Page 38 of Merc

“Yes,” I almost whispered before going in for another kiss.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being vocal when you were overwhelmed instead of staying in your head about it.”

I chuckled as I placed my hands on his chest. “Yeah. As we left out, I was thinking about how much fun I had and how much I could love your family. Then I started thinking about how much I could love you. And that scared the shit out of me.”

“It doesn’t have to. I’ma keep saying this like an affirmation until it sticks in your head and your heart. You’re safe with me, Neo. In all ways.”

That pulled me off the ledge, so I nodded and gave him another hug. Merc opened the door and let me inside. Our drive to his home was filled with singing and rapping along to his ’90s playlist. I knew we were going to have a good time tonight when he stopped by Beethoven’s place to reup on his personal stash of marijuana.

When we made it to his home, Aries was seated in the living room, waiting for him.

“I’ll uh… give you two some space,” I said, preparing to head to his room.

“Nah, you can stay,” Merc said. “She don’t mind putting Omar in our business, so I don’t mind putting you in ours.”

I felt like he was saying that to be petty. He’d told me about what happened when we first came back. I didn’t want to be used as a pawn between them, but I also wouldn’t leave him if he didn’t want me to. We all sat down, and I felt so awkward, listening in on their conversation.

Well, if they would even have a conversation. Aries immediately broke into tears. I wanted to console her, but since I didn’t really know her that well, I shoved Merc in her direction. With a huff, he stood and walked over to her. Seated next to her, he held her until she was all cried out. When her tears stopped, Merc stood and made his way back next to me.

“What was that about?” Merc asked, checking the time on his Rolex.

“Omar and I… we’re over.”

Merc smiled. I elbowed him, and he grunted before wiping his smile away.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, smile returning. “What happened?”

“After you assaulted him a week ago, he started acting funny.”

“Wait, what?” I said, turning slightly to face Merc. “What did you do?”

“It’s in the past,” he grumbled, scratching his nose. “It wasn’t nothing he didn’t deserve, though.”

Aries rolled her eyes and sat up in her seat. “He didn’t deserve that, Merc, and that’s the problem. You feel like because I’m the mother of your child that you have a say in everything I do. It’s not fair because I don’t do that to you.”

“I don’t feel like I have a say in everything you do, but I do have a say in everything that concerns my son. That’s what you can’t seem to understand. Regardless of who you marry, I’m still Marz’s father. You can’t make decisions for him without consulting me, Aries. I don’t understand why you can’t accept that.”

Her shoulders slouched as she sighed. “You’re right. I know that. I guess I was just… so caught up in my happiness and getting married that I didn’t want to let you ruin that. When I got pregnant, the pressure to detach myself from you felt worse. So when Omar proposed and asked me to move with him to Atlanta, I agreed.”

“Okay, so what happened? I know he didn’t break up with you because I gave him a few punches.”

“One of his teeth came out, and another one was chipped,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Oop, gahdamn.” I meant to mutter, but it came out louder than I’d meant for it to, causing Merc to laugh. “Sorry.”

“He’s the one that should be sorry. Omar said he wants nothing to do with you, so he basically said Marz has to stay here. He wanted me to come here to spend time with my son just to avoid you.”

“And I know you weren’t going for that shit,” Merc said.

Aries smiled for the first time since their conversation started. “Hell nah. I told him if he didn’t want my son, he didn’t want me. I did admit that I hadn’t been communicating properly and sticking to the boundaries you and I had in place, which caused you to show your ass. I told him if I stopped doing that, things would get back to how they used to be. That’s when he straight up said I had to leave Marz here, or we were done.” She scoffed and crossed her legs. “Can you believe he told me to give him the ring back so he could use it to buy a plane ticket?”

Now that got a good laugh out of Merc. “What happened to all the money he said he had saved?”

“Apparently, that was a lie. When we were in Mississippi, he said I needed to get ready to start working again so I could help with bills. That’s what led me to tell Marz about the move. I wasn’t fully on board with it, but I was willing to do what I had to, to keep my family together.”

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