Page 11 of Love Letters From Memphis

Running his hand across the back of his head, Marcus sighed.

Had he overwhelmed Royalty by telling her a half truth?

She was already dealing with the fact that her sister had slept with her fiancé and had a baby on the way. Was now the time for her to find out Jennifer wasn’t her mother too? That hadn’t been the plan, but when Marcus saw the hurt in his daughter’s eyes, he had to dosomething. All Jennifer had to do was apologize for not being as present and accepting of Royalty as she should have been, and the truth could have been avoided—but she was always… always so stubborn.

At the sound of tires on gravel, relief filled Marcus as he turned, but that relief quickly turned into confusion at the sight of Jennifer’s car. Chuckling, Marcus crossed his arms over his chest with a shake of his head. His tongue rolled over his cheek as he watched Jennifer get out of her Infinity.

What was she up to?

Her ankles crossed over one another as she sashayed in his direction with a smug grin. Over twenty-years of faking the funk with Jennifer had aged him. When Royalty was first born, Marcus wanted to keep Jennifer around to make amends for cheating and show his gratitude for her agreeing to mother Royalty. Now, he wished he would have let her go and run away with Royalty. So many things would be different, better, if it would have been just him and his baby girl.

“What are you doing here? And where’s Royalty?”

“She wanted me to let you know she won’t be coming.”

“Why not?” Marcus reached for his phone, prepared to call her again.

“I… wouldn’t call her if I were you.” Jennifer closed the space between them, gently pulling his phone out of his hand. “She’s very upset about you kidnapping her, so I highly doubt she’ll want to speak to you.”

Marcus’ jaw dropped, but he quickly composed himself. There was a chance Jennifer was lying, and he wouldn’t dare allow her to think she’d gotten a rise out of him.

“What are you talking about?”

She laughed, circling him slowly with a disapproving shake of her head. “Even though you all try to portray me as this… neglectful monster, I genuinely care about Royalty, so I stopped by to check on her. Imagine my surprise when she told me the same lie you did when you brought her into our lives—that her mother was dead, and you were the greatest father ever by choosing to raise her with me. Did youreallythink I’d let you get away with that?”

Marcus’ heart was beating so hard and loud, he heard it in his chest.

“You didn’t…”

“Oh, but I did.” Jennifer’s pointer finger slid down the center of his chest. “See, you fucked up when you tried to put it all on me. If you were going to try to explain why I treated her differently, you should have told her it’s because you took her from the woman you cheated on me with.”

“Do you not realize you ruin everything?” Marcus almost whispered, trying to keep his calm. If he didn’t, he’d explode. “All you had to do was apologize a week ago, and none of this would have happened. All you had to do was treat Royalty just as well as you treated Regal, and none of this would have happened. You always ruin every damn thing, Jen. I hate the day I even met you.”

For seconds on end, they just stared at each other before Jennifer burst into a fit of laughter.

“You have got to be the most delusion bastard on earth.” Her lips trembled as they snapped shut before she yelled, “You kidnapped her, Marcus!” Those four words, though truthful, sliced through his heart like a sharp machete. “You took her from her family and forced me to keep your secret just so I’d stay alive! And you expected me to do that lovingly?” Jennifer’s voice cracked as her eyes watered. “I did the best I could,” she whispered. Sniffling, she wiped her face and pulled in a shaky breath. “The truth is out now, though, and I don’t care about the consequences. In fact, I hope you’re punished severely for what you did to her, and if I get caught in the crossfire of that… I’ll suffer just to make sure you finally get what you deserve.”

After spitting on his feet, Jennifer turned and headed back to her car. “Stay the hell away from Royalty, Marcus. We’ve caused that girl enough pain. Leave her alone!”

With weak legs, Marcus staggered toward his car. Even with Jennifer’s words, he refused to believe she’d told Royalty the truth. He waited until he was in the car to call Royalty again. This time, the call went straight to voicemail. Marcus punched the steering wheel three times with a roar before starting the engine and swerving out of the parking lot. He needed to see Royalty and explain why he’d done what he did, otherwise, there was no doubt in his mind that he would lose her forever.

??????

When Marcus made it to Royalty’s apartment, he was surprised by the sight before him. Several men were clearing out her apartment, and two guarded the door. The only one he recognized was Danny, Simone’s boyfriend. Marcus’ brows wrinkled as he tried to look further into the apartment, and it wasn’t lost on him that Danny’s body shifted further in front of him.

“What’s going on? Where’s Roy?”

“I’m not allowed to say,” Danny replied.

“What are y’all doing?”

“Fuck does it look like?”

The bite of Danny’s words had Marcus jerking his head in the younger man’s direction. “Who you think you talking to, son?”

Danny’s grin was cocky as he chuckled, cupping his hands in the center of him. “I ain’t talking tonobody. Move around, we need to get these boxes outta here.”

Marcus was no fool. No matter how angry he was or how disrespected he felt, he was outnumbered. He wasn’t sure what all Royalty had shared with Simone and Danny, but it was enough to have Danny handling him differently. His best bet was to try to get as many answers as he could by maintaining his cool.

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