“Have you ever thought about getting out of the life?” Lucia asked me. “You have a child now.”
I sighed. “I’m a Scarpetta. One thing Vito taught me was that it’s better to be feared than to be a lamb. We struggled to get this power back that we had lost. If I gave it all up now, then this would be for nothing.”
“I don’t get it,” she admitted. “But I’ll get you what you need.”
Ending the call, I stood in the kitchen for a long while. When the beer was gone, I tossed it into the black metal trash tin and headed back up the stairs. Passing the room that Enzo and Treyanna occupied, I heard soft laughter. For once in my life, I was envious of my brother. He was cuddled up in bed with his wife laughing, while my own shied away from my attempts to touch her.
It was the life I had chosen.
Diamond wanted nothing to do with me and that set off something in me. She had born my child; she loved Tiberius fiercely.
But not his father.
Have you ever given her a reason to love you?
The thought swayed throughout my mind. It wasn’t until I was pulling her close in her sleep that I realized I could have done a better job of things. Diamond murmured in her sleep again about something, but all I could do was enjoy the smell of her hair and the softness of her skin. It was all she would let me have lately and I had to take what I was given.
Chapter 11
Diamond
The only woman I allowed on my hands was Ms. Annie Ling. I’d been coming to her for as long as I could remember. Her mother had done my mother’s nails years ago when I was about four years old. I could still remember the smell of polish and some of my mother’s friends laughing out loud. Of course, that had been at the old location over on Donnybrook Drive. Now Ling Nails was in an epicenter of sorts, and business was booming for her. I’d turned the girls on to her too, and so now whenever Carmen, or Trey was hollering about needing a fresh set, I had them come over to get their nails done on my dime. Naomi rarely treated herself to something extravagant because of work.
Needless to say, Annie loved me.
Glancing around the shop, I saw a few customers getting ready to depart. The interior of the nail shop was bright hints of mint green and soft pinks. In the window, a neon sign buzzed letting outsiders know that the shop was open.
“Girl, Thierry is really planning to take us to Italy?” Trey’s voice brought me back to reality.
“Yes, but everybody this time,” I smiled flipping the pages in the magazine that was laying across my lap.
“Same villa?”
I paused, “I think so. He really hasn’t given me many details.”
“So, are y’all even fucking?”
My eyes grew wide as I looked around. If anyone had heard, they didn’t say anything. My fingers were poised to go back to turning but Trey’s face revealed it all, her eyes brows arched.
“You are so nosey,” I said.
“Bitch you use to happily share, then soon as you get some Sicilian ding a ling…suddenly you Miss Prim and Proper. Don’t forget I’ve known you, your entire life.”
I did the only thing I could go. My pink tongue darted out at her. “Shut up, I hate you.”
“And don’t deflect. Spill it. Have you and Thierry been knocking boots since the two of y’all got back together?”
“We’re not together,” I shrugged my eyes going back to the magazine. Kat Graham from the Vampire Diaries was wearing the hell out of some Jimmy Choo boots and I wanted them.
“Ivy Knowles….” Trey smacked at my arm. “You’re married. Y’all bout as together as two people can get.”
“It’s just very complicated. He faked his death….he left me sitting pregnant and alone for months. I had just lost my daddy…and Thierry’s not my favorite person, but I mourned him. You were there, you saw.”
Trey grabbed my hand in reassurance but by then Annie Ling was calling me over for my nail session. I tossed the magazine back onto the table and saw Trey give me a smile full of pity. That was not an expression that I was used to getting from people, let alone my friends. Looking at my hands, my eyes traveling to the tips of my fingers. I knew that I was well overdue for this. The blue gel polish I’d picked out was starting to fray and peel. I’d never worn a polish this long before. Every two weeks I would have a new look but with the baby and everything else coming along, I’d let self-care take a back seat.
“Been a while,” Annie said inspecting me over her glasses that she wore.
“If that ain’t the truth,” I muttered.
