Page 158 of Tangled Hearts
Nakorea watched them with her hand on her hip. “Remember what I said, Noir… you can’t run from something that’s trying to catch up with you.”
“Okay, mama.”
Noir’s stomach tightened as they stepped inside the attorney’s office. To her surprise, Hov was already there, leaning back in a chair.
Cash stayed in the car feeling this was something she needed to handle alone.
“What you doing here?” Noir asked. “And in dress pants?” She looked him up and down. “Um, where you going or coming from?”
“Noir, stop playing with me,” Hov mushed her head laughing at how crazy she was. “Got a call. Figured it was business.”
Noir gulped knowing exactly what was about to be revealed. This one little secret had been eating her up since Christian told her, swearing her to secrecy, with promises of revealing it all himself. Now, he was gone and the secret died with him. At least that’s what Noir thought because even in death, she would hold his secrets.
Noir touched his arm, her voice lowering. “Whatever happens in here, just know I love you. And I did it for him.”
Hov’s brows pinched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The door opened and the attorney came in, files tucked under his arm. “Let’s get started. This won’t take long.” He adjusted his glasses, flipping open the paperwork. “Christian finalized his estate three years before his death. At that time, he had no dependents, so everything was left to Noir Johnson.” He looked up from his paperwork to Noir.
Her body shook and her chest ached so bad, she felt like she needed to throw up. She’d been trying to calm her sporadic grief not wanting her baby to feel any of her pain.
If she’d ever questioned Christian’s love for her before, it was no longer a question she didn’t know the answer to. That man loved her for real. Deep as hell. In a way he never really got to say out loud. He’d left everything to her before she even said yes to forever. Before the baby. Before the chaos. Before his life ended.
And now he was gone.
Gone, but still tryna love her through a signature on a piece of paper.
Gone, but still making sure she was straight.
She thought about his daughter and how she wasn’t left anything. It made her need to have that conversation with Chanta knowing the baby deserved some of the fruits of her father’s labor.
It didn’t feel good.
It didn’t feel fair.
It just hurt.
And she didn’t know what the fuck to do with that.
Hov shifted, after he’d consoled Noir. “Then why am I here?”
The attorney slid a thick envelope across the table. “Because of this.”
Hov snatched it up, tearing it open.
Noir pulled out her phone, texting Rock.
The room went silent as he unfolded the pages. His eyes scanned the first line, and his body stilled.
Quameek,
If you’re reading this, then I’m dead and I never got the courage to tell you this before then. I told my attorney if I never come back to get the letter then he had to be the one to give it to you… still some weak ass nigga shit. I don’t know if I died old or young. All I know is I wasn’t as solid as I claimed cause I didn’t tell you all the shit that mattered. Still, I hope we created a solid bond because I love you, nigga.
There ain’t no easy way to start this, so I’m just gonna get straight to it. I’m your brother. We share the same father, Leno.
I know you probably feel sick reading that. Truth is, he wasn’t shit. But he was everything to me because he chose me. He raised me, gave me his time, his money, his lessons, all because he loved my mama. That love didn’t extend to you, and that’s what I need to apologize for. I was a coward. Just like him. I stayed in the cut when I should’ve stood up, but there’s something you don’t know.
That rainy night when you were ten, I watched you. I used to have the driver circle your block just so I could see if you were still standing. That night, I got out. I saw the mess. I didn’t panic. I didn’t scream. I called Leno’s cleanup crew, and theymade everything disappear while you were hiding in Knycole’s house. (I knew she was gon’ be your lady lol.)
