Page 63 of Honey Sugar
“What good are you, boy?” Beau seethed. “You come here and think you can keep my daughter from me. What are you doing besides corrupting my child?”
“I’m not corrupting a motherfucking thing.” My knuckles ached to sink into his face. I wanted to hit him over and over until he couldn’t move anymore.
“You’re doing more harm than good. Got all in Ivy’s head. Soon as you came here Liv and Sarah died. You’re a black stain on this fucking family, Titan. We were fine before you came.”
“Daddy!” Ivy growled angrily. She tried to stand in front of me but I stopped her. I could fight my own battles. Uncle Beau’s words hit me like a blow to the chest but since I didn’t respect him, the ache evaporated as soon as it landed.
“You gonna cry for your fucked up cousin, Ivy? You seem to love him more than you love me. More than you love anything.” He eyed her suspiciously.
“Are you gonna leave or do I have to make you leave?” I asked through gritted teeth. The itch to hit him was steadily growing and I had no plans on abandoning it.
“Make me leave you cocky little motherfucke—” He never got to finish spewing his hatred at me because I hit him in the mouth. His teeth scraped against my knuckles then his head turned to the side and he fell against the wall for support.
“Oh my god,” Ivy’s hands flew to her mouth once she saw deep red crimson dripping from her father’s lips.
“Get the fuck out. If I see you at the house, we can continue this.”
Beau stumbled upright and looked at me with wild eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but he clutched his chest instead. He knew goddamn well he was too old to fight with me even though I saw that he wanted to. I saw the burning fire in his eyes. He could try…
“Fuck you, Titan! You’re a disrespectful little shit!”
“I’ll be all of that. Just don’t come back to Ivy’s house tonight.”
Beau tried to yell at me but the pain seizing his chest wouldn’t let him. Good. It would only end badly for him. He lumbered away from the kitchen and I walked over to the back door to make sure he left. When I heard his tires kicking up dust, I locked the door and shook my head.
“Titan, oh my god. Is your hand okay?” Ivy took my hand in hers and examined my scraped knuckles.
“I’m fine, baby girl. I’ve punched plenty of assholes in the mouth. That was nothing.” I didn’t even need to shake my fist out.
“I can’t believe you busted his lip,” she marveled.
“Fuck him. You don’t have to let him stay at the house. You know that right? The lawyer looked over everything and said the house and the land are yours. Why is he still there?”
“Because if I put him out he would terrorize me and Honey Sugar. I don’t know how to deal with him right now. It’s easier to let him stay there and avoid him.”
“Nah. It’s not easier, Ivy. He’s starting to lash out more and more because he’s going through a slow withdrawal. He needs to go.”
“God, I wish he would die already. You saw him grabbing his chest, right?” I noticed the longer Ivy was around me, the darker she got. I didn’t hate it. Dark looked good on her. She wore it like an onyx crown on her head.
“I did see that,” I said, rubbing my beard. I was about to speak when my phone rang in my pocket. It was Mario. I showed the screen to Ivy and she rolled her eyes. It was supposed to be her annoyed face but she just ended up looking really adorable…and fuckable. I made a mental note to annoy her on purpose before giving her dick that made her toes curl.
I smiled at her a little then pressed the phone to my ear. “What’s up, Mario?” I said in the most neutral voice I could muster. Talking to my mother’s killer wasn’t something I enjoyed doing.
“You coming to the city tomorrow?”
“I might come through,” I answered with a one-shouldered shrug. “Why?”
“I heard Bear is going to be around that area and I wanted to warn you. You know he’s looking for you. I didn’t want to say it before because everything was still fresh but…word is he got your mother killed for what you did to his guy.”
“Oh yeah?” I tried to sound angry. I tried to sound like I cared what the fuck his snake ass was spitting at me but I didn’t. I knew who killed my mother. Bear was circumstantial. I’d talk to him and smooth out the details. Mario was the motherfucker I wanted dead. I had nothing against Bear. Shit, if I were him I would probably try to kill whoever was cutting into my money too. It was the nature of the business. There was honor amongst us.
Mario didn’t get that message.
“I know you, Shadow. What are you planning?” I frowned at my phone, grateful he couldn’t see my expression. It was murderous.
“Nothing. I have no beef with Bear,” I said. I couldn’t trust anything Mario did or said. He was trying to bait me into something. I felt it. I refused to put my foot in my mouth. I had no idea who he had listening to our conversation.
“Come on now, I know you’re planning something. He’s going to be around the dispensary tomorrow when you make your drop.”
