Chapter 22 #2
“Oh good,” she sighs, obviously relieved that I agreed. “Thank you. We just got in, so we are about to have a snack and go paint. We’ll call you later and thank you again. I need this. I love you, son.”
“Love you too,” I say, then end the call. Relief floods my body and I exhale, really exhale. Shuga called.
I decide to still end my day and surprise my wife in Crescent Falls. If I leave now, I can make it in time for her five o’clock call. We can also spend the evening together kid-free.
After grabbing my stuff, I say goodbye to Aven and wish her a good weekend. Five minutes later, I’m on the highway heading to my wife. We arrive at her condo around the same time, because when I rush to the elevator, it’s her holding it open.
“Baby!” she exclaims, surprised. “I was just about to head to you. What are you doing here? Where’s Niya?”
“Can I get a kiss before the interrogation?” I tease as I invade her space. “It’s been hours.” After pulling her into my arms, I capture her lips.
“I love the way you kiss me,” she says once our lips part.
“And I love kissing you.”
I reach around her and press the button for her floor. As we ascend, I kiss her again. When we finally make it to her floor, I release her lips but not her body. My arms are still around her as we walk to her door. Before she can search for her key, I take mine out of my pocket and open the door.
“Now, where’s my sweet Niya?” she asks once we’re inside and her bags are by the door.
“With Shuga,” I say and her pretty eyes get as big as mine probably did when I got the call. “Yeah. She picked Niya up early and wants to keep her until tomorrow.”
“Aww. How did she sound?” she asks, but before I can respond, her cell rings. “Oh. That’s probably Laticia,” she says. I step to the bag and grab the phone. When I hand it to her, she nods.
“Answer on speaker,” I say and she nods again before answering.
“Hello.”
“Hey. Is now okay? It’s Laticia,” the slightly raspy voice says.
This is the woman who slept with Asali.
“It’s perfect.” When I sit on the sectional, I pull my wife onto my lap then wrap my arm around her. “I just got home. Is it good for you?”
“Nothing about this is good except the time,” Laticia says, then lets out a deep breath. “So you’re Quintus’ wife?”
“I am and I was calling about Alami.”
“She’s at school right now. Well, after school. I think debate. She has a cell phone. If Asali gave you my number; I’m sure you have hers. Call her.”
Her voice is harsh and has bite. She sounds how I fucking feel hearing the familiarity in her bitter tone when she says his name.
“Well, we didn’t get your number from Asali. We haven’t talked to him and we didn’t want to talk to Alami if she doesn’t know about Quintus or his brothers.”
“They’re her brothers too, even though Asali wanted to keep her away from them,” she snaps. My wife looks at me, as if warning me to stay quiet. I swear she’s reading my mind because I was just about to speak.
“So she knows?” my wife asks, for clarity.
“Finally. When Asali refused to pay for her college, I told her and his precious Shuga everything,” she rages. “So, you tell your husband he?—”
“I don’t need you to tell me anything to say to my husband.
I have what I need. Thank you.” My wife politely cuts her off and ends the call before I can interject.
“She’s lucky I’m more concerned about her daughter than her.
She’s angry, real angry, and that’s probably how she told Alami about y’all, in anger. That poor girl.”
“I need to talk to her,” I say.
“She’s probably fragile, baby. Remember how you were when you found out and you’re a grown ass man; she’s still a child.”
“I know. I know. I’m going to need you with her.”
“You know I got you. Let’s send her a text, and if she wants to respond, she will.
” Together, we compose a quick text to Alami and send it.
When she doesn’t respond after thirty minutes, I give up thinking she will and try not to focus on it.
My wife helps distract me. “While we wait, come bathe with me. It’s time you see the magic of my tub,” she says.
After easing off my lap, she extends her hand as if to help me off the sectional.
I don’t need her help at all but I go along anyway.
Once I’m up, I wrap my arms around her from behind and we walk into her bedroom. “Get comfortable while I start it.”
“Thank you again, kyau.”
“You better stop thanking me. This is what we do, right?” she says while resting her hands on my shoulders.
“Right.”
When she walks off, I remove my watch, empty my pockets, and place everything on the nightstand. My shoes are next and I place them on my side of the closet before undressing. She joins me in the closet and removes her heels and dress. Like always, my eyes are glued to her.
“You want some wine?” she asks.
“In the bathroom?”
“Yes. It’s permitted with a bath. Wine, candles, and the perfect bath elixir are a must. All three elements, no skips. So… red, white, or sparkling?” she says and I just shake my head.
“You pick.”
“Red sparkling, it is.”
She walks out of the closet and heads to the bar.
I place my suit in the dry clean only hamper then venture back into the room.
When she returns, she hands the glasses to me while she removes her lace panties and bra.
She has a crazy rule about not being naked in her kitchen and her bar is located off from the kitchen and she had to walk through it.
Once she’s dressed in my favorite, nothing, she grabs my cell and we walk into the bathroom.
She has it all set up. Several candles lit on the sink and around the tub.
There’s a tray by the tub so she places my cell there and directs me to place the glasses down too.
Then we get in, her first before I ease in behind her.
When we are both submerged in the really warm, fragrant water, she grabs both glasses, relaxes into my chest, then sighs.
“Let’s drink to new connections,” she says.
“If she responds.”
“Aht aht. Positive only. To new connections,” she repeats.
“Okay. New connections.”
“Good. Now drink up.” She sips from her glass and I swallow mine in two gulps. When I place my empty glass on the tray, she laughs. “I forgot to mention drinking etiquette. You were supposed to drink slowly while we relax in here.”
“I’ll remember the next time,” I tell her. Since my hands are empty, I slide them onto her thighs. “But what’s next since my wine is gone?”
“Well, we are go?—”
The sound of my cell ringing halts her words and we both sit up. While I dry my hands with a towel from the side of the tub, she grabs my phone and hands it to me. Alami’s number is displayed on the screen.
“Quintus,” I answer.
“Hey. Um…this is Alami. You texted me?” her soft voice says.
“I did. I’m assuming you know who I am. My wife talked to your mo…to Laticia.”
“I do. I looked y’all up once she told me and I found some stuff. You’re the lawyer, right?”
“Yeah, I am,” I answer, a little amused at her admission about looking us up.
“That’s really dope,” she says, then there’s a pregnant pause. Not wanting to overwhelm her, I live in the pause with her until she breaks it. “I want to come to your office. Would that be okay? I kind of want to talk about law school. Fall break starts on the twentieth, so I’ll have the week.”
“You want to be a lawyer?” I ask excitedly, probably too damn excited.
“Yeah. Family law stuff though. I got questions.”
“Yeah. We can talk about that and anything else you want to,” I assure her.
“Okay. I’ll call you that week then. My iDrive’s about to pull up. I gotta go.”
“I understand, just call so we can plan your visit.”
“I will, but oh, I have a question. It’s a lot of y’all. Do I have any cousins my age?” she asks and I smirk.
“Cousins, no. But nephews, yeah, you got a gang of those and a few are around your age. Most are older though.”
“Oh. Cool. I will call you when I’m on break,” she says, then ends the call.
After placing my phone back on the little table, I wrap my arms around my beautiful and supportive wife. During my entire convo with Alami, she was rubbing my leg lovingly, silently letting me know that she had me.
“She sounded pretty grounded, right?” I ask after a beat.
“She really did. I wanted to scream when she said she wants to be a lawyer,” she says.
“Yeah, I like that. I can really guide her in the right direction.”
“You definitely can, baby.” She snuggles back into my chest, then sighs. “She’s going to have a lot of questions, you know. I would but I think you are the perfect person to answer them. When are you going to tell your brothers about her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe after I talk to her?”
“That’s two more weeks of no answers for them.”
“Well, Tre doesn’t care either way.”
“He does. I think he was just speaking out of anger. He’ll come around.”
“Kyau, I don’t know about that. He’s stubborn as fuck. I mean. We’ll see but I doubt that shit. It’s Shuga I’m worried about.”
“She knows,” Mireya says assuredly.
“You think?”
“Nah. I know. If Asali didn’t tell her, trust me, she looked and asked around. That’s what women do. You’re married to one. We don’t need detectives. When a man breaks our hearts, our natural investigative skills kick in on high gear. We find out every damn thing.”
“Is that right?” I ask, amused as fuck.
“Right, so don’t even think about it,” she says sternly.
“Breaking your heart will never be a thought. If I break yours, I’m breaking my own shit too. That makes no damn sense. All I want to do is love your fine ass.”
“Perfect answer,” she says before tilting her head back for a kiss.