Marked by her Billionaire

ASHES OF BLOOD LEXI’S POV I learned early that in our part of Atlanta that survival came before any dreams you had. Those dreams were for people who lived past twenty-five, for kids who slept without a loud siren stitching the night together, for families who didn't count bullets the way others counted blessings. Where I grew up, you learned which streets to cross and which streets to avoid, how to read danger, and how to keep your head down and your mouth shut. I learned all that because of Tyler. He was my little brother and I needed to keep him safe. Mama used to say God gave Tyler to soften me. I used to think God gave me Tyler to break me down. He had this smile, which was wide, reckless, and full of trouble. It made strangers trust him and enemies underestimate him. Tyler could talk his way out of locked doors and into places he had no business being. He had ambition wrapped around him like a charm. And I loved him more than my own breath. We grew up in a two-bedroom apartment with peeling paint walls and a fridge that hummed like it was always on its last leg. Mama worked herself into the ground until her heart stopped working when Tyler was just sixteen and I was twenty-one. After that, it was just us. I picked up double shifts and gave him promises that all this was temporary. But that promise turned into months, eventually years. Each month became worse than the last. Sometimes I would question where money for food would come from. Down the line, things changed with Tyler and I didn’t need proof to know he was doing something wrong. He would come home with new shoes and stuff worth thousands of dollars. He began paying up the bills we had. I could see his eyes sharper than they used to be. He stopped laughing easily and started checking his phone like it might bite him and began coming home late. “You are doing something stupid,” I told him one night, standing in the kitchen with my arms crossed. I was exhausted. “And whatever it is, it’s not worth it, Ty.” He leaned against the counter, smirked like he always did when he didn’t want to answer. “Lex, relax. I'm handling things, okay?” “And how are you handling things, Ty?” I demanded. “Because last I checked, handling things doesn't involve strangers calling by 3am in the freaking morning.” His jaw tightened for a second before his usual smile came back. “It’s nothing illegal.” I blurted out a laugh, which was humorless. “That’s a big lie and you know that.” He didn't argue and that was the worst part. He slowly looked up at me. “I am going to get us out of this.” He said quietly, while pointing around the house. “You've done enough, Lex. Let me help and I will bring us out of this hole we call home.” I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him so bad. But I had seen what the street did to young boys like him. They sell them dreams, use them, and dispose of them when they are no longer needed. “Ty, I need you alive,” I whispered. “I don't need money. I need my brother. You are all I have left.” He stepped closer, cupped my face with his hands which still smelled of motor oil and cheap perfume. “I'm quitting soon,” he promised. “I just have one last thing to do and I'm done. I swear.” I should have screamed at him, grabbed his key, and chained him to the fridge if that’s what it took. Instead, I nodded. Because hope was all I had, and it was a dangerous thing when you have nothing else. That night, Tyler kissed my forehead like he used to when we were kids and Mama was still alive and the world had not been cruel to us. “I love you. Don't wait up.” He yelled as he walked out the door. The door clicked shut behind him. him. ************************ The next morning came. I heard a knock on the door. It wasn't loud but it had a steady rhythm. I walked to the door in my pajamas, irritated already. It was 7am, what did the person want? When I opened it, the irritation died in my throat. There were two officers who stood in the hallway with no expression on their faces. When two white officers show up at your doorstep in the hood, it means two things—someone got arrested or you were being arrested or the worst, someone was dead. My heart dropped to my stomach as one name rang in my head….Tyler. “Are you Alexis Carter?” One of the police officers asked, he didn't even bother with pleasantries. I nodded. “We're sorry to inform you….” The rest of the words blurred past me. All I heard was alley, found unresponsive, gunshot wound, dead at the scene. In conclusion…Tyler was dead. My knees gave out before I realized I was screaming. The police officer said that it might have been a gang deal that had gone wrong. The word on the streets was that Tyler was in debt and had been running with dangerous people. All that the officer was saying, I didn't hear most of it. All I could see was my brother when he was six years old, with two missing teeth, grinning like the world was his playground. Then, Tyler at sixteen, holding my hands at Mama’s funeral where we promised each other that we would be okay. And lastly, that night in the kitchen where Tyler had sworn that he was done. The officers gave me papers which I signed and asked me some questions. After a while, they left my apartment and I collapsed on the floor and broke apart. I was choking on my tears, as bile rose to my throat. My fist was pounding my chest like I could reach inside and tear out the pain. I replayed every conversation, every warning I have, and every time I let my exhaustion win over my fear. I should have done more, stopped him, or even gone with him. The sun rose and set without me noticing. I was in Tyler’s room which still smelled like him. His jacket hung over the chair where he had left it. I pressed my face into the fabric and screamed until my throat burned. That was when the second knock came and I froze. No one should be knocking anymore. I had no friends or family. Tyler was the last one. I slowly stood, wiped my face with my shaky hands, and moved towards the door with my heart pounding hard inside my chest. I slowly opened it. My heart dropped…two men were standing in the hallway, looking like they were ready to send me to heaven. I froze. And prayed for mercy.