Page 71 of Love Sanctioned

“We’re in one of my dreams. I wanna open a restaurant. I’m gonna open this restaurant. I don’t wanna cook in it or anything like that. But I wanna own it. I wanna be more than just another nigga from Watertown with too many dirty ties than clean.”

She smiled and approached me. Her hands landed on both sides of my face, caressing my beard. “Oh baby, you are so much more, even before you open this restaurant. I’m so proud of you. How long have you been working on this?”

“Couple months.”

“I’m really proud of you.”

“Ain’t open yet, baby.” I lowered my head and pecked her awaiting lips. When we parted, I had her eyes, and something in them calmed my core. Even with everything, she looked at me like I was that nigga, like I was the only star she needed in her sky.

“But it will be and I know whose fucking the owner.” She did a little dance, gyrating her hips against me.

I laughed and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her as close as possible. “You do, huh?”

“Mhmm, and for the right price, I might be willing to buss a few tables if needed.”

“I’ma keep that in mind, but let’s go ahead and eat before I end up busting something else.”

She giggled and we moved to eat. While she pulled sanitizer from her purse, I grabbed the napkins and things I had here. When I was seated next to her, she extended the hand sanitizer to squirt in my hands.

I accepted, rubbing my hands together while she opened that funky ass salad and the pizza box. For a moment we ate in silence, just enjoying the presence of one another, but then she peeped me feeding her pizza while she tried to eat her salad. I ate pizza too, but I made sure she took a few bites.

“Psy, I got my salad to eat.”

“Yeah and the pizza too, right?” I held a piece to her lips, waiting for her to accept.

“You are such a freaking bully.”

“Maybe.”

SEVENTEEN

Karsyn

A few days later

Life felt like it was settling to a speed I could deal with. The initial shock of being someone’s wife and being pregnant had worn off. I felt like I was settling in and he was too. However that didn’t mean things had slowed down when it came to my father. Psy didn’t talk about business in front of me, but I knew there was something going on. I also knew my father was behind it. Last night he and Killah left the house late. Though he assured me it was nothing for me to worry about, I worried anyway. There was too much tension in his eyes and his being. Being married to Posydiann had given me a front row seat to the man everybody believed was superhuman. I watched how people idolized him and the people near the house saw him like a God. He hated it, but to them that was what he was. To me, he was my man, my husband, and a man who got just as tired and frustrated as others. This situation with my father was frustrating him.

I popped the locks on my truck and hopped out, headed into KB’s. I hadn’t seen my brother in person since before I left for my honeymoon and I missed him. Of course we talked on the phone, and a few FaceTime calls, but between both of our swamped schedules and me settling into being somebody’s wife, there wasn’t enough time in the day.

Upon entering the dimly lit lounge, I noticed Kolton was not in his normal spot. I started to think he wasn’t here, but that was unlike Kolton. He was a workaholic and this place was his baby. My first stop was at the bar where his usual bartender smiled at her phone. It was propped up one off the bar beams while she dried glasses.

“Hey Ginny, is my brother here?” I greeted her quickly.

She looked away from her phone then at me. “Uh yeah, he’s in his office.”

I nodded. That threw me off because Kolton hated his office. He hated not being able to see what was going on up front. Control freak.

When I exited the main floor, I climbed three stairs and walked down the hall to his office. The door was closed, so I knocked, only to hear shuffling then his voice.

“I said give me a minute.”

I threw my head back in confusion and twisted the knob. He was my twin, so he had no privacy where I was concerned. When I opened the door, my eyes landed on Amethyst who quickly created space between herself and my brother.

The air was heavy, and most of all, tense. Not to mention Amethyst was awkwardly biting her lip.

“Hey, girl,” she greeted me, nervously pulling me into a hug. She smelled like she had bathed in my brother’s cologne.

“Hey, my ass. Did I interrupt something?” I looked from her to him.