“I’ma need a minute,” Messiah said, his chest quaking. He clenched his jaw so tight that his teeth hurt. My kids. She had my babies. Spittle flew from his mouth as his cries broke through his stubborn lips. He bent his head, chin to chest, as his grip on the wrought iron porch bars tightened. He was trying to gain control of himself, but he couldn’t. He sobbed uncontrollably.

Ethic placed Yara down inside the house and stepped out into the cold, placing a hand on Messiah’s shoulder. Messiah pushed Ethic, and Ethic grasped his wrists, arresting Messiah with his strength before wrapping a hand around the back of Messiah’s head and pulling him into his body. Ethic gritted his teeth as he embraced Messiah, sniffing away his own emotion as Messiah broke. The young gunner, the menace, the beast, that Messiah Williams had cracked. A pretty little butterfly named Morgan Atkins had broken him, and pain was spilling out. Oh, the mess she had made.

Messiah fought Ethic, uncomfortable with affection, because physical contact with another man in his past had been abuse … unspeakable acts committed against him that had made him afraid to trust another.

“Trust me Messiah. I ain’t here to hurt you. Nobody’s going to hurt you,” Ethic said through gritted teeth, reminding Messiah that with him, he was safe. He fought Ethic until finally giving in, wrapping his arms around his mentor and sobbing. He had to scream it hurt so bad. Two years had passed, and he had almost died, had fought to get back to her. He had been back for weeks, and she hadn’t said one word. He had missed so much time. He had kids. Twins. A boy and a motherfucking girl to bring him karma.

Messiah pulled back from Ethic and lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose and sniffling uncontrollably. “She had my kids, man. I got kids.” The words struggled their way out of his mouth because he couldn’t stop crying. “I missed two years. Two fucking years … they don’t even know me.”

“It’s never too late to be a father, Messiah. It’s time to put away childish things. That rage you keep in your heart is dangerous. It’s no good for you, and it’s a danger to Mo, but this isn’t about either of you. It’s about these two babies in here. You got to be willing to do anything for them. Anything. Even put the aggression away. If you’re going to be here, you got to man the fuck up. Man up. You missed two years. What are you going to do with the rest of them? You can’t misstep with them. I gave you one pass. One. There won’t be another. You don’t pass down none of the pain Bookie caused you. I know what he did.”