A week later...
Christian
The doorbell rings and my eyes avert to the door from my laptop where I'm sorting out work related business.
"I'll get it!" Sophia runs to the door and immediately gasps, "Luke!"
I cock a brow as I watch my elder brother walk into the lounge. He hasn't changed much; same gingered stubble on his edgy face with his signature German cut and his bold demeanor courtesy of his broad shoulders and extra muscle.
"Thought you'd never return," his voice booms through the room as he walks to where I'm seated in the dining area and I stand to embrace him.
"Good to see you, Luke," I pat his back.
"Likewise,"
"Are you two competing with height?!" Sophia jokes.
"Now that you mention it, Liv..." Luke takes a step back and frowns, "You really want to be the big man here huh, Christian?"
We all laugh and settle down back in the lounge when mum descends the staircase.
"I heard some chatter I knew it'd be my boys," she walks over to hug Luke, showering his face with kisses.
"Ma," he growls but she pays no mind.
"And what brings you to this cloudy side of town?" She takes a seat in her designated chair.
"Isn't it obvious? Christian came back, I thought I should pass by and greet him before he disappears like he always does," I roll my eyes at his surprisingly truthful response.
"Your brother is right, you know," mum gives me a stare.
"But how have you been?" Luke elbows me.
"Quite alright," I sigh.
"Christian," Sophia whispers. I turn to her and she knows I'm not being frank with him or myself.
"Surviving," I rephrase.
"Soon as he arrived he went straight to Brisk and it's been work and work and more work," my mother drawls, curling up in her seat, arms folded.
"Are you serious?" Luke chuckles.
"I have some things that require my attention ," I scowl.
"Oh we all know, Christian. What are you running away from this time?" Luke leans closer to me.
"Can we not ?" I sit up with my hands extended to the side as though to halt any further questions.
So far the only person in the room with an idea of my sudden visit is Sophia. When I started college, my elder sister Lydia and her were frequent visitors on campus and so I bonded with them better making it easier to confide in them, especially Sophia. She knows just about everything my mother knows about me, even about Imani and I.
I have not broken it to them yet on how I left things between her and I though.
But I will, all in due time.
The day goes by and I leave with Luke to the local gym which is a twenty minute drive from the house.
"Some sparring to ease up?" He asks while grabbing a pair of gloves.
"I'm up for it," I grab a pair as well as we make our way to the punching bags.
"So, mum tells me you have a special lady now," he throws a few punches at his bag.
"I'm surprised we haven't heard anything from you," I tease.
If there's one thing I know about Luke it's that it is close to impossible to find him in the company of a woman. He dismisses the idea of dating immediately, I'd say he's just like Imani. Kind of.
"Focus, Christian," he growls, a smirk surfacing.
"Alright, yes. I am currently seeing someone," I continue sparring.
"She's not the Annabelle kind, is she?"
"Are you seriously bringing up my college traumas?" I stop at his question.
In my defense, I was young and in love and did not know any better so Annabelle was single and available, not to mention a mess. But enough about her...
"Liv told me. Besides, I'm here to look out for you," he says so casually but I felt my heart warm to it.
"Well this one is far from her kind, I'll give you that," I smile to myself, even though we are surprisingly not on the best of terms.
"Any woman should be blessed to have a Greear man in their life. I mean of course she'd be the prize and the blessing, but a Greear man is a keeper of treasure," he takes a deep breath of satisfaction with his statement and I couldn't agree more.
"So,who is she?" He asks.
"Her name's Imani," I dodge the punching bag a few times.
"Sounds exotic," he humphs, "is she an associate at Brisk or something?"
"She works elsewhere, but yeah we're working on a project together," I explain.
"How old is she?"
"Luke," I scowl.
"What? It's a simple question, requires a simple answer," he shrugs.
"She's 26," I answer.
"Hm, four year difference is not too bad for you is it?" He nudges me.
"Do you want to fight?" I fix my stance.
"Oh, no. I still want to know more about this new love you've found for yourself,"
We continue sparring for another hour and once done head to the showers. As soon as we get there Luke takes his shirt off and I notice a scar on his shoulder that runs to his shoulder blade. I know he probably tried hiding it because it's covered by a tribal tattoo but since I'm close enough I can see it.
Greear men have a thing for tattoos, no?
"What happened there?" I ask, though a bit hesitant at first.
"Oh um, I got into a fight," his head lowers for a brief moment, "You probably never saw it because once I got back it had healed,"
"Got back?"
"The time I went out looking for Dan,"
"Oh," I clear my throat and we stay there in silence.
"That power hungry bastard decided he'd try and flee the country and live after doing something so foolish as killing a man with a family that I had to hunt him down," his voice deepens and he sounds enraged.
"He killed himself," I sigh when Luke chuckles to himself.
"Or so you think,"
"Luke," my eyes widen at his response.
"I did not kill him. However he had some dirty laundry to account for. I did find him, but it was only after seeking help from a few people that were after him as well. There was a fight that night because it was a set up,he knew he'd be hunted down- a lot happened the night of his death," Luke stares intently at the ground, the events must be replaying in his head.
"So he didn't kill himself," I confirm and he nods.
"What did you plan to do if it was you that found him on your own?"
"I'd have killed him," he tenses.
"And how would that fix what had been done?" I question, a confused expression on my face.
"Christian, I knew the plans our father had for our family and our community, and being the successor to what he was doing I felt just as much pain. It was an unnecessary move Dan made, not to mention pointless because why would you kill someone over a venture? I guess envy got the best of him. As for me, vengeance was the only way because any one of us could have died," he explains calmly but I sense pain and hurt in his voice," I know this may sound confusing to you but it had to be done."
We stand in silence yet again, and all I can think about is my father. Luke is right about my father's plans; the man always had my brother and I involved in the little things he knew would help us in the long run business-wise. When he was murdered, all I could think of was doing things that wouldn't remind me of him even though it was close to impossible. I decided to move far as possible from my hometown for college and eventually leave the place altogether. There was so much running and little healing. I admire Luke, he took over my father's start ups and opened a few chain stores with every cent he could attain. Aside from that, he sought vengeance even though I'm still skeptic about his execution and outcome.
"I know you're not over his murder," he finally speaks, "but holding onto what happened won't help you get past it."
I give a heavy sigh and take a seat next to my duffel bag.
"I've been running away from it," my elbows rest on my knees and my head buried in my hands.
"You've been running away with it," he remarks.
I shake my head, still processing what he just said.
"Let's freshen up," he pats my back before walking away with his bag and t-shirt over one shoulder.
***
Imani
"I'll have my team have a look at it. Alright thank you very much, Mrs Simeon. Goodbye," I end the call and finish writing the last of our conversation.
So far I have been working my ass off the way always have- without a man. Like I had mentioned earlier, my schedule looks better now and I have more time to kill. I get to work during the day and later do some shopping, I even go to the gym and in the evenings I'd read a book or push more work. Oh, and I video call my dad and Gabe alot. It's funny how they've become an inseparable duo.
I still haven't heard from my mother, Noni says she never speaks of me in the house and it's either she just greets everyone and goes to her room or doesn't speak at all. She goes out very often, the Kagans rarely visit and it is just hostility floating in the air.
Even though all this is happening, I choose to focus on happier things and hopefully I'll be able to address the elephant in the room when the day arrives.
It's a Tuesday and I'm home trying a few fits I got from my shopping spree. Kenya's shower is approaching and we'll be wearing shades of brown, so I found a few interesting options and let her and Hannah know what I've decided on.
I stand in front of the mirror, turning a few times to appreciate my curves and I before I know it, I'm taking a few mirror selfies for fun. I put a pair of heels on and take some more and send to Hannah and Kenya.
Hannah: A queen!😍
Kenya: typing...
Hannah: Stunt on us! I have a necklace that would go so well with that dress remind me to bring it.
Kenya: Sweetie done snapped on us😍 can the shower be this weekend?!
Imani: @hannah girl lets see😚
Hannah: [attachment]
Imani: @kenya you'll snap better when we partying at your shower,ok?
Imani: @hannah I love itt
We continue texting for a while and as soon as I put my phone down a message comes in.
New Message
James: Hey. Can we talk?
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I'm back y'all! I've been gone for a while but I'm back at it with the updates.
Thank You all so much for all the reads and votes I appreciate it so much. I see y'all that add the story to your libraries and all that it makes a lot to me.♥️
As always don't forget to comment and vote. Bless🌞