Page 5 of Bully

Her head shook. “No, but that’s what my gut is telling me.”

“You can’t take responsibility for this, sis. Even if Roccodidhandle it, we don’t know for sure this has anything to do with that. I would think if that was the case, Bully would have told me.”

“He wouldn’t have,” she said with an adamant shake of her head. “The only people who knew I was raped were our parents. I didn’t want people to know that and look at me or treat me differently. I made him promise not to tell anyone, which would also explain why he left without telling you why. This is all my fault, Innvy, and I am so, so sorry.”

Gabriella’s tears started falling again, forcing me to pull her into my arms. Focusing on her emotions made me feel less consumed by mine. It broke my heart to hear that she’d been violated, and it didn’t surprise me to learn Bully handled it. If this was why he left, I couldn’t help but wonder what one had to do with the other.

If Rocco was holding this over Bully’s head, what did he want in exchange? And if this wasn’t the reason but Bully had deeper mafia ties… it made me question who the hell I was about to promise my future to.

3

Bully

Nine Months Later

I’d never been scaredof anything in my life, but I was scared to face the woman that was supposed to be my wife. She’d given birth to our baby girl and named her Innah, which, in its Indian origin, meant God is perfection. We knew that to be true, and so was the love He gave us through each other. I didn’t think anything would stop that love. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

From the moment Innvy and I met we were inseparable. Rarely did more than a day go by when we weren’t in each other’s presence, so going these past nine months without her had me on the brink of insanity. While the time apart further assured me that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, a part of me feared it helped her move on from me. Because we hadn’t just not seen each other—we weren’t talking either. Worse, I missed the birth of our baby girl.

How would she ever forgive me for that?

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I kept my feet light as I walked toward the back patio. It was the beginning of spring, and my parents were taking full advantage of the warmer weather. Low music played while they worked the flat top grill. While Mama worked on what looked to be fajita chicken, Pops flipped burgers.

“Y’all got enough for me?”

While Gabriella’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth, Mama yelled about her baby as she rushed over to me. A sad smile lifted the corners of my mouth as I held her close. Regardless of the time away, she was the one person I knew for sure would care less about why I left and would just be glad I was back home.

“My baby, my baby, my baby!” Her entire body shook as she clung to my neck.

“It’s aight, Mama. I’m back home for good.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

She kissed all over my face before finally releasing me, and Gabriella wasted no time taking her place. After I held her for a while, I walked over to Pops. He alternated between frowning and blinking back tears before taking me into his arms.

“I should beat your ass for leaving my daughter and little princess. Innvy has—”

“Please, Pops. I ain’t ready yet.”

With a huff, he released me. “You ain’t got to be ready. It’s been nine months. My grandbaby has been on this Earth for six. It ain’t a damn thing you can say to justify not being here for her.”

“I left to make sure I could be with her for the rest of my life. Trust me on that.”

Our gazes remained locked for a few seconds before he nodded his agreement and pulled me in for another hug. After that, the energy shifted. We caught up but I asked them not to show me any pictures of Innah or give me any details about my baby girl. I wanted to experience her in real time for the first time.

Being away from Innvy was hard enough, but after her due date passed, I started to get physically sick from the thought of Innah being here without me. When Rocco realized the effect not having my girls was putting on my body, he adjusted the terms and agreed to release me. After what I’d just spent the last nine months doing, I considered us even, and he’d better too.

About an hour into my visit, I could no longer ignore Gabriella’s silence. She didn’t appear to be her normal bubbly self. As I sipped my beer, I walked over to the egg chair she was seated in. I plopped down on the space next to her and rocked us with my left foot.

“What’s up with you?” I checked as she stared at her phone.

“Have you seen Innvy and Innah yet?”

“Nah, not yet. It’s my first day back in town, so I wanted to decompress first.”

Gabriella sighed as she finally looked at me. “You had to leave because of me, didn’t you?” My head shook and she shoved my chest. “Don’t lie to me, Gabriel. I’ve felt like shit since you’ve been gone, so telling me the truth won’t make me feel any worse. I just… I need to know.”

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