Page 50 of Tangled Hearts

“Noir,” Christian stepped up, his tall slim frame towering over her. “Just let me explain. Let me do better.”

“You shouldn’t have never did this. Ain’t no do better. You have a baby with a bitch you just can’t stay away from. The only thing you gon’ do better is not get her pregnant again because I know you’ll be back between her legs.”

“I’m not,” Christian pleaded. He didn’t care about the crowd or the phones recording. Didn’t care if the whole city saw him breaking down over her. His pride was gone.

His chest heaved like he couldn’t catch his breath.

His heart was bleeding in front of everyone. His air was leaving him. If it would’ve kept her there another second, he would’ve dropped to his knees.

“Do you think this easy for me?” Christian was unfiltered.

“I wake up every morning reaching for you. Waking up without you feels like slowly dying. Like I can’t fuckin’ breathe…

like somebody cut the oxygen off. You think I want that other shit?

You think I chose that? I didn’t. I chose you, I been choosing you, but I keep fucking it up. ”

Noir’s lip curled. “You ain’t choose me, Christian. You chose yourself. You chose the streets, the women, the mess. And now you wanna cry about it when I finally get tired?”

Christian dragged both hands down his face, pacing like he was unraveling right there in the middle of the floor.

“I’m not crying, Noir, I’m telling you I’ll fix it.

I’ll cut her off, I’ll cut everybody off.

Ain’t nobody ever had me like you got me.

You in my blood. You in my bones. Don’t leave me like this, Noir.

Don’t leave me standing out here begging. ”

His shooters shifted. They were nervous, but they didn’t move until he did.

Christian’s whole body shook with the weight of his words, his pain raw enough to pierce through the noise of the club.

For all his flaws. For all his selfishness—his love for Noir was undeniable.

It was heavy, toxic, messy as hell, but it was carved into him like he couldn’t survive without it.

Standing there, with Cash behind her and Christian breaking in front of her, Noir felt what it meant to be caught between two men who weren’t villains. Just flawed, human, and drowning in love they didn’t know how to handle.

Noir’s throat went dry.

She could see he meant it. She could feel the love, raw and consuming. But she also felt the truth. His love came with casualties, and she was tired of being one.

“You love me Christian… I know that,” her voice dipped.

“But you don’t know how to love me right .

You don’t know how to stop choosing yourself first. And I can’t keep bleeding for you every time you fuck up.

” Her eyes burned, but she had to stand for something or fall for anything.

“This ain’t about leaving you. This about saving me.

You don’t get to keep breaking me just ‘cause you hurting too.”

She glanced over her shoulder at Cash, then back at Christian.

In that split second, she understood Knycole in a way she hadn’t before—how easy it was to swing back and forth when both men pulled at different parts of your soul.

It wasn’t weakness. It was survival. Tangled hearts rarely beat on track.

Noir swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. “Christian, just go. Please. Not here. Not like this.”

The whole room seemed to hold its breath.

Christian’s face crumpled, torn between fury and heartbreak.

He stared at her like he wanted to fight the world for her, but he also knew he’d already lost the round tonight.

Slowly, his shooters pulled him back, the tension loosening just enough for the crowd to exhale.

Noir stood still, chest tight, just watching him fade into the crowd, knowing this wasn’t over. Knowing his love would always come back around, no matter how much it hurt them both.

Cash pulled Noir tighter, talking low just for her to hear. “You safe with me, pretty girl. Ain’t nobody touching you while I’m here.”

Christian’s eyes burned, but under the anger was the truth. His love for Noir ran deep, and was flawed as hell. He wasn’t here to shoot it out, not really. He was here because watching her in another man’s arms gutted him.

Noir spun around to Cash. “You ready to go?”

The ride back to Cash’s condo was quiet. Noir sat facing the window, her phone face down in her lap, while his security trailed them in another car. She could still feel the weight of Christian’s eyes in the club, the danger simmering just under the surface.

Neither of them said a word, both just caught up replaying the night.

Noir worried about Christian’s mental health. While Cash dissected every word Noir spoke to Christian.

When they pulled up to his condo, they got out, still in their own heads.

Upstairs, the condo was dim except for the city lights spilling through the tall windows. Noir went straight to the kitchen, grabbing a towel and wetting it under warm water. Cash sat on the couch, elbows on his knees, chain still glinting around his neck.

She knelt in front of him, gently wiping the side of his face where somebody’s elbow had grazed him in the chaos.

The silence stretched heavy until he finally let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “I’m out here fighting ’bout a broad… I never would’ve imagined.”

Noir stopped moving, her eyes narrowing on him. “A broad?”

He smirked, diamond grill shining under the outside lights. “Don’t do that. You know what I mean.”

“I don’t think I do,” she sassed, pressing the towel harder against his skin. “Because you sound just like everybody else, and I thought you was different.”

Cash leaned back, watching her closely. “You don’t think I’m different? I just went toe-to-toe with Christian in front of half the city. You know how messy that could’ve gone? You know how messy it still might get? And I did that because of you.”

Her chest tightened, but she refused to let him see her fold. “I didn’t ask you to do that plus that was nothing but a dick swinging contest.”

“You didn’t have to,” he raised his voice. “That’s the thing about me, Noir. I move off what I feel, not what I’m told. And right now? I feel you. Even if you halfway fighting me on it.”

She sat the towel down, sitting back on her heels. “You talk like love is that simple. Like you can just choose it and everything falls in line.”

Cash nodded slowly. “It might not be simple. But it is a choice. And I know what kind of man I want to be in ten years, twenty years. I’m not tryna be another ghost in a woman’s story. I want forever.”

Her heart jumped at the word, but she masked it with a laugh. “Forever? You sound like you rehearsed that in the mirror this morning.”

“Noir, watch the fuck out… you think this shit is a game,” he fussed, pissed that she was doing some lil girl shit.

“Everything I say, I mean and I don’t ever talk just to hear myself.

Forever don’t mean perfect days and nights.

It just mean I don’t quit on you when shit gets hard.

That’s what Christian don’t get. He loves you, I believe that.

But his love comes with casualties. I don’t want to bury you under my mistakes. ”

Noir swallowed. His words sliced right where she lived, and she hated how much sense he made. “You really think you can do better?”

Cash leaned forward, his hand slipping around her waist, pulling her closer until her knees brushed his. “I don’t think… I know. But it ain’t on me to prove it in one night. It’s on me to show up, every day, and let you decide if you want that.”

She searched his face, her guard coming down. For a beat, neither of them spoke.

Noir exhaled, “I’m scared to believe you.”

“Good,” Cash smiled. “Means you still care what happens to your heart. Let me show you I can hold it without breaking it.”

“I think I need to go.” Noir rushed to grab her things and go.

She needed a clear mind to just sit in the mess and think.

She couldn’t do that hiding with Cash. She needed to get her head in the game and not string another person along.

She understood how your heart ached when love did you wrong.

Noir didn’t want to leave a trail of broken hearts behind.

So, to protect herself and Cash, she needed to leave.

That or she would’ve found herself sprawled out in his bed getting nailed.