Vendetta | Nicki Minaj & August Alsina

17. Baby Girl

Raja
Velvet Skin
2:09 pm

The way he looked at her, you could feel the warmth coming from her heart. The light illuminating from her eyes when she looked at him hinted at the wild fascination she was experiencing in her mind: who was this man? It was her first time meeting him, and she clung to him like I did when I first fell in love with the idea of him. She seemed more intrigued with his voice than her own father's. Nani held on to Adonis's hand and played with his finger as he read her a chapter book she grabbed from her bookshelf. She had known him for a little over two hours and it was as if she's known him longer than me.

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day." He read aloud to her. I giggled at the change in his voice when he changed characters. He'd shoot me an evil eye every then and again.

"Another one," Nani complained once he finished.

"Baby, that's enough reading for now," I said. She sat down on the floor and pouted.

"Stop!" I demanded sternly. "Now go put your books back." She forced herself up and slowly picked up her books one by one, dragging her feet into her bedroom.

"You so damn mean," Adonis said laughing. "We could have read another one."

"Can't give her what she wants all the time," I shrugged.

"Yeah fucking right. You probably got that child spoiled rotten," he said shaking his head at me.

"That's my parents and Tiffany's ass. With them, all she gotta do is cry and they'll give her what she wants." I said standing up. Want something to drink?"

"Nah, I'm okay."

I walked into the kitchen and took a cold water bottle out of the fridge. I threw my head back and took a satisfying swig, feeling the cool down my throat.

"How the hell you get a view like this?" Adonis yelled. I walked back into the living room, twisting the cap back on my water.

"What do you mean?" I said. He was standing up, looking outside the giant glass. "Shit is nicer than mine."

"My dad got it for me," I said smiling.

"So pops got it like that huh? What he do?" I stood frozen.

"He's a," I paused. "He's a CEO of a major cooperation, remember?" He nodded in appreciation.

"That's cool, that's cool," he said. I sighed in relief. "That might explain why this one is so spoiled," he said looking behind me and chuckling. I turned around to see Nani shuffling back in with her head thrown back.

"Mommyyyy." She whined.

"What, baby?" She reached her arms up, signaling me to pick her up. I reached down and slowly swung her back up. She laid her head on my chest and pouted. "What's wrong?" I asked her. Her skin was incredibly velvety. It was like the first time I ever held her. When I fell in love with two people at the same time: her and her dad. My thoughts were cut off by the loud ringing of a cell phone.

"Hello?" Adonis said. After a few seconds of the person on the other line talking, his face turned to pure anger and frustration. I stayed my distance, mindful that it was none of my business. "A'ight man, I'm on my way," he said in an aggravated whisper. He shoved his phone down in his back pocket and rubbed both hands down his face out of frustration.

"Everything okay?" I asked him. He quickly turned to face me.

"Yeah, baby. Everything good," he said in a not so reassuring voice. They way he said 'baby' made me feel some type of way, then I had to remember there was a child in my arms. "I got to go though," he said looking around for his coat.