37. 🍸 Love Potion #9 1.0

**KEKE**

It was a mistake not to face him as I talked. Justice, when he wants to, lets his mood play out on his features. His flushed face is the perfect backdrop to the hatred in his eyes. With his mouth in a snarl, it’s safe to say I’d never seen a more frightening look.
Yet, I’m not afraid. I know Justice would never harm me…
You also thought Krish would love you forever.
Too right.
Self-preservation ejects me from the car as if it would explode at any second. I’m almost to the Aston Martin before strong hands spin me around, pulling me close.
“Damn, Keke. I’m sorry. I hate how I’m so damn bad at this.” One hand holds me around the waist while the other runs up and down my back, trying to soothe me.
I step away, not ready to hear him until I’ve had my say. “I must really care for you, Justice. You cursed me and murdered me with your eyes... yet, I’m still here... waiting for an explanation.”
“What you said… it struck a nerve. A terrible one.” A sigh escapes his broad chest, so deep, the curls on my forehead dance. “You see, Keke… I was one.”
I blink up at him, my eyes wide, searching for a hint of amusement on his face. There is none. He’s as serious as the evening news. “Justice are you saying…”
“When I told you about my past… I left out a few things.”
From the beginning, he told me he’d tell me his story in his own time. I can’t fault him for holding things back. Besides, I still haven’t brought up my inability to get pregnant without difficulty, and at this stage in our relationship, I don’t feel it necessary to do so.
And I wonder if it ever will be.
The image of how he’d looked at me, as if I were nothing to him, when he all but worships that Pippa…
Anger boils my blood and I fist my hands. “Just tell me, Justice. I’m here…” the pause implying for now and the thin line of my lips makes my meaning clear.
“Yeah… okay.” He remains silent for a long while, staring at a point beyond my shoulder. When I’m just about to give up and head to the Mustang, he begins. “When I left home at fifteen, I was on the streets for a couple of years. To survive... I earned money by having sex.” His self-deprecating chuckle chills me to the bone. “Just with women, if that helps to make it more palatable.”
Instantly, my anger at him vanishes. At least I know why he has such a troubled, closed-off soul.
I lift my hand to stroke his soft shaven cheek. “I had no idea.”
He looks up at the ceiling like he’s looking for strength. “Yeah… I have told no one else. Sarge found out because he was the brother of a woman I used to… um… service. He caught us together when he came over unexpectedly to her mansion one day.” An angry tick appears in his jaw and his eyes turn hard. “When I first hit the streets, I could have gone to a shelter, and I did in the beginning… until three guys overpowered me one night after lights out. They stole my belongings and all my cash, beating me so badly I was in the hospital for a few days. I didn’t trust shelters after that. At least not until I met Sarge.”
He drops his head to meet my gaze. There is an anxious worry in his turquoise eyes.
Justice has confessed something to me he’s never told Pippa. That must count for something?
I circle my arms around him, giving him my support. “Thank you, Justice, for telling me. I’m sorry you had to go through something like that and I hate how you’ve suffered.” I squeeze tighter, pouring my faith into him. “You did what you had to do to survive and I admire you for that. If this world were perfect, there would at least be one loving parent for every child. Sadly, that’s not the case, and until the end of days, it will never be so.”
“You’re right, Keke. That’s why I try to give the guys everything I never had. I plan to take them to museums and take trips to historical places. I want to teach them about their culture and that of others. I want them to go out into the world and understand where people are coming from.”
With a tender gaze, he curves his hand on my cheek. My resistance slowly melts and I press my face into his palm, deepening the sensation of the intimate gesture. My heart thaws enough to let out a confession. “I admit when I first came into Clancy’s and heard that honky-tonk music, I wondered if you, as a white man, could raise young black men.”
Justice chuckles and drops his hand back to my waist, not in the least bit offended. “And what is your opinion now, Miss Jones?”
“A complete change of heart. I’ve heard how you’ve comforted Cam after he’s had a nightmare. I’ve seen how you’ve encouraged D’Andre in his passion for physical excellence, all the while stressing the importance of a good education. With Seth, you’ve been a Godsend, helping break him out of his shyness with your constant reassurance that he has more to offer a girl than a guy with model looks and a gym body. He has intelligence, heart, and a kind soul.”
Justice gives me a grateful look. “Thank you for saying that. It means the world that you support me raising them. I can teach them about being a man, sure, but I know it’s another story to be a black man, especially in the world we now live in. I know a bit about being looked down upon when I was poor, but it was never for the color of my skin. The guys go through some sort of discrimination almost daily.” He clicks his tongue in an angry tone. “One time, I let Seth wander around an electronics store while I was wrapping up a purchase on a TV. When I turned around, I watched an employee follow behind Seth everywhere he went. I went up to the jerk and… well, let’s just say I educated him on the wrongness of his assumptions.” He shakes his head to get rid of the memory, his thick blonde hair brushing his shoulders.
I hope he doesn’t get it cut. I like the length. Makes him look dangerous… and wild. Heat pools in my core as I think about how I’d curled his locks in my fist as he lapped his tongue between my thighs.
Justice continues, unaware how salacious my thoughts have turned. “I know I won’t always be there to stop the idiots of this world from tearing the guys down, but I at least hope to instill in them a sense of pride and confidence in who they are and what they can and will accomplish.”
“That’s all any parent can do, Justice.”
His expression softens as he meets my eyes, probing into their depths. “What about your parents, Keke? Why won’t you tell me about them?”
I pull away and turn from him, wrapping my arms around my waist to stave off a sudden chill. “It hurts to talk about them. When I was with Krish, they practically cut off all communication with me. They didn’t like the fact he wasn’t black and that he practiced a different religion.”
He moves to hold me from behind, pressing his chin into my hair and wrapping his long arms around me. When he sways from side to side, I follow his lead. The soothing movement causes the tension in me to drain from my body and into the lacquered concrete. I give him a grateful pat, leaving my hands on top of his.