Chapter 30 Sincere Bellamy
SINCERE BELLAMY
This was a big day for all of us, but it felt like my day. Today was the proof I needed to know I didn’t sell the Cartiers or myself a dream. I took an idea that could’ve died in meetings, politics, and war, and I dragged it into the real world.
As the mayor’s rep did his speech, I looked past the podium at the land.
That empty space was about to turn into concrete and steel.
Families would live there. Money would move through there.
Kids would grow up on a block that didn’t exist yet.
This was legacy being built, not just for the Cartiers, but for me too.
For my future. For my name. For the version of myself I hadn’t even met yet.
For Rhythm and her kids. For the children we decided to bring into the world when the time was right.
When it was time, Legend, Icon, Saint, a few city officials, a few partners and myself took pictures with gold shovels in hand. We dug into the dirt on camera. Camera flashes popped from every angle.
Then the ceremony ended, and the crowd began to disperse and security opened a section of the gate so equipment could start coming through. Legend, Icon, Saint, and I hung back and watched the site proudly.
Excavators rolled in slow. Men with orange vests started to yell instructions. The sudden sound of engines gave confirmation that we had begun to build.
Legend looked at me, smiling like a proud father. “You proved your gangsta without touching a gun.”
I smiled, but I didn’t say what I was thinking out loud.
Because I did pull a trigger. Just not on a body.
I pulled it on careers, deals, and futures.
I pulled it on people who thought they could stand in our way and go home untouched.
I pulled it in board rooms, meetings, and votes.
I pulled it with paperwork and leverage and pressure until people folded.
That was my lane now, and I was fucking good at it.
Icon nodded at the site. “This is big.”
“It’s bigger than big,” Saint added. “This is legendary. Our father didn’t even see this possible for this family. He would be proud.”
Legend’s eyes stayed on the machines. “You did the damn thing, Sincere.”
I nodded once. “We did this.”
The sound of heels behind me made me turn.
Rhythm walked up with a smile that hit me right in my stomach.
She had on a fitted maxi dress and her locs hung down two inches longer than they had been when I met her.
Big, black sunglasses hid her eyes from the stifling, June sun.
She had a glow that made me still stare in disbelief that she was all mine.
She wasn’t timid in these spaces anymore. She stood in them like she had every right to because she did.
When she reached me, she hugged me tight. “I am so proud of you.”
I wrapped my arms around her and held on. “Thank you.”
A year ago, I was still in the honeymoon phase of my marriage, thinking I had the kind of love that was going to last because I wanted it to.
I got left, not at the altar, but in the space where you still believed in forever.
It hurt because I did love Tempo. But what I had with Rhythm was different.
This was real. This was the kind of love that didn’t just come in your life; it changed it.
Rhythm took my hand and squeezed it. “You okay?”
Looking down at her, I kissed her forehead, right where there was still scarring from the accident. “I’m more than okay. I’m grateful.”
She smiled. “For what?”
“For you. For your kids. For the fact that y’all are safe. For the fact that I get to build something for the Cartiers that is legit.”
Her lips parted as her eyes grew glassy. She blinked and tried to hold it back.
I lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “I didn’t know I’d earned a life this perfect.”
Rhythm leaned into me. “You earned it, baby.”
I looked back at the site one more time, then down at her. “I’m going to keep earning it. For you. For the Cartiers. For us.”
She nodded, barely able to get out, “Okay.”
I pulled her in again and held her close while the machines moved behind us and the city carried on like this was just another day.
But it wasn’t.
This was the beginning of the rest of my life.
Afterward, we had a celebratory dinner at the Cartier estate.
Everybody was still dressed from the groundbreaking in suits and dresses. The music was loud, drinks kept getting poured, and people kept laughing because they were so happy.
Rhythm sat close to me on the sectional, with one leg tucked under her. KJ was in our face, telling me what happened at his appointment earlier that day.
“I need glasses,” he said with an odd amount of happiness.
I looked at him. “Word?”
He nodded excitedly, “Uh huh! The doctor said I need them because I couldn’t read all the lines.”
Rhythm tried not to laugh, but it slipped out anyway.
“Don’t worry,” I told him. “You can wear glasses for now. Then when you get older, you can do contacts or you can get LASIK. Then you won’t have to wear the glasses anymore.”
KJ shook his head fast. “I don’t want none of that.”
“Why not?”
He pointed at my face. “Because I want glasses like you. I want to look like you.”
That hit me so hard so unexpectedly. My throat got tight, and I looked away for a second like I was checking something across the room. But I wasn’t. I just needed a second to get myself together.
“You a smart little dude,” I said, trying to keep my voice from telling on me. “My prescription is too strong for LASIK and contacts aren’t a good option for me. You don’t need glasses to be like me.”
“Yes, I do,” he argued. “Because you be looking important.”
I cleared my throat and held my hand out. “Come here.”
KJ slapped my hand and we shook up the way he liked, like he was one of the guys. Then he ran off to go play with Royal and the other kids like nothing happened.
Rhythm looked at me, smiling hard. “You about to cry?”
“I’m not,” I said.
“You are,” she teased.
“I’m not.”
We were still laughing when Legend walked up on us with his face way too serious. “Both of y’all need to come to the office.”
Rhythm’s smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
My stomach dropped. My mind went straight to the project, some new problem trying to pop up too soon.
“What happened?” I pressed.
Legend didn’t answer. “Just come on.”
Rhythm stood with me, and we followed him through the house. My head was already running through worst-case scenarios.
When we stepped into the office, I stopped short. Everybody was in there; Legend, Icon, Saint, Big A, Reek, and the women too. Aria was in the corner in a plush chair, bouncing her new baby boy on her lap. Major was in a little outfit that looked expensive and soft, and Aria was smiling at him.
My confusion grew.
I looked at Legend, asking again, “What happened?”
Icon spoke before Legend could. “Nothing happened to the project.”
I stared. “Then why—”
Legend stepped forward. “You have been vital to this organization, and you proved that in a lane most niggas can’t even stand in.”
Icon nodded. “You are a gangster in your own right. You deserve to be a true part of this. Not adjacent. Not ‘our man who handles the legit side.’ You earned your place.”
My throat got tight again, and this time I didn’t look away fast enough.
Legend’s voice dropped. “Get on your knees.”
The room went quiet.
Rhythm’s hand found mine for a second, then she let go and gave me a look that told me to take it in.
I stepped forward and knelt in the center of the office.
Icon moved in front of me holding a Cartier medallion chain in his hands. It was the same iconic chain they wore, the same one that meant you weren’t just family by blood or love; you were family by loyalty.
“From this day forward,” Icon started, “You are officially part of this family and this empire. You carry this name with pride, and with it, the weight of what it means to be a Cartier. Do you accept this responsibility?”
My voice came out rough. “I do.”
Icon nodded once. “Stand up, Sincere.”
As I stood, Icon held the chain up again. “Repeat after me.”
I swallowed hard and repeated it. “I stand on the foundation of our codes. I give my loyalty and pledge to protect all things that bind us together. I will honor my brothers and stand on the shoulders of our Allegiance. No disloyalty, insubordination, or perfidy will be tolerated. I accept any consequences for those acts. Flesh of my flesh. Blood of my blood. I give my life for the Inc., and I’ll die for the Inc. ”
Icon stepped closer and draped the chain around my neck. It felt heavy for reasons that had nothing to do with the metal.
Legend’s eyes held mine. “Welcome to the family. You earned your place.”
My throat got tight again, and I nodded because I didn’t trust my voice not to sound weak.
Icon pulled me into a proud hug next. Big A clapped my back. Saint grabbed me and hugged me hard enough to make me laugh through the emotion. Reek shook my hand like I’d crossed into something that couldn’t be undone.
Then Rhythm stepped in. She wrapped her arms around me carefully, like she knew I was barely holding myself together. “I told you. You didn’t sell anybody a dream. You made their dreams come true.”
I held her close for a second and let myself feel it. Because I was proud too.
I didn’t get here by accident. I didn’t get here by luck. I got here by work, pressure, and making people respect me in rooms where respect wasn’t handed out.
And now I had the chain on my neck, my woman at my side, and a future in front of me too bright to look at head on.