Chapter 21 Colecion
Back home…
Turks and Caicos had done something to me that I wasn't sure I could undo, and I wasn't trying to.
We pulled up to the building, and I stepped out into Coupeville air feeling like a different woman than the one who had left.
Tan linen set, Celine frames, boho braids down my back, my woven purse from the market on my arm.
One of a kind. Just like the trip. Just like the man coming around the car to open the door for me.
“Home sweet home, baby.”
He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers.
I noticed things differently now. The way the staff greeted him, the way people straightened when he walked through. I used to scan every room before I let myself relax. Now I just walked beside him as Mrs. Grimson. Untouchable.
In the elevator, I leaned into him, his arm coming around my shoulder, automatically pulling me into his side.
“I promised the girls I’d link when I got back,” I said. “I’m going to drop the bags and head out.”
He looked down at me. “You just got home.”
“I'll be gone for like two hours.” I patted his chest. “You’ll survive.”
His mouth curved.
“I’ll take Malice.”
“No need, go be with your girls.”
“Okay, I’m taking Coco,” I smiled up at him, but my going out without security was suspicious. “I need to drive my new car.”
He kissed my forehead as the doors opened. “Call me if you need me. I may be out when you come in.”
“Back to reality,” I said, already wheeling my carry-on toward the bedroom.
Thirty minutes later, I was pulling up to Santori. I spotted the girls as soon as I walked in. They were already in our usual spot, wine on the table, laughing about something before I even made it through the door.
“Damn, y’all couldn’t wait for me?”
They jumped up anyway, all three of us tangled in a hug that had no business being that enthusiastic, considering they’d just seen me four days ago on a beach in Turks watching me get married.
“Girl, sit down.” Rebecca pulled me into the booth. “We ordered your usual.”
“How was the rest of the trip?” Yaslynn asked, already leaning forward.
“Perfect.” I picked up my wine glass. “Every single day.”
“Every single day or every single night?” Rebecca raised her eyebrow.
“Both.”
They screamed. I laughed and shrugged.
We settled into conversation after getting over our giggling.
They wanted to know about the villa, about the last few days, about what it felt like waking up married for real.
I told them what I could. I couldn’t tell them everything.
Couldn’t tell them about Karyn becoming a memory on that island.
I couldn’t tell them about the agents interrupting our dinner or approaching me.
Some parts of this life were mine to carry alone, and I was making peace with that one day at a time.
“Okay, but what's next?” Yaslynn asked, swirling her drink. “You're married, you got the ring, you got the man.”
“The penthouse,” Rebecca added.
“The car,” Yaslynn continued.
“The choker—”
“Okay.” I held up my hand, laughing.
“Babies?” they said together.
I opened my mouth and closed it. Smiled into my glass.
“One thing at a time.”
“That's a yes,” Rebecca said.
“That’s a not yet. Y'all know me, I just go with the flow.”
“That's a yes,” Yaslynn confirmed with an eye roll.
I shook my head and let them have it because the truth was they were probably right.
But I didn't know what was next. I knew I was happy.
I knew I was his. I knew the life I'd walked into was bigger and more complicated than anything I'd planned for myself standing alone in a hotel room six months ago.
But babies, a future, what came next, felt like a Lesley thing.
We talked until the restaurant got loud around us and none of us wanted to be the first to leave. We said our goodbyes and headed out with promises to link when Rebecca got back.
As I drove back to the penthouse, I thought about how important he had become to my life. How covered, I wanted to keep us. I didn’t even want to share my future with my friends. I loved him so much. I saw it in my own face when I looked in the mirror.
When I made it to the penthouse, I felt myself exhaling. He was home, and that made me happy. All I wanted to do was drag him to bed with me for a nap. Jet lag was starting to have its way with me. I yawned as I climbed on the elevator.
When I made it in I kicked off my sandals, already thinking about a shower and unpacking, when I heard voices from down the hall.
Malice. And Lesley.
I stayed still.
“And then there were no foxes in the hen house,” Malice said.
A pause.
“Word?” Lesley's voice was flat.
“Gone. Wednesday night. The shipment went exactly how you planned.”
“Damn, rest in peace, Uncle Tommy.” Then Lesley laughed. “Pops know?”
“He told me to tell you Congratulations again.”
I stood in the hallway with my Celine frames in my hands and felt the floor shift under me just slightly.
I set my purse on the entryway table quietly and walked to the bedroom.
I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at my ring.
Tommy was gone. Good. But there was so much weird shit happening, and I needed Lesley to tell me something.
I thought about Karyn and how she just up and fell off a damn cliff.
That was white people shit. Karyn knew better.
I thought about sitting at lunch an hour ago telling my girls that I’d had the perfect week and how I could not — would never — tell them that my husband had eliminated his uncle for me. That the man who walked me into this life had also been quietly clearing the road ahead of me the whole time.
I heard Lesley’s footsteps in the hall. And stood to look busy. He paused at the bedroom door.
I looked up at him.
“How was lunch?”
“Good, we had a time,” I muttered.
His brows bunched, and I scoffed because that didn’t even sound like me. He read my face in one second and smiled.
“How much did you hear?” he asked quietly.
“Enough.” I held his eyes. “Is this my fault?”
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He didn’t sit down. Just stood there looking at me, pretending to unpack.
“Colecion, relax.”
“Is this my fault?”
“No, hell no. You are the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me. If anything, you helped this family more than I could say.”
I nodded. Looking at my ring. Turned it once on my finger.
“And Karyn wasn’t an accident.”
He swiped his thumb across his nose and shook his head.
The room was quiet for a moment as he looked at me.
I walked to him. Put my hand flat against his chest.
“Thank you for telling me the truth.”
“I don’t plan on ever lying to you unless it’s to keep you safe. If you ask, I’ll tell you. Just be prepared for whatever you hear and stick to the code.”
“Okay,” I said barely above a whisper.
I looked at him for a long moment. This man, who had kicked in my door and upended my whole life and taken me to paradise and married me on a beach and cleared every threat to me without me ever having to ask. This man who loved me in the biggest and most dangerous ways I’d ever been loved.
He pulled me into him, and I let him, leaning into his embrace while the city carried on outside like nothing had happened because, as far as anyone knew, nothing had.
I was forever Mrs. Grimson.
His chosen wife.