“Of course,” Tatti said. “Mrs. Carter.”
I knew my moms was being rude and short, but I brushed it off. Mrs. Carter? That was too formal for the woman that would soon be my wife. We sat down. Staff came out immediately, moving around the table filling glasses, setting plates and doing everything with the kind of quiet efficiency my motherdemanded in her house. My father was already talking — about the property, about Dallas, asking Tatti questions about her neighborhood, her home, making her feel like she was at brunch with someone who genuinely wanted to know her.
Tatti answered everything smooth. Held her own. Didn’t stumble once.
The door from the side hallway flew open.
“My bad, my bad, my alarm didn’t go off.” Namier came through the door still pulling his jacket straight, waves fresh, and smelling good for a nigga who was late. He was already looking around the table like he was looking for something specific. His eyes landed on Tatti and he stopped walking for half a second. Then he kept going and dropped into the chair across from her. He knew better than to try and hug or greet our momma after his ass had shown up late, after clear instructions not to.
“Wassup. I’m Namier. The better looking brother.” He reached across the table and shook her hand before anybody could introduce him properly.
Tatti looked at him. “Is that right?”
“On everything.” He picked up his fork like he hadn’t just walked into a formal breakfast late and sat down like he owned the chair. “I saw what you did last night by the way. You good with them hands, for real. I respect it.”
“Namier.” My father said his name once. That was enough. My father didn’t want my mom hearing about that shit from last night with Mallory. Although I had to have a wife, my mom was looking for any reason to make it seem as if nobody was good enough for me. We didn’t need to give her any ammo.
Namier pointed at her. “I already like her.” He grabbed his fork and looked around the table. “What I miss?”
“Your manners apparently,” my mother said without looking at him.
“My apologies.” He sat up straight and put on his most respectful face for about four seconds. “Good morning everyone. Mrs. Tatti, real pleasure.” Then he looked at me sideways and mouthedshe badand I looked away before my face did something it wasn’t supposed to do.
Tatti pressed her lips together to keep from smiling and I caught that too.
My mother set her coffee down.
“So Tattiana,” she said. The table got slightly quieter the way it always did when Zuri Carter decided it was time to talk. “Tell me about yourself. Your background. Your education.”
“I went to UT Dallas,” Tatti said. “Got my degree in cybersecurity and digital forensics. I investigate — data breaches, hidden transactions, compromised systems. People hire me when something’s wrong and they need to know exactly what and who.” She paused. “I work independently. Always have.”
Hearing her say that shit damn near turned me on. What the hell? Why wasn’t that the first thing that my father mentioned? I may need her ass sooner than later. She was proving to be more beneficial by the second.
My mother had to have the same thoughts. She nodded once. “And your parents. Are you close with them?”
“My father and I are very close,” Tatti said.
“And your mother?”
Tatti didn’t flinch but something shifted behind her eyes. “She’s around. We have a relationship. It’s always been more surface level than me and my dad.”
“Surface level,” my mother repeated. “Meaning?”
“Meaning we don’t have the kind of bond where we talk every day,” Tatti said, keeping her voice even. “She and my father have always been each other’s world. I love her but we’ve never been as close as some mothers and daughters are.”
My mother looked at her like she was deciding what to do with that information. “A woman who doesn’t have a strong relationship with her mother sometimes struggles to build one with her own children. Have you thought about that?”
Namier looked up from his plate slowly.
“I think every woman is different,” Tatti said. Still calm. Still in control. “The relationship I have with my kids one day will be built on what I choose to give them. Not what I didn’t get.”
My father smiled into his coffee. I think he genuinely liked her answer.
My mother wasn’t done.
“And children — is that something you’re open to?” she asked. “Starting a family quickly?”
“I haven’t thought about it much,” Tatti said. “My focus has been my business. But I’m not against it. When the time is right, I’m open to it.”
