Page 13 of Labria

This rule of marrying a Sicilian was really a thing I was going to have to contend with, eventually. I hadn’t planned on being in this life long enough to conform to these ways from the old country. I was going to have to make a decision to be all in or all out, eventually.

Bria wasn’t going to wait for me to figure a way out of this. The servers arrived with our meal selections and I was saved from this marriage conversation for now.

Chapter Five

LABRIA

Sleeping alone, I hated it, now that I was used to sleeping with Lord by my side. My stubborn refusal to answer any of Lord’s phone calls was taking a toll on me. I dressed for work in the morning and tried to think about my sister flying into town to visit. I needed to see a friendly face. I needed her support. I wanted to not think about him.

I left work at noon to pick up Khia from the airport. I told her in advance that Lord was gone out of town. We would have nothing but alone time to catch up. She was supposed to meet him and I hoped she wouldn’t give me any grief because he was conveniently out of town.

I withheld so much information from Khia because I didn’t want her to worry about me while I was out here by myself. I also didn’t want her telling me the truth about my situation. I didn’t want her keeping it real and telling me I was a fool to be wrapped up in this place with these people. I hadn’t come to terms with all the things that were going on in my life. Saying what I’d been through, out loud to my sister wasn’t an option for me at this time.

Khia had no clue that offering me a ride to Chicago’s Midway airport a few months ago saved my life. That secret I was going to take to the grave and the afterlife. She would split her wig if she ever found out how much danger I’d survived since moving to Vegas.

Picking her up from arrivals went well. This was one of the times the airport wasn’t overly congested. After a hug and loading her heavy ass luggage into the truck, we were off and on the way back to my house.

My security had the rest of the day off. I drove the truck because I didn’t want to spook my sister right away. If she saw me with a driver, she would think it was strange. If she saw he was armed, she would really think that was stranger.

I gave her a grand tour of my new house. She was low-key impressed. This house was much nicer than the house we grew up in. It was a little extravagant, but Lord’s place in Chicago was modern and grand. He was used to a certain level of opulence and as his girlfriend; I was going to have to level up.

The one thing I confessed to, was owning a new house with Lord. Khia was a little pissed off about that. I had my name on a house with a man that wasn’t my husband. She didn’t believe in putting your name on anything with a man until marriage. At this point I wasn’t even sure marriage was in the cards for me, at least not a marriage to Lord. The baby out-of-wedlock thing was really becoming an issue of contention between us. He was trying to make me a baby mama instead of a wife, and I wasn’t having it.

After getting Khia squared away in the guest room down the hall. I led her downstairs to the kitchen for wine. I had a sweet red already chilled and saved for her arrival. I poured her a full glass and did the same for myself.

We sat at the kitchen island and nibbled off the charcuterie board loaded with fruit, cheeses, and crackers that I prepared the night before.

Khia popped a green grape into her mouth. “I’m not going to lie. This place is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” I took a quick sip of the red wine.

“But—”

“But what?”

“Where is this man?”

“I told you he had to leave town on business.”

Khia pressed her lips tightly together. “Uh-huh. If you say so, chile. Seems like he scared of Black people or something.”

“Sis, I’m Black. He’s not scared of Black people.”

“I’m going to have to take your word for it cause I ain’t met this invisible man you came here running up behind.”

I inhaled. “You will meet him one day.”

“Ha, when? At your wedding? I’m just messing with you.” She took a long sip from her wineglass.

“Do you think Larry is going to be able to handle the kids without you?” I wanted to talk about something else.

“No, but I prayed on it and as long as everyone is alive when I return, I’m going to take that as a win.”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

“I can’t be worried about every damn thing. I came here for a mommy break and a relaxing getaway.”

“I thought you came here to visit me.”

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