Page 28 of Betrothed To Love

Shit! I hadn’t even thought about a ring.

“I got her. I’m gon’ correct that ASAP.”

“I know you got that lawyer money but don’t make a nigga look bad. If she shows up with a banger, Sade gon’ be on my ass and moving furniture can’t do all that,” he says, fronting.

“Bruh, you move statewide and have a fleet of trucks. Tell that shit to somebody else.”

“You got that,” he says before tapping my arm. “Here comes wifey.” I look up and see Mireya heading toward me. Ace nods then walks off.

“What’s up? You good?” I ask when she’s in front of me.

“Yeah. I just need to use the bathroom before we eat. Your mother said there’s one to the right of the living room.”

“Bet but I’ll take you,” I tell her, then lead her back into the house. “This isn’t too much is it?” I ask when we’re in the living room. Meeting a family as big as mine can be a little overwhelming.

“No. It’s actually interesting,” she says, beaming. “Y’all are so close and look so much alike.”

“I don’t look like none of them niggas,” I tease because even I recognize Asali has some strong ass genes. Despite our age gaps, we all favor a lot.

“Yeah right. You and,”—she hesitates for a moment then continues—“You and Deuce almost look like twins. It’s crazy but I love how they named y’all.”

“So Shuga told you our crazy history. I’m just glad they didn’t name my ass Cinco,” I admit.

When Ace was born, Asali wasn’t with having a junior. He believes that a man has to stand on his own and make his own name. According to him, too many sons are punished for the sins of their fathers when they carry the same name, so we all got unique names based on our order of birth. Ace because he’s the first. Deuce and Tre for two and three, then Shiro and me. Shiro means fourth son in Japanese and Quintus means fifth with Latin origins.

“Yeah. You’re definitely not a Cinco. Quintus fits you,” she says.

“You think? Why?” I ask curiously.

“I don’t know really; it just does. I like saying it,” she says and damn.

“And it sounded sexy as fuck. I like how you say my name,” I admit honestly and she smiles.

“Is this it?” she asks.

“What?”

“The…bathroom,” she says while shaking her head. I was so caught up in her that I temporarily forgot our final destination.

“Oh. Yeah. That’s it.”

“I can find my way back out,” she insists.

“Bet. I’ll fix your plate. I know what everything is.”

“Perfect. It all smells heavenly. I can’t wait. I’ll be right out,” she says before walking into the bathroom.

When I make it back to the patio, Niya is with her aunt Sade. She quickly abandons Sade’s lap the minute Hussain stands behind his mom. She loves the twins, especially Hussain’s locs.

“I like her,” Shuga says from behind before stepping in front of me. “I just don’t understand why she was such a secret. We knew nothing about her, then boom, you tell me you married her on Friday.” Her soft hands raise to my face and she caresses the sides. “You are my son, my baby boy. I know you. So what’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on, Shuga.”

“Mmhm,” she utters, then rolls her eyes. “Well, I didn’t know about an engagement and I missed the impromptu wedding.”

“It wasn’t anything big,” I interject but she isn’t paying me any attention. She has her own agenda.

“I still missed it, Quintus, but I’m not missing this celebration dinner. I told Mireya and I’m telling you, I’m a part of every step of the planning.”