“’Preciate it.”
Taking the bag, I exited the distillery and hit the fob on my brand new Ferrari. After the bullshit that happened with Cassius, the police were all over my ass because I left my car at the scene. I ain’t have the time to get in that mufucka and dip with Cassius’ body burning to the ground next to it. For all I knew, he could’ve exploded the car by the time I got to it. I just hopped into the car with Murda and got the fuck outta there. I lied to them and told them that he’d stolen the car. To cover my tracks, I had Heavy get his wife to go in and do a false report stating that it was stolen earlier that day. After they saw that, they took it and ran with it.
Hopping into the car, I placed the gift bag on my passenger seat and pulled off. It didn’t take me long to make it to my parents’ house. One of the gardeners were outside planting flowers for the spring. One thing Ma made sure of is that the house looked good year around. She prided herself on it.
Parking in front of the door, I climbed out the car and used my key to enter the house. Soon as I crossed the threshold, chocolate hit my nostrils. It wasn’t hard to figure out where Ma was—in the kitchen baking Pops his favorite chocolate cake for Valentine’s Day.
At one point, Ma hated the holiday. It’s when Solei’s mom decided she wanted to come out and let herself be known. She’dbeen watching Ma for some time and then wanted to hurt her because she figured that Pops really wasn’t about to leave his wife for her. I hated the fact that he stepped out on Ma like that, but I wasn’t in the place to say anything about it. She took him back, which meant that she forgave him. As long as he’s handling her with care now, we were straight. If he gets out of line again, I ain’t gon’ have no other choice but to beat his ass. I’m grown now and ain’t about to put up with the bullshit.
“Hey, Ma,” I said, gaining her attention. She was focused on covering that chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I’m not certain how the hell he eats that much chocolate like that, but this cake has been something that she’s been making for him for as long as I can remember.
“Hey, baby.” She looked up from the cake and offered me a smile. “I was wondering when you were gon’ show up. I saw Luxe and Grim earlier.”
“Wicked called?” I closed in on the island where she was standing.
Her smile grew even wider. “I talked to him this morning. I can’t wait ’til he comes home.”
Everyone was anticipating Wicked coming home. I’d be able to step down and focus on my family. “Here, I got this for you,” I told her and placed the gift bag on the counter.
Resting the knife against the counter, she wiped her hands on her apron and then dug down into the gift bag. Removing the Chanel box from the bag, her eyes cut to me. “Is this what I think it is?”
“I’on know,” I answered and shrugged.
She quickly opened the box and removed the dust bag from it. I observed her as she slid the dust bag down and uncovered the vintage Chanel square mini.
“Oh my God, it’s beautiful, Kairo.” Rounding the counter, she pecked me on the cheek. “Thank you. You always know how to make me smile.”
She put the purse back into the bag. “I gotta get going. I just wanted to make sure I got by here so that you can get this before I head out with Wren.”
“What are y’all plans for the night?”
“I hired a private chef to cook for us at a penthouse downtown. I thought it would’ve been cool for her to experience.”
“That’s romantic. I still remember the first time that your daddy did something like that for me.” Her eyes drifted toward the ceiling and the corner of her mouth curved. “Everything imaginable happened. I promise that was one of the worst nights of my life, but it’s also when I realized that I had feelings for him. Your father was willing to do anything just to make me happy and smile.”
“Sounds like me.” I chuckled. Wren got me wrapped around her lil finger.
“Must run in the family. Have a good time tonight, and tell Wren I said hey.”
“A’ight.”
Exiting the kitchen, I headed straight to the front door. Before I could reach it, it pushed in and I saw Solei and Zayden enter. “I told you to pick up the cupcakes earlier while I was in a meeting,” Solei fussed as Zayden frowned at her and she removed her fur coat. She held a gift bag in her hand, probably had gotten Ma something. Despite Solei not being her daughter, she always went out her way to show Ma that she appreciates her whenever she could. She couldn’t thank Ma enough for welcoming her into the family. If one asked me, Solei’s mama gon’ be her downfall. Her mama was the only reason why Solei married Zayden in the first place.
Despite everything everyone else had to say about the nigga, her mama embedded in her brain that she was making the best decision by getting with him. The nigga was weak as fuck. He couldn’t stand his own when it came to this family. Solei talked to him any kind of way whenever she got the chance to. It was evident that she couldn’t stand him for real. Ain’t no way I was about to marry a mufucka just to please someone else.
“I got what you told me to,” he replied as he shut the door behind them.
“What I told you to?” Solei’s hands balled into fists as if she was about to swing on the nigga. She can beat his ass all she wanted to, but that nigga better not lay a hand on her. “You got the fucking opposite!”
“Sup, sis?” Her head whipped in my direction and the scowl she once wore fell.
“Hey, Maniac. Ma in the kitchen?”
“Yeah.”
Solei brushed past me, scampering to the kitchen. I bumped Zayden and the nigga just stood there like a pussy. He wasn’t stupid enough to say some shit to me.
THAT NIGHT
