Page 8 of His Aries Heiress
Something flashed across Marcellus’s face. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Besides him. How did you know?”
For some reason, hearing that the little boy was Grim’s only kid made her heart skip a beat. She gazed up at Marcellus and wondered why she felt so drawn to his rude ass demeanor.
“I hired a private investigator, and he found Gregory for me.”
Marcellus’s jaw clenched and unclenched several times before he asked, “I’ma need his information.” Cassydie wondered why but couldn’t ask because Marcellus spoke again. “You’re gonna give Grim your liver.”
“Sir, it doesn’t really work like that. Besides, as I tried to say before, Gregory is too far gone?—”
Marcellus whirled around on the doctor. “Aye, man. What the fuck I say? You need to be prepping mothatfuckas for surgery instead of tryna buck against me.”
Cassydie didn’t know what made her do this, but she lifted her hand and placed it on Marcellus’s forearm. His head jerked back around to face her, and she really saw him for the first time. There was fear behind his eyes, which touched the empath in her.
“I’ll do it. I’ll give him my liver, okay?” She knew what she said may not even solve the problem since it seemed like the doctor thought Gregory would die either way, but she reallywanted to appease Marcellus for some reason. She didn’t want to witness him crashing out because of his pain. Deep down, she got the notion that witnessing that would hurt her too. “Can I meet him first? My . . . Gregory. Can I meet him?”
Marcellus didn’t take long to think about it. She got the sense that he understood time was of the essence. He simply nodded once before speaking over his shoulder. “Go do whatever you got to do so we can get this surgery done.”
“There’s prep for the patients, sir. The surgery can’t even happen until tomorrow at the earliest?—”
Marcellus didn’t stick around to hear the doctor’s excuses. He walked out of the room, leaving Cassydie there feeling awkward. After a moment, she mumbled a quick “Sorry” before leaving the room, too, and rushing to catch up to Marcellus.
He took quick strides down the hall toward the elevators. Cassydie was just able to slip into the elevator with him before the doors closed. The ride up to the third floor was silent. Cassydie noticed Marcellus staring at her the entire time. She didn’t know if he was trying to intimidate her or what, but all she felt were her emotions heightening. Everything happened so quickly, and this intense man only made her feel things that added confusion into the mix.
When the elevator doors opened, he stepped off swiftly, once again leaving her behind. She huffed and urged her short legs to keep up with him. Just before they got to the room, he stopped abruptly, causing her to run into his hard midsection.
“Oof.” Cassydie stumbled back, but he gripped her waist to prevent her from falling.
When she was steady, he let her go and peered down at her. “If he’s awake, let me talk to him first. I’on even know if he knows about you. I ain’t tryna give him a heart attack.”
Cassydie nodded slowly. She didn’t want to go in there and cause any problems. She just wanted to lay eyes on the man whohelped create her. Her breathing quickened as tears filled her eyes. She looked away from Marcellus’s gaze. Her parents filled her mind, and she wondered if wanting to speak to Gregory was a slight against them. Damn, she wished like hell they were alive so she could talk to them about all this. She desperately needed guidance, but she had none.
“Aye, you good?” His deep voice sent shockwaves through her system and forced her thoughts to scatter.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she looked back up at Marcellus. He looked at her with a frown, but she saw a hint of concern there. Maybe that was why she decided to be honest when she answered instead of putting on that tough front.
“Honestly? No. This is . . . a lot.”
Marcellus stood there for a second and stared at her. She squirmed slightly. It felt like he wanted to say something, but he never did. He simply turned toward the door and walked into the room.
Emptiness filled Cassydie again. She tried her best to mentally prepare herself, but that was useless. Only time to process could help, but she didn’t have that, so she squared her shoulders and walked into the room.
She stilled when she saw Marcellus bent over a man and speaking so softly, she had to strain to hear.
“How you feelin’, OG?”
“Been better.”
Cassydie’s breath stalled. His voice sounded weak but warm. There was no use in trying to stop her tears. It felt like a dam broke as soon as she heard his voice.
“How long you been sick, old man?”
Cassydie noted that Marcellus’s voice sounded calmer and softer when speaking to the man. Once again, she found herself wondering who Marcellus was to Gregory.
“Ain’t been feelin’ well for a while. You know how I feel about the doctors. Don’t like people makin’ a fuss over me.” He paused for a second to catch his breath. It was then Cassydie realized he had an oxygen mask in his hand. From her position, she couldn’t see his face, but she desperately wanted to. “They say it’s liver failure. Say it’s too far gone?—”
“I ain’t tryna hear none of that?—”
“Listen to me.” The force behind the words caused the old man to take a break so he could catch his breath. Cassydie understood how much respect Marcellus had for Gregory because he shut up and allowed Gregory the time to get his breathing under control before he continued. “Tato . . .”
