"Oh," Nyla said slowly.
"This is..." River trailed off, looking between me and him.
Kaseem stepped forward and extended his hand to Nyla first.
"Kaseem," he said. "Nice to meet you." He introduced himself like he had some sense and I was really taken aback. I guess we needed to put on a show.
Nyla shook his hand like she was in a daze.
He did the same to River, and I could see them both trying to figure out what the hell was happening.
"We got a lot to talk about," River said, her eyes not leaving Kaseem. "But first, who is this?"
Kaseem guided us into the house and into the sitting area. While they had a seat, he whispered in my ear.
“You know what and what not to saw. You want your privileges, show me now. Enjoy your girls. Get your sense of normalcy. Make arrangements for your wedding. DON’T mention my business, and we good. I’ll send the staff to bring drinks and snacks. You got an hour.” He whispered, gently touched my waist then kissed my forehead before going back into the next room, which was his office. Immediately after, one of the guards came and stood off in the far corner.
—
I sat down with Nyla and River in the sitting area and before they could start asking a million questions, I held my hand up.
"I haven't been hiding anything from you," I said. "I just found out myself that I'm getting married. This was an arrangement set up by my father and Kaseem's family. It's a power move for both families. Let’s not make a big deal about it, I’ve already agreed and it’s happening." I said, sure of myself. In my heart, I knew that this had to be done to protect my father. No use in fighting it. I just prayed eventually I’d be allowed to leave andlive my life after this family got what they wanted. Today, I had to put on a fake face.
River's face went tight. "Tatti, that doesn't sound right. You would never agree to something like that."
"I don't have a choice," I said, and my voice was firm. "So I need you to respect that and just be there for me. That's all I'm asking."
Nyla was quiet for a second, looking at me like she was trying to read between the lines. River opened her mouth to keep pressing but I cut her off with a look.
"Don't," I said. "Just... don't."
River sat back, not happy but backing off because she knew me well enough to understand when I was done talking about something.
That's when the front door opened.
Namier walked through like he owned the place, all casual confidence and energy that filled the whole room. He looked around, nodded at everyone, then asked where his brother was.
"He's in his office," I said.
But he wasn't looking at me when I answered. His eyes had locked on Nyla the second he walked in and it was like the rest of the world disappeared.
Time actually stopped.
I could feel it. River could feel it. And Nyla definitely felt it because her whole body went still.
Namier's jaw flex. He looked at Nyla like he was seeing something he didn't expect to see, and for a second he just stood there processing. Then he seemed to catch himself, like he remembered he wasn't alone.
"Damn," he said, and his voice came out different. Slower. "Excuse my manners. I'm Namier."
He extended his hand to Nyla only. Didn't acknowledge River. Didn't acknowledge me. Just Nyla.
She took his hand and they shook. And they kept shaking. And kept shaking.
I cleared my throat. Loud. Cause this was getting out of hand now. These muthafuckas was stuck in a damn matrix.
"Your brother is in the office," I said again, and this time my tone had an edge to it.
Namier looked away from Nyla like it physically hurt him to do it, and he nodded once before heading toward Kaseem's office.
