Page 589 of K.I.N.: Karma Is Near

Xay had already made that clear.

Grabbed my wrist in my own home.

And when I told him to let me go, he’d looked at me like I was the one who had lost my fucking mind.

That night changed something in me.

Not because I thought Xay was going to beat me half to death.

I didn’t.

It was simpler than that.

I finally understood that divorce wasn’t going to end him.

We had four children.

There would always be another pickup.

Another drop-off.

Another phone call.

Another argument.

Another reason for Xavier to believe he had the right to walk into my life and tell me what the fuck I could and couldn’t do.

Eventually, I stopped thinking about leaving.

I started thinking about being free.

Mr. Tonchile wasn’t some random nigga I’d found off the street. He owned a little bar in Newark, but that wasn’t where most of his money came from. His name was tied to the underground games Xay had been losing money at for months. More importantly, he was one of the men Xay owed.

By the time I finally sat across from him, he already had his own problem with my husband.

I just happened to have the same one.

Mr. Tonchile had stared at me across the back room of his bar like he couldn’t decide whether I was serious.