AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His dull tone was enough to pause our duel temporarily. Mack was going through it. Gi knew it, and so did I. Mack was never for our bullshit, but tonight was different. I don’t think he had the strength to referee, even if he wanted to.
“You’re a mess, and we have shit to figure out, so get your shit off now,” I demanded.
“You just did all that hollering about Solana to be focused on other shit,” Mack sneered, trying to deflect from addressing whatever had him in a mood.
“We can’t focus on Solana with you like this. Spit it out before I call Sky down here. Maybe she’ll tell us,” Gi taunted.
Usually, it calmed him. It could even force a crooked smirk on Mack’s stoic face. Sky’s name rolling off Gi’s lips had the opposite effect tonight.
“I’m not him,” Mack warned, pointing his finger at Gi while chugging the rest of his drink. “I’ll whoop your ass Gianni.”
Mack never called him Gianni unless he was serious.
“I’d love to see you try nigga,” Gi taunted because he never backed down from a challenge. Not even one as big as Mack.
“Both of y’all stop bitching. We need to find Solana and Quest,” I ordered.
“I’ll hit Quest and tell him we need to meet and get Lo to call Solana. I’m out before I whoop his ass.” Gi announced, pointing at Mack, who flipped him the bird.
Gi left, and I watched Mack pour another drink. A sign he was stressed the fuck out. Mack wasn’t a heavy drinker. He had never been, but tonight, he was pouring them back, trying to fill the hole in his chest.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked.
“I’m not talking about it.”
“You get on my ass when I don’t want to hear it, so I’m returning the favor. Stop fuckin’ torturing yourself and fix whatever is going on with Sky. You didn’t go toe-to-toe with everybody in this family over Sky to crash out like this. If you were going to leave her, you would’ve. Since you haven’t, stop acting like a bitch because we all know you can’t function without her. You’re a fuckin’ mess.”
“Crash out?” Mack repeated, now directing his anger toward me because Gi wasn’t here. “Who the fuck said I was crashing out?”
“Me! That’s who, and I’m telling you now, get it together, or keep your ass at home until you can. We can’t handle business worrying about you. That’s how people get hurt, and you won’t be able to live with yourself if somebody does,” I turned and headed for the door.
“I have to kill Marcus.” Mack shared, bringing my stride to a halt.
“What did he do?” I asked because that was the only thing that could explain why Mack had become a shell of himself.
“It’s my job to keep them safe, Ty. I thought I was doing that, but I’m not, and that nigga’s gotta pay for it,” Mack continued talking in circles. “I warned him not to fuck with my family. I tried to do the right thing for Cam’s sake but ain’t shit else I can do with a nigga that don’t listen.”
“How do you think she’ll feel about losing him?”
His shoulders hunched. “She’ll be sad at first, but she doesn’t need him. Marcus ain’t shit to miss. She thinks so because Sky protects her from the truth. He doesn’t love Cam like I do, which is crazy because she isn’t mine, but I’ll do anything for her. I’d die for her if I had to, but I can’t say the same for him.” Mack paused before looking up at me. “Would you die for Bryson?”
“Yeah. I would.”
“That’s what a man is supposed to do. Marcus isn’t that, so what the fuck can he teach Cam? She’ll be sad, but he did it to himself. Isn’t that part of being a parent? Making the hard decisions for the greater good?”
Yes, it was, but I wasn’t sure if that answered his question, so I took the glass from his hand instead. Mack didn’t need any more liquor tonight.
“Sky and Cam are what’s important. That’s what you need to focus on. Not a nigga that doesn’t matter. Lay your ass down so you can get some sleep.”
I almost suggested he go to bed with Sky. That was the only thing that could fix him right now, but I didn’t want him to say the wrong thing and sink deeper into whatever this was.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ineed a favor.” Gianni finally spoke. When he finally crawled back into bed, I don’t think he ever went to sleep, making it hard for me to rest.
Tyson called, and he snuck out of bed before returning even more tormented than before. We were so in sync I could feel his thoughts racing all night. If I asked, he’d tell me not to worry, but he didn’t see himself right now—the lines etched in his forehead, his clenched jaw. My baby was in hell, so whatever he needed me to do, I was willing.
“Anything.”
