Page 75 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings
“Pssh, you don’t get to tell me what to do. Worry about your wife!” she spat, yanking the door open.
I hadn’t expected her to go off, or for her to find out about the details of my relationship with Jordan. Emerald leaving left room for me to become a petty ass nigga. I can admit that. My initial attraction to Jordan was the fact that no matter where Emerald was, she would know I was with who she considered her best friend. As a form of payback, I used Jordan to heal, I just didn’t expect to really fall for her. The feelings didn’t compare to what I shared with Emerald though, and they never would. Knowing that she resented me suddenly had a nigga tight.
By the time I got to my car, I plopped in the driver’s seat and reached into the ashtray for the blunt I’d rolled earlier. Jordanhated when I smoked in the car, but I didn’t give a fuck. I brought that shit to my lips and sparked it with my BIC lighter. My wife slid inside, huffing and puffing. I could tell she had a fucking attitude now too. I was ready to drop her ass off at home so I could go to work.
“Look, Jay?—”
“I don’t want to fucking hear it, Ivo!” she spat, reached out, and pressed the button to let the window down.
“The fuck I do?”
“You tell me.” She tucked her arms across her chest and turned so that we were facing each other. “Are you jealous that she might be seeing someone?”
I sucked my teeth and took a pull of the blunt before starting the car.
“Why would I be?” I asked, keeping my eyes straight ahead as my jaw locked.
“That’s a good fucking question! I would like the answer to that.”
“You know me and Em got history, Jay.”
“History, Ivo. As in the past! But right now, it’s looking like that shit is as present as ever.”
“What you want me to say? I don’t think it’s cool for her to be carrying our child and fucking with some nigga. I’d say that about any woman in that position. Shit ain’t right.”
“It’s our baby. Not hers. She still has needs and should be able to do what she wants as a single woman. Unless that’s a problem for you.”
“I said it wasn’t, aight,” I snapped, immediately shifting gears so we could head home.
“Hmm, yeah. Whatever.” She reached back to buckle her seat belt, yanking that shit hard as hell across her chest when doing so.
“You told her about the creek and me proposing to you there?” I glanced her way.
“Yes, I did. Is it supposed to be some big secret or something?” Jordan demanded. “She asked how long we’d been married and how we got together, and I told her. She was my best friend, and I have missed her, so we were catching up. What’s the harm in that? You were just friends with her, right?”
“We were never together like that. Emerald and I just enjoyed a lot of the same things, so we spent time together sharing that. Her father never liked me, so we had to keep our friendship a secret. I missed her when she left too. She was just one of those people I could always talk to and who seemed to understand me. Having you here when she wasn’t… I could never forget that, Jay. I want you to know that. I love you.”
“I know. I love you too.” She blinked back tears, and a soft smile curved her lips.
I parked in front of the house when we arrived, and Jordan unbuckled and leaned across the seat to kiss me.
“You making it home for dinner tonight?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll hit you up,” I told her, looking down into my phone at a message I’d just received.
“Okay.” Jordan pushed her car door open and strolled up the walkway to our front porch so she could let herself inside.
I tapped at the message I received and saw that someone had sent a video. Watching the building go up in flames was one thing, but the Marek sign plastered to the side is what had me hotter than fish grease.
“Muthafucka,” I muttered, immediately sending that shit to Brick and Staten.
Today was not the day for this bullshit! I shifted my car into drive and left skid marks in the dirt when I pulled off. On the drive, I got a message from Staten to me and Brick telling us to get all hands on deck and arrange a sit down with the otherfour families in our organization. He instructed us to meet him at our bunker so that we could talk first. Justus had been gone for almost two weeks, and I knew eventually we would be tested, just not like this.
I’d faced a whole blunt on the drive over to the bunker to meet my brothers. Between Jordan, Emerald, and this whole surrogacy shit, business was actually a welcome distraction. I hadn’t told either of them the nature of what was going on. It was bad enough Rossi was in my business, which meant that so was Sol and Marcella. I didn’t want everybody feeling like they were entitled to an opinion on my fucking life. For as long as I could remember, I’d always done what everybody else wanted me to do. Emerald was the one thing in my life I chose for me.
“Was that one of our fucking warehouses?” Brick asked, letting himself into the bunker and shaking his head.
The minute I arrived, Staten unlocked the storm door and went back to the table where a selection of guns were spread. Boxes of ammunition were stacked up on the edge, and a fresh blunt dangled off his lips. He was focused, picking up each weapon and examining it clip by clip. It smelled like it always did in here, gun powder, oil, and a faint mist in the air. There was a side tunnel that took you over to the creek. I was familiar with it because that used to be me and Jordan’s spot. Sometimes I met her coming from here.
