Page 81 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings
“I can’t afford to leave,” she quipped. “So, don’t worry about it. I’m a big girl as well as a professional. The kids will be starting school; you’ll be at work. I think we should focus on that.”
There was a bit of chill in her tone when she spoke to me now, and I ain’t like that shit. I also knew I couldn’t fight it. I was her employer, and those lines didn’t need to be blurred by whatever was between us. Nodding, I turned the knob to the door and turned to leave. Saga stood in the hall, staring up at me with an odd expression as Cambrie emerged behind me.
“Everybody is ready,” he announced, eyes toggling from Cambrie to me.
“Okay, let’s go.” I stepped aside so that she could walk ahead of me, and she demanded every ounce of my attention when she did.
The sway of her hips had me temporarily hypnotized as her ass wiggled with each step. A distraction outside of work was damn sure needed if I was supposed to keep myself away from her.
After spending most of the day shopping, we piled into the house with bags from every department store in the mall. The kids were more than ready for their first day of school. It took a few trips from the car to bring everything inside. Cambrie assisted with helping put things away for Piaget and Rogue before starting dinner. She’d gotten both of their rooms organized, but she had to stay on Piaget because my baby could go from one unfinished project to the next.
Her mind was always on creating something. She wouldn’t be able to complete one idea when another flew into her head. There were incomplete canvases that she’d painted, and puzzles arranged on the floor. I was in awe of what went on in her brain sometimes. Cambrie seemed to support all her shenanigans though, even talking me into letting her create a mural on oneof the walls in her room. Bringing in an easel that I bought for Rogue, I received a call I’d been waiting on about a special delivery being made.
Maino, our guard at the gate, informed me that it had arrived. I stepped outside when the brand-new black BMW X7 was delivered and unloaded off the truck. I signed for it, tipped the driver, and he handed me two fobs to go with it. Cambrie’s little car was cool for her, but she was going to need something with more space to drive the kids around. Letting myself back into the house, I found her coming down the stairs out of breath and pausing at the landing to look me over.
“Come outside for a minute.” I nodded over my shoulder, and she studied me skeptically.
The car had been left under the car port with the price tag still on it and a red bow on top.
“What’s this?”
“It’s for you to drive the kids around in. Here.” I tossed her one of the fobs, and she caught it but couldn’t hide her shock.
“You bought me a car?”
“No offense to your whip, but this one will get everyone inside comfortably, plus all their shit. You want to take it for a test drive?”
“I’m cooking dinner. Maybe later,” she whispered, swinging her gaze my way.
“I know what you thinking, and this ain’t got shit to do with that. I just want to make sure you and the kids are good on the road. This would make me feel better,” I assured her.
“Okay,” she agreed, gripping the fob in her hand.
She let herself back inside, and I decided I would go blow one. I hadn’t smoked all day, and in a couple of hours we had this meeting with the other families that I was kind of anxious about. News broke about Chino’s building, and the city was in chaos talking about who did it and why. The police were all overthis shit, which meant shit was hot. We’d pulled all our people from our spots for now until we had this sit down. I had plans on reorganizing our entire operation and how we distributed going forward. I know everybody wasn’t going to be happy about the changes, but it no longer mattered because I was in charge.
I didn’t want to jeopardize anyone else in the meantime, so I made sure our crew fell back. Once we got with everyone and were on the same page, business would resume. Posted on the balcony with my feet kicked up, I spotted the black van coming down the road, and I knew it was Rossi. Putting my blunt out in the ashtray, I decided to go down and greet her myself. The back door opened, and the ramp slid out for her to wheel herself down.
“What’s up, Ma? What you doing here?”
“Just checking on things around here. How are the children?” she queried, but I knew she was poking around for something else.
“Ready for school tomorrow. Cambrie is getting dinner together and helping them now.”
“I won’t be long. I thought you might like to know that I talked to Nadia. She has some concerns.”
“I talked to her too, and I don’t give a fuck about her or her concerns.”
“She’s the mother to your children,” Rossi sighed.
“What you really want, hmm? She ask you to come over here and plead her case after all these years? After she walked out and didn’t look back because I gave up this life for one I could live with?”
“I think that you both moved irrationally and made some mistakes. You were also young. You share children though, and she’s willing to come here and make it work?—”
“Nah, fuck that!” I barked.
“Staten…”
“Ma, stay out of this, please.” I tried to calm myself down because she had damn sure pushed a button.
