Page 50 of A Capo’s Love: Featuring A Don’s Love

“But you hurt me.” His grip flexed slightly on my neck.

A shaky breath escaped me as I watched my tears glide down his eight pack.

“I know,” I whispered painfully.

His thumb stroked the back of my neck slowly while his other hand settled on my shoulder. He kneaded at the tension there like he could physically feel how long the tension had been building there since the last massage he gave me.

“You hurt me real bad, Nova baby,” he admitted quietly.

His raspy whisper sounded weighed down now.

“But I can’t sit here and pretend I don’t understand why you ran either,” he continued.

Shock coursed throughout me as I continued to relax under the pressure of his hands kneading away my locked-up tension. Seconds later, I felt his hand leave my shoulder and drift down to my now empty stomach.

“I’m not mad at you for running… I missed you but was mad at myself,” he confessed.

I lifted my head to look into his eyes.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because that day, like a coward… I planned on telling Roy to send you away. I felt guilty for being so deeply in love with you. I wasn’t raised to hesitate. I knew soon as I found out that you was the one to pull the trigger that I wouldn’t be able to kill you, Nova…. I also came to realization that you was my cause and cure.” He sighed roughly.

“Besides the twins… you lit a fire inside of me that made me want to do more… I never thought about fixing my voice till you…” He looked away from me.

I felt his thumb brush lightly against my stomach.

“It confused me badly because I tried to hate you but couldn’t…” His voice sounded like it was fading away.

“Then after you left, I start thinking even deeper about my father’s death… so deep I ended up finding out that you played a part in it, no doubt… but you weren’t the official reason why he died.”

My lips parted, shakily. I frowned and felt my body grow cold from the quick space he put between us.

“Get dressed, I’ll get Ms. Macy to look after Novae. I want to take you out to the garden to talk.”

He walked out the room, leaving my head spinning with his words.

“Lord, I pray I don’t have to beat this nigga’s ass,” I murmured to myself, wiping my tears away.

Before I made a move to get dress like he demanded, I reminded myself to make Luca take accountability for blowing all my shit up. After an entire month of suffocating silence, common ground and talking just had been established. A huge part of me felt relieved that the door that appeared closed and locked down was now open.

CHAPTER 13

Royal

SOME WOMEN FEEL DANGEROUS BEFORE YOU EVEN TOUCH THEM.

I sat outside my house staring at absolutely nothing while my phone rested against my ear and a blunt burning between my fingers. My mind couldn’t even match my peaceful looking property. Too many scattered thoughts taking up space in my mind.

Luca and I sat on the phone quietly like we always did with no judgement. The line stayed open between us for damn near an hour, and neither of us said a word. I could hear him breathing through the speaker every few seconds. Every now and then I heard the sound of Novae cooing, which told me Luca had been sitting and holding her for a whole hour.

Silence for us became a comforting language. Just each other’s presence was enough for us to express the shit we couldn’t put into words. In a way, the shit felt sacred; it tightened our bond over the years. A nigga had soul exhaustion just from carrying everything on my back, and I didn’t know how to make it right.

Finally, Luca exhaled. I knew him better than myself at times, so I knew he was getting ready to talk.

“She still there?” Luca whispered.

I rubbed my jaw then tugged at my beard, feeling myself get fired up off of one question.