Page 53 of Sunshine & Sinful

“I fuckin’ hate this.” My son kicks the ground, and little pebbles fly everywhere, hitting the bottom of the neighbor’s wooden fence.

“I dunno what you expect me to say.”

“I dunno. Maybe, that you’re sorry or something. Fuck!”

“Why the hell would I be sorry?” I stroke my beard. “Am I sorry you cheated on your old lady? Hell no. You did that. Not me. I warned you I would get what I wanted.”

“He’s right, Dark. Everyone knows the score. It’s not like he was hiding it,” Angel adds.

My son points to the rear of the house. “But I love her.”

“So what? I love her, too.” Not to be cheesy as fuck and quote the great Tina Turner, but “What’s love got to do with it?” Not a damn thing. Real love is made up of more than hollow words. It’s actions that matter.

“She’s the mother of my kids.” Dark smacks his palm to the center of his chest. “And you’re old as fuck.”

Rolling my eyes at his childishness, I shrug one shoulder, not bothering to do the other. “Do you think she cares how old I am?”

“Obviously not.”

“Then drop it.” If it doesn’t matter to Kali, it doesn’t matter to me. I can’t change my age any more than she can. That has zero bearing on my feelings for her.

“You fucked her foralmost two,” growling out the words, Dark holds up two fingers as if I need a counting lesson, “goddamn hours.”

“So?” I don’t see the problem here. I took care of her. We’re not pressed for time.

Grumbling as if he expects me to get angry and fight with him, Dark punches the air. “Howcan you fuck her for almost two hours?”

How?

I have a functioning dick. That’s how.

Dark’s fully grown. He knows all about the birds and the bees. I found nudie mags under his mattress at twelve. They were a gift from one of my brothers. This insulting shit just to be insulting has gotta stop.

“We’re not doin’ this, Dark.” I sigh. It’s not the time or the place. Angel’s here for a job, and we’re not airing out more family bullshit tonight. Enough is enough.

Squaring up like he’s down to brawl, my son cracks his knuckles. “Yes. We are,Dad.” He steps forward.

Not in the mood for whatever this is, I put a hand out to cut him off before he does something dumb like hit me and force me to put him on his ass. “I have a woman toget home and calls to make. To make sure the rest of Anthony’s shit disappears. Ya know, to protect Kali. To make sure none of this blows back on her.”

“Sorry, Dark, but I’m with Sunshine on this one,” Angel chimes in, looking between us as if he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. He is. We’re his brothers, and this love triangle, square, rectangle, whatever the hell you wanna call it, is done. I won. I passed go. Now I get to claim my prize.

“Fuck you, Angel.” Dark flips him off.

Raising both hands in mock surrender, Angel steps back from the situation, then hitches his thumb toward the van’s driver’s side. “I’m gonna go handle this.” He lifts his chin at me. “Brother, if you need anything, give me a ring. Yeah?”

I nod. “Will do. Thanks, brother.”

“Anytime.”

Turning back to my son as Angel pulls away, I stay off the topic of Kali and focus on what we need to do to handle this stalker business. Dark listens and, for once, doesn’t start shit. Once we’re on the same page, I march through the darkness to the back of Anthony’s house and climb the two steps into his kitchen, where Kali’s standing, watching us through the window. She turns to face me as I enter. The rickety screen door slams shut in my wake.

“Hi, Sweets. You okay?”

“Areyouokay?” she emphasizes with raised brows, pointing out the window where Dark is sulking like a toddler who lost his favorite toy.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I could hear Dark cussing.”

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