Page 64 of If I Gave You My Heart
"Okay, what's up?"
"Adonis wants to give me his house… what do you think?"
As much as I couldn't stand his guts, I loved the house I had sold him.
"Let me run it by Ny."
I loved that house, but I loved my cousin more.
"Aight bet."
Dom catered to my every need for the rest of the day, and I knew it was because he sensed something was bothering me. He tried his best to busy me with our baby shower plans, and for most of the day, it did work. We had our color scheme together. Knowing that we were having a girl put my mind at ease. I felt like I wouldn't know what to do with a boy because I was naturally a soft person. Now, my cousin was the total opposite. That girl could raise an army of men if she really wanted to.
After outlining the décor, invitations, and guest list for the baby shower, I just laid in bed for the rest of the day. My mind was on Nyoka. I knew she was leaving, but I wondered where she would go. All our lives, Nyoka would be on the move, and every time we spoke, she would be in a new city. I wondered where she was going to settle. I'm sure I would hear from her once she was healed and feeling back to herself, though.
Chapter 15
Adonis
I didn't feel right after visiting Lima and returning to Georgia. That's probably why I didn't fight to stay with Nyoka. I had been missing Ohio for a while, so it feels good to be back in familiar territory. The only upside I would have had to staying in Georgia would have been a future with Ny, but that was done. Since moving back to Lima, I started my landscaping business out here and got a crib. I had left the old business in Georgia to Dom. We were some legit niggas now. Lee was released from prison right before I got my business up and running, so I immediately gave him a job. I knew what it was like to come home and struggle for a bit, and if I could help it, I would prevent that for anyone in my close circle. It was just an added bonus that he was good as shit with a yard. No racist shit, I think it was the Mexican in his blood that made him cut a yard so precisely and at a speed that left my customers satisfied.
Once Dom let me know that Nyoka had moved out of the house, I had left the crib to him too. It took me about a month to get my own spot here in Lima, and once I did, I sent for my clothes. I didn't want the furniture in that bitch because everything would remind me of Nyoka. When I came back and put the down payment on my house, just like I knew he would, Javier had moved in with me. I think the adjustment to Joy having her long-lost husband around was too much for him. It was a lot for me, too, but I didn't dwell on what I couldn't understand. They had their special bond, and honestly, it was nice to see Joy happy romantically.
I walked up the yard slowly from the mailbox. I flipped through the mail, handing Javier whatever belonged to him. A light pink envelope caught my attention. It was from Dom and Talia, which caused me to rip it open quickly. It was a baby shower invitation.
"I knew they asses was gonna have a baby…"
Dom and Talia couldn't keep their damn hands off of each other. I was actually surprised that they hadn't gotten pregnant sooner. It was news to me because Dom never uttered a word of it every time we spoke. When I thought of it, he had been hinting at me being his child's godfather if he ever had one.
"Huh?" Javier asked as he started to open up his mail.
"Dom is having a baby with his girl."
"The same girl that's your ex's cousin?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep."
"Oh, you should go. You may bump into ya girl. Try to get her back, bro."
"Nah, I'm good," I quickly declined.
I would be a liar if I said that Nyoka hadn't crossed my mind since I had moved back. As soon as my feet touched Lima soil, I tried to double back with Lola, but, as expected, that didn't work. We had grown too much from one another. I wasn't the same person I was when I left a year ago, nor was she. Still, we had an unbreakable bond. She just wasn't my person. Joy tried talking some sense into me when she saw me backtracking in Lola's direction, but I wasn't trying to hear anything. She was trying to be the voice of reason for Nyoka, and I listened, but I was closed off to hearing any of that bullshit. To me, Ny had ample time to come clean about her being an assassin, especially after Joy and my mother had come clean. I couldn't bring myself to forgive my mother. Anybody trying to get me to do that shit would be beating a dead horse. Joy raised me, so I was willing to sweep her lies and betrayal under the rug. I didn't have it in me to do the same for a stranger. I loved the fuck out of Nyoka. I had broken down all the barriers of having trust issues to love her, and in the end, I was backdoored.
"I think it's fire that ya old lady is an assassin. That's heat brother."
I chuckled a bit because I weirdly agreed with Javier. The shit was sexy, but it was the principal of it all. The hiding shit was strange as fuck.
"It is heat. I just can't take that lying shit."
"Well, technically, she never lied because you ain't flat out ask her if she had ever killed someone, and let's not forget that she and her cousin never found out about y'all robbing them."
Javier did have a point, but I didn't give a fuck.
"Are you my brother or hers?"
Javier raised both his hands in defense and then laughed. I looked down at the baby shower invitation again and then saw that they were having it at my old house. I had thought about leaving the house to Nyoka, but the anger in me then didn't feel that she deserved shit. With Joy clearing her name, I'm sure she would return to her old ways. I ripped the invitation up and then tossed it in the garbage. I decided I would just send a gift. Well, send a shitload of gifts, especially since I figured I would be asked to be the godfather.
"OH SHIT!"
