The sound of Silia’s whimpers came through the baby monitor. Casanova offered to get her, but Siara insisted that he sit down and rest. She wiped off her hands on the dish towel then quickly made her way upstairs. After she closed and locked the door behind her, she dialed Anthony’s number.
“Are you outside?” she checked, talking as quietly as she could.
“We’re about five minutes away.”
“And Silky?”
“He’s in the car with me.”
Siara cried out quietly as she smiled, rocking Silia in the process.
“Thank God. The front door is open and he’s downstairs. I’m in the nursery with Silia. The door is locked.” Siara disconnected the call and looked down at Silia as she looked up at her mother. “Daddy’s finally on his way home. I’m so sor–”
The sound of hard feet coming up the stairs startled Siara. Casanova obviously wasn’t listening at the door…
“Shit,” she whispered, looking for somewhere to hide.
Had he been listening in on the baby monitor?
“What the fuck are you up to, Siara?” he asked, more calmly than she expected.
“Ah…”
“Siara!” he roared, banging on the door. “Open the door, bitch!” Silia immediately began to cry, and her wailing simmered Casanova down a bit. “Let me get to my baby, she’s scared.”
“This isn’t your baby, and she’s scared because of you!”
“That is my baby. She don’t know Silky; she know me. That’s my baby!” Casanova jiggled the doorknob as he chuckled. “And you know what? You probably pregnant with my second baby, too. How many times have you let me nut in you?”
Siara covered her mouth, walking backwards until she touched the wall. True enough, it was hard for her and Silky to conceive in the past, but it would have been just her luck that one of the four times she and Casanova had sex, it resulted in pregnancy. Siara slid down the wall, holding Silia tightly as Casanova continued to beat on the door. She knew there was only a matter of time before he grew impatient and knocked it down… and God only knew what would happen then.
“Give me my baby, Siara! Open this motherfucking door before I break this hoe down!”
“Go away!” she yelled, voice breaking from her tears. “You’re scaring her! Don’t you hear her crying?”
Casanova’s banging ceased, and the loudest thing heard was Silia’s cries filling the room.
“Let me hold her. I can calm her down.”
“No.” Siara shook her head as her chin trembled. “If you love and care about her at all, you will calm down and let me make sure she’s okay. Give me a few seconds to see to her, then I will let you in.”
“Aight. But don’t try no stupid shit.”
The more she listened to him, the less and less he sounded like Silky. He was finally revealing his true self, and Siara had no clue how she was going to get her and Silia away from him. Her gut told her that the moment she let Casanova in, he was going to snatch her baby and run. She had to come up with something to distract him for a few more minutes.
Looking around the room, she silently apologized to Silia before pinching her gently to make her start crying again.
“I think she’s hungry. Let me feed her, then I’ll let you in.”
“No.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered into Silia’s ear before placing her forehead on hers.
“Let me in so I can see you feed her.”
“I need you to eat for Mommy, okay? Please, Lia.”
Siara stood and slowly walked over to the door. She unlocked it and quickly walked over to the rocking chair by the window. Turning her back to Casanova, she pulled her shirt down and prayed to God that Silia would latch. Her eyes closed as tears streamed down her face. Thankfully, Silia latched on. She began to rock, ignoring the sound of Casanova’s heavy breathing as he paced behind her.
“Are you going to take her?” she asked, eyes still closed.
“I am.”
“Then you’ll need to pack her a bag.”
“Why are you helping me?”
Her eyes opened and she looked at him.
“I’m not. I’m helping my baby. You won’t get away with this, but she’s not going to suffer and go without while in your care.”
Casanova’s frown turned into a grin. She watched as he hurriedly stuffed things into a bag. To waste time, she told him extra things she knew he wouldn’t need and watched as he searched for them. When he had two bags filled, he leaned against the wall and watched her feed Silia as she continued to rock.
“How did you find out about me?”
Her head shook as she looked down at Silia. She was struggling to keep her eyes open and would be asleep soon.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“We could have had something special, SiSi.”
Her head snapped in his direction. “Do not call me that.”
Though the sirens were off, she heard tires screeching as several cars pulled into the driveway and grass.
“Just give me my baby so I can go.”
Siara smiled. “I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as you think to get out of here.”
She motioned towards the window, smiling harder as Casanova’s countenance fell. He leaped towards her, trying to pry Silia out of her arms. Siara moved away, running towards the door.
“No,” she whined, feeling her foot slip at the top stair.
Casanova snatched her up, keeping her from falling. Before he could rip Silia from her arms, the front door opened and Silky came charging towards them.
“Silky,” she yelled, trying to run down the stairs, but Casanova grabbed her arm and forcefully yanked her behind him.
Maintaining her balance as best as she could, Siara rushed towards the nursery as Silky told her, “Run, Siara. Now!”
She closed the door behind her, covering Silia’s ears as grunts and bodies clashing against one another turned into shots being fired. As loud as the shots were, Silia still heard a quiet ummph as one or many of the bullets made impact with someone’s body, and as horrible as it sounded, she prayed it was Casanova.
Because all hell would fucking break loose if it was Silky.
As much as she wanted to run out and see, Siara found her way into the closet where she rocked and cried, waiting for the shooting to stop. At this moment, her main focus would have to be Silia – Silky could take care of himself.
Siara didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, the closet door slowly creaked open. The moment her eyes landed on Silky, she began to sob and apologize for it taking her so long to figure out the truth.
Silky grabbed her and pulled her into his chest, squeezing her hard as he begged her to stop crying.
“You think I care about that? All I care about is that you and our daughter are safe.”
Siara smiled as he wiped her face, then placed a tender kiss to her lips.
The police commissioner personally cleared the nursery and gave them a few minutes alone before they’d have to leave the crime scene.
The crime scene.
So… Casanova had been hit.
Siara and Silky stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds more, and there was no doubt in Siara’s mind that this was her Silky. His lips and eyes were lighter… and there was so much love there. Just his aura… the energy that radiated from him and warmed her. This was her husband. This was her Silky.