SCARLETT 4: A Hood Romance Novel Read online

  SCARLETT

  IV

  By: Tiece

  Copyright © 2014 Write House Publishing

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to the real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely coincidental.

  Text WriteHouse to 22828 for Upcoming Releases, Spoilers, Announcements, and Giveaways.

  Thank You… Thank You…

  I’d like to Thank My Heavenly Father for blessing me with the gift of writing and for being able to keep many of you entertained when reading my books. Without him, there is no me. He is an Awesome God and I’m grateful for everything, no matter how small or big.

  I’d like to send a shout out to my Son, Devin, my daughter from another mother, Carmen, my Family, my Supporters, my Readers, and my Friends. I’d like to thank anyone that has and still is taking this incredible journey with me. It’s fun, sometimes stressful, and a lot of times I’m all over the place, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world…

  I give thanks to Cole Hart for believing in me and giving me this opportunity… I’d like to also thank Torica Tymes, my Bro. Our cut a bitch off attitude is so much alike it’s hilarious; gotta love it. To my Sissy Danielle, we’ve only gotten closer during this journey. It’s quite entertaining working with you and I love the bond that we’ve built.

  To the man with the plan, David Weaver, I appreciate your guidance and support, as well as, your genuine friendship.

  I thank Ava Mann, my lil Bird dog never waivers. She’s forever in my corner & Love her for that.

  To my right hand & Personal Assistant, Ebony Smith, I love working with you. We’re not just associated in business, but we’ve built a very close friendship and sisterhood that’s like no other. Our late night laughs and early morning business chats have only strengthened our bond. I’m blessed to have you in my life.

  To Mia West, my Trustee, I thank you for still sticking with me & I can’t wait for us to start traveling. It’s bout to be on and poppn’..!! lol

  To Missy Walker, LaSonya Prescott, and Crystal Clark, I appreciate y’all being on the team. Y’all definitely make my life a little easier and I appreciate it so much.

  To my WHP FAM… We’ve been hitting the charts hard and have enjoyed doing it. It’s a pleasure to be working alongside of you… May we continue to be blessed to run up the check… Much Love to the rest of my TBRS FAM…

  To my Author’s under Tiece Presents… Alfred Ward, Tonii, P. Doston, Indie Love, Chavante, Hope Destiny, Deidre Leshay, Jonhazia Gray, Sherene Holly, Latasha Mack, Ionaa Washington, Sheena Binkley, and Izaah Murray… I appreciate each of you for giving me this opportunity to work with you and to take you as far as God will allow… We know with God leading the way, there are no limits… And we will explore ever realm of this industry, above and beyond…

  O’ and please make sure you text TIECE to 22828 to sign up for Tiece Presents Releases, Sneak Peeks, Spoilers, Giveaways, & announcements.

  Heyyyy My Sexy Ass P.O.P. FAM..!! I Love Y’all and thank each of you for your continuous support, as well as, all of my other supporters and readers… You all make this journey so worth it and I’m grateful for it!

  Also I’d like to send a Shout out to everyone in Readers Paradise!! *kisses*

  Follow me on twitter: @TieceMickens

  Facebook friend me: https://www.facebook.com/author.tiece

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  Write House Publishing’s website is coming soon… Stay Tuned… *kisses & hugs*

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 1

  Scarlett woke up next to her Prince Charming as he stared lovingly in her face. He’d been watching her sleep peacefully while he admired her chocolate beauty. As her eyes zoomed in on him she smiled then quickly lifted her hand to take a look at the gorgeous engagement ring on her finger.

  “You okay?” Troy questioned.

  “Yeah, I was just making sure that you proposing to me yesterday weren’t a dream.” She said.

  “Oh, believe me. Everything that happened yesterday and certainly through the night was not a dream.” Troy teased as he thought about the long hours of loving making they did up until the wee hours of the morning. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. “I love you.” He sincerely said.

  Scarlett smiled. “I love you, too.” She responded then a thought that made her feel so incredible inside caused her to gently rub her stomach. “I just still can’t believe it. I’m pregnant, babe. I’m pregnant!”

  Troy grinned at just the sight of her being so giddy. In his heart, she was the one and he knew that he’d made the right decision by forgiving her, and then asking her to marry him. “I gotta admit it. The timing couldn’t have been better.” He said with a handsome smile spread across his face. “I can’t believe that the first night we were intimately together that you got pregnant. It only confirms our union as one.” He said still smiling and feeling himself. Little did he know that on the inside Scarlett’s thoughts had reflected back six weeks prior thinking about the baby and if she was indeed pregnant by him or not. She’d slept with Luke within forty-eight hours of having sex with Troy and was now very confused as to who could really be the father. “You’re only six weeks, but I’m feeling like you’re six months. I’m ready to go buy a bed, shoes, toys, clothes-”

  Scarlett quickly cut in by laughing. “Hold on father of the year. Slow your roll.” She said causing him to laugh.

  “I’m just so happy right now,” he explained as he stared deep into her beautiful brown eyes. “You make me happy. I’ve not felt like this about a woman ever. You do something to me. It’s like you bring out the best in me. You make me want to be a good man and come out of the streets. I know this might sound a bit cliché, but I just wanna raise a family and live happily ever after.”

  Scarlett smiled while reaching over and rubbing her fingers gently through Troy’s curly hair. It felt like silk against her skin. “I’ve always dreamed of a life like that, but I never imagined it would ever come true.”

  “I don’t know why. You’re a beautiful woman, you’re very smart, and let’s not forget quite comical. I can easily see where you’d make someone happy. Hell, look at me. I’m a prime example, because it takes a lot for a woman to hold my attention but you do it so effortless. I was lost when we weren’t talking. I missed you every day.” He admitted.

  “Aww,” she said feeling the love that Troy showed her. “I missed you, too.” Her eyes then glanced away from his face as she removed her hand out of his hair. She softly said, “Believe it or not, it wasn’t always easy for me to get a man. No one has ever felt for me the way you have.”

  Troy laughed. He thought that was quite amusing. “Yeah right,” he snickered. “That’s hard to believe.”

  “No, I’m for real,” she said with a serious expression on her face.

  Troy noticed that she wasn’t laughing so he cut his laughter s
hort then blatantly asked, “What about Luke?”

  Scarlett’s eyes instantly rose to meet his. At that moment she was completely caught off guard. “Why are you asking me about him?” she questioned while trying to see if she could read where he was going with this.

  Troy shrugged his shoulders. “I was only asking, no biggie babe. All I’m saying is that he had to be feeling you like this too at some point. I remember our talks back then. You even stopped talking to me all together in hopes that y’all would work things out. From my recollection if it wasn’t for some other woman having his baby then I wouldn’t be here right now.”

  Scarlett looked at him. She didn’t have any words for him at the moment. The truth was that if Luke hadn’t gotten April pregnant then things would’ve turned out differently. Troy was more than likely right. He probably wouldn’t have been there.

  Troy could tell that talking about Luke bothered her a little bit. In a way, he was hoping that something had sparked them to talk about her relationship with him. He wanted to know where her heart was and who she truly wanted to be with.

  “So, since I didn’t get a response,” he finally said to open the conversation back up in hopes of being able to end it this time. “Is it okay for me to ask are you over him? I mean, can you honestly say that I have nothing to worry about?”

  “Babe,” Scarlett sincerely started. “What are you talking about? Why do we have to talk about this right now?”

  “We’re talking about this right now; because I’ve gone all in and I don’t want to be all in if you’re not completely all in.”

  “I am all in.” She softly responded almost with a shy batting of the eyes.

  “You sure?” he asked to double check. “I know we’ve only known each other a couple of months and even in that time frame we’ve had some major issues; issues that I’ve gotten passed, yet so much has gone on in so little time. I just want to make sure that you’re good with what we have going on. Mind you, I never would’ve come over with a ring in hand had your brother not informed me that you and Luke were completely over.”

  Scarlett smiled a little. It was good to hear that he and Anton had made amends and unbeknownst to her they’d gotten pretty cool in the weeks that she and Troy weren’t speaking. She leaned over and kissed Troy on the lips. “We are over,” she assured him. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  Troy smiled then rested his head lightly on Scarlett’s stomach. “So, we have nothing to worry about?” He curiously pondered.

  Scarlett didn’t know if that was a slick way of asking her another question or if he was just asking, but now wasn’t the time to tell him anything different than she’d already said. There was no reason to. Luke, without a doubt, still held a place in her heart, but he’d also left her broken. She didn’t care to travel back down that road with him, baby or not. She wanted the fairy tale too, and if Troy was going to give it to her then she was going to take it as another blessing.

  “Babe, we’re good.” She said again for final confirmation that they were good, but her conscience was eating her up inside.

  Troy leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. “Let’s go to Savannah for the night and celebrate.”

  “I say let’s do it.” She responded with a smile on her face. “We certainly have a lot to celebrate.”

  “We sure do,” he said getting out of bed. He reached down on the floor grabbing his True Religion blue jeans off of the floor and putting them on. As he walked to the bathroom, Scarlett shook her head at how sexy he was with his bow legged walk. He was definitely a good looking man that most women wanted, yet he wanted her. There was no way she was going to mess that up if she could help it.

  As Troy washed up, Scarlett leaned over on her nightstand and grabbed her cell phone. She’d turned it off once receiving that shocking message from Luke the previous day. She didn’t know what that was about, but he’d said that April’s baby wasn’t his. That played heavily on her mind. Was he just playing with her or was he serious? And if he was serious, how was that possible all of a sudden? It was a lot not adding up with that situation, but at the moment she didn’t even want to know. If only she could be fully happy with her situation and move on. The only thing preventing that; was not knowing the paternity of her unborn child. In a sense, this made her no better than April and her situation. Now she had to figure out what exactly should she do about it and if there would ever be the right moment for her to come clean with Troy about it. She’d already held back information from him before. She didn’t want to lose him again over more secrets. More importantly, he didn’t deserve to be lied to again.

  I should just tell him now. She thought while her phone powered on. As Troy stepped out of the bathroom to put the rest of his clothes on, Scarlett’s phone sounded off with several text messages coming in. Troy reached down on the floor and grabbed his shirt then put it on.

  “Seems like you missed a lot by turning your phone off,” he said.

  “It’s okay. I didn’t want anyone to disturb our romantic night together anyway.” She said still admiring the room full of roses with a smile on her face.

  “You didn’t miss anything important did you?”

  “Important like what?” she questioned, but as soon as she said it her eyes widened as she read the latest incoming message.

  I’m on my way over there and I’m not leaving until we talk. Luke

  “Oh shit,” she said before she knew it.

  “What?” Troy asked just as the doorbell rang. “Are you expecting company?”

  “I wasn’t,” she nervously said. Knowing that no one was home but them, Troy grabbed his keys.

  “Come walk me to the door so you can see who it is. I’m about to head home to pack a few clothes for our overnight trip.”

  Scarlett almost fell over her shoes trying to get out the bed and grab her robe.

  Oh shit, she thought, but this time to herself. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. She repeated over and over in her mind as she moved around the bedroom in a fast pace.

  “Wait babe,” she called out, but as she rounded the corner of her bedroom to exit she could hear Troy’s voice since he’d already opened the front door.

  “Yeah, she’s home.” She heard him say.

  Scarlett tensely eased up behind him to see Luke standing there almost with a frown on his face. He looked past Troy to see the uncomfortable expression on her face then his attention reverted back to Troy.

  Troy simply glanced back over his shoulder at Scarlett then he said, “You got company.”

  Scarlett nervously grinned. “Oh hey Luke,” she said. Troy stepped to the side, because he figured that this had to be the ex-boyfriend just from sizing up the competition and knowing what Scarlett was attracted to.

  “Well, hey to you too. You didn’t get my message?” Luke asked with an uneasy feeling as he stood there somewhat clueless that his ex had moved on rather quickly with somebody else.

  “I just turned my phone on.” Scarlett informed him.

  “Hm,” Luke said still standing in the doorway now feeling very much uninvited. “So, who is your company? This is your company, right?”

  Troy grinned at his question like it was cute or something. “Uh, Troy this is Luke.”

  “I figured as much.” Troy responded then before Scarlett could say another word he said, “And I’m Troy; the new man in her life.”

  Luke wanted to say something. However, Troy was so smooth with it that it left him speechless. He then turned to face Scarlett and kissed her softly on the lips right there in front of him.

  “I’ll give you a few hours to get ready, babe.” He said to her.

  Scarlett apprehensively smiled trying to play off her guilty conscience of deceiving them both in a way. “Okay,” she said because she didn’t know what else to say.

  “You okay? Do you need me to stay?” He asked before walking off.

  “Uh… no,” she responded. “I’m good.”

  “Okay,” he said.
He then nodded his head at Luke with a half of smile. “A’ight.” He coolly said then walked off. Luke didn’t part his lips. He was just stunned as he stood in the doorway watching Scarlett. Scarlett was just shocked that Troy would be so nonchalant and leave her there with Luke like that.

  “So, who is that?” Luke asked as he glanced back over his shoulder to see Troy getting inside of his black 2013 Camaro to leave.

  “Troy,” Scarlett responded.

  Luke frowned. “I got that much.” He said feeling very disappointed to see that Scarlett had not only let someone in her life but also in her bed. “How long have you been talking to him or shall I say sleeping with him?”

  “I been talking to him, but it wasn’t like you’re probably thinking.” She said.

  Luke removed his navy blue, Atlanta Logo cap and scratched his head with confusion written all over his face “Explain that to me please. I’m not sure what you’re thinking that I’m thinking, but we can clear all of that thinking up if you’d just tell me what the deal is.” He said then put his cap back on his head.