"Where you get all this from?" Silas asked, as soon as his eyes landed on Ali’s picture. "Why the hell yo' hoe'ass father got this picture?"
"My father's office today. Someone had sent me a short video clip of you and I from the club and a picture, but I kept it to myself. I honestly didn't know what to do. I was hoping you could give me some clarity. All I know about that man is that he was my mother's high school sweetheart." Nuri told him honestly. "Do you know him?"
"Hell yea, I know him. He's my mentor. Silas answered, scratching his head. Shit was getting thick and nothing was making sense. “Who did you tell?”
"I haven't told anyone anything. Especially not after overhearing the tail end of my father's conversation. I wanted to come to you about it, but when you sent me that text ending things. I really didn't know who to trust. I mean don't get me wrong, Bre is my best friend, but I wasn't about to broadcast our business like that."
Silas nodded, appreciating the fact that Nuri understood what was at stake, and had considered him even though she didn't know where stood in his life or heart.Why the hell would Boyd have a picture of Ali? Why the fuck would he want to set his daughter up? What is the connection does all this shit have to Nuri?
“Talk to me,” Nuri said softly, her voice the only thing keeping the room from collapsing under the weight of truth.
Silas looked up, and in his eyes lived a tsunami. Not the kind that brought thunder and chaos, but the type that pulled levees from the earth and reshaped entire cities.
“You ain’t supposed to be in the middle of this,” he muttered.
“I agree, but I need to know what’s going on,” she pressed.
Silas slid one of the flash drives into his laptop. The screen glowed, illuminating both their faces as confidential files opened like trap doors. Shell companies. Money trails. Contracts tied to her name. There was even a separate file labeled “DISMANTLE MARCIANO”—complete with a forged signature at the bottom of multiple transactions Nuri had never seen in her life.
“Your father grimy as fuck, and he playin’ a dirty game,” Silas finally said, the smooth cadence of his voice cloaked in danger now. “These accounts got your name all over them. If this shit goes public, baby, they ain’t just coming for him… they comin’ for you too.”
Nuri’s knees weakened as she processed the revelation Silas dropped on her.
“Why does he hate me so much?” she whispered on the verge of tears. “Why would he do this to me?”
Silas stood, closing the distance between them in four strides. He framed her face with his hands, holding her close. “'Cause you the only thing he can't control. You got too much light, Nuri. Niggas like him are cowards who hate to see other people’s light. He thrives on trying to smother it. That’s whyhe put you on the front line… hopin’ you'd take the fall before anyone caught on to what he’d been doin’.”
Nuri’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears. She’d known her father was emotionally cold, hell, sometimes cruel; but to use her as a pawn… That shattered something deep inside of her.
Silas turned back to the screen and paused, pulling up the image of Ali again. “You said this was your mom’s old high school sweetheart?”
Nuri nodded. “Yeah. I remember the stories my mom used to tell about him. She loved him immensely, and said he was the one who got away. I never understood why she married my father. Her eyes never lit up when she spoke of or to my father, but the memories she shed with this man here was the real deal. I could feel it when she spoke about him. I believe his name is Ali Contrell Marciano. My mom always said his full name. She was the only one who could call him that.”
Recognition of the story Nuri told pissed Silas off and made his jaw tense. “That’s 'cause Boyd set him up, had him locked down on bogus charges. Ali spent ten years in prison behind a case your father created outta thin air. Just like he’s trying to do with you right now.”
Nuri’s lips parted. “What?”
“He threatened your mom. Told her if she stayed with him, he’d see to it that Ali died in prison. During that time Ali was so in love with your mother, he didn’t see Boyd coming. By the time Ali caught on to what Boyd had done, Ali had already been fucked.” Silas explained.
Nuri stared at the screen in disbelief. Her breath caught. “So… you think he’s trying to do the same thing to you?”
Silas turned toward her again. “Nah. I think this time, he tryna finish what he started, just forgot one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Silas stepped closer, his voice lowering to a whisper. “You connected to a winner now. I don’t lose, ever.”
Silence filled the room like smoke as Silas gently pulled her into his arms. He didn’t need to say anything else. The way he held her spoke volumes. Silas wouldn't rest until he found the answer to all of the questions that were plaguing his mind. More than anything at the moment, it was important for him to ease Nuri's mind. Her safety was important, and he needed her to know that he'd protect her with his life.
However, Silas needed some assurance as well. He needed to know that she could handle every part of him, especially the part of him that she hadn't met yet.
"Nuri, I got some shit to tell you too if we plan on moving forward together. I need to know that I can trust you." Silas exhaled, slowly.
“I’m more than just a psychology professor, I run more than classes and tests, Nuri. I clean money through universities. Fund underground pipelines. Got connections that would make most politicians nervous.”
Nuri stared at him, unmoving.
“I kept you out of it for as long as I could, but now I gotta let you know what it is, and give you an opportunity to choose if you wanna move forward with me or not.” He glanced down at the files, then back at her. “You tryna lock in with a nigga or you bowin’ out?”
