Thou Shall Not • book two

boo, explain

Naomi's POV

When I was real young, my parents got a divorce.

For all I knew it was because 'momma and daddy didn't love each other like they use to' and it was something I was upset over, but still had to deal with.

I could remember being woken up some nights by loud yelling and things breaking somewhere down the hall. Some nights thinking it was my own fault since I could hear my own name being shouted between the two of them.

While getting older, I could remember seeing my dad being dropped off by different women when my Mom was out at work. Sometimes seeing a different woman each night. And I remember how he described them as his 'lady friends'.

For a long time after the divorce, I listened to my mom cry at night. Praying to God and asking him why. And with every tear she shed was a wall I built up against my dad.

It was hard to accept at first. Cause I saw my mom as this woman that should be held up as a fucking goddess. And he saw her as someone that could be... replaced?

I could remember that one big argument we had after one thanksgiving. I thought I had burned a lot of bridges with him that day. I said a lot of stuff out of anger, I said all the things I knew my mom wouldn't say.

But surprisingly, he still came to me that night. And no, we didn't fix anything that night, but we reassured me that he loved me, and that he still loved my mom.

And I believed him, cause he showed it. And he proved to me that he was sorry for what he did. He proved it to my mom, and to this day, they're best friends. Not partners. Not lovers. But people who supported each other despite all the hell they've been through.

After things settled, I made a vow to myself. I wasn't going to end up like them. I wasn't going to let anyone do that to me or my life.

So when I saw Roman, the man who owns my heart, who treats me right, who makes me feel like a princess, a queen, standing next to her, a woman I didn't even know, this late at night, without calling me to tell me or even sending me a text to warn me... it ignited some type of hell inside of me that I couldn't even describe.

And for the sake of Joelle being in this house, I was going to try and control my voice.

He walked past me and into the house and I softly closed the door behind me, but holding the door knob in a death grip.

"You coulda called me and I woulda came to pick you up." I say to him as I turned around.

"You really think I was gonna make you come out this late?" He said to me while he loosened his tie.

"Then you shoulda called AJ." I say to him while leaning against the door.

"I did." He said to me, "He didn't pick up."

"How many times did you call him?" I asked him, "Huh? How many?"

"Once-" he said and I cut him off.

"If you called him one time, then you should have called his ass back until
he picked up ." I shot at him, then took a deep breath, "Y'all are boys. You said he owed you a favor. He should have drove you."