You can fight this, Solana.
“Umm… Hello!” Dasani snapped her fingers. “Who are you?”
His eyes stayed on me. “I… Italian is upstairs putting the baby to sleep. He asked me to open the door for y’all if y’all knocked.”
“Okay, what’s your name? You look familiar.”
“I… I… I do valet for your husband from time to time, ma’am.”
He finally focused on Dasani while I was trying my best to control my breathing. Control my craving. Control my mind to overcome the feeling of need. I could feel the heat creep up my neck. My mouth was full of saliva, and my senses began to spin.
“Okay… What’s your name, though?”
“Oh, Ro.”
He shifted his gaze back to me, bushy brows furrowed. I was trying my hardest to focus on the present instead of the yearning. It was him. He had what I needed. He had what would put me out of my misery.
“It’s Sorrow.” He cleared his throat, visibly shaken by my presence, it seemed. Or it could have been Dasani’s, but I had a feeling it was me.
“My, uhhh, name is Sorrow.”
“Well, Sorrow… Keep this door open and come help me bring this food back down.”
Dasani moved past him, and after a few seconds of him holding my gaze, he trailed behind her. When he was out of view,the craving left. My senses returned to normal, and three blinks later, I was back to myself.
“Come on, Solana. We about to start the movie. Wait till Dasani finds out the only reason my brother ordered food is that I texted him.” Jisei snickered while Scarlett shook her head.
Pia sat up and rubbed her eyes after dozing off again. “I’m with Mocha. YouandDasani so messy.”
Chapter 24
Shio Cuppacio
Staring at my text thread, there was nothing there. No messages waiting for me. While I shouldn’t have cared either way, I was on edge, which is something I couldn’t afford to be. An on-edge Shio Cuppacio lost sense of routine, and things like working out, eating clean, and catching the pastor on Sundays were skipped. I found myself reacting immediately, and my thoughts were being eroded because ofher.
I had been at the hotel since the night I ruined hundreds of thousands’ worth of cocaine and got a taste of Solana. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to face my responsibilities at home. I just didn’t want to be around Shya with my head so fucked up. Between Solana’s wants, the DNA test not confirming Shya was my child, and Bahati entering desperation when I was there, I just needed a fucking minute. But tonight, I was going to have to pull myself together and take my ass home. By trying not to become my father, I was slowly turning into him, and Shya didn’t deserve that. My plan wasn’t to leave Bahati with Shya now that I knew of her existence, but considering Bahati’s ability to get her ass up every day and cook full-course meals—lifting heavy pots filled with chicken broth and all that—holding afifteen-pound toddler should’ve been easy.She didn’t need me, but that didn’t mean that Shya didn’t either.
“First, you went on a drug binge, and now you’re standing out here like you lost your best friend.” Nel shook his head as I lifted mine from the phone in my hand. “Fuck you on?”
Nel’s lip curled over his nose as if he smelled something foul when I knew that shit was a damn lie. The only thing that nigga smelled was Imagination by Louis Vuitton and money—a whole fucking lot of it.
“You had us moppin’ and sweepin’ and shit like we was Cinderella, cleanin’ up your dope. You still ain’t gave us no fuckin’ explanation.” Nel had lowered his volume, but his voice still held a judgmental flair.
I looked at him before focusing back on the phone. “And you not getting one.”
That shit was days ago, and he hadn’t let me live it down yet. I’d already sent the money to Ezio so that the supply wasn’t short. I appreciated them setting that shit right at the cabin, but as much bullshit as I’d cleaned up for them over the years, them mopping and sweeping wasn’t shit.
Today, the entire family, along with the members of the mob and their significant others, was standing on the lawn of the Mecanio Estates. Rio had finally removed that Gay Boy Mansion sign Don put in his yard years ago. I guess he had no choice since there were close to two hundred people standing about. In true Rio fashion, cocktail bars lined the yard to keep us entertained while we waited to be let inside the house. The gender reveal started at five, but Pia had purposely put the wrong time so that everyone would show up on time. What she didn’t anticipate was her father not allowing anyone inside, including her, until exactly five o’clock.
“You hear this nigga, bae? W. E. B. Du Bois has a fuckin’ thesis statement for everything except why he had cocaine strewn every fuckin’ where at the cabin.”
“Nel…” Ezio warned but it was no use. Once that nigga got started, he wasn’t letting up.
Pia and Vello snickered as if he’d told the joke of the century while I shook my head. Nel told her ass every fucking thing so it made no sense in scolding his ass about discussing mob business in front of her.
“Yeah, chill, Twin. It’s mad people out here. Ion remember half of these muthafuckas pulling up for my party,” Vello said, his eyes on his fiancée.
He had been listening to what we had going on, but Discover had his undivided attention. She was standing a few feet away with the other women, and although this was her first time popping out, she looked good. Motherhood suited her well. Her face was still slightly rounder than normal, but other than that, Vello’s woman was holding her own.
