She folded her arms across her chest.
"What the fuck are you doing popping up at my house at this time of night, Namier?" she asked, her voice cold as hell.
I looked at her for a moment. Really looked at her. Saw how beautiful she was even when she was mad at me. Saw the hurt underneath the anger. I had talked to her bad as hell, all cause something I was dealing with in my personal life. That shit was fucked up. The connection that we had from the first day that I saw her, that shit was real. I begged for her number just to turn around and fuck the shit up.
"You called me a lame ass nigga," I said simply. "I came to see if you'd say that shit to my face."
She stepped down to where I was, leaned in close, her eyes narrowed, her jaw tight.
"Sure will," she said, her voice dripping with venom. "Lame ass nigga."
I didn't think about shit after that. I just moved.
I grabbed her face roughly, my hand squeezing her cheeks as I pulled her lips to mine. The kiss was hard and full of everything I couldn't say with words. She tried to pull back but I wasn't letting her go. Not this time.
She was fighting it, but I could feel her resistance melting. Her hands came up and grabbed my shirt, pulling me closer even though she was still pretending to push me away.
I forced my way into her house while still kissing her, kicking the door shut behind me with my foot. We were moving through her hallway, both of us undressing as we went. Her robe fell to the floor. My shirt came off. My pants were coming down as we stumbled toward her bedroom.
Even if it was just for tonight, she was mine.
When we hit her bed, it was rough and intense and real. This wasn't gentle. This was two people who had something to prove. I had hurt her and was trying to fix it the only way that mattered. By the time I was done with her ass tonight, she was gone forget that she was ever mad.
“Are you gonna be doing this shit all the time? Acting weird as hell then being sorry later? If so, let’s stop it here! I like you, but I won’t be disrespected and disappointed by no nigga.” She asked as I was getting between her legs to taste her. I owed her ass since she thought I got some head from her and dipped the last time.
“Nah. That was never my intentions. I really like you Nyla. I just thought if I got too caught up, I’d lose focus and bad shit would happen. Some fucked up shit went down last time I was here and I blamed myself for not being on my square. I won’t let that happen again. Me disrespecting you, I mean.” I told her ass the truth. She just looked at me a minute.
“Say you sorry, mean that shit and don’t ever play with me again! It ain’t no third chances around here.” She looked down at me.
I spread her legs, and planted kisses up her thighs.
“I’m sorry, Bae.”
I meant that shit, and I was about to spend the night showing her ass how sorry I was. Damn. I just hoped I didn’t turn into tender ass Kaseem.
The morning sun was hitting the windows of the Ritz when I woke up with Tatti still wrapped around me. I let her sleep in while I called Shelia, one of our staff leads and had her bring clothes to the hotel. I needed us looking sharp but calculated. Not flashy. Just clean and professional for this meeting.
Last night, I had to go and check Namier ass. Imagine how pissed I was when I got that call from Mars. My own brother was undermining me and trying to move on his own. Not only was that dangerous, but it was also dumb as hell. I hated that he thought he could move around my orders. All that I can do was hope that the talk really got through to him.
When Tatti woke up, she looked up at me and just smiled like she couldn’t believe this was our life. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. Only if she knew, this fairytale shit was about to come to an abrupt end in just a few hours. Today we have business to handle.
I told her what I needed from her today, she got up and headed towards the shower, begging me to join. I had to decline because if I didn’t, I knew that we’d both be in trouble. Nothing on our list would get accomplished today.
She came out of the shower and slipped into a white fitted suit with a pink shirt underneath. The fit was perfect. Her curves showing just enough, but professional enough that nobody could say she was dressing for attention. I threw on a white button down and some fitted denim jeans. When we stood together in that mirror, we looked like we ran something. We looked like we meant business.
No questions asked, she was down for a nigga and was willing to do what needed to be done. Hand in hand, we walked out of that hotel like we owned Dallas.
—
The courthouse steps were crowded but we moved through them with purpose. People noticed us. I could feel eyes on us, but it wasn't fear. It was respect. This was a young couple walking into a courthouse like they had nothing to worry about. Like they had everything under control. And right now, I was feeling like we did.
Tyree was waiting at the entrance like we planned. He gave me a quick rundown as we walked - Judge Atkinson was old school, had been on the bench for twenty years, didn't like being pressured but responded to intelligence and respect. The judgewas expecting us, had agreed to give us thirty minutes. That was it.
"The angle we're playing," Tyree said, keeping his voice low, "is insufficient evidence for continued detention. Your brother is being held on a murder charge with no corpus delicti - no body. Without a body, the prosecution's case is fundamentally weak. Add in the fact that there's no physical evidence linking him to the alleged crime, no credible witness statements that can be corroborated, and you've got a case that shouldn't have made it past the preliminary hearing."
I nodded, already mapping out what I was about to say.
"We're also arguing violation of his Sixth Amendment rights," Tyree continued. "Speedy trial clause. He's been sitting for over a year with no movement. The stabbing incident proves the state can't adequately protect him, which is grounds for immediate bail review based on changed circumstances. We file a motion for expedited hearing, argue public safety concerns, and push for release pending trial."
