Grief was a funny thing, some days it could consume one's every being and make it hard to even operate like normal but other times, you could go about one's day and then it would be like a ton of bricks, hitting out of nowhere.

For Nadia, she was somewhat sitting in the middle of that. She had been able to go back to work as an owner of a boutique nail salon in the ends. It was important for her to create a luxury space for people like herself who lived in areas like South London and didn't have the affordability to go to the fancy nail places they wanted to. 

As she entered the already busy place, she was reminded why she had gone so hard for this, a hubbub of women chattering amongst themselves, others relaxing and others waiting for their turn. They felt that comfort that she offered them in this place and for that, she was grateful.

" Hey boss, good to see you're back" Erica, one of her top nail techs said. Nadia didn't miss her bad attempt to not show any pity, it was a look she had gotten used to over the past 6 months.

" Thanks, Erica. I see that the shop is still intact"

"Of course, I had to let go of Mo, she causes too much trouble and it always finds its way in here. The last straw was her baby dad coming in here with his new girl and she and the new girl started fighting and almost broke a few things. But knowing her, she'll probably show up any time soon because she doesn't believe that I have the power to fire her" Erica rolled her eyes, following Nadia to the back.

" I'm not surprised, I've been meaning to fire her anyway. It's always something with her and that something is never anything good." She opened her office door, to enter a plush room adorned with a handmade wooden desk, a cosy office chair and a simple two-seater for guests. She also made sure to give the same treatment to her staff in the staffroom which had an elegant dining table, state-of-the-art microwave, filtered water dispenser and a fridge full of different drink choices.

" How've you been by the way? I'm not trying to be all in your business, just seeing how you are" Erica queried meekly.

Nadia stared at her for a moment, making the other girl a little uncomfortable before a small smile formed on her face.

" No worries, thanks for asking. I've been better but at least now, I can function a little better. You?"

" Ohh I'm good. Just ended my relationship, it needed to be done. All he did was hold me back which is what he told me I was doing to him" Erica vented.

Nadia shook her head, men were special creatures that she could never understand. Especially, Kane, he was so irritating and also kind of sexy too.

Wait, what?

That was not something she should be thinking about now, she was probably feeling this way because her time of the month just finished and she hadn't the d in a long while, to be honest.

" Also, some strange guy or person came to stand in front of the shop by the way, for like three days. I asked him what he wanted but he never responded so I called the police and they said he was probably loitering and then after that, he hasn't shown up since. I can show you the CCTV Recording" Erica suggested. Nadia moved a little for her to do this.

A recording came up with the exact description that Erica came up with, the person in question stood about three feet away from the entrance just staring. They had a black hoodie that covered their face completely but based on the person's build, it clearly looked like a guy. 

" That's defo strange. He hasn't come back since then?" Nadia queried, looking at Erica with confusion.

" No, I checked each time, the shop opened and closed. I made sure the girls left in pairs, including myself just in case of any sudden attacks but nothing happened after I called the police. Do you have any idea what this could be about? At first, I thought it was Mo's baby dad but he was probably too careless to do all that."  Erica stated.

Nadia allowed Erica's words to sink in, thinking about why this might be happening and then hit her. 

No way, did he piss someone off or was Kane somehow involved? I wouldn't put it past that guy, to be honest.

Shaking her head, it might be just one of those weird occurrences but for three days though? That was more than strange.

" Honestly, I don't know. Hopefully, he won't come around again" Nadia responded.

As the hours passed by, the more she became more paranoid about who that person could've been. At the time when she was still trying to piece together why anyone would want to stab Jordan to death, this event only made her realise she wasn't urgent enough in finding who did this and with DC Isley being radio silent, she needed to do the necessary to find out soon enough.

The sound of a phone ringing echoed out in the empty salon and by chance, it happened to be the one person she expected to hear from.

" You don't know how glad I am to hear from you, Detective. I suspect you have some tangible news" She questioned.

" It would be best if you came in so we can discuss the investigation in depth." His tone was not reassuring in the least.

" I will be there soon" She hung up and closed up the nail salon, practically bolted out and missed the same strange figure that was standing not that far away.

She made it to the police station in no time and was greeted by a sombre-looking DC Isley. They made their way to his desk where she could see various files all laid out including Jordan's autopsy report.

" Would you like something to drink? Water, coff-"

" Not tryna be rude, Detective but could we get to what's going on in the investigation? Did you find any suspects?" Nadia looked at him with hope in her eyes. It had been 6 months after Jordan's murder so by now she had hoped there would be at least one suspect.

" Ms Asante, there are no suspects currently. The autopsy came back with your brother being fatally stabbed at least twice in his abdominal region leading to his death and we did at least find the murder weapon. The only problem is that there are zero fingerprints on it which makes it harder to narrow any suspects at all, I know that this isn't what you want to hear right now." DC Isley explained carefully.

Nadia should've known that they would take some much time just to say a whole bunch of bullshit.

"But we did receive an anonymous tip. It...erm...reads: I saw the victim, Jordan going to visit my neighbour in the corner house on this street. They seem close, they might've been the last person to see him alive. That's all we got and we will use it as a witness statement but I haven't got the address or at least the street name so we will be scanning prints to see who it might be. This is the most progress we've made in months since the tip just came in only days ago. Just know that I want to find your brother's killer as much as you do, it seems for now it will be a waiting game and I will update you if anything more pressing comes up" He looked at her with a reassuring smile.

" Thanks for your help, I better get going" Nadia mumbled, he wanted to say something else but given the way she responded, he decided it was best to leave her be.

The cool night air hit her face as she thought about what DC Isley told her just now. Six months and this was the outcome, an anonymous tip which could be false for all she knew and literally no suspects, not even an inkling.

Frustration ran through her as her warm tears fell, she had no choice but to take things into her own hands and that started with his room. She got in her car and wasted no time driving like a maniac to get home and possibly unearth any secrets Jordan might've been hiding from her.

Her headlights spotlighted the quiet Victorian house only to see that Kane was standing there in a grey tracksuit that did very little to hide his muscular figure. She parked, watching him approach her as she opened the car door.

" You got a reason why you're here, Kane?" Nadia eyed him suspiciously.

" I wanted to see how you are, got to make sure you're good. Jordan would never forgive me if he knew you were in any kind of danger" Kane said, eyeing her up as usual.

" So why didn't you protect him from the danger he was in on that night?Huh?" She faced him, looking at him with disgust.

" Nads, I know you think I'm involved but I'm letting you know now, I would never do your brother like that. He's fam, ain't no way that I would do that, you get me?" He looked at her, hoping that she would believe him but the same disgusted glare was still etched on her face.

" What do you want? I'm kind of tired and I need to eat" She unlocked the front door, feeling him trail behind her.

" I left some things in Jordan's room and I need to get-"

" Like what? A stash, a weapon maybe? I really wouldn't put it past you to do that. Let's go" She looked him up and down as she walked upstairs to the room in question.

A slight creak of the door and they were inside where she watched him gather a few things including a lighter and stuff them in his bag. She watched each item drop in the bag he brought:

A lighter

A pair of trainers

A game controller

A bomber jacket 

A body spray

Nothing iffy at least not for now. 

He looked up to see her watchful glare, he could feel himself becoming a bundle of nerves. He knew that she wasn't staring at him like that but in some ways, he hoped that one day she would. 

Maybe today could be that day if he played his cards right. He walked over slowly, eventually towering over her with one hand above her on the door frame. He saw the deep concern in her alluring eyes and he wanted nothing more than to get rid of whatever hurt she was feeling.

" You know I would never hurt him, right?" He voiced lowly, leaning lower towards her face and placing a finger under her chin.

" I don't know that, Kane. But I do know that you are trouble and that's something I don't need right now" She turned to leave, but he grabbed her with a firm gentle hand causing her to glare at him incredulously.

" I know my affiliations ain't great but know that I personally would never bring any trouble to you. I care about you too much to do that" He couldn't help himself, he had to tell her parts of how much he was feeling her.

She could only laugh at his strange confession. As if he cared about her, she simply walked downstairs as he practically ran after her.

" You might not believe me but I do care about you and I will prove it to you" He grabbed the back of her neck, crashing his lips against hers. The sensation was electric, nothing like either of them had felt before.

His lips were plump and pillowy against her own, pressing with an urgency she could never have predicted. His large hands travelled down her back to squeeze and rub her lower cheeks, that feeling alone almost made her wet.

" Fuck, Nadia" he breathed out and that was enough to snap out her of what they were doing. She tried to push him away as their lips unlatched but he was desperate to keep her in his hold.

" Stop fighting, I know you feel what I'm feeling." He placed her hand on his heart so she could detect his heart beating rapidly. He slipped his hand under her knee and lifted her leg to his waist, suckling her soft neck.

"Ooooh, shit that feels good " She breathed out. It wasn't long before their lips attached themselves again, with Nadia suckling on his tongue between each kiss. Her manicured hands carded through his soft locs as their bodies were pressed against the wall, his hand sneakily made its way to her spot just to be stopped by a sudden thud upstairs.

They broke from each other quickly, panting uncontrollably. Nadia tiptoed closer to the stairs to be sure what she heard was right. Heavy footsteps could be heard in Jordan's room and Nadia bolted without care, she wouldn't let anyone desecrate her brother's room. 

She grabbed a carved statue from the window sill, only to be pulled back by a concerned Kane.

" Are you mad?! You can't go up there like that, you gonna get hurt" He whisper-shouted.

"I don't care" 

" I do, let me go ahead at least" he pleaded with her, holding onto her wrist. She sighed, letting him pass as he barged into the room.

With two quick hits, Kane was able to destablize the intruder but that didn't stop them from getting back up to fight some more. This is when Nadia went charging in, hitting the person on the head with the statue which caused her to be thrown against the wall ultimately causing her deep pain.

Kane instantly rushed to her side, soothing her with his comforting hold. The intruder ran out of the room and house while Kane called the ambulance.

As they waited for help, she wondered who that person was and what they looking for. She knew that after dealing with this injury, she would find out soon enough.

................................................................................................................................................................

Hey guys,

Another chapter for you and it's long too!

There will be more chapters coming very soon.

As always, vote and comment on your thoughts on the book so far.

Love, Tam x