Ashanti's POV
We made our way back downstairs without too many people noticing our disappearance.
Lamonte and I walked to the front of the party where all the gifts were placed and started our speech.
He clinked a fork against the champagne glass as everyone began to quiet down and their attention was focused on us.
"Hello, everyone. I want to thank you all so much for coming and for all of the gifts you bought. Even though, it was not necessary since Lamonte bought out a whole mall for this baby," I joked as everyone laughed.
I took a hold of his hand as I continued, "We are so excited for our baby, and we are glad you all decided to celebrate with us."
"I couldn't be happier having a baby with this amazing woman, I ask God every day what I did to deserve her," he paused kissing my forehead sweetly.
"She is going to be a wonderful mother and I can only hope I could be a fraction as good as she is going to be with our child," he spoke proudly as he stared intently at me.
I love you, I mouthed towards him.
He captured my lips as there were cheers and hollers from the crowd.
I pulled away and yelled, "Enough of the sappy shit. Let's party!"
I took a sip of champagne from Lamonte's glass just to celebrate the occasion.
"Hey, lil mama."
I know that voice.
That's a voice I used to adore, a voice I had gotten used to, a voice that I knew all too well.
Trey.
I gave him a warm embrace, taking in his intoxicating scent.
"You've gotten so big, in a good way," he says with a chuckle as he placed a hand on my round belly.
Just then, I felt Lamonte pressed up against my back as his tall frame towered over me.
I could feel how slow his heart rate became and I was afraid that things were about to pop off. I turned around to face Lamonte as I whispered, "Please don't make a scene."
He calmed down and backed up a little, but I could still feel his stare fixated on Trey and I.
"It's so nice to see you again. How have you been?," I asked with a smile, genuinely interested in his well-being.
I broke his heart after all.
Unexpectedly, this tall, petite, lightskin woman appeared next to him and began sucking off his face.
I guess I spoke too soon...
I was shocked to say the least, but I managed to hold my composure together.
Their make out session continued for a minute or two until I cleared my throat and interrupted them.
The tall woman snapped her head in my direction in arrogance as if she was annoyed by my presence.
She rolled her eyes at me and I swear to god, I wanted to slap the attitude outta her.
"Who's your friend, babe?," she asked eyeing me up and down in disgust.
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from starting anything. Probably sensing my turmoil, Lamonte came behind me and rubbed my back soothingly. He nuzzled into my neck and nibbled on my ear, "Breathe, baby."
I turned my attention back on this bright ass bitch to see her giving Lamonte googly eyes.
Trey looked at the drama unfold and I saw him holding in his laughter.
"This is Ashanti and this is her boyfriend, Lamonte. This is their baby shower," he introduced us with an amusement in his tone.
"Fiancée," Lamonte spoke proudly as he held out my hand in front of the couple.
I could see Trey's happy facade had dissipated and was replaced with a scowl.
"Oh wow, it's so big. You're such a lucky woman."
She sounded faker than Kim K's ass.
I tried my best not to roll my eyes at her remark as she continued staring at Lamonte.
"Can I speak to you in private?," Trey asked.
"Hell nah, she can't," Lamonte stepped in.
"Babe—," I started, but he cut me off, "Ain't no babe shit. I wanna know what this nigga even doing here, like who the fuck told you to pop up at OUR house."
"I was invited, now I'm guessing by accident. I thought that we both needed closure," he said with a shrug.
"Well, y'all don't need shit," he cut in once again.
"Lamonte, please stop."
I walked over to the corner in the room with Trey.
"Look, I'm sorry for the way I ended things between us. But, you moved on and you seem happy with..."
"Stephanie," he muttered.
"Yeah, you seem happy with her and that's all I wanted for you."
"Ashanti, you know damn well that I don't want Stephanie. You know that you are the one that I want. That nigga can't make you happy, it's just a matter of time before he breaks your heart again. You are too amazing to have him treat you like that," he whispered as he moved a strand of hair away from my face.
I backed away from him as I spoke, "He won't hurt me again. He has proved himself to me and I trust him. I don't want to be with you, Trey."
I walked away from him but he gripped my arm and made me face him, "When he breaks your heart again, don't come to me."
I didn't even register what happened. All I saw was Lamonte gripping Trey by his shirt and began beating the living shit out of him.
"Lamonte!," I yelled as I tried prying him off of Trey's now bloody face.
"Don't... you... ever... fucking... touch... her... again," he spoke almost too calmly between punches.
No matter how hard I tried to pull him off, he wouldn't let up.
Trey was already unconscious.
Ajax and his dad had to pull him off of Trey.
I hadn't seen this side of him since that night at the club over a year ago.
***
Flashback
I started to regain my consciousness. I hit my head pretty hard off the ground.
When I looked around I saw Lamonte standing over the guy beating him viciously.
I stood up quickly, touching his arm trying to pull him away from the now unconscious guy.
"Lamonte, please stop!," I screamed. He didn't want to listen he just kept kicking him.
"Please look at me. Lamonte, please!," I pleaded.
At that, he turned to look at me and his eyes were filled with so much anger, which turned to worry as he touched my forehead and saw the blood.
***
Present
I didn't like seeing him that way.
It was like he became detached, almost like he was a completely different person, but this time not even I could stop him.
Trey pushed him too far.
I heard the sirens and the ambulances coming, knowing that someone had called the cops.
I spent a couple of hours speaking to the cops and clearing up the situation. By this time, everyone had left the party and the cleaning service had already started cleaning up the mess, along with the surplus of blood on the floor.
I went up to our room to see Lamonte at the balcony, he was drinking Hennessy straight from the bottle as his chest heaved up and down.
I figured he needed more time to cool off so I decided I would take a shower to just wash the day away.
I wrapped the robe around my body and fixed the bun on top of my head. I walked into the room and I saw Lamonte sitting on the bed as his fingers raked through his now grown out hair, which made his bandages start to leak.
I grabbed the first aid kit and began redoing his bandages.
"I'm sorry that I ruined your baby shower," he said as he looked at me with these big, sad eyes.
"You didn't ruin anything, baby," I assured him.
"I did. You told me to keep my cool, but I couldn't. I lost it when he touched you and I couldn't stop myself. I'm sorry, please forgive me," he kept apologizing as he put his head on my belly, rubbing my wound carefully.
"Baby, there is nothing to forgive. You were protecting me and our baby," I whispered running my fingers through his curly hair.
He pulled me in his lap as he began kissing all over my face and neck with soft kisses as my chuckles resonated through the room.
He gripped my neck and tilted my head toward him as he captured my lips, devouring my tongue.
"Boy, let me finish wrapping your hand," I panted out as he went down to my collarbone and my upper back.
"Girl, you worrying bout the wrong thing right now," he mumbled as he nuzzled in my neck and nibbled on the sensitive flesh.
He began untying my robe and rubbing my clit, that's when I became completely and utterly undone.
_____