Prologue #7
The other girls had come back into the section and the celebration continued. People could think what they wanted about this marriage, but when they saw me and Yosiah side by side exchanging vows then they’d eat their words.
Yosiah
“So, Siah, are you dating anyone these days?” Reginae asked while pushing her leg against mine. We were at my house sitting in the dining room. I was helping her upgrade the security on her new laptop. I thought she was just going to drop her laptop off and go, but she insisted on staying.
“Nah, not at the moment,” I commented, never taking my eyes off the screen. My fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard.
“The last girl you were involved with was Sierra, right? I’m glad you got rid of her, she didn’t deserve you.”
Chuckling under my breath, I paused and faced her. “That girl never did anything to you, yet you hated her.”
Reginae rolled her eyes and smacked her lips. “Her energy was off. My dad taught us to always trust your instinct and that girl couldn’t be trusted. I felt it in my gut.”
Laughing again, I shook my head. “Yo, you’re something else.”
My eyes went back to the computer. The firmware was currently upgrading, then I was going to work on her IP and server being more secure.
While we waited for that, I thought about Sierra.
Truth was, I’d considered marrying her, but that wasn’t something she wanted.
She mentioned her reservations about marriage early in our three-year relationship, but when she voiced she didn’t see it in her future at all, I knew that it was time for us to go our separate ways.
I didn’t blame her. Her household growing up was chaotic and being scared of the same toxic cycle she grew up in was understandable, but I wasn’t going to waste my time being a boyfriend when I knew I wanted more.
She was the first girl I thought about settling down with.
Before her I just used women as warm bodies and moved on.
I was too busy with school and trying to get my tech company started.
Once I started gaining clients and my name started getting around, I decided to take dating more seriously.
My thoughts shifted to Xylina. The wedding seemed to be approaching faster than I expected.
Being a husband and father always something I knew I wanted, but this wasn’t how I expected it to happen.
I couldn’t see Xylina as anyone’s mother nor did I want to be tied down with a child when it came to her.
My plan was to get through these five years then move on as if this never happened.
“Siah! Are you okay?” Reginae’s voice broke me out of my thoughts.
Blinking a couple times, I faced her again, this time with a half grin on my face. “I’m good, just wondering why you’re all in my business. What about you? You aren’t seeing any knuckleheads me and your brothers need to check out?”
She laughed and hit my shoulder. “Now you know if I was dating I would keep it far away from you and my brothers. Y’all try to intimidate every guy that comes into my life.”
“If they’re easily intimidated they don’t deserve you anyway. How you gon’ be with someone you’re tougher than?”
Erik made sure all his kids had fighting and shooting skills due to the type of lifestyle they lived. Reginae had mastered Taekwondo and Krav Maga early, starting when she was a kid. She could kick the toughest guy’s ass if needed.
She giggled. “True. That’s why I need a real man around me.
Not a little boy.” Propping her elbow on the table, she rested her chin in her open palm and grinned.
Her eyes slowly raked me over. I had on a simple black Nike sweatsuit, but the way Reginae was staring you would have thought I was naked.
Before I could comment back, someone pounding on my door caught my attention. My brows furrowed, wondering who the hell was at my door and banging on it like they’d lost their damn mind.
“Hold that thought,” I mentioned, pushing away from the table.
People didn’t usually pop up at my house, so I had no idea who it could be.
“It’s probably one of my annoying brothers,” Reginae commented.
Grabbing my phone, I went to my camera app while making my way to the front door. Pausing, my confusion grew seeing the brown skinned woman on the other side.
Sliding my phone in my hoodie pocket, I approached my front door, unlocked it, then yanked it open.
Before I could get a word out, Xylina pushed past me, catching me off guard. “It’s about time you opened the door. You’ll realize I’m not a very patient person and I don’t like to be kept waiting.” Pausing, she turned to face me and smiled.
“It’s nice to see you, hubby.”
My mouth turned upside down.
Shutting my door, I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my head to the side. “What the hell are you doing here? I don’t like people just popping up at my crib.”
I didn’t bother to ask how she knew where I lived, but I was curious what she wanted. The next time I expected to see her was Friday evening during the rehearsal she insisted we had before the actual wedding on Saturday.
Playfully rolling her eyes, she walked toward me and tilted her chin up to look me in the eye.
“You’re not happy to see your wife-to-be?” She faked a pout.
I felt my patience starting to thin. “Xylina.” I spoke sternly.
“Yes?” She batted her long lashes.
Just as I was about to tell her she needed to leave, Reginae called out, reminding me that we weren’t alone. I hadn’t mentioned to anyone that I was getting married. At first I was going to have Roman at my side but then decided against it. The less people involved in this circus the better.
I almost got whiplash by how fast Xylina spun around. Her hand went to her hip, and by how her body language changed, I could tell this wasn’t going to be a friendly interaction.
“Who are you?” Xylina spat, not hiding the disdain from her tone.
Reginae balled her face up and crossed her arms over her chest. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” She smirked.
I walked in front of Xylina. Reginae was still a few feet back but I knew how quickly she could move.
She didn’t like to be disrespected and wouldn’t hesitate to put her hands on someone.
I didn’t know a lot about Xylina but she gave off the impression that she didn’t care how she spoke to people or who she offended.
“I hope this isn’t the kind of girl you used to be into, Yosiah. You could do better.” Xylina balled her face up, lifted her chin, and stared at Reginae as if she was gum on the bottom of her shoe.
“Excuse me?” Reginae cocked her head to the side and stepped forward.
“You heard me. I hope you know whatever you had going on with Yosiah is over now that we’re about—”
“Enough!” I lifted my hands, silencing Xylina. I needed to shut this down before my headache grew worse.
“Nae, go into my office and give us a second,” I told Reginae.
Her eyes cut to Xylina and out the corner of my eye I could tell she wasn’t happy but that wasn’t my concern.
“Okay, bae. Hurry and get rid of the trash. We were busy before she showed up.” She smirked, spun around, and headed toward the back where one of my offices was.
Dropping my head, I stifled a laugh and shook my head. Reginae never hesitated to be petty and piss someone off.
Xylina scoffed.
Closing my eyes and mentally counting to ten, I pushed an exasperated breath out then lifted my head to face her.
“Why are you here, Xylina?” My voice was tight, but I was trying to keep my composure. Normally I was good at dealing with difficult situations, but being backed into a corner by this girl and her dad was making it hard for me to stay calm around her.
“Is that your girlfriend?” she questioned. Her eyes shifted past me to where Reginae had disappeared. “If so, I hope you have her here to tell her it’s over and you’re about to be a married man. I do not share and I’m not about to start now.” She stomped her foot and crossed her arms.
I had to blink a couple times. Her mannerisms truly were childlike. It made sense why her dad mentioned getting married might help mature her, but I didn’t believe I needed to be included in the solution.
“Why are you here?” I asked again. I didn’t owe her any explanation.
In my dad’s office, I’d made it clear that our marriage was strictly on paper.
She had texted me a couple times since the ambush that day but each time I left her on read or responded shortly.
I didn’t need her confusing this for something it wasn’t.
She rolled her eyes. “I swear, men are so difficult. Have your fun now but after this weekend you’re all mine.”
Huffing, she went into the colorful purse on her shoulder.
This time when she looked at me, she was smiling ear to ear.
It was kind of nerve racking how quickly her mood changed.
“Anyway, I came over here because I want to officially show the world my fiancé.” My eyes dropped to her hand.
Cutting my eyes into slits, I clenched my jaw as she continued.
“I need you to get on one knee and put this on my finger after you go change into something more presentable of course. I’ll do the background work and make it look like we were in the middle of something romantic, but for the post, you putting the ring on my finger will work.
” She opened the black box, showing a large diamond ring.
Being around the Barnetts for as long as I had gave me a little knowledge when it came to diamonds and jewelry. While I couldn’t pinpoint the exact carat of the diamond, by the looks of it, I knew it was expensive.
“This is just temporary, the ring I truly want is currently in production. Still, it fits my taste and looks good on my finger. I’ve always loved white gold.
” Her eyes went to the ring and her smile grew.
The ring was nice, I could admit that. It was clear to me that Xylina had good taste in jewelry, from the ring she was currently wearing.