Page 116 of 10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace

“Okay, baby. See you soon.”

“See you soon, Mitchell.” I smiled and ended the call, while the makeup artist continued to work hard to stop the tears.

“Hey Mrs. Caselli.” I turned and saw both Zoya and Kora come into the room, and I smiled while taking in their outfits.

Zoya was having a monochromatic moment with her beige high waisted pants and her dress shirt tucked in. She wore a pair of Celine sunglasses and paired it with a Chanel bag that matched perfectly with her outfit.

While Kora wore an olive green off the shoulder dropped waist dress with her Birken on her arm. Both of them wore their hair straightened as they took me in.

“You both look like money.”

“Baby, we are the money… you are, too.” Kora kissed my cheek and sat down where Jeffie had been sitting previously.

“I remember the real reason you didn’t want a full wedding, and I respect that. Some traditions you want to have with your mother, I feel the same. You love our brother and that is all I have ever wanted for him. I want Maverick to be loved, andfor someone to take care of him. He has taken care of us all of these years that he deserves the same back. While we aren’t your mother, we wanted to stick to tradition by doing the something new, blue, and borrowed.”

I smiled at both of them. “Really?”

Skyler came back into the room. “I’m giving you something borrowed. This is my mom’s favorite gold hair clip; she wore it the day she had me. It means so much to me, and I want you to wear it today.”

She kissed my cheek and put the clip into my hair, and it fit perfectly. “Thank you, Sky.”

“Never mention it. Family forever.”

“Even after that.”

Zoya left the room while Kora stood up. “We all have a CH pin… every immediate Caselli has this specialized pin. There are two versions of this pin, and this one only the Casellis and immediate family wears.” She produced a gold pin with CH on it, the same one that Maverick wore on his suits. “I don’t wear mine for obvious reasons, but it is always pinned on the inside of my robe when I’m behind that bench.”

“As for something blue… well, the Caselli’s don’t really do blue, but we do black and gold.” Zoya came back into the room with an orange Hermes box.

“Bitch, a Hermes bag!” Skyler hollered.

Zoya held the box while Kora carefully pulled the bag out of the box. She pulled the most beautiful black crocodile Birken bag with gold hardware. “Your husband put in a few calls and had this overnighted from Europe because he said his boo… his words, needed something blue.”

I had made plans to tell Maverick to pay the makeup artist double because the girl was working today. “God.”

“We’re dysfunctional as fuck, but I ride for my brothers and sister no matter what. Me and Menace may not see eye to eye,but he knows I work hard to protect him… can’t stand him, but will protect him with my life. We stick together, and now that you are joining the family, we will protect you, too.”

Kora looked over at Skyler. “That includes both the future Brusters, too.”

“Guys, thank you for this. I’ve never had many friends, and it’s always been just Skyler. Marrying your brother means I get sisters, and that makes me excited.”

“More than marrying him, right? ‘Cause you can tell me,” Zoya said, and we all laughed together. “Let’s get you married… seems like all I be doing is attending weddings, none of them are mine.”

“When Big G come home… fuck you meannnn he coming for those chocolate babies, Ms. Lawyer,” Skyler snorted.

Apparently, this was an inside joke with them. “Let’s get you married. Stevie, I live my life in the shadows because I have to. I don’t even go by Caselli. I go by Case, and I’m never seen with Menace. As much as I want to be in pictures, I cannot under any circumstances be in any, and I have to keep my distance. So, if you see me in the back with this mask on, know there’s a reason and don’t be offended. I would never miss this day for the world.”

“I’m just glad that you are here, K.” We embraced and the makeup artist went to finish my make up.

Menace

Marriage.

I sat in the living room with my legs crossed in my suit enjoying my own cup of scotch. Lupita had poured some into my favorite insulated cup before I left the house. Dressed in a black Armani suit, with my pins on my lapel.

In addition to theCHpin, I had my jeweler make me one that saidWonder. When I smiled at the pin, I scared the shit out of him because I was never chummy when I went to get jewelry. This pin was special because it was my baby. I would wear it every time I clipped that CH pin on.

Today I was getting married and usually I would be in here pacing and looking around to find shit to count. I was calm knowing that I had met my forever when it came to Stevie. She was beautiful, smart, and she was unique.

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