"Tatti, please don't do this," he said, and there was something in his voice that almost broke me. Almost. But I couldn't let it. Not right now. Not when I was standing here trying to hold myself together after he was the one who fuckin hurt me.
"Don't do what?" I asked him, stepping closer so the security guard wouldn't hear us. "Am I wrong? Do you not have a baby by your dead best friend's wife? By the man you murdered?"
The words came out and I watched them land. Watched him flinch with each one.
"Yes, the baby is mine. Her name is Tyriel," he said quietly, looking at the floor. "But it's not what you think. Let me explain, you know me, baby girl, you know I’m not a monster or a fucked up person.”
That nickname hit different now. It made me want to scream, and gouge his eyeballs out then rip his fuckin tongue out his mouth for still talking to me right now.Then this nigga had the nerve to tell me his child’s name, like I gave a fuck. Was he crazy?
My eyes started watering before I could stop them. All the hurt, all the betrayal, all the lies were just sitting right there on the surface, ready to spill over.
"I can't trust anything that comes out of your mouth," I said, my voice shaking. "Not one word. Not ever again. You say you aren’t a monster, but you could have fooled me. You need to be in jail if what the Carters have on you is true. You definitely don’t need to be walking around enjoying your double life. That’s sick!”
I walked closer to him, close enough that my nose was almost touching his so that he could see the tears starting to fall. This man was my everything. My safe space. The man that saved me from myself, and he didn’t even know it. I loved my father and looked at him as my best friend in the world. I looked up to him and learned so much from him. When my mom gave up on me, even though my father couldn’t understand the shit, he stepped up and loved me enough for the both of them. Now, this was my reality and I no longer had him either.
"I didn't want to believe that you would just give me away like you did," I continued, and I could feel my whole body shaking now. "I kept thinking there had to be a reason. That maybe you were protecting me somehow. But to find out that you sold me off - literally sold your own daughter - just to keep your dirty secrets from being exposed. That's the sickest shit that could have ever happened to me. That shows me that I’m worth nothing to you.”
He tried to reach for my arm and I pulled away from him.
"If you value that fake life you're living with your wife at home, and that woman and that baby on the side, then you need to stay the hell away from me," I said. "Don't call me. Don't try to see me. Don't act like you know me. Because the man I thought you were? He's dead to me. And I don't know who the fuck you are. Although you deserve the worst, you know that you don’t have to worry about me exposing you. But with me holding your secrets, I’m begging you to stay the hell away from me!”
I stepped back away from him and watched his face crumble. Watched him realize that he'd lost me. That there was no coming back from this. I’d never disrespected him in my life and I would have to pray for forgiveness on this one but he had really broken me to my core.
He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't. He just stood there looking at me with disappointment and regret written all over his face. He knew better than to push it. He knew he'd already taken enough from me.
I turned away from him and looked back at Zaire's door. The security guard was still standing there, giving us privacy but ready to move if I needed him to. My husband was in that room with his brother, hopefully getting some good news. And I wasout here, standing in a hospital hallway, cutting my father out of my life.
That was my reality now.
That was what happened when you married into this world. You’d gain one thing, just to lose another.
The security had gone in the room and told them time was up. A minute later, my father yelled into the room telling them it was time to go.
When the door to Zaire's room opened and Kaseem stepped out, his eyes finding me immediately. It was like he thought I’d be gone or something. He looked at my face and I saw something shift in his expression. He knew something had happened. He could read it on me like a book.
He looked past me at my father, who was standing there looking broken, and his jaw tightened.
But he didn't say anything. He just walked over to me, put his hand on the small of my back, and guided me away from Tyree without a word. That simple touch, that wordless understanding - it meant everything. He was being respectful while still showing me that he had my back at all times.
We walked toward the elevator and I felt the weight of the day finally hitting me. I was tired. I was hurt. I was scared. And I was starting to realize that the only person I could trust was the man walking beside me.
Even if I didn't fully understand him yet.
Just as we got in the elevator, I grabbed him into the biggest hug while standing on my toes and laying my head on his chest. He hesitated for a moment, then he held me back tight. He hadhis chin resting on the top of my head. No words needed to be exchanged, but we both needed this. When we finally let go to walk off the elevator, Namier was smirking in our direction. For some reason, he always acted as if us being kind to one another amused him now.
—
When we got to the truck, Kaseem opened the passenger door for me without saying a word. He did it in a way that made it clear where everyone was sitting. He made sure his brother knew that he’d be in the back, while I rode up front with him. Namier got in the backseat without hesitation. That was how things worked in this family. Unspoken understanding. I was starting to like that.
I buckled up and looked at Kaseem as he pulled out of the parking lot. His jaw was tight. His hands were gripping the steering wheel hard. He wore a different type of focus like he was in deep thought. The whole drive, he didn't say anything. Just drove with one hand while the other rested on my thigh.
"Is everything okay with your brother?" I asked quietly.
He tightened his grip on my thigh, squeezing it gently. His hand was warm and solid against my leg.
"Yeah. Thankfully it is," he said, his voice steady but carrying weight underneath it.
I watched the side of his face, trying to understand what was going on in his head. He'd gone from being my husband and trying to show me love, to a man at war who’d kill and move mountains for his family in the span of a few hours.
