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“Why not! It’s the truth.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe that? Kharti trust isn’t something I hand out to just anybody, and I expect it more than anything from someone who is supposed to be my wife!” Caine stood up from the arm of the couch after raising his voice again.

“Caine, I am not supposed to be your wife; I am your wife. We took vows, we are together forever, baby. I am loyal to you no matter who is against you.” I approached him, closing in on his body, but he moved me out of his way to walk into the bedroom.

“Caine, baby, please, just.”

He looked back towards me.

“Kharti, it’s good that your bags are packed because I think you should go and stay with your mama for a minute.”

“Why. We can work this out. I will be honest with you about everything from here on out.”

“Too late to have that mentality now.” He cut me off.

“We will see if the trust ever comes back. If not, I’ll see you in court. I’m going to bed. Lock up when you leave.” He walked into the room and shut the door, then twisted the lock.

I ran up to the door and knocked until I realized he wasn’t opening it. Maybe I should at least get out for the night and come back, tomorrow when things calmed down.

Though I packed all my things, I only took one bag because I didn’t have the strength anymore to carry anything else.

At first, I thought about going to my mom’s house, but that would have put her, my siblings, and my entire family in my business. I didn’t want to be around Latoya right now, and besides her, I didn’t have many other friends, at least not ones that I could trust.

The only person I could think of in that moment was Rochelle. If there was anyone I could trust not to tell anyone that my husband and I had gotten into a disagreement, it was her. I knew she talked a lot, but she valued me as both a client and a friend because she wants to stay connected.

I called her, and she answered the phone with sleep in her voice.

“Hey, can I come over there and talk to you?”

“Over to my house?” she questioned, because I’m sure it caught her off guard. Rochelle and I had been acquaintances for a while and she’d been doing my hair for years, but I’d never been to her place before.

“Yeah, between you and me, Caine and I just got into it, and I want to get away from here for tonight. I could get a hotel, but I’m just going to sit in there and drive myself crazy. I really need to have one of those one on one talks we have when I’m in the chair. Except I don’t need my hair done today.” I giggled to make it seem lighthearted.

“I don’t know, girl. You're pretty rough on them ponytails. It probably could use a little attention,” she joked.

“But, of course, you can come over. I’ll send you my address now. I have a bottle of Rose’ I been wanting an excuse to open anyway.”

“Okay, thanks, Rochelle. I’ll be on my way soon.” We hung up the phone and I got in my car, putting her address in the GPS.

When I got to Rochelle’s place, she opened the door and held out a glass of rosé. I wasn’t expecting her house to look this nice, but who am I kidding? She does a lot of hair, and she’s great at what she does. Her apartment was modern and exactly what I would want if I lived by myself. The cream colored sectional with the soft pink oversized pillows was cute as hell to me. Caine never would go for that, but maybe this is how I will decorate my place if he leaves me. I’ll have hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so at least if I lose him. That probably won't be worth the pain however.

“Here, drink up, because I know if you’re over here this late at night, it has to be serious.”

“Girl, you have no idea.”

I grabbed the glass and walked inside, parking my luggage by the sofa and took a seat.

“What’s going on, girl?”

“Caine is mad at me because I got a visit from an old friend, and I didn’t tell him about it. Well, really, not an old friend, but someone that my daddy was acquainted with.”

“Somebody your daddy was friends with? Why is he mad about that? Shouldn’t that be like your uncle?”

“Exactly. That’s what I don’t understand. But he made a big deal out of it, and one thing led to another, so I told him I would be gone until in the morning.”

I decided to keep the truth from Rochelle as much as possible because it would really make me look bad in the long run. Dragon and I had layers that no one could uncover. The last thing I needed was for people to know that Dragon and my relationship was less like uncle and niece and more like partners in so-called crime.

“Khar, you know men can do whatever they want to do, but as soon as they think we’re seeing someone else, they’re going crazy and accusing us of stuff.”