Yours Book 3: Life Mastered (9 page)

Wyatt, Noah, Braxton, and Felix all lead the way into the hospital. We take the elevator upstairs and step into a conference room. We are greeted in the conference room by Joe Black and Johnathan. It looks like the whole gang is here except for Toby.

I am on edge so I don’t take a seat as the rest of the brothers do. Joe slides a folder across the table. His face is stern, and the rest of the guys look just as pissed as they did when we pulled up.

“There is a reason we haven’t been able to track this son of a bitch,” Braxton starts.

I lift a brow and open the file. “And what might that be,” I ask absently as I look at the documents in the folder.

I furrow my brows because I have never in my life seen the documents before me, not ever. However, every single last one has my name on them. The signature looks identical to mine as well. I am confused as to what I am looking at. It is only as I look very closely that I can tell the difference from my own signatures.

“What the hell am I looking at,” I look up at Joe and then Wyatt.

It is Felix that responds. “Brax didn’t notice it at first. We were coming up with dead ends, but something odd jumped out at him. There was a signature on some paperwork in Seattle around the time Brax and Ry went to pick up Sephora,” he starts.

“I remembered the dates. Ryan stuck me with the bill for the hotel that night. I knew you weren’t in Seattle back then, you were already back in Cali looking for Sephora when you reached out to us for help. I got to thinking and did a little more digging,” Brax adds.

“When he brought it to my attention, I started to think. What if we're looking for this phantom in all the wrong places. Looking for an identity, that doesn’t exist? What if we already have clues looking us in the face,” Felix says.

“Felix and I started to comb through everything we had on you. Then we started looking through all public records on you and digging for things that are not so public,” Braxton proceeds.

“That’s when that came to me,” Wyatt points to the folder. “I know you better than anyone. Well, me and the guys do. Shit wasn’t adding up. There are corporations, real estate, and investments all in your name, and we all know you don’t own any of them. Craig has been your forensic accountant for years now. He didn’t recognize any of it,” Wyatt chimes in.

He looks me in the eyes as he continues. “We can’t find the motherfucker because he is you. Every move you make he makes an identical one. I don’t know how the fuck he is doing it, but he is living your life right alongside you. He has become you and for some reason, no one has bothered to question this shit in the least.”

“What,” I ask stunned. “How the fuck is this possible?”

“Oh, my boy, that is not the best part,” Joe says as he folds his hands over his chest. “You have a little criminal investigation going on at the moment, Nick. The feds are watching you.”

“What,” I gasp out. I may know and deal with a few people that have businesses that aren’t entirely on the up and up, but I have never done anything illegal in my business dealings or in my life.

“I reached out to some of my connections, and you are being watched closely,” Joe sighs heavily. “You are being looked at for your family’s murders and embezzlement charges.”

“What the fuck,” I roar.

“Somehow this asshole is making it look like you are responsible for a whole lot of shit. What worries me is that a lot of the shit looks legit,” Joe says with concern written all over his face. “I know it’s not. I never doubted you for a minute, but if I didn’t know you the way I do, I would be helping them take you down. It’s that bad, Nick.”

I stumble to the chair closest to me and take a seat. This shit is not happening. I have just gone from seeing myself as untouchable to feeling like I need to make a run for it. My whole life flashes before me. I just knew it was too fucking quiet.

The silence of the last two weeks is suddenly now deafening. I try to process this. I am being framed for the murders of my mother, father, and my daughter.
Is that what I am hearing? What in the entire fuck is going on here?

“Nick, someone is pushing this. I tried to get my connections to look further into it, but they’re being blocked at every turn as well,” Joe says breaking through my thoughts. “I don’t know who has it out for you, Kid, but we need to stop underestimating him.”

“
Fuck
,” I bellow. This I didn’t see coming at all.

chapter Fifteen

Familiar Strangers

Sephora

I walk into the room to find Kimmie yelling at Lucian as tears stream down her face. I almost laugh at the stricken look on Luke’s face as Kimmie goes in. I mean she is really letting him have it.

“I don’t care Luke. I don’t want to do this. I’m tired of being afraid. I’m tired of being unsure. I’m scared, and I just want my best friend, but she’s not here. I’m stuck with you, and I don’t want you here right now,” Kimmie ends her rant with.

I didn’t catch enough of the beginning to understand the last part, but I can see the hurt in Luke’s eyes as Kimmie’s words hit him. His fists are clenched at his sides, and I can see him trying to rein in his own temper.

“You’re my
wife
!” Luke growls when he loses his battle. “You are giving birth to
our
daughter. You are not the only one scared right now, Kimmie. I wish like fuck my sister was here for you, but she’s not. But I sure as shit am, and I am not going anywhere.

“I’m tired too. I’m tired of pretending we are not married. I’m tired of you pushing me away. I’m tired of holding back when all I want is to wrap you in my arms and make love to you. I’m so fucking tired,” Luke continues his rant until he hears me suck in a breath.

I am stunned. I knew these two were keeping a secret, but I had no clue it was a secret this big.
My best friend married my brother? When, where, how? Oh my, God, they have been lying to me and living under my damn roof while doing it.
I am suddenly so hurt by two of the most important people in my life.

“Oh my God,” I gasp. I don’t give into the tears like I normally would, even against my hormones insistence. I am too pissed off at these two. “Are you kidding me?”

“
Sophi
,” Kimmie beams in relief and sings my name. Her smile falls when she realizes what I just walked in on. “Oh God, Soph. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to talk to you, but…” Kimmie’s words cut off as she grabs the rail of the bed and groans.

Fresh tears stream down her face, and she looks up at me pleadingly. I am still pissed, but I rush to her side. I push her damp braids from her face. She has looked so cute with her box braids in the last months of her pregnancy.

“She is not supposed to be here this soon. I’m not ready. I had more things to do, I need more time,” Kimmie whines.

“It looks like she is on her way to me. She is not worried about your stuff to do. She is already just like her dad,” I toss the jab at my brother, and he gives me a weak smile.

“We didn’t keep it from you to hurt you,” Luke says as he locks eyes with me.

“But you both kept it from me,” I reply and look away. “Congratulations. I wish you both the best and true happiness.”

“Don’t be like that, Lilla du,” Luke sighs.

“He married me for Lilla,” Kimmie whimpers sadly. “It’s not a big deal.”

“What the fuck,” Lucian mutters. “Is that what you think? Is that why you made me keep this a secret? Kimberly? You can’t be fucking serious. You know what, I’ll go. I need some air.”

Luke turns and storms towards the door. I start to panic and turn to follow him. Kimmie clutches my hand to keep me at her side.

“Luke wait! The baby is on its way,” I call after him.

“I won’t go far. I wouldn’t want to miss the only reason I am in this marriage,” Luke scoffs and slams the door behind him.

Kimmie bursts into sobs and I reach to wrap my arms around her as much as our bellies will allow.
I am so big for four months. Christ, this has to be abnormal. Oh God, these babies are going to be giants like their dad.
I rein in my thoughts as my friend tenses in my arms and groans.

“She’s coming, he is going to miss our daughter’s birth. I didn’t mean to piss him off. I'm just so scared. We’re married, and we don’t have a place to live. We can’t live with you and Nick forever. My baby doesn’t even have a nursery.

“I was going to move back to the apartment, but Luke rented it out a few months ago. He sold his fucking place. God, I totally get what you used to gripe about. He is a freaking control freak. He went to my father, and they total ambushed me with a private wedding.

“I wanted a big wedding with all the bells and whistles like you and Ettie, but he ripped that right from me. For Lilla, he said. So she wouldn’t enter this world without her father being married to her mother. I call bullshit. I’m so fucking confused.

“Luke does this shit to me. I look at him, and I lose my mind. Now I’m having a baby, and my husband can’t stand to be in the room with me. Right now I am so pissed at him I would love to take a bullwhip to his ass,” she snorts and sobs as she groans in pain.

“Kimmie, I’m going to need you to pull it together. I don’t want my niece coming into this world thinking her mommy and daddy are nuts,” I pause and think about that one. “
Well
,” I draw out. “It may be true, but she doesn’t have to learn that today.”

“Screw you, Sephora,” Kimmie hisses and gives me the stink eye. “Those two in your belly are just as shit out of luck as my little girl. You suck. I’ve been holding out for you to get here, and this is what I deserve?”

I laugh but feel bad as soon as Kimmie’s wide-eyed pout turns into a grimace. “I think I better get your doctor and Luke,” I rush. “I think Lilla has had enough of waiting.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Kimmie whimpers. “I should be glad my husband doesn’t want to have sex with me. I don’t ever want to do this again.”

I turn to Kimmie halfway to the door. “Kimmie, I’m pretty sure my brother just told you that he wants you. I’m going to do for you what you did for me when I had my head up my own ass. I am going to tell it to you straight. Luke has his issues, and he can be a pain in the butt, but my brother loves you.

“Not because you are having Lilla, not because he feels obligated. Lucian may be scared to death that he is going to hurt you, but he loves you nonetheless.

“I think you both are letting your fears get in the way. But you don’t have time for that anymore. Lilla needs you both. So you are going to suck it up and push my niece out and her father, your husband, is going to stand right beside you while you do it. It’s time we grow up, Kimmie. This is real life, and we can’t keep ducking from it. You let that sink in before you do something you regret,” I hand her back her words from a few months back.

Kimmie looks at me through watery eyes and nods. “And you tell your husband the truth about what you know,” Kimmie says softly. There is no bite in her words, just true concern.

“Yeah, I know,” I sigh. “I know.”

I turn and head out of Kimmie’s hospital room in search of Luke and her doctor. When I walk out, I nearly run into someone. Strong hands grab my arms and steady me.

I look up, and the man before me looks so familiar. I look into his blue-green eyes, but they look wrong to the memory scratching at the surface. His hair is golden brown, but it somehow looks wrong as well. I frown and scrunch my nose up as I try to pull the memory to the forefront and place his face.

There is something else familiar about him as well. Something that nudges my brain, but won’t get it started. I tilt my head and look at him more deeply. As I do, he releases my arms and takes a step back. He looks away, and I narrow my gaze at his profile.

Now I am confused, it is like two puzzle pieces are trying to fit themselves together. I lift a finger to point at him. “Do I know you? I know you from somewhere don’t I,” I think out loud.

“Sephora,” I hear Nick’s voice boom.

I turn to see him moving towards me with a scowl on his face. I turn back to the familiar man, but he is gone before I can question him further. I look around for him, but he is not in sight.

“Who was that,” Nick asks as he gets to my side.

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know,” I reply still sorting through my memory.

“Why are you out here,” Nick interrupts.

“Kimmie needs her doctor, and I was looking for Luke as well,” I reply absently.

“Go back inside with Kimmie. I will get the doctor and Luke,” Nick says ushering me back into the room.

I look up at Nick, and his profile is facing me as he looks off after the man. I furrow my brows as my brain fizzes out. I never did get any sleep.

chapter Sixteen

Pissed Mama

Sephora

Oh my, God, Lilla is so gorgeous. She is the perfect mix of Luke and Kimmie. I mean absolutely perfect and she already has Luke wrapped around her tiny little finger.

Kimmie is going to kill me when she finds out that I recorded Lucian’s surprise to her. I got every tear, every sweaty braid plastered to her face, and every single sweet word Lucian said as he gifted her the world for giving birth to their daughter.

It was the sweetest thing ever. My brother proved without a doubt that he loves Kimmie and that he had just been taking care of her all along. I sobbed right along with Kimmie as I watched on. I want them to have a happily ever after more than anything.

I think I am a little less pissed at them. However, I am fuming at Nick for knowing about Kimmie and Luke and not saying a word to me. I had planned to give him the silent treatment, but that went out the window when I looked into his eyes.

I knew right out of the gate that something was wrong with him. I have asked, but he keeps telling me that it is nothing. I know he is lying to me, and it is pissing me off more.

That was a month ago. I hardly see Nick these days. I don’t know what is going on, but I am getting frustrated. Heck, I am frustrated with everything these days. I really am getting so huge so fast.

So I feel fat, I am always hot, all this hair is driving me crazy now because I am always so freaking hot and fat. Top that with the fact that I rarely see my husband, I’m horny as fuck, my husband is keeping secrets, and I feel like he is avoiding me because I am fat. What do you get? A horny, angry, fat, black woman that is pissed off and thoroughly frustrated.

I huff and push my hair out of my face for the millionth time. I am ready for this. I need change. I need control. So the hair has to go.

“Are you sure about this,” Amy asks me for the fourth time as she bites her lip and looks me in the eyes through the mirror.

“Yes Amy,” I sigh. “I need a change. Yanno, something new. All this hair is hot, and it is getting harder to manage. Please, I want it just like that,” I point to the photo I handed her when I sat in her chair.

Amy gulps and nods her head. “Okay,” she exhales. “Here goes nothing.”

Amy gathers the back of my hair combing it into a low ponytail just below the nape and ties it off. She gives me one more look in the mirror, as she bites down harder on her lip and lifts a questioning brow at me. I nod my head, and she lifts the scissors to my ponytail. I close my eyes as she clips the hair away.

I release a shaky breath and open my eyes. Amy is holding my hair up in her hand looking at it in awe.
Oh my God, what have I done?
I close my eyes again and will myself not to freak out.

“Just finish it, please,” I whisper.

“Okay,” Amy says quietly, and I swear she is mourning my hair with me.

I keep my eyes closed for the rest of the haircutting and styling, even as Amy faces the chair away from the mirror. It is too late to change my mind. I am going to have to see this through now. I love the hairstyle I chose. It is a cute and stylish style that I think my sister would totally encourage me to get.

The bob cut is meant to be longer in the front. Longer on the right side than the left. The right side meeting my collarbone and the left a little under an inch below my chin. To say I am nervous to get my first look is an understatement. I have hidden behind my hair for years.

However, I do feel a little tinge of liberation. I made this choice, and I am doing something that makes me fill in control at the moment. I don’t know what to do about Nick. Trust me, I gave up on trying to control my weight gain two months ago. Even the business has too many hands in it right now to make it a success, which I don’t mind, but I need something. So this is something I have rights and claim to right now.

“Mrs. Lincoln,” I hear and open my eyes to see Amy’s cheery eyed assistant. She is smiling at me and holding out a letter in her hand. “This was just dropped off for you.”

I wrinkle my brows. Winston would have brought it to me himself. Nick doesn’t know I am here as far as I know unless Winston told him I changed my morning plans. I was supposed to have brunch with Ettie and do some shopping for the babies before I head to my doctor’s appointment this afternoon.

Nick texted me to tell me he would meet me there later, and I haven’t bothered to answer him back. I was boiling mad after an hour went by and he didn’t text again or call to see why I didn’t respond. That is when I decided to come here.

“Who dropped it off,” I ask.

“He didn’t leave a name, but he was so hot,” she rolls her eyes into the top of her head and fans herself.

I giggle thinking that maybe Winston did tell Nick about my change in plans, and he dropped by to surprise me. I take the letter from her and eagerly open it. I pull out the white sheet of paper and read it.

My hand starts to tremble, and I feel the color drain from my face. I blink a few times trying to comprehend what I am reading. I can hear the blood rushing in my ears.

“Sephora,” Amy calls my name in concern, but I don’t answer. “Sephora are you okay?”

I still don’t reply. I just stare at the words on the paper. My mouth goes dry, and I feel like I am going to heave.

Tell him to stop. We have to stop them before they ruin the only family we’ve got left. Tell him to stop for the babies. This has gone too far. It is getting out of hand, and it is getting too dangerous. You stop him, and I will take care of the problem. Nick needs to stop now. I’ll be in touch soon.

-A concerned friend.

“What the hell,” I mutter in stunned shock.

“Heather, excuse me, Heather,” I call to Amy’s assistant as she talks to one of the girls at another station.

Heather turns her cheery eyed smile back to me, but her smile wobbles a little when she sees the panic on my face. She rushes back over to where I am sitting.

“Is everything okay? Can I get you something,” she rushes looking down at my belly.

“Who gave you this? Can you tell me what he looked like,” I demand a little more sharply than I mean to.

“Uh… he was tall with dreamy blue-green eyes, dark hair. Although, I think it was a dye job. He was hot,” she shrugs her shoulders.

I groan inwardly because that really isn’t a helpful description. I crane my neck trying look up front, but know it is futile because the stylist chairs are in the back of the spa behind partitioned walls.

“Are we almost done here,” I ask Amy.

“Sure, sure,” Amy says combing her fingers through the front of my hair before she turns me to the mirror. I am in such a hurry to leave; I take a glance in the mirror for Amy’s sake before I push up to stand.

I barely register that she has done a great job. The hair looks just like the picture but better. I pull cash out of my wallet quickly and pay Amy with a generous tip.

I quickly pull my phone from my purse and dial, Nick. I am distracted walking to the SUV Winston has been waiting for me in as I wait for Nick to pick up. I growl as the phone rings for the fourth time. Just when I get ready to hang up Nick answers.

“Hey Baby,” Nick answers distractedly.

“Nick, whatever you’re doing you have to stop. I just got a letter. They’re threatening the babies,” I say into the phone as my voice quivers.

“What,” Nick roars into the phone. “Where are you? Who gave you a letter? Sephora, where is Winston?”

Nick rattles off question after question as I cross the street to the SUV. Winston steps out and rounds the truck to open the door for me. His phone rings and he pulls it out as I make my way to him. We are both distracted as suddenly the sound of screeching tires fills the air.

Out of nowhere a big body pushes into my back. A body covers mine shoving me towards the truck. Gunshots ring out, and I start to scream. Nick is yelling frantically in my ear as I hold the phone and freak out. I feel an arm band around me and lift me into the truck.

“Get her out of here,” a deep voice with an Irish accent growls. “Now!”

The door slams shut before I can get a good look at the giant that just threw me in the truck. Winston is in the truck seconds later, and we are speeding off. I am trembling, and my phone is forgotten as it lies on the floor of the SUV.

“Seatbelt, Sephora,” Winston yells as he maneuvers the truck.

I put it on with shaky hands. I know I am in shock. Someone just tried to kill me. This is not a game. Someone just tried to take my life, my children’s’ lives.

Well, fuck that, Sephora. Enough is enough. They have come for you, now you go for them. No more secrets, they want war. Well, you have the nuclear bomb. It’s time for Nick to know everything you know.

You’re damn right. They came after my
babies
. They have fucked up now. I’m not the old Sephora, I don’t have to run. It’s time to fight.