Page 148 of Tangled Hearts
Everything was happening so fast, two shots rang out.
Christian’s body flew back hitting the wall loud and hard.
Destiny was still screaming.
Chanta scrambled to the gun, firing shots of her own, in a daze and not recognizing her own brother. She emptied the clip with her eyes closed. She’d never shot a gun a day in her life. The Glock Christian carried didn’t come with a safety.
Smoke filled the room. The smell of gunpowder clung to the air.
Christian collapsed to his knees, pressing his hand against the wound in his side. Blood seeped through his shirt fast. His vision blurred. Noir’s face flashed in his mind again, her laugh, her perfume, the way she looked at him before everything went to hell.
Chanta dropped the gun, her whole body shaking. She crawled to him, screaming his name. “Don’t you die on me, Christian! Please!”
He coughed, blood on his lips, the life leaving his eyes. “Tell my daughter… tell her I love her… don’t let her grow up hating me.”
His body gave out, hitting the floor.
Chanta rocked back and forth, her cries echoing off the walls. Her brother laying lifeless a few feet away, her man dying in front of her. The weight of it all crushed her.
She rushed over to her brother. “I didn’t know… it all happened so fast.” She tried to explain to his lifeless body.
Sirens wailed in the distance getting closer by the second. Chanta just cried. Her sadness mixing with her daughters.
The jet door dropped and the stairs unfolded. Noir stepped down with her heart beating fast. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder, squinting against the Jade City sun. Cash hadn’t said shit the whole flight except that she needed to get back.
Her nerves were on fire.
On the tarmac, Knycole and Hov stood side by side. Noir slowed, tilting her head with a weak grin. “What is this? Y’all got back together? That’s why y’all had me rushing back?”
Nobody answered. Hov’s eyes glossed, his lips pressed tight in a straight line. Knycole’s shoulders shook, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“What?” Noir’s laugh cracked in half. She dropped her bag to the ground. “What?” she asked again.
Hov took a step forward, his voice rough. “Christian’s gone.”
“Um, he left the country?” Noir’s eyes bounced between the two of them.
“No, Noir. He’s—” a sob ripped through Hov. “He’s dead, man.”
Noir’s scream tore through the air. She collapsed to her knees on the hot pavement, palms smacking the ground. “No! No! Y’all lying!” Her voice ripped. She hit her chest, hit her thighs, clawed at the ground. “Don’t play with me! Don’t play with me!”
Knycole dropped down beside her, crying harder. Hov wiped his face, trying to maintain control, but his hands shook.
“Noir,” Knycole cried, trying to comfort her best friend.
Regardless of what they were going through, Knycole knew Noir would always have love for Christian.
“Nooooo!” Noir wailed, throwing her body back. She screamed until her throat felt like it split open.
Her chest burned. The sound tore from her body like she was trying to rip out every memory she had of him—five years’ worth. Nights she stayed up waiting for him to come home, mornings she woke up with him next to her, promises they made in the middle of fights, kisses that always felt like they were the last. All of it was clawing at her now.
Cash was in her heart, she knew that. She loved him in a way that was real, new, and undeniable. But Christian had been her life. He had been her best friend and her worst decision, her anchor and her storm. She gave him five years, and no matter how messy those years were, they still belonged to her.
She felt shredded from the inside out, like something had been stolen from her that she couldn’t replace. She hated him for what he did, hated herself for playing games, and hated the world for taking him away before she could let him go on her own terms.
Her hands clawed at her own arms, nails digging in as if pain on the outside could distract from the hole inside her chest. Tears blurred her vision until she could barely see the people rushing around her. Every sound felt muffled. Every breath felt like she was swallowing glass.
Noir wanted to collapse into Cash’s arms, but the guilt hung heavy. How could she love another man when the one she built her twenties around was lying cold, never to come back? The grief wrapped around her throat, choking her, reminding herthat no matter what love came next, she would never get those five years back.
