Page 73 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings
“Staten, we can’t do this.” I tried to wiggle out of his arms.
Taking a step back, he bobbed his head and let me go.
“I’ll follow you back.” He turned and walked away, leaving me staring after him for a minute and trying to keep my head from spinning.
Ivo
“What is going on with you?” Jordan whispered, leaning in.
Seated side by side in the waiting room at the clinic waiting for Emerald and the doctor, I couldn’t help but twitch anxiously. It was a little after eleven a.m., and I’d checked my watch like ten times. I didn’t know why I even had to be here, but my wife insisted. All this shit felt like some kind of internal punishment. Thoughts of the idea of dragging my seed into this haunted me.
“Nothing. I have to get to work. I got shit to do.”
“This isn’t going to take long, Ivo. You have to be here for the legal paperwork too though.”
The office door opened and in walked Emerald, taking a nigga’s breath away. In a pair of high-waisted, mandarin-colored pants with a V-neck, sleeveless top and ivory slides on her feet, she sailed inside like the sun had personally kissed her smooth caramel skin. She’d pinned half of her long blonde locs into a bun at the top and let the rest flow down her back, swaying when she walked. It hit me that she’d always been that girl. Cool. Relaxed. She wore designer because she had the type of motherwho thought labels and shit made you. Emerald could pull off any look effortlessly though.
“Hey!” Jordan stood excitedly and went to hug her. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good. Kind of anxious,” she tittered, barely acknowledging me seated there.
“Girl, me too. Come have a seat.”
Emerald took the chair facing the door, which was closer to me. She adjusted her crossbody bag into her lap and pulled her phone out. I guess she got a message or something, which caused a faint smile to grace her lips. Now I wanted to know who the fuck she was talking to, but I swiped at my own phone screen, trying not to pay her any mind.
“Okay, Miss Thing, who has you smiling like that?” Jordan teased.
“Nobody,” Em answered, shaking her head.
“Mmm hmm. Nobody wouldn’t be like six foot six with dreamy brown eyes and smooth mocha skin, would he?”
Suddenly, I wondered what Jordan knew that I didn’t. Keeping my head down, I pretended to be interested in some random email I’d gotten, but I was damn sure taking in every word of their conversation.
“We’ve been talking back and forth since church. It’s no big thing though. I don’t know where this is going, considering what I’m about to do for y’all.”
“So you haven’t told him about the surrogacy?” Jordan questioned.
“No. I just let Sapphire know what was going on. I don’t even know how you weave that into conversation with someone you’re just getting to know. Like I told you, he’s my brother’s coach, and I really don’t want to jeopardize that.”
“But he likes you, and you like him too. I saw that smile that day at the café. You deserve to be happy, Em. You’re making ahuge sacrifice for us, but that doesn’t mean you put your life on hold too,” Jordan advised her.
“Why not?” I popped my head up from my phone, catching them both by surprise and sending their necks reeling.
“What do you mean why not? She’s going to be pregnant, not dead or handicapped.”
“Yeah, but that’s our baby she’ll be carrying. Shouldn’t we have a say in who she’s around?”
“Ivo, that’s not how this works. We can’t dictate her life.” Jordan sat up beside me and shook her head. “I swear, men are always trying to control some shit. She should date and have someone besides us to talk to and spend time with. If this guy can accept what she’s doing, then what’s the problem?”
Emerald pushed her lips together and shot a glare in my direction, also waiting for an answer.
“I’m just saying. Shit already complicated. Why add more people to the situation? She can’t wait until she has the baby to date?”
I was on some bullshit, and both women shot daggers at me, for different reasons, no doubt.
“How am I the one in the wrong here for my concerns?” I asked, gripping my phone and aiming a finger at my chest.
“Because it’s selfish and inconsiderate,” Jordan declared.
