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“You have my blessing, so what do you have planned?”
“One step at a time. I had to get your blessing first.”
“Now that you have it, you better get to work. Between you and me, she settled the first time. I don’t want that for her again, Gianni.”
“What should I do?” I asked, utilizing my resources. When it came to the people I loved, I always went the extra mile, but I didn’t know Hailo enough to pull it off on my own.
“Small and intimate but thoughtful and romantic. She doesn’t need a huge stage and audience. Just something special with somebody special.”
“She’s marrying into the wrong family. They don’t know how to do anything small.”
“Something tells me you’ll figure it out.”
“When she has the baby, I’d love for you to come to stay for however long you want. She’s scared, and rightfully so, but you comfort her. She’s going to need that. Whatever you need to make it happen, let me know.”
“You’re figuring her out quickly,” Sadie smiled. “Hailo is strong not because she necessarily wants to be. She doesn’t know how to depend on a man, and her father owns some blame. Marcel didn’t help either, so it’s hard for her to trust anybody else to do things for her. Stay strong,” she joked, patting my shoulder.
“Thanks, I need it. She’s a pistol.”
“A loaded one, but she has so much love to give that she has to protect it somehow.”
“I have to get back home, but I appreciate you letting me stop by, Sadie.”
“You’ve knocked my baby up and come over here asking to propose. I think mama is fine.” Sadie stood to her feet with a smile, motioning me for a hug.
“I appreciate that.”
“There’s nothing I love more than my baby Gianni. I’m trusting you.”
“You won’t regret it. I can promise you that.”
My visit with Sadie softened my heart toward Hailo. I wanted to ask Sadie about Hailo’s relationship with her father, but she would share those details with me in time. Hailo was like an onion. The more comfortable she felt, the more she opened up.
I used the drive to think of different ways to surprise Hailo. Before I knew it, I was whipping into my parking space late. I went through the building to find my family in the conference room. Ross was annoyed that I was tardy, but my visit with Sadie was just as important as this meeting.
“Nice of you to finally join us,” Ross spat before he continued to fill us in on the status of the casino.
That was our main focus because it would generate a lot of money and opportunity for the city. But there were two sides to everything, and gambling had an ugly one that my uncles were worried about—especially dealing with the Cassidy family.
“Mack, I want you to get with Poe and make sure he’s not selling guns to anybody he’s not supposed to,” Uncle Everett assigned, and Mack nodded.
“Gi, go visit Sonny. We’re months out, but he’s been known to get messy. He needs to be on top of his business so it doesn’t affect ours.”
“Make sure that nigga has our money this time,” Tyson demanded, and every eye in the room was on me except Mack. He usually checked out after he was given his assignment.
“What is Tyson talking about?”
“Sonny hit a snag last month, but I’m handling it.”
“You better, and I sure hope you’re on time for the next meeting. Your life is only going to get more hectic. You need to find a balance, especially if you expect to take over,” Ross explained before walking out.
“What the fuck is wrong with him today?” I asked.
“I don’t know. They were arguing about something before we got here,” Mack shrugged before sharing his thoughts on the subject. “It seems like they’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“All of them nigga’s are old and set in their ways. It’s bound to happen.”
“I don’t know. It feels like it’s more than that this time.”
