Page 67 of Betrothed To Love

I end the call then turn on Maple. I pull into the driveway about five minutes later. The garage door is open and only Shuga’s Infiniti is inside. Asali’s truck is missing. After killing my engine, I walk into the garage and knock on the door that leads into the kitchen.

“Use your key. I’m not getting up,” Shuga says with bite. The last time I heard this snappy tone, I was a teenager doing dumb teenager shit.

What the hell?

Really concerned, I pull my key out and let myself in. The moment I see her, my chest caves. She’s sitting at the kitchenette, wrapped in a robe, glaring at me with swollen, red eyes and tears streaming from her face.

“Shuga,” I say after I rush over and sit next to her. “What’s wrong?” She shakes her head. What happens next nearly breaks me. The strong, happy woman who raised me and my brothers turns to me and buries her face in my chest. Then a soft whimper falls from her lips. “Shuga, please,” I plead, holding in my anger. My fists are balled as I embrace her.

I’ve never seen Shuga like this.

She looks fragile, stripped of the fierceness she normally exudes. So after kissing the top of her fro, I unclench my fists and lift her distraught face.

“You have to tell me what’s wrong?”

It takes her a moment to control her cries then she stares directly into my eyes and tells me some shit I never thought I’d hear.

“You have a sister. She’s seventeen,” she says lowly, but unfortunately I hear her loud and fucking clear.

“A sister? Is this a fucking joke?” I bark, then quickly apologize when she jumps lightly. “My bad. Sorry. That doesn’t make sense.”

Shuga relaxes in her chair then grabs her cup of coffee. She doesn’t drink it, just holds it as she speaks.

“Unfortunately, it’s true.”

The anger building in my body feels physical. It permeates my skin and radiates off me. Asali’s been cheating on Shuga. All that shit he preached to us about loving the woman you need was just talk for him. Muthafucka! “Who is she? When did you find out? Where is his lying ass? I need to⁠—”

“No!” she screams, cutting me off. Her voice is cracked and sharp. When she raises her head, I see how distraught she is. The anger in me subsides a little and is replaced with pure sympathy. “It’s over,” she whispers, her voice sounding more broken than just seconds before. “He…everything we built together. Forty-one years, Quintus. Forty-one years and it was all a damn lie. He broke me. My heart is… It feels like it’s literally broken into pieces.” She places a hand to her chest and her eyes well up with tears. “I don’t have anything left in me. I’m empty.”

My entire body stiffens and my throat feels tight. I want to crash the fuck out, smash the wall, and find Asali’s ass. How can the man who raised me, the man I looked up to, do this shit to my momma. Seeing her look so small, crushed, and sad like this is fucking with me bad. So I reach out and cover her hands with mine.

“What can I do? Tell me. You can’t be here alone. Come with me.”

“Stop. Son, please just stop,” she sobs. She pulls her hands from the cup and away from mine. “I cannot talk about this shit anymore. I can’t even think about it. If I say another word, I’m going to fall apart completely and I can’t do that in front of you and definitely not in front of my little princess. I’m staying here. In my home, where Asali is no longer welcome.”

“But Shuga, I can’t leave you here,” I plead. “You’re hurting and need family.”

“No,” she says resolutely. Looking at me with a desperate, almost begging intensity, she says, “Quintus, son, if you love me, you will leave it alone right now. Do not try to find Asali. Don’t call him and don’t ask me another question.”

“Sh—”

“Quintus, go!” she pleads. She nods toward the kitchen door. “Please, sweetheart, just leave. Let me have this. Just go home.”

I’m actually frozen, stuck between my urge to protect the woman who first loved and took care of me and gives the world to my daughter. She’s trembling. I swallow my rage and nod slowly, conceding to her wishes. After I stand, I lean in and kiss her forehead. Reluctantly, I walk back through the kitchen and out of the door, leaving my brokenhearted mother all alone.

The moment I’m in my ride, my rage amplifies and all I can think about is finding Asali and hurting him for hurting Shuga. Right now, I can’t even see him as my father because the man who raised me and my brothers would never hurt Shuga. And a sister, a seventeen year old. What the fuck was this nigga thinking? Enraged, I hit our brother group text.

Me: 911 meet at my house.

Ace: Shuga?

Me: Yes.

Shiro: What’s wrong?

Me: Too much to text.

Tre: What about Asali?