Chapter 6

Rene’s POV

I stared at friends of my husband and mine as they strode in and out of my house with sad faces. Some patted me by my back, some gave me a sad long look.

“He was a good man” one of them said, giving me a sad smile.

Yes I knew. Nathan was a good man and i couldn’t believe he was dead. My husband. The one man i could ever love.

Lisa was with me all through, holding me together.

“You’re doing well b” she whispered to me.

When all the visitors left, I opened the fridge to take out a bottle of whiskey when I was interrupted by Remy. He moved towards me to the kitchen.

Hey, Ladies, Hi Rene, how are you holding up?” He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head. “I don’t know, Remy. I don’t.”

Remy shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “Listen, can I talk to you about something? In private? It’s about Nathan.”

My eyes grew wide as I looked at Lisa, who nodded. “Yeah. That’s fine. Lisa, can you finish cleaning up please?

“Sure thing. Y’all go handle business. I’ll be right here when you get back,”

Remy put his hand on the small of my back, easing me out of the kitchen. “Let’s go to your study, ok?”

I nodded. I figured that this must be serious if he wanted to talk in the study. Was the firm in trouble financially? Did he want to talk about dividing up assets now? I didn’t want to think about all the business crap just hours after I put Nathan in the ground. I thought Remy was a much more sensitive guy than that.

But when I got to my study, I found Kai sitting on my leather sofa. I furrowed my brows, confused. What the hell did the two of them want to talk to me about? I thought of every scenario. Did Nathan owe money? Did he cheat and produce a child? God, had he been unfaithful throughout the entire marriage? The thought made me nearly faint, but Remy held me steady.

“Rene? Are you okay? Please, sit down here.” He pulled out the plush velvet chair in front of my desk for me to sit as he sat on the arm of the sofa.

“Remy, what is this about? Is the firm okay? Did Nathan do something?”

“No, Rene, the firm is fine. It’s all good. Actually, this may be our best year in existence. Still hard without Nathan though.”

He looked over at Kai, who nodded. “Go on man,” encouraged Kai. “Tell her.”

Remy ran a hand over his head as he began. “Rene, you know Nathan was like a brother to us. I mean, I have known him since law school. And Kai…well, we picked him up along the way, but we’ve all been boys for a long time.”

I nodded with a knowing smile. “He loved you all like brothers too.”

“The thing is, when Nathan told us he had Meningioma and had just a few months to live, he made us promise something to him. Several things, actually.”

“Promise what?”

“To take care of you,”. “If you ever needed anything, you were to call us first. Doesn’t matter what it’s about. The house. Money. Anything.”

I smiled. “That is very sweet, Rem. And I know you guys are so kind and will look out for me. But I don’t need money. Nathan took care of that. And I don’t need...”

“That’s not what we mean,” Kai interrupted. He chewed on his bottom lip. “I mean, yeah, all of that too, but Nathan wanted us to be... there for you. In any capacity.”

My brows knit in confusion, his emphasis on the word not making things clearer. “And like I said...you don’t have to be. I’m well taken care of.”

The duo looked at each other, frustrated. I wasn’t here for this cryptic game. “Listen, is there something you all aren’t telling me? I feel you’re talking in riddles. And right now, hours after burying my husband, that’s something I can’t deal with.”

“Fuck it,” said Kai. “Rene, the reason I was at Coverts that night is that Nathan told us what he asked you to do. And I had to make sure you didn’t go through with it.”

My eyes were wide with horror. I felt heat rush to her face. “Why? Why would he tell you that? That was our business…my business! Are you trying to embarrass me?” I was actually a little disappointed that this conversation would not be about a mistress or a baby.

Kai shook his head, apologetically. “No, Tatum, not at all. It’s just...we told him that was a dumb thing to ask. You’re already under so much stress and we know you’d never say no to Nat. Plus, just months before, he’d asked one of us to take care of those needs for you.”

My eyes bulged at what I heard. “Excuse me? what?”

Remy sighed. “He wanted us to handle the sex stuff for him. Because he couldn’t anymore and you seemed so sad and lonely. We were like, ‘Hell no. We are not doing this.’ But he said he would rather the next man you sleep with be familiar and not a stranger. But we said nah, so I guess he concocted this Coverts plan.”