Page 53 of Love Letters From Memphis

“He did. He said you deserved to know the truth and that he wouldn’t be another man who kept it from you.” At the sound of that, Lei’s tears began to fall. Ace reached in her direction, but she lifted her hands and kept him from consoling her. “If you blame anyone, blame me. Don’t blame him. Londen handled this the best way he could. He held the truth while he was in prison to ensure he could protect you the way I requested, but he told you as soon as he could. He did not know who you were ten years ago, Lei, so please… if you want to be with that man… don’t hold this against him.”

“How can I not? He killed my…” Her voice broke. Looking away, Lei wiped her face. “I know you’re my father, but Marcus was too. And as fucked up as what he and Jennifer did was, that little girl inside of me always longed for their love, validation, and acceptance. As much as I wish I could stop that, I can’t. So it’s really fucking with me to know that you had him murdered. Like… that’s not okay, Daddy. Not atall.”

His chin lowered to his chest, removing eye contact. Ace’s sagging posture straightened, but his toneless responses continued when he said, “I respect that. I know it’s going to take you some time to accept what I did…”

“I willneveraccept what you did. Are you kidding me?”

“Fine. You might not accept it, but this is not going to ruin our relationship. I’ve already lost twenty-six years with you, Lei. I’m not missing out on anymore time. So whatever I have to do to fix this, I will.”

Her mouth opened, but she was in such a state of disbelief that nothing came out. Releasing a low chuckle, Lei weakly left the room… grateful her mother hadn’t heard their exchange. Otherwise, she’d want her to stay and try to hash things out. In that moment, all Lei wanted to do was sleep—and that made her feel like she was finding out about Steven and Regal, along with being kidnapped all over again.

thirty-nine

As happy asLonden was to see his sister, he couldn’t devote too much of himself to anything she was saying and doing. She’d been in town for two days, and already, she’d already set up a YouTube channel and social media pages for his cooking. Megan had also created a schedule for him and connected him with a photographer and social media manager. Both would come over when he was cooking to take pictures and videos of his dishes, then set them up on his profiles and channels. Londen had gone this long without being on social media and he didn’t want to change that now.

“Where’s your head, Londen?” Megan asked, bumping his shoulder with hers.

He hadn’t even realized when she’d come out to the patio with him. What Londen loved about his suite was that the bedroom and living room had large views of the beach. Every time he stepped out onto the patio or went down to the beach, peace consumed him. Londen was so excited to experience this with Lei after hearing about how much she loved Sausalito, and now, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever have the chance.

“Lei,” was all he offered.

“Have you heard from her yet?”

Londen continued to look straight ahead as he shook his head. “Nah. I haven’t tried to call or text her. I want to give her space.”

“That’s a good idea, but you should still let her know you’re here. Just a simple text to remind her makes all the difference in the world.”

With a sigh, Londen considered his sister’s words. Though his parents knew he was seeing someone, no one had met Lei. Hell, they hadn’t had a chance. As soon as they came back from New York, it was over before it could even begin. Maybe it was best that way. The last thing he wanted was to create an image of a happily ever after fairytale that would never come to fruition.

“I’ll see.”

“Boy, text that girl!” As she punched him in his arm, Londen chuckled.

“Aight, aight. Damn. But if she tells me not to reach out to her anymore, that’s on you.”

“And I’ll take that charge, but if you were as close as you said you were, and she has the character you described, she’s not going to say that.”

Londen looked at his sister for a few seconds before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Londen: Just want you to know I’m waiting for you. I’m ready whenever you are.

To Londen’s surprise, Lei texted him back and told him to send her his location. As soon as he did, he texted her the room number.

“She’s on her way,” he said in disbelief.

“See! I told you. You owe me.”

“Mhm.” Londen wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad you’re home, sis.”

“I am too. It wasn’t the same without y’all. Without you. You kept me sane growing up with the crazies.”

Londen chuckled, but he couldn’t really argue with his sister. Their parents had an unnatural way of raising them, evident by his father’s insistence that he export drugs. They gave way more freedom than Londen believed they should. He loved it in his younger days, but eventually, he started to crave structure. One thing his parents didn’t play about was their education. Even with them being in the streets, Simpson still wanted his sons to get a degree.

“Have you let them know you’re here yet?”

“I told them today, and they want us to come over.”

“I’m not tryna deal with their asses tonight.”

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