The second he was out of earshot, River leaned over and whispered to me.
"That man know he fine," she said. "Is he married too?"
Nyla hadn't moved. She was still staring at where Namier had been standing, her hand still warm from where his had been.
"Nyla," River said. "Earth to Nyla. You good?"
Nyla blinked and looked at us like she was coming out of a trance.
"Did y'all see that too?" she asked, her voice small.
"See what?" River said, playing innocent. "That man who just walked in here, completely ignored us, locked eyes with you like you were the only person in this room, shook your hand for like over a hundred seconds, and then had to physically force himself to walk away?"
Nyla's face flushed. "Oh my God."
"Oh my God is right," River said. "Tatti, what the hell is happening?"
I smiled despite everything. "That's Namier. Kaseem's little brother."
"Well, little brother is FINE," River said.
"And apparently very interested in Nyla," I added.
Nyla was still staring toward the office, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "Don't," she said, but there was no force behind it. She was already gone.
In my mind. I already knew that this was the start of some shit.
I talked to the girls and although they were reluctant, they agreed to go dress shopping with me next week. I told them I wished a small and intimate ceremony. Nothing big at all. Just me and my girls. Him and his close people.
Once the hour was up. They were blindfolded and led back to their car. I knew when Namier came out that office, he’d be looking for his mystery woman. And she was long gone.
—
At the end of the night, at least four hours after everything had gone down, I showed and got into my bed to watch something funny. After the day I had, I needed to unwind with something light. BMF or Power would have been too heavy for me. My mindfell on my secret. My secret that I’d do anything to protect. My lifeline and everything that was important to me. While I was in deep thought, I got a knock at my door. I knew it was Kaseem cause I smelled his expensive ass body wash through the door.
“Come in.” I yelled, and the door came over. He put his hand on the frame and looked at me laying the for a second.
“I’m about to call it a night.” He said. I was wondering why the hell he was telling me that. Then he finished what he was saying.
“You coming to get in my bed or you want me to sleep in here?” He asked casually, not wanting to show emotion.
“I’ll come in there. Yo bed more comfortable.” I said as I damn near jumped up. What was happening to me? He smoked, turned around and walked into his room.
He stood onside of the bed, letting me get into the inside. After I was comfortable, he slid in behind me. Instead of turning on the tv, he had Alexa play show jams. I laid on my side and he got behind me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I leaned my head back into him. No words were said, no moves were made. Minutes later I heard him snoring. One thing was clear.
I was becoming his safe space. It didn’t take long at all for me to fall asleep in his arms either.
Namier walked into my office and immediately I knew that something was up with him. This nigga didn’t announce himself or anything. Later, I’d make it my business to let him know that from now on, he needed to start knocking and calling first. I had a woman living here so the rules was finna change. Now, I had to figure out what was going on with him. He looked….different.
"Aye," he said, but his mind clearly wasn't on business. "Who are those girls in your living room?"
I looked at my brother and was unable to control my face. Without him saying shit, I already knew what was going on now.
"That's Tatti's friends," I said. "They tracked her location outside the compound. I had them blindfolded and brought back here to keep down confusion and them from sniffing around our shit. I gave em an hour.”
"The one in the middle," Namier said. "The one with the—"
"Yeah," I said, cutting him off before he could finish that sentence. "That one. What about her?” I knew his type, so I immediately knew who he was talking about.
