  “Hey, Camila,” Deborah, the driver announced as I stepped on. “Start that new job today?”

  “I do.”

  “You’ll do amazing, you’re great with kids. They’re lucky to have you.”

  “Thanks for the reassurance.”

  “How’s the daddy look?”

  “Deborah,” I chuckled, shaking my head.

  “What, girl? You can look, just don’t touch. And if you touch, don’t get caught.”

  “Oh my God! You’re horrible. He’s my boss.”

  “That’s how you get a raise.”

  I laughed, shaking my head again. Parking it right in my usual seat up front, closest to the door. I’d taken the bus enough times to avoid getting stuck in the back, where people took their sweet ass time getting off.

  Swinging my bag on my lap, I pulled out my headphones and listened to my bus playlist for the entire two-hour ride to the Pierce residence. Thanking God the bus stop was only a ten-minute walk to their home.

  My feet were killing me from last night, but I had zero regrets about working late. On top of the two-hundred we agreed to, Danté tipped me out another three hundred bucks. I made five hundred dollars in the matter of a few hours.

  Nothing paid like bartending did, and I was slowly realizing I might be okay after all. It wouldn’t be the first time I held two jobs down, sometimes I even held down three. I still helped my parents with some of their bills, even though I didn’t live there anymore. And there was always a sibling asking me for money, which I never said no to.

  I was a sucker, and they knew it.

  “See ya later, Deborah.” I waved goodbye and jumped off the bus, taking a deep breath as she drove away.

  I wasn’t due at the Pierces until nine, but I always made it a point to arrive early anywhere I went. Skyler was meeting me at their home this morning and it made me a little less nervous about what I would be walking into.

  A little.

  The nerves were still very much alive and present as I knocked on their door.

  “Come in!” Skyler shouted from inside.

  I inhaled yet another deep breath, blowing it out slowly. Trying the best I could to gather my composure as I turned the knob and opened the door.

  “You got here just in time,” Skyler stressed, looking as exhausted as I felt with a fidgety Journey in her arms.

  Reassuring me of one thing and one thing only, this wasn’t going to be easy. The boys must have put her through the ringer for hiring me in the first place. That also meant….

  War.

  With me.

  To both of our surprise, Little Miss reached for me. And I’m not talking about a reflex move, where she just wanted out of the arms of the woman who was obviously frazzled, but truly went for me. Recognizing me immediately.

  Arms.

  Body.

  Legs.

  She pretty much catapulted herself into my arms, where I had no choice or say but to hold her. Like a stage five clinger.

  “Wow!” Skyler marveled with the same stunned expression as me. “She’s never done that before, with anyone. Even me. And I’m around her all the time.”

  I shrugged it off, not wanting to make a big deal out of it and hurt Skyler’s feelings. It was evident she loved Journey and was caught off guard by her choosing me over her.

  “Babies don’t know what they want,” I reasoned while Journey made herself at home in my arms.

  As if she understood Skyler and wanted to prove her right, she laid her head on my shoulder, smiled, and then stuck her thumb in her mouth. Glaring at her like she was the enemy who had been keeping her away from me these last few days.

  I nervously chuckled, this wasn’t starting off how I’d hoped.

  Please don’t fire me because the baby wants me more than you…

  People were funny like that, thinking they wanted a nanny until they realized they could be replaced. I didn’t know Skyler well enough to know how she’d react.

  However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t shocked when she smiled lovingly at us and breathed out a huge sigh of relief.

  Vulnerably sharing, “You know, I’ve been struggling so much this week … the boys are beyond pissed at me for hiring you.”

  “That’s normal, I’m a new person. No one likes change, especially teenage boys.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve never seen Journey this blissfully content before. It’s like you’re her new favorite human.”

  “It may—”

  “No,” she chimed in, shaking her head. “Don’t do that. Don’t devalue what you’re doing in this house, Camila. I love that she’s already fond of you. You’re going to need a teammate.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Yeah… Jagger is just, well … he follows Jackson’s lead because he’s the oldest, so whatever he says, goes. And Jackson … he’s just … a little shit right now.”

  I smiled, dripping of sarcasm. “I can’t wait.”

  She laughed, rubbing Journey’s back. “I’m happy she’s happy.”

  I nodded, looking down at piercing blues that reminded me of her daddy. “Girls against boys, yeah?”

  She giggled, and I swear she gave me a slight wink.

  For the next few hours, Skyler showed me around the house again, except this time she really went in depth about what I was responsible for.

  Cleaning.

  Keeping up with laundry.

  Cooking.

  Housekeeper duties with nanny obligations is what she told me.

  Everything and anything when it came to the kids and absolutely nothing pertaining to Dr. Pierce or his wife. It was as if they didn’t exist, and I was beginning to wonder if they even did.

  If it wasn’t for their bedroom I wasn’t allowed in, I’d think Skyler made them up. But I guess someone was floating the bills for this huge house and my salary which wasn’t cheap by any means.

  I spent most of the morning resisting the urge to ask a bazillion questions about where they were. Instead, I refocused my attention on the kids and making their house a home.

  Besides, I was sure my questions would be answered soon enough. At least I hoped they would.

  Little Miss and I went right to work on cleaning the pigsty of a home she’d been living in. We started off in the bedrooms and slowly but surely moved our way around the house.

  In between feedings and naps, Journey was with me. Hanging off this brand new, never opened kangaroo pouch thing I found in her closet. She loved every second of the fast-paced day we were leading to get the house cleaned.

  My goal was to have it spic
and span so I could focus on the laundry tomorrow, and still have time to fix dinner for the boys, before I left for the night.

  Prioritizing was a must.

  Sometime in the afternoon, Skyler ran out to do some errands, letting me know she’d be back before the boys were home from school. We waved her off and continued on our mission.

  “Alright, Miss Thang,” I said to Journey, pulling her out of the pouch on my chest. “How about we kick up the mood around here?”

  She excitingly kicked her legs. “Gah!”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  I set her in her glider in the living room, grabbed my phone out of the back pocket of my jeans, and plugged it into the radio.

  After figuring out how to work the thing, I hit play on my cleaning playlist, and house music by Eddie Thoneick blared off the speakers in the open room between us.

  Journey instantly started giggling and babbling, and once again, I swear she started shaking her booty like me. The girl was after my very own heart.

  “Oh, I see you, gurl! You like to dance, huh?” I grabbed her chubby little arms, clapping her hands together to the beat of the tune. “Like this.” Rocking my hips, left to right, I twirled around in a body roll for her.

  She beamed.

  “That’s the washing machine move. Stick with me, Little Miss, and your milkshake will bring all the boys to the yard.”

  She fell into a fit of giggles, throwing her head back.

  This baby was a genius.

  “This is another one, I call it the booty pop. Ready?”

  “Gah!”

  It was all the affirmation I needed to continue my swaying for her. The song played on as did my dancing-slash-cleaning steps. At one point, I even grabbed the Windex and sprayed it on the windows while shaking my tatas and showing her my wax on, wax off moves.

  Journey giggling and having the time of her life was reason enough to keep me dancing for her. For the life of me, I didn’t want it to stop.

  “Alright, now this, baby girl, this is what brings all the boys to my yard. You ready?”

  “Gah!”

  The beat dropped fast. Except this time, I shook my money makers in sync with my hips. Almost like I was doing the limbo, getting lower and lower to the floor beneath me.

  “Now this is my closing move, Journey. This seals the deal, ya feel me?”

  “Bah!”

  “You ain’t ready! You ready?”

  “Bah! Gah! Bah!”

  Right then and there, I was about to show her my Shakira moves but when I looked up, I came face to face with the boys.

  Jackson…

  And

  Jagger.

  “Oh crap,” I whispered to myself, hauling ass to the radio. I instantly shut it off, quickly realizing Skyler had just walked in too. Her eyes trying to figure out what was going on.

  I opened my mouth to explain, but Jackson beat me to it and brought our attention over to him.

  With his phone aimed directly at me, he stated, “Thanks, Skyler, for hiring us our own private stripper.”

  My mouth dropped open, was he recording me?

  “Jackson, that’s not what I was doing. I was dancing for Journey and making her laugh.”

  He cunningly grinned and abruptly turned and left, Jagger followed close behind him. His head hanging low, but it was the soft chuckle and smile on Jagger’s face that had me smiling and chuckling too.

  For some reason, I just knew it was the first time he’d laughed or smiled in who knows how long. As embarrassed as I was, it didn’t take away from the fact…

  That I at least got two Pierces to laugh and smile on my first day.

  Even if it was at my expense.

  Chapter 8

  <>Camila<>

  Now

  __________

  By the time I walked through the hallway of my apartment complex later that day, it was well after nine at night.

  “Oh, hell no,” I murmured, noticing the door to my place was unlocked when I went to turn the key and that only meant one thing.

  As soon as I opened the door and stepped inside, I stopped dead in my tracks. My head jerked back, my eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Taking in the large stacks of money laid out before me on my coffee table.

  “Sean,” I hissed, shifting my eyes to his large frame sitting on my couch nonchalantly, like it was no big deal there were thousands of dollars laid out in front of us.

  “It ain’t what ya think, baby.”

  “Is that right? Care to enlighten me then? ‘Cuz I know your ass didn’t break into my apartment to hide your blood money here.”

  “I ain’t hidin’ shit. It’s for you.”

  “It’s for me? What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means, it’s yours. It’s for your nursin’ loans. You ain’t gotta work at another man’s house, I’ll take care of you. Alright?”

  “Oh, fuck no,” I seethed, slamming the door behind me. I was over to him in two long strides, stepping right up in his face. “Who the hell do you think you are, Sean?”

  He stood up, stepping into mine. His giant build towered over my five-feet-four frame, but I didn’t back down. If anything, I stood taller. Cocking my head in his face.

  “I’m your man, that’s who.”

  “You haven’t been my man in a really long time, so quit with the bullshit. Get out of my apartment and take your drug money with you.”

  He grinned, licking his lips. “You know what your feisty Latina temper does to me, Camila. So how ’bout I just slip you the D to shut ya the fuck up.”

  I pushed him, hard. He barely wavered, pissing me off even more. “I don’t want to catch anything, Sean. Why don’t you hit up your groupies? Plenty of them live in this building. I mean, I’m just basing it off the times you stumbled from my bed into theirs.”

  “Baby, how many times do I have to tell you? You’ve always been my number one girl. Gettin’ my dick sucked here and there don’t change the fact you’re my queen.” He lifted his hand to touch me, and I shoved it away. “You just tryin’ to make my dick hard.”

  “Try touching me one more time and watch what I do to your hard dick. Now. Get. Out!”

  “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” He sat his stubborn ass back down, placing his arms out on the back of the couch.

  My couch.

  “Comfortable, Sean?”

  “I will be once ya get on your knees.”

  “And do what exactly?”

  “Thank me for payin’ off your student loans.”

  “I’m not taking your money.”

  “Jesus Christ, Camila! Just take the fuckin’ money and appreciate that you got a man who takes care of what’s his.”

  There was no getting through to him when he got like this. It was the biggest problem with our relationship. Him thinking he owned me. With ownership came control, and with control came dominance…

  Over me.

  Sean didn’t want an equal partner, he wanted a fucking groupie who tended to his every burning desire.

  Hood rat wifey material.

  Umm … no thank you.

  “I stopped fuckin’ wit’ you ’bout school, didn’t I? If you want to waste your time and my money than so be it. But I want you home raisin’ our babies, not some fuckin’ doctor’s, who lives in a white rich ass neighborhood in Oak fuckin’ Island.”

  I gritted, clenching my jaw. “Sean, how the hell do you know the town I’m working in?”

  “Camila, quit playin’. Do you want me to tell you his address too? Don’t act like I don’t know every last thin’ ’bout you. I need to protect what’s mine. Now get the fuck outta my sight and go make me a sandwich. Your man’s hungry.”

  The audacity of this asshole never ceased to amaze me.

  “You know what?”

  “What, baby?”

  “I think it’s time for you to eat your dinner out.”

  “Cami—”

  I abruptly turned, grabbing as many stacks of bills t
hat would fit into my arms.

  “Camila, don’t you fuckin’ try me!” Sean yelled, knowing exactly where I was taking his blood money.

  “It’s time for you to go.” I opened the door and chucked the pile of cash into the hallway.

  Making it rain down the stairwell.

  He darted after the money. “You crazy bitch!”

  “Awe … Sean,” I mocked, throwing the rest of the cash into the hallway right next to him. “But I thought I was your queen.” I flung his gym bag at his chest and he caught it midair. “Byeeeee.”

  “Cam—”

  I slammed the door in his face, quickly locking it behind me. Making a mental note to have the locks changed.

  Again.

  “This ain’t over!” he roared, banging on the door.

  “It is for now!” I hollered back, slamming my fist against the hard wood.

  I was playing with fire, but Sean would never physically hurt me. At least not intentionally. A girl could only take so much, and I’d reached my limit. He’d be back, though. Sean was like a pesky fly I couldn’t swat away or kill. No matter how hard I tried.

  I waited by the door until I heard his footsteps descend the stairs, and his profanity become nothing but an echo. Making sure he was really gone before I went about my business. I hated that he thought he held so much power over me. I was just supposed to get on my knees and thank him for his hustling ways.

  Who knows where that money came from, because I sure as shit know he didn’t legally work for it. Sean could shove his money where the sun didn’t shine. I could take care of myself.

  Always had, always would.

  On top of having to deal with the piece of shit that was my ex, I finished off my day at the Pierces explaining myself to Skyler. I was just dancing for the baby, making her laugh. I must have lost track of time, hence the boys walking in. She understood, saying her kids loved to dance too. Ending our conversation with pointers on how to handle Jackson.

  “Be patient with him…”

  “He’ll come around…”

  “He’s just taking his frustrations out on you.”

  I appreciated her input, but if I wanted Jackson to respect me, I had to beat him at his own game.