Her father pushed her restraining order through with Matthew. He could not come near Angel unless they were in divorce proceedings. Even then, she just sent her lawyer to negotiate with his. He could have the house but no parts and no income from her business. That's the offer that was on the table, but he was still not accepting it. Matthew was looking for ways to prolong things so he could have that over her.

She was ready to move on with her life.

"So you're on the market for a new house?" Jared asked her while he was hanging out in her office.

"I don't like the idea of being homeless, so yes."

"Go stay with Hook, girl, get out of that man's house as soon as possible."

"Did you see his place? It the size of a postage stamp. Two bedrooms with one bathroom. The kitchen, you can barely turn around in, it's like my closet. And then when his kids are over, we're all cramped together. No, just no."

"I mean, y'all living together now, just get a bigger place together," Jared said.

"Ummm, no she won't," Shay added as she walked in carrying a pile of folders.

"Get out your sister's business," Jared said, taking the files from her and setting them on the table. "Glad I'm an only child."

"Angel, why would you even consider living with this man? He can't afford the type of place you want. So what will you do, move to the city?"

"What's wrong with living in the city?" she asked.

"What is right about it? The violence, the poverty, the-"

"Ashamed to be Black, huh?" Jared said. "Girl, people doing great things in the city, don't get it twisted. My frat does a lot of great things in the city. And it's very diverse, whereas out here, they look at us Black people like an oddity. St. Louis ain't that progressive."

"Anyway, I'm not saying I want Hook and me to live together," she said, "I do like having him there, protecting me and all. But once this is all over with Matthew, I can have my own space. Hook can have his own space and we can still spend time with each other."

"Hmmm," Jared said.

"What's the hmmm for?"

"This seems more serious than it was."

"We are serious. It's not just...sex, like it was at first. We just vibe together."

"He has mom and dad fooled, but not me. A guy like that, baby mommas on the side, you think he's not dipping back to them? Or have more babies out there he hasn't told you about?"

"That's not Hook. If you see him with his girls you would see that. Hook loves kids and he's great with them. He would claim any kid that was his."

"Yeah, you keep being the fool for that man," Shay said. "Tell me you're still on birth control so you don't get knocked up by him."

Angel rolled her eyes at her sister. "Shay, go all the way to hell for that. You know I don't want kids so I know how to handle that. And I'm not worried about Hook cheating on me."

"Yeah, he should be worried about this heffa," Jared said.

Angel threw her stapler right at his head. It brushed the side of his head and thudded on the floor.

"Ow!"

"You're my best friend and you say that to me?"

"Truth hurts," he said, rubbing his head. "Literally. All I'm saying is...you have a bad history of relationships here. You're the cheater. You're the one who can't stick with one man at one time. Check your track record, Ms. Thang."

"That's not me anymore," she muttered, believing it more as she said it.

"Where is Dr. You Know Who, the man I will never say his name?"

"I don't know, I don't care."

She knew and she did care. Cared that he would leave her alone and she would never have to see him again. Especially now that everything was going so right with Hook.

"Hey, Ang, I'm not going to be able to get to your place till super late. Real busy at work," Hook said when he called her at the end of her workday.

"Ok, that's fine."

"I don't want you to be home by yourself that long. Can you hang out with Jared or somewhere safe?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine! I'm going home and relaxing. But you go ahead and finish your work. See you when you get home. I'll be waiting for you in a t-shirt, no panties on."

She made it home, drove straight into her garage, set the alarm, and then looked to see what she could eat. Since Hook was staying with her, there was always plenty of good leftovers in the fridge. She pulled out a few Tupperware containers. Fried catfish, mac-n-cheese, green beans, and for dessert that man made lemon squares. She was going to be fat for sure sticking with Hook.

She smiled, loving the idea of her and Hook for a long, long time. Good food, good sex, that's all a girl really needed. Oh, and all the cute clothes, shoes, and hair she could afford.

She was preparing her leftovers when she felt a hand cover her mouth and grab her. She tried to scream, but couldn't get it out.

"Scream bitch, so I can really hurt you."

It was Matthew. How did he get in? She locked all the doors and set the alarm.

"Now sit your ass down," he said, pushing her in a chair.

"Matthew, what are you doing? Why are you here? I told the lawyers you could have the house. I don't care anymore, I'll leave. It's yours. Don't do anything stupid."

He smacked her across her face. He pulled out the gun from his waistband and held it at her. Her face was throbbing, but the gun at her face was the worse feeling. No Hook to save her now. Why was Matthew so hell-bent on hurting her?

"I hate you so much you make my dick hard," he said, adjusting himself in his pants. "It's like, I want to fuck you and kill you at the same time."

Warm tears fell from her face. This was not happening. Not nice guy, professional, well-educated lawyer. Not the man worth nearly a million dollars. How could he be the one holding a gun at her wanting to kill her and the man she first assumed was a thug wanted nothing but to protect her?

"Shit, I might do both," he said, with a sneer at her, his evil eyes glaring hard at her.

She trembled and cried. She had to beg for her life. "Matt, please, I'm sorry for whatever I did to you."

"You mean fuck that man behind my back for how many years?" He walked up to her and put the gun to her temple. "Me loving you, giving you everything wasn't enough? Did you even love me at all?"

The truth hurts, so in this case, a lie was better.

"Yes, I loved you, Matthew. I don't know why I did what I did. I was young and stupid. Matty, please."

He snarled in her face. "You still love me?"

Why was he asking such stupid questions? He had to know she would say whatever because the gun was pointed at her.

"Matthew, if I had to do it all over again...me and you, I would work things out."

"We can still do that baby." He reached over to touch her face but she flinched. "Baby, I'm not going to hurt you. I love you. I don't want a divorce. That's why I'm not signing those papers. Never."

"Matthew-"

"How many times you fucked him in my bed?"

She sniffed, trying to think of something to get out of this. The tears didn't work. Lying to him wasn't working.

"Answer the damn question before I blow your brains out!" He screamed at her, spittle coming from his mouth and sprinkling on her face.

She didn't flinch when she answered. "Every night!"

"What? No, Baby!" He rubbed her face and tried to kiss her. "Why would you let him touch you? Bad enough you let Russell do things to you. Why baby? Why am I not enough?"

"Let me go, Matthew, we can work this out."

"Suck my dick!"

"Matthew, please! Hook's on his way home, he'll be here any minute."

"I don't give a fuck! Let him come, I have plenty of bullets," he said, unzipping his pants. "Let him come and find my dick in your mouth."

Oh hell no! This mother fucker was on something. Why had she not seen the mental illness in him? She wished she would have listened to Hook and stayed away from her house till he could be there with her.

He tried pushing his not even hard dick in her face but she kept moving. She was not weak, she told herself. He may have a gun, but she was not a helpless woman.

She opened her mouth and bit down on his dick, then jumped up and ran as fast as she could. He screamed, dropped to his knees in pain, and fired a shot that shattered her wall.

She ran into her bedroom, locked the door. She did not have her phone with her, she could not call for help. Surely her neighbors heard the gunshot. She ran over to the nightstand, pulled out her father's gun that Hook put there even though she told him not to. Thank God her hard-headed man did not listen to her.

She took the safety off and waited for that crazy mother fucker.

"Bitch! Imma kill you!"

The door kicked open. He fired a shot, she fired back.

Everything went black.

A/N: One thing you will NOT find in anything I write is a weak woman! Angel may be a lot of things, but I don't play that weak ish! Women we can fight back! And we don't need a man to fight our battles.

What do you think?

XOXO
Kimberly