Page 4 of Welcome to the Table

The unspoken beef between Hellcat and Klarity always put me in a weird space.

Hellcat claimed it wasn’t a coincidence that I just ran into her in Georgia.

He also found it weird that she just picked her life up and transferred to the city like it was nothing.

I did tell her that I wasn’t leaving without her, but I didn’t think she would leave.

I often wondered if she was running away from something, but I pushed that shit to the back of my mind because I wanted her with me.

I trusted Hellcat’s instincts, but that time, I chalked it up to him just not liking her personally, but I would find out the reason.

I grabbed my keys and took the elevator to the underground garage.

I hopped in my 2025 black Porsche 718 and drove out of the parking lot, heading home.

I turned my music on and let Lil Wayne take my mind off the storm that I knew was brewing inside my family.

My mind was in shambles, and that was a first. I was the only level-headed one in the family outside of Athena.

She hated when we called her ‘mother’ because she couldn’t believe she had three grown kids.

I thought the shit was disrespectful, but she said it wasn’t, so I went with that.

It took me almost an hour to get to the house because my shit was ducked off and heavily guarded.

On the outside of the gates, I had around-the-clock men watching my shit.

I didn’t trust anybody. I never had family gatherings, parties, or any of that shit at my house because I loved my privacy.

It took a while before I let Klarity come to my shit, and I had been fucking with her for the last five years, but I had known her my entire life.

I just didn’t trust easily. My home was my peace, and I planned to keep it that way.

My house was located in the Couturte Forest. I had purchased the land and had it fertilized and built just the way I wanted it.

Everything, including the gates, was black.

I turned down the long road that led to my mansion.

I made sure it was built so the master suite faced the sun, and at sunrise and sunset, it would shine on my room.

The shit was magical. I drove through the wooded area and took in the scenery.

Different flowers adorned the grass. I made sure the gardeners took care of that and paid them a hefty amount to keep shit clean.

I made my way to the gate and rolled the window down to put my face in the camera for the facial recognition.

The gate slowly opened, and I heard a slow creaking sound.

I had to call my gatekeeper to fix that shit.

I rode through the gate and pulled up in my parking spot next to Klarity’s money-green BMW.

I begged her to let me buy her the dream car that she talked about, which was a G-Wagon, but she told me no every time.

I wanted to surprise her with it, but it was hard to surprise her because she was always with me unless I was handling business.

I knew her birthday was coming up, and I would probably do it then, and again, she would refuse it because she was so fucking independent.

I hopped out of the car and made my way to the front door.

Then, I put my hand on the pad to grant me access to my home.

I loved the peace I felt when I walked into my sanctuary.

Some may think it’s gloomy because of the darkness, but that’s how I felt most days.

Darkness brought me peace because it was quiet.

The black curtains, floors, walls, décor, and staircase gave me a sense of power. My house was the shit.

I took the stairs to the second floor one at a time.

I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to walk up on.

When I made my way to the bedroom, I half expected her to be waiting for me with her hands in my face, rolling her neck like a snake, but it was quiet.

I thought she had left. I walked further into the room toward the bed.

As I got closer, I noticed a head peeking from under the black covers.

A head full of curly hair stared back at me.

She lay on her side away from me. Her silhouette was displayed through the sheet, and she was beautiful.

I walked near her face and stood watching her.

She was mine. Charcoal colored skin and beautiful black curls fell all over her face.

Her fist was tucked securely under her chin, and a light snore escaped her slightly opened mouth.

She was the one thing I got right outside of the family business.

I left her out of that part of my life for a reason.

Klarity was my normal. I would pick the world up and put it at her feet if she asked me, but I knew she wouldn’t.

Her pride wouldn’t let her. I looked down at her as her long, thick lashes covered her eyes while she slept.

She was perfection in my eyes, and that’s why I didn’t let my parents meet her.

The people who knew about her were Hellcat and our right-hand man, Hollygrove.

I needed it that way because my mother had a way of reading people, and I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression.

Granted, we all grew up together in the hood, but they didn’t know the depth of our relationship.

As far as my parents knew, her family had moved out of the city years ago and never returned, and I had kept it that way until now.

I had no choice but to bring her with me because she was coming to the second line with me, and I was going straight to their house for the meeting afterward.

Whatever my mother felt was what she felt, and I would have to deal with it and defend Klarity because she was who I wanted to marry when time permitted.

I looked down at her face as I stood there watching with my hands folded across my chest. A little scowl graced her face, making me wonder if she was having a nightmare or some shit that I should be waking her up from.

I bent over to rub her face, and her eyes fluttered open until they focused on me.

She didn’t say shit at first, but I knew how she operated.

This was the fucking calm before the storm. She sat up in bed and looked at me.

My eyes went past her and to the fucking drool that was on the pillow.

I didn’t give a fuck if she did live with me.

She knew I hated that shit. I knew she couldn’t control it, but I always told her to put a fucking towel on the pillow before she put her face on it.

I snatched the pillow from the bed, and she jumped up.

I gave her a look, and she sat her stupid ass back down.

She may have had my heart, but it was nothing for me to put her ass out of my house.

“Is it that fucking serious, Calliope? You act like you don’t drool in your fucking sleep!” She raised her voice too many octaves for me, and I wasn’t fucking with it.

“Watch yo’ fucking tone talking to me! You know I don’t play that shit,” I barked at her, and she sat back on the bed, piping down.

I loved Klarity, but she knew I liked shit a certain way, and this time was no different. She cowered under my death stare. I tossed the pillow to the floor and looked at her.

“I’m sorry. I fell asleep waiting for you to come home, and you didn’t, but I should have known if you were with Hellcat that it would be some bullshit. So, how many bitches you fucked last night?” she asked me straight up.

I cocked my head to the side with a grin because she knew the fucking answer to that, but she also knew it didn’t matter how many bitches I fucked; she wasn’t going anywhere because of the lifestyle I gave her. She wouldn’t find that shit anywhere else in New Orleans.

“Does it really matter how many bitches I fuck? Did you see me fucking them?” I asked, never changing my stance. I was mind fucking her, and she was falling for it. “What if I didn’t fuck nobody? What if I was just chilling with my brother?” I stood straight, rocking from side to side.

Klarity got bold. She stood from the bed and got into my personal space. I pushed her back a little, but not enough to hurt her.

“Don’t give me that bullshit. Every time you go out with Hellcat, you fuck another bitch.” She rolled her neck at me.

She wasn’t mad about whether I was fucking a bitch or not; she was madder that I didn’t bring a bitch home for her to test out.

She knew she wasn’t the only one, but she stuck around, and her loyalty was unmatched.

I was in love with Klarity, but I honestly couldn’t remember what happened last night, so I wasn’t admitting shit.

She knew I was always honest with her, even if it ended with her crying.

I chuckled. “You being mad that I didn’t bring a bitch home is comical, but I don’t let nobody come out here, and I don’t remember what happened,” I told her honestly.

She smacked her lips like she didn’t believe me, but I didn’t care.

“Let me smell ya dick then, nigga.”

That came from left field. I didn’t play that shit, and she knew it.

“Don’t fucking play with me, Klarity.”

She tried to reach for my shit, and I smacked fire from her hand. She snatched it back and shrieked.

“The fuck wrong with you, Klarity? Who the fuck gave you permission to fucking touch me? Don’t do that.” I knew she was about to cry, but her tears wouldn’t faze me.

“How don’t you remember what happened last night? Were you that faded that you don’t remember who you were fucking?” Her voice was soft and calm.