Wilde laughed, holding his chest. “Aye, this shit got my head spinning. Bruh, Tuck and Jovanis was really out here bumping dicks. Wow, I never would’ve thought.”
“So that’s why you made that move with Irish, huh?” Rio wondered aloud.
Noble nodded. “I know it appeared like I was snaking Jovanis and in a way, I was. I shouldn’t have made that move even if they had an open marriage. But it happened and I don't regret being with her.”
Wilde sucked his teeth, slouching in his seat. “Why the fuck Jovanis got mad if they had an open marriage?”
“Because it was me. She could’ve fucked with any other person but me.”
“It was too close for comfort,” Rio acknowledged, connecting the dots. “I get it and I judged you, Noble, because that was some snake-ass shit you did. Now that I know the details, it wasn’t right, but damn… I never would’ve thought Jovanis was gay.”
“Listen, it’s deeper than what I’m telling y’all. This shit got plenty layers to it but I’m not about to go into detail about it now. I need that shooter.”
“What you gon’ do about Tuck?” Nuke asked.
Noble shook his head slightly. “Right now, I don't know. I gotta think about that.”
“That’s our cousin, though,” Wilde asserted.
“I don't give a fuck about him being family, especially when he put my girl in harm’s way. Fuck a cousin!” Noble barked.
“A’ight.” Wilde lifted his hand, surrendering. “You got it.”
This night had turned out to be so explosive with information that Rio felt a headache coming on. Everything was in disarray, and he didn’t have a handle on anything.
“Look, whatever you need, let me know,” he told Noble.
He peered at him with eyes the shade of charcoal. “Find that nigga that shot at my girl.”
Three
What was she to do?
Everyone looked at Irish, awaiting her next move but she was stuck. Literally sitting on pause and reflecting the last six hours of her life. Cali had ushered her to Noble’s condo after leaving the hospital. Noble had one of his men named Zavier outside of the condo. He was instructed to protect her, which she appreciated. Irish didn’t have any time to settle in because Ivory came. Cali, unfortunately, delivered the news to Ivory on Irish’s behalf because she had no words. She was speechless, thinking about her new reality without Jovanis.
“I know I was mad at him,” Ivory sobbed, breaking Irish’s heart, “but I never wanted him to be dead. Who could’ve done this?”
Her cries were so heart shattering and to make matters worse, Irish couldn’t soothe her. Selfishly, she was trapped in her own grief, sitting at stage one. Denial was her sudden emotion. There was no way she’d lived through watching Jovanis get his brains blown out. Yeah, this wasn’t real for her. She knew she’d get a call soon, hearing his voice.
“It’s okay,” Cali consoled Ivory.
“But why would they do it?”
Irish had been wrecking her brain on who it could’ve been. Admittedly, she thought Noble had a hand in this but quickly nixed that thought. He would have never had him killed in front of her. He’d even been sparing Jovanis on her behalf, so Irish knew Noble wasn’t capable of this. Her thoughts immediately went to Tuck. Yes, he was behind bars but he still had pull. Jovanis had outed him for the entire city to see. He’d embarrassed Tuck and a man with his massive ego wouldn’t have let him slide. It had to be him.
“I need to um.” She cleared the sadness from her throat. “I need to tell y’all something.”
Ivory’s crying session came to a slow halt. Cali and Ivory peered at her in great anticipation. Never would she reveal these words if Jovanis was still alive. She’d sworn to take them to the grave but he had beat her to that destination first, so she felt it was time to be honest.
“Jovanis was a gay man.”
Cali’s almond-shaped eyes bucked as Ivory’s mouth gaped.
“Gay?” Cali yelped. “You playing, right?”
Irish shook her head, wishing this was all a joke. “No, I’m not.”
“When did you find out he was gay?” Cali interrogated.
