“It hurts.” He gasped, voice shredded. “It hurts?—”
“I know,” La’Nova whispered, clutching him tighter. “I know.” Was all she could offer him.
Her own throat burned. Guilt rose inside of her nearly choking her to death. She felt even more guilty for eavesdropping only to hear his painful truth without him knowing hers. She pressed her cheek to the top of his waves and gently rocked him like nobody ever had.
“I’m sorry, baby,” she cooed with her own set of tears falling freely now. “No child deserves the kind of shit we both been through.”
Luca felt something pull at his soul the second La’Nova called him baby. He slowly wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her close to him. They both were practically living in each other’s skin. For the first time in both of their lives, their grief wasn’t alone.
Chapter 13
February 7th, 2026
Roy hated traffic. Specifically, L.A streets that felt like they never went anywhere even when you were moving. But today, he dealt with it. He fought his road rage since he had the twins with him. The twin’s excitement made Roy happy, plus his trunk was heavy with lots of items that the boys picked out today.
Bags of clothes, sneakers, and electronic devices that Cain and Abel wanted soon as they saw it at the mall.
“Uncle Roy, what’s your real name?” Abel asked Roy out of nowhere.
Roy looked over at Abel and smirked. He tugged at the bottom of his beard then looked in his mirror at Cain. Cain sat behind the passenger seat, knees bouncing, face lit up from the brand new iPhone Roy bought them today. He was already comfortable and aware of how to work the phone and couldn’t get enough of it.
“Royal.” Roy smirked, eyes on the road.
“Wow, that sound like a girl name!” Abel frowned.
“It is a girl name; that’s some bitch shit.” Cain spat, shaking his head like he was disappointed to hear Roy’s real name.
“Shut yo ass up, and I told you to watch yo mouth. I’ll pull this truck over and make you do a hundred push-ups on the sidewalk. Keep getting slick and I’ll take the phone for a couple of days as punishment,” Roy threatened.
Truth was, he loved being able to boss the boys around in a good way. Roy wanted kids one day. He grew up looking up to his father and mother. He was the only child, and at times got lonely until he met Luca.
“You can’t be mad at me because yo parent’s gave you a girl name. My momma gave us some biblical names… I think it’s tight.” Cain grinned.
“My name means kingly. So, any broad that you come across that’s named Royal got a nigga name.” Roy boasted.
“Oh, Kingly? That’s steez as fu—hell” Roy shot Cain a look that said watch your mouth followed by a chuckle.
Abel leaned his elbow against the middle console, resting his chin in the palm of his hand like he needed answers.
“Why Uncle Luca gotta see a throat doctor?” Abel asked. “He got a disease that we should know about?”
“Shut up, Abel. Something happened to him, that’s why he whispers and got us taking sign language classes.” Cain mushed Abel in the back of his head.
Cain and Abel really liked being at Luca’s estate. The pair tried their best to be on good behavior. Cain and Abel’s biggest fear was being forced to live back with their mom. Luca was patient with the boys, and besides his busy schedule, he made time everyday for them. He even hired extra house staff to help the boys adjust to the routine he had come up with for them.
“Nah, he good,” Roy reassured Cain. “Luca just wants to fix something that hurt him and his voice a long time ago. You guys make him want to talk again.” Roy smiled.
He was excited for Luca, even happier that the boys came along. Roy knew that Luca was taking the loss of Dontrell the hardest. Getting out of prison to become a Don and have your family being at odds was hard as fuck. He stayed on top of shit just to make Luca’s transition as easy as possible. It wasn’t much to do besides overlook the duties of the new blooded men that Luca appointed different positions to since business had been put on hold.
“How our mama doing?” Cain randomly asked.
The question hung heavy in the car. Roy glanced in the rearview mirror, both boys were watching him intently now.
“She straight,” Roy said carefully. “Getting herself together.”
Abel offered a small smile; Cain hesitated before speaking.
“Can we see her in a couple weeks?” Cain asked.
