Chapter 1 #2
We shared a look of understanding. Darius was issuing a warning. One that I had already tossed over in my head a million times. Killing my wife’s father could be the end of us. “I might not have a choice.”
“Don’t move irrationally. Sit on it. See what his plan is.”
I snorted. “His plan is to divide and conquer. Giving him time only strengthens his ability to do so.”
“Nah, man. Y’all are solid. It won’t be that easy.”
I exhaled a sigh and brushed my hand down my face. Darius was astute and immediately picked up on what I wasn’t saying.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“Not a damn thing.” My eyes cut to him, but his expression didn’t change. “Val.”
“Come on, Caid. You’re still fucking with Val?”
“No, I haven’t in months, but my wife believes otherwise.”
“How did she come to that conclusion?”
“Val popped up on me in New York. We had words. I made clear I wasn’t breaking my vows, not even for her.
Apparently, that didn’t sit well because her mind crafted a much different picture of what we really were.
I’m assuming she found Nari through my social media pages and sent a recording of a call we shared while I was engaged to Aila.
The clip makes it seem as if she and I had an agreement about my wife’s lack of importance, or rather her role in my life.
It was Aila who I was referencing in the recording, not Nari. ”
“Why the hell was she recording your calls?”
For this exact reason.
“Women like Val thrive when they feel they have leverage. I’m sure it was her way of guaranteeing some type of retribution or control if I ever decided to cut her off.”
“Only you can’t be controlled.”
“I weigh every decision I make, including the consequences. The potential for Val to threaten me with details of our relationship would never matter.”
Darius shook his head, laughing under his breath. “Until now. How the hell did you manage to fuck up your marriage before the ink’s even dry?”
“I didn’t. She only thinks I did because she’s too damn emotional to hear me out.”
“That’s your fault.”
“How the hell is that my fault?”
“I hear pregnancy hormones are a bitch. You were the one fucking like a sport trying to make a baby. Now you got one and an emotional-ass wife as well.”
And a way to permanently stay connected to Nari!
“I seriously need to stop telling you shit,” I groaned, remembering the conversation we had after confirming that Nari was indeed pregnant.
He questioned my position with having a kid so soon, and I made clear it had been my intent, which I’d been diligently working toward since the first time I lay between her thighs.
“You don’t trust anybody else, so I’m all you’ve got, but since that’s a role we’re playing for each other, I wanted your opinion on something.”
He seemed uneasy, which let me know it was something serious.
“What’s up?”
“I’ve been tossing around the idea of Lish and I having kids.” His eyes hit the floor before he gripped the back of his neck. It took a minute for him to look at me again.
“You two have discussed adoption before.” I’d been privy to their conversation about possibly adopting children, but it was never discussed in a way where they decided to move forward.
“We have, but I was thinking about possibly doing in vitro. She can carry a baby; it just wouldn’t be hers.”
Ahh, now I see where the conflict lies.
“So, how would that work?”
“My sperm and a donated egg.”
“So, technically, it would be your kid and not hers?” He nodded. “Have you discussed this with Alisha?”
“Not yet. You think I should?”
“If it’s something you’re considering, then yes. Open communication helps prevent misunderstandings on both sides. I feel it’s vital in all negotiations, but more so in a marriage.”
He laughed sarcastically, brushing his hand over his head. “This isn’t a business deal. It’s about our future, our family, or the potential to have one.”
“But a negotiation, nonetheless. I’m curious, though, why now?”
“It’s not new for me, you know that. I’ve always wanted a family, but it’s something I was willing to sacrifice if I had to. Shit, man, I love that girl to death. I would give her the world if it were within my power.”
“So, if she says no, that it’s not something she’s willing to do, you can move past it?”
It took him a minute before he responded with a slow nod that wasn’t very convincing.
“This is important to you?”
“It is, but it’s not a deal breaker. I love my wife, and nothing will change that. Even if she decides kids aren’t for us—”
“Kids or having a kid that’s yours?”
When he didn’t answer, I offered my honest opinion. “If you truly love her like I know you do, then have the conversation and decide together, but you have to be honest and prepared not to get the outcome you want. If that’s the case, then you’ll have to decide where that leaves the two of you.”
“Together. No matter what, that’s where it leaves us.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
He tossed his chin and moved on. “Where do we stand on this thing with Manchester?”
“As of now, I keep Nari away from him. We also keep an eye on what he’s got going on. This was intentional and has nothing to do with building family bonds.”
“I would agree, but there’s a slim chance that he really wants—”
“Not happening. He won’t get near her again.”
Darius removed his phone and squinted at a message on his screen. When I had his attention once more, his face seemed tense. “This is not the time to get sidetracked. You’re taking on a lot and need to be focused.”
My position with The Families.
“You don’t think I know that. If I could set this on the shelf, I would, but if he pushes the issue, I’ll have no choice but to push back. It makes more sense to get ahead of things before it turns costly.”
“The price is already inflated, Caid.”
Nari.
“I need a few days to get back on the same page with Nari. We’ll revisit this then.”
He tossed his chin. “Yeah, I need to get going anyway.”
I sensed his urgency and understood right away. I recognized the same urgency in myself lately.
“Tell Alisha I said hello.”
He chuckled and nodded. While Darius let himself out, I traveled upstairs to check on my wife. She had been distant since we left the penthouse, and it was time for me to make clear that she was and would be my number one priority.
When I found our room empty, my next stop was the guest room at the end of the hall.
It was the only one that had an entrance to a balcony, which I learned my wife loved indulging.
Sure enough, she was there, curled up in the egg swing, staring out into our backyard.
The tranquility was pleasant, but considering the tension between my wife and me, I could not enjoy the lush greens and rainbow of colors sprinkled about.
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t. Not until I’m ready, and I’m not there yet. Please also call whoever the hell you had dismantle the beds unless you want us sleeping on mattresses stacked on the floor.”
“Our bed will do just fine. I’m not sleeping on the gotdamn floor, and neither are you.”
“So fucking arrogant, but I’m not surprised. When I said we, I meant me and my child.”
I moved from where my shoulder was anchored against the frame of the French doors, which separated the room from the balcony, and stepped out into the evening air.
My eyes roamed briefly before I rounded the front of the swing, blocking Nari’s view.
“Our child and I know exactly what you meant. You seem to forget that there is no running, sweetheart. Not to the penthouse and not down the hall to another room. We sleep together in the same bed, even if you have to resort to childish measures by building walls with pillows to assert your authority.”
Her eyes lifted to mine with a vengeance. They blazed with anger, further filtering into her expression with a clenched jaw and tight muscles around her brown orbs.
“Our agreement is that we sleep under the same roof. Not in the same bed.”
“Fuck that agreement, Nari. It’s no longer relevant . . .”
She laughed snidely, untucking her legs from beneath her butt, slowly lowering them over the edge of the swing.
Once she was upright, her hands gripped the edge, her fingers so tight that her knuckles drained of their natural color.
“It’s very relevant. You have the best lawyer in the state, possibly even the country.
You’re the one who told me that, remember? ”
“I do, and it’s true, but he does what I tell him to do—always. I can call him now to confirm if you’d like. If I tell Nathan to burn that shit, he will. What proof do you have that it ever existed?”
“I have a copy.”
“Do you, sweetheart? If I’m not mistaken, you threw it at Nathan this morning just before demanding that he amend our terms to permit you to sleep with other men.
” My eyes lowered to hers, and Nari’s lips parted as if she were tempted to speak; however, she decided against it when her mouth slammed shut.
I was sure she felt she could trust him.
She could. Hell, he damn near cursed me out when he called to inform me that my wife was demanding changes because I cheated on her.
I spent twenty minutes convincing my lawyer, whose salary I pay, that I hadn’t been unfaithful.
How the fuck did that turn of events occur, where I had to explain myself to a man I cut a check for?
“You want to sleep with other men, baby? Am I not enough for you? I guess I truly am losing my edge.”
“Maybe I do, or maybe I’m simply following your lead. I’m making a judgment call for my sanity.”
Which you will pay for later.
“You’re testing my patience is what you’re doing. Unfortunately, Nathan knows better.”
“He promised,” she snapped.