“Hey, Khia,” I said, fighting to keep my voice regular.
“Don’t hey Khia me,” my sister replied immediately. “What the hell is going on with you? I’ve been calling for a hot minute and getting nothing but short texts saying you’re fine and busy with work. I’m worried. What is going on?” Khia said without taking a breath in-between words.
I sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly exhausted. “There is something. I’m not doing great.”
“Duh, clearly if you dodging my calls. Talk to me,” she demanded. “Is it, Lord?” I heard her sigh. “Did that man do something?”
“We broke up two and a half, three weeks ago,” I interrupted, the words rushing out before I could stop them.
“Oh, Bria.” Sympathy rushed out with her words.
“He cheated on me.” I blurted.
The silence on the other end was brief but heavy. When Khia spoke again, her voice was deadly calm. “That piece of shit. Tell me everything.”
So I did. I told her about finding the pictures, the inappropriate texts, and seeing Lord with Lolita. I explained how I’d left while he was out of town. I mentioned how I’d been staying with Maurizio. I left out the part about Maurizio and I sleeping together. There was only so much my sister could process at once. I finished by telling her I was at the house now, packing my things while Lord was out of town once again
“And you’re there alone?” Khia’s voice had that edge to it, the one that meant she was already in problem-solving mode.
“Yeah, for now. Nicco is going to have someone come over tomorrow to move the boxes into storage for me.”
“That’s fine, but you shouldn’t be alone or doing this by yourself.”
“I don’t really have much of a choice.”
“It’s been three weeks. You could’ve said something to me.”
“Yeah, but I was trying to process it myself. And I felt stupid and dumb for moving out here for a man. That doesn’t even sound like me, but my dumbass did it.”
“Girl, you was in love. You followed your heart. You took a chance.”
Who was this lady on the other line because it wasn’t my sister? She was being nice to me and not calling me all kinds of idiots for running up behind a man.
“Yeah, I’m just exhausted thinking about it.”
“I understand that. You say he cheated?”
“Yeah, he’s turned into a different person since he started working for his brother. You can go right ahead and tell me that you told me so.”
“I’m not going to do that. I wanted it to work out with you guys.”
“I did too.” I heard keyboard clicking in the background. “What’s that noise?”
“I just booked a flight to Vegas. I’ll be there before midnight.”
“Khia, you don’t need to?—”
“Don’t even start with me,” she cut in. “I’ll be there tonight to help you move tomorrow. I already booked the flight. Larry can handle the kids for a few days.”
“What about work?” I asked, knowing it was a futile argument.
“I have vacation days. This is more important.” Her tone softened slightly. “Bria, you shouldn’t have to do this alone. I’m your sister. Let me be there for you. Breakups are hard, and we have already been through so much.”
I knew she meant the unexpected death of our parents. Losing two parents at the same time was the hardest thing I ever experienced. Tears welled in my eyes. I hadn’t realized how desperately I needed someone in my corner who was just mine, not connected to Lord or the Bregoli family. “Okay,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. This is what family does.” I could hear her moving around, probably already packing. “I’ll text you when I get through TSA. I’ll call when the plane lands.”
“I need the flight info to pick you up from the airport.”
