“Nuri Symone.”
“Nuri Symone...” I mumbled her name to myself. It fit her perfectly. “Inspired by Nina Simone?”
She giggled, the cutest sound, pulling at the fringe on her shorts. “Yeah… My mother was a huge fan, and the name Symone runs in my family.”
I noticed she spoke in the past tense but decided not to speak on it. “Well, Nuri Symone, now that you’re feeling better, is there somewhere I can drop you off?”
I watched her crumble before my eyes. The tears returned, and her head went back into her hands. Her shoulders shuddered as she cried.
“Nowhere is safe,” she mumbled between her sobs.
The harder she cried, the more I struggled to remain seated across the room. This girl was making me feel things I never had before, and I couldn’t figure out why. All I knew was that seeing her broken had me ready to hunt her enemies down and end them. She was too pretty for the cloud of sadness raining on her hunched shoulders.
I leaned up in my seat and placed my elbows on my knees, still watching her, still trying to resist the urge to make all her problems go away. “You gotta help me understand, baby girl.”
She swiped her snotty nose without shame.
“All I know is I was at the club with my friends one minute, then I started feeling weird, so I was headed to the bathroom. I think I passed out before I could make it. When I woke up, I was in the back of a stranger’s truck, and he told me we were going to be married.” Her voice croaked as she tried to make sense of the things she’d just shared with me. “I just know my brother has something to do with it. He wants to take everything from me.”
The thought of someone forcing her to do anything had my fists tightening. I hated men who took advantage of women. I didn’t need to hear any more to know that I was going to help her. She was obviously defenseless against these men who wanted to use that as a weakness.
“What does your brother want to take from you?” I finally asked her. Her lips popped open before she dropped her eyes to the floor and fell silent. “If you want my help, then I need to know what’s going on. When I found you, you were terrified, screaming bloody murder, and there were niggas chasing you. The last thing I would hate to do is let you go just to end up right where you don’t want to be. I want to help you, but I can’t d-do that if you don’t ta-talk.”
My lips snapped shut as I began to stutter. For the first time, I looked away from Nuri Symone.
“What’s your name?” Her soft, velvety voice cut through the silence.
I finally found the courage to turn back to her, only to be met by the kindest eyes I’d ever seen. As I said before, those eyes couldn’t hide shit.
“Sekai.”
She began to twiddle her fingers, studying me for a minute longer. “Okay, Sekai, I’m going to tell you everything, and I pray it’s the right choice.”
After releasing a deep sigh, she was ready to let it all rip. “To make a long story short, my brother ran through his inheritance, and now he wants to sell the family estate. When I wouldn’t sign the papers, he attacked me, but I got away. He’s been constantly sending me threats since then.” Her voice lowered when she spoke the next part. Even though she’d lived it, she sounded unsure, like she couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. “I’m guessing he had me drugged at the lounge and was going to marry me off to the man he owes money to.”
I flopped back in my seat, processing everything she’d said. The desk chair I sat in swung from side to side. It was fucked up that her brother was trying to make her pay for his mistakes. If I ever got my hands on him, I was going to break his fucking neck for putting his hands on her. No matter how low he got, that should never have been an option.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Her face was ashen, and her hands were trembling.
I wasn’t sure what look I was giving her, so I looked away. Murder was on my mind, but the rage I felt wasn’t for her. My heart actually went out to her. A lot of innocent women found themselves in horrible situations because of the men they were attached to. I would hate it if Nuri Symone became another victim of that life, and I couldn’t tell you why.
“Who is the man your brother arranged for you to marry?” It took everything in me to remain stoic and still. Thankfully, it was a strength of mine as an Earth sign. If I showed her my anger, she wouldn’t want my help anymore. Even without fully understanding why, all I wanted at this moment was to make sure she was safe.
She ruffled her hair, then walked back over to my bed and flopped down.
“I’m not sure, but he was a grandpa. My granny always said old men give you worms.Eww...I don’t want worms.” I didn’t mean to, but I chuckled at her disgust. “I feel like I heard his driver say his name. It was something with a Z.”
It was sad that just the letter alone could sour my mood. “Zyro.”
I didn’t ask because deep down I already knew it was him. Everything she’d just shared added up. Her brother owed an insane debt and was scrambling to pay it and was willing to go to extreme lengths to get his debt settled. That nigga Zero wasthe type of entitled pussy to think he could have whatever he wanted.
“You know him?” she asked as she perked up.
I could see the curiosity spinning in her brown eyes. Her desperation for answers had her scooting to the edge of the bed.
“Something like that. Just know I will protect you with my life, Nuri Symone. Them niggas gonna have to go through me and every Reaper in the fucking city if he thinks he’s going to lay a finger on that pretty little head of yours.”
She then blushed, and it felt like my entire heart imploded into a cloud of sunshine. And I knew... I knew I would do anything for Nuri Symone off the strength that she made me feel things that I never thought possible. She trusted me for some reason, and I wouldn’t take that for granted.
