Page 75 of Maceo

I chuckled. “I wouldn’t think of bringing her back. Once she’s mine, she’s mine until my eyes close.”

“Do you have a ring?” his wife asked.

I nodded as I pulled the ring box out and handed it to her. When she opened it, she gasped.

“Oh, Maceo. That is beautiful.”

“Damn, nigga!” Mr. Paul exclaimed. “You want somebody to snatch my baby’s hand off?”

“I got bullets for anybody that thinks to try her like that.”

Mrs. Cicely clapped her hands. “I know that’s right. Oh, she’s going to love it.”

“I’m actually planning a surprise proposal. I’ll let you know the details once it’s finalized.”

“We will be there,” her mother stated. “Oh, I can’t believe my baby is getting married!”

“She has to say yes first,” Mr. Paul reminded her.

“She’ll say yes. I see the way Sharina looks at this man. My girl is completely in love. Plus, you know her and Salima can never do anything without each other. Of course, they would marry brothers.”

I chuckled. “Lucky us.”

I sat talking with them for a little while longer. Of course, Mrs. Cicely had to pick my brain about the proposal idea. She wanted to be a part of it, and I was okay with that. That meant Salima’s mama was going to be a part of it, too, because just like Shar and Salima, the two of them did everything together too. I told her to just get with Salima, and we would go from there.

After saying my goodbyes, I climbed into my car and backed out of the driveway, heading for home. As I neared the stop sign, my phone chimed with a message from Shar. When I opened it, there was a picture of her looking fine as a muthafucka in the sexiest, next to nothing piece of lingerie.

The caption read:Your wives are requesting your immediate presence.

I grinned as I texted back,Wives?

She responded with,Me and this wet ass pussy.

The video that followed was of her playing with said wet ass pussy.

“Bet.”

I tossed my phone to the side and pulled off from the stop sign. I couldn’t keep my wives waiting.

“Mommy, can we please take a break?”I begged. “I’m tired.”

She and Auntie Karen had shown up at my house this morning, bright and early, saying we were all having a mommy-daughter day. Maceo didn’t put up a fuss. He simply handed over his bank card and told us to have fun on him. I’d dragged myself out of bed to take a shower and get dressed. By the time I got downstairs, Salima was there, and so were two men to guard us while we were out.

I was so happy that my mother and Auntie Karen didn’t say anything about us having guards. Given that Salima had been kidnapped before, I was sure she appreciated the gesture. In reality, the guards were there because of the shit we had going on now. My mother and aunt were oblivious to that, and I wanted to keep it that way.

We’d been running the streets for four hours now, and I needed a nap. Currently, we were in a boutique, looking at shoes. I wasn’t sure why my mama needed a new pair of heels, but she’d already tried on five different pairs.

“You wouldn’t be tired if you weren’t up all times of night,” she reminded me.

“I went to bed at a decent hour last night, thank you very much. You interrupted my beauty sleep.”

She scoffed, and I knew she was about to be dramatic. “Well, I’m sorry if spending time with the woman that gave birth to you is so exhausting.”

Auntie Karen rolled her eyes. “Dial it back, Cicely,” she said. “Listen, Sharina. You only get one mother, and none of us knows when it’s our time to go. Enjoy these moments while you can.”

Her saying that had me thinking about the bounty on our head. She was right about that. I didn’t know how much time I had left with them, and I should make the most of it.

“I’m sorry, Ma,” I said, kissing her cheek. “You know I love spending time with you. Next to Salima and Darlyn, you know you’re my favorite girl.”