“I fucking dare you.” Tears built in her eyes, and he frowned. “I chose you, you asshole. Over my brother. I picked you.” She broke down, and Isa loosened his hold, placing a hand to the back of her head. “He thinks you’re bad for me, but you’re so good to me. He cut me off, Isa. I’ve never fought with my brother ever. He’s all I have.”

Weakness wasn’t Aria. She didn’t allow herself to feel it often, but this one hurt. This one hit differently.

“Aye.” He pulled her attention, but she could barely see him through her tears. “He ain’t all you got.”

He bent down and hoisted her up, opening her thighs until she wrapped them around his waist. Aria held on to his neck and rested her face over his shoulder as he took wide steps toward the bedroom. “You got me ’til they drop me, Ali.”

She cried on his shoulder, and he consoled her as if she were a baby, and she was. She was his baby. The first woman he had ever cared for.

“You picked a nigga, Ali? Over your blood?” he asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. She was in his lap, still straddling him. She nodded, and his thumb cleared the wetness from her face.

“I picked you,” she confirmed while sniffing. She was sad about that, about the rift between her and Nahvid. He was her family, and he meant everything to her. She prayed one day he would accept her choices because she was sure they wouldn’t change. Her love for Isa wasn’t going anywhere, and she hoped to earn Nahvid’s respect again. She didn’t know how, but she and Isa would prove him wrong. She would make sure of it.

He kissed her aggressively as he gripped the back of her neck.

“Is this going to last, Isa?” she asked.

“As long as you’ll put up with me, Ali.”

She placed her hands on the sides of his face and looked into his eyes. “I hate you.” She closed her eyes because this wasn’t her. This vulnerability. It was uncontrollable.

“Nah. Not tonight. I love you, Ali. Like on some real shit. I’ll chop some shit up over you. Die behind you. I need you to know you ain’t waste your pick. You gon’ be my wife, and I’ma put babies in here.” He touched her stomach. “And we gon’ live, Ali. We gon’ ball the fuck out, and you ain’t gon’ never want for nothing. I’ma take care of you cuz you mine. So wipe your eyes, a’ight?”

She nodded.

“Broke my motherfucking TV. I’ma break yo’ little ass,” he snickered.

Aria reached down and gripped the bottom of her shirt, then lifted it over her head.