He turned me around to face him. My arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. His hands slid to my hips, pulling me closer. His chest moved against me as he sang the man’s part into my ear.
“Noooo. You guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Ohhhh now wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute”
He dipped his head and kissed my forehead between lyrics. The way his hands held my hips felt secure. The crowd around us was still screaming the lyrics at each other, but somehow it felt like we were in our own bubble.
He sang the last few lines directly to me, eyes locked on mine. And I don’t know if it was the music, the drinks, the laughter, or the way the entire room had embraced me like I wasn’t some outsider from a different world… But in that moment, I felt light and like I’d stepped into a version of life I didn’t know I was allowed to have.
Stacks leaned down, forehead resting against mine while the song faded out and the room erupted into cheers and whistles.
“You good?” he asked.
I nodded, breathless and tipsy as hell.
“I’m good.”
Another song started and the family kept dancing like they didn’t have a single care in the world. I wasn’t thinking about what would happen the next day. I wasn’t thinking about consequences. I wasn’t thinking about how everything would look. I was just… happy.
19
Kairo
The convention center was full of men and women in suits with expensive shoes. Men were in tailored suits standing in clusters talking numbers m. Women laughed politely at jokes that weren’t that funny. My dad was in his element shaking hands, slapping backs, and dropping one-liners that somehow always led back to real estate and the legacy he’d help build. That was his gift.
I stood a few feet back with my brothers, playing security because I’d talked enough over the last two hours.
Kendrix adjusted his cufflinks and leaned in.
“After this shit, let’s find a club. I need some loud music and something stronger than champagne.”
Kordai looked at him like he had lost his mind.
“Nigga, you stay in a club. You literally own a few. You should be tired of clubbing.”
Kendrix shrugged. “Ownership is different from participation.”
Kross exhaled long. “Shit, I’m tired. Take me to the hotel. Layke has Rivah so tired she falls asleep before the sun goes down. Watching a pregnant woman sleep makes you sleepy. My body crashes at 8:30 now like I’m sixty.”
We all laughed.
Kordai grinned. “I’d be up right now in the kitchen cooking a snack for me and Ma.”
I leaned toward him. “Or in some pussy.”
He laughed but immediately shook his head. “Aye bruh, chill.”
He didn’t deny so that told me everything I needed to know.
Kendrix was half paying attention, half scrolling his phone. He held it up. “Look at this.”
On the screen was Niv, Rivah, Ty, and Magnolia in a section at GivGold, drinks up, and smiles glowing. They looked like they were having a time.
I frowned. “Wait… Khloe didn’t go?”
“Nah,” Kendrix said. “Niv said she wasn’t feeling good. Something about a fever.”
It caught me off guard because she didn’t get sick like that. She was built like a damn superhero. And Khloe hadn’t mentioned feeling bad either. She’d texted earlier saying she was going to take a nap and call me when she got up.
