His brows raised at the question. “Both.”
She nodded; that made sense.
“Yours is pink, right?” He asked.
“Mauve pink,” she corrected.
“That’s different as hell, ma.”
“Yeah, everyone says that.” She shrugged with a grin. “It’s just something about it. It’s soft but still stands out.”
Crown looked down at her, as if trying to grasp more than just her favorite color. A comfortable silence followed, and she hummed along to the lyrics.
“Why you ask me that?”
“Because I want to know more about the man I love. We fell hard, and there’s still so much I don’t know. That’s crazy, baby.”
He chuckled but nodded in agreement.
“What was it like growing up for you?” Nivéa eventually asked.
Crown sighed and set his plate down.
“It was structured. We lived in the hood, but we made our lives look decent. The club wasn’t always financially stable like it is now. My parents were a team and made it work until my pops figured out more ways to generate income through the club. Mama gave us love. She stayed home and was hands-on with everything.
Pops was strict. He was deep in the streets, so his love came tough. He made sure we knew he cared, but he didn’t play. If we wanted something, we had to grind for it. No excuses. Nobody handed us shit. D and I had to earn our place just like everybody else in the club.”
He paused and glanced over at her.
“I was close to my grandparents. My grandmother, especially. She was the first person I told about my drawings and the dreams I had to do something with that gift.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Was she supportive?”
“Hell yeah. She told me if I ever followed that dream, I should use her maiden name for the company. Said she’d cover for me if Pops didn’t like it.”
“That’s so sweet,” Nivéa said with a small laugh. Then her expression shifted. “When you have kids, do you want them to be part of that life one day?”
“Nah,” Crown answered without hesitation.
Her brows lifted in shock. “Really?”
“Yeah. If they want to, cool. But being in the club isn’t something I’d force on them like it was put on me. I love it, don’t get me wrong. But if I’d had a real choice back then, I would’ve focused on my firm and just ridden on my downtime.”
“Wow. That’s crazy to hear because you’re such a good leader from what I’ve seen. You make it look easy. I would’ve never known you felt like that.”
“I appreciate it,” he then gave her a serious look. “But don’t ever repeat that, ma. To anyone. This is how my life turned out. It’s Knights over everything.”
“I would never tell anyone what you tell me.”
He studied her for a second, then nodded. He believed her.
“You trust me, baby?” she asked softly.
“Hell yeah.”
