“Then you right after so they can be close in age.”

Skyler gave me that look. “Now you doing too much.”

I laughed. “Look, Corleon already said that he wants two more… I give him one and you give him two, ‘cause you can’t tell him that Stellie isn’t his daughter.”

“You know he sent me an email saying he would take me to court for custody? As if I’m not going through court already… he is pure madness.”

“I mean, he is Menace’s best friend, and he has that Delgato blood flowing through him… craziness all wrapped into one smart geek.”

“And lord is he fine,” she fanned herself and I laughed.

We both cheers and took our wine back as we got comfortable on the couch and caught up on our shows together. Skyler was my best friend, more like a sister. Our relationship meant so much to me, and even though Corleon wanted us both, we never felt like we were competing with him.

He knew how to handle us both. I had been so against what he wanted, and now I only wanted to share him with Skyler. She and Estella were our missing pieces, and we couldn’t do this without them.

I hated when people asked questions about how we would explain it to Stella. We didn’t need to explain anything, other than she was loved. She had three people in her life who loved her and would do anything for her.

Our situation wasn’t for everybody, and I understood that, and I didn’t care at the same time. Corleon was the head of our family, and he would lead this family. If you didn’t like it, then you didn’t need to read our story.

We were family – together.

Stevie

He yelled at me.

Actually, yelled at me like I was a child.

It had been a week since he yelled at me, and I hadn’t spoken to him. If I needed something I would tell Greene, and she would handle it. Every time he came in the same room as me, I quickly left.

He wanted to speak to me and every time he tried, I dismissed myself from his presence. Greene told me that he had quiet time. What grown man had quiet time? As if he was Estella’s age or something.

How was I supposed to know he had timeout hours? Maybe he should have gotten a sign on his office. I noticed how he watched me when I ate my food, as if he wanted to shake me or something.

Maybe I was way over my head with thinking I could become his wife. My father dying wasn’t that bad… maybe he could make amends with my mother and apologize. Why should I save his damn life when he never gave a damn about mine?

My phone pulled me from my thoughts as I sat on the terrace off my bedroom. “Hey Cindy!”

“Girl, are you alive?”

I had been keeping in contact with Alex, and it slipped my mind that I had a job and clients. It wasn’t like I had that many, and since my books were closed prior to vacation, no one could book me.

“Hey Cindy, I’ve had a lot going on and it slipped my mind to call you.”

She sighed. “Are you safe?”

Like a true big sister or aunt, she was checking to see if I was alright before she chewed me out. “Yes. I am safe.”

“Good, because when I get my hands on you, you won’t be. Why in the world wouldn’t you call and let me know something?”

“Life has been crazy.”

“No excuse, Stevie… I worry about you.”

I felt guilty for not telling her what was going on. “I’m sorry, Cindy. How is everything at the shop?”

“A mess per usual. I haven’t seen your friend around here either… is her selfish ass alright?”

I couldn’t answer for that because I didn’t know how Priscilla was and hadn’t asked. She had betrayed me in a way I couldn’t forgive, and I didn’t want to think about her. Any time she sat on my mind for too long, I tried to think of something else.