Chapter 1 #3
I was positive that was his intent. Not many are immune to the spell my wife could cast on the strongest and most determined.
It was the craziest shit I had ever seen because she had no clue about the power she held.
My good pal Nathan didn’t see her coming.
Those sinful eyes, paired with her innocence and tortured spirit, were enough to bring any man to their knees and have them risking it all.
I could bear witness.
“I’m sure he did, and he would have stood by the decision had I actually been in the wrong.”
“You were. You had sex with another woman.” Her voice was just below screaming, but I wasn’t alarmed, nor did I match her level of intensity. One of us needed to remain levelheaded.
“No, baby. I didn’t.”
“I heard you inviting her over after expressing I was a means to an end. That call—”
“Wasn’t about you. I was referring to Aila.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe the truth.”
“Were you with her in New York?”
“Yes, but not the way she’s insinuating. When I’m in town, people talk. She knows my habits and showed up at my place because she’s familiar with it.”
“But she is the reason you had to call me back.” The memory weakened my case.
My pensive gaze remained on Nari. I didn’t falter, and I wouldn’t lie, never to her.
“Yes, but not to have sex with her. It was simply to get a handle on the fact that she showed up in the first place, which I couldn’t have done if I had you on the line.
She and I talked, and I made clear that my situation with you wasn’t the same as my arrangement with Aila.
That, of course, didn’t make her happy, so she left with a bruised ego and the need for vengeance.
She sought you out to hurt your feelings like I had done to hers. ”
“You were with her the night you proposed to me.”
My patience was wavering. I understood her position. The facts pointed toward what she believed was true, but images were easily altered and twisted to produce favorable results. That was precisely what Val had done.
“I was with Val the night I proposed to Aila. Not you. The recording she sent you is a call we had before you and I ever met. There are very few things that I value in this world. My word is at the top of that list. The only thing which ranks above my word is you. I have not, and I will not ever, disrespect you by being with another woman, mentally or physically. I won’t entertain anyone’s advances but yours.
I can’t be any clearer on my position with you and our marriage. ”
My phone signaling a call was the only thing that pulled my eyes from my wife. Noticing that it was Cast, I answered immediately.
“Yeah?”
“They just found Knotty with a hole in his head.”
“Okay.” I frowned, needing him to get to the point.
“In your zone. It was done to send a message—”
“From whom?”
“You.”
“The fuck does that mean?”
“Somebody ran up on his guys while they were carrying. Stole the product, dropped three of their guys, and word is they heard that whoever did it said to tell Knotty’s boss that ‘Kincaid warned him about being on his blocks.’”
“Why the fuck . . .” My eyes lowered to my wife’s. She was watching me intently. “Meet me out there in an hour.”
“Got it, boss.” Cast ended the call, and I returned my attention to Nari.
“I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t leave the house. We have a lot to address.”
“I’m not a child.”
“No, sweetheart, you’re not, but you are carrying ours. One thing I refuse to debate is the safety of either one of you. If you have ever believed anything I’ve ever told you, believe this: you will not ever again put your life or our child’s life in danger without serious consequences.”
Her heated glare remained on me until I left the balcony. I hated to force her hand, but my wife was still learning the importance of trusting my leadership. Until she was clear on what that meant, I would maintain complete control.
“They left the bodies?”
“Yeah, three. I got them loaded up and out of here.”
My jaw flexed as I stood with my hands submerged in my pockets, allowing my eyes to move up and down the blocks.
“They took the product too?”
“Yeah. Not sure how much, but it was enough to add to the problem. Knotty’s Haitian.”
I nodded, understanding. He was family to Toussaint; therefore, a layer of protection extended to each member, regardless of the affiliation. It muddied the waters with potential problems for me if people truly believed I was the one who put in the order to have him killed.
“He’s trying to put me in the middle of a war with Toussaint.”
“Who is?”
“Manchester.”
“That’s a lot of work just to come at you about two low levels. Those men you tagged were muscle at best.”
“This isn’t about Gains and Taylor,” I made clear.
“Then who is it about?”
“My wife.”
“You’re gonna have to make that make sense for me, Caid.” Cast’s brows pinched as he stared at me.
“He’s her father. I just found out. Shit, we both just found out.
It’s very convenient that hours after the discovery, Knotty ends up with a hole in his head, and my name is attached to it.
This could be just to fuck with me or, at the very least, complicate my life because I shut him down with Nari. ”
“Hold the fuck up. Let’s circle back to Eli Manchester being your father-in-law.”
“He ain’t shit to me, and neither is he anything to my wife. Blood doesn’t give you a pass. I just need time for her to catch up and understand he’s not worth the time she so desperately wants to give him.”
“So she wants to get to know him?”
My eyes lifted to his, delivering my answer.
“That isn’t the type of weight you need on your shoulders.”
“You’re right, which is why it’s not happening.”
“So, what now?”
“I’ll reach out to Toussaint to set up a meeting to make sure he understands this isn’t me.”
“What if he don’t hear you?”
“Then I do what I need to do.”
“Knotty is family to him. Things aren’t always black and white when it comes to family. Those gray areas are a bitch.”
There was a double meaning in his statement. Cast was warning me about handling Manchester. I didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. My only concern was my wife and our child. I would do whatever was necessary for them to remain untouched.
“When I get it set up, I’ll let you know. And, Cast, be clear; there’s no room for anyone to make decisions about the well-being of my wife but me.”
He offered a nod, understanding I wasn’t trying to hear his thoughts on how I needed to move where she was concerned.
Cast wouldn’t take offense because he knew me well, but he also wouldn’t intervene with his thoughts on what needed to be done regarding Manchester.
My word would be the only one that mattered.