I nodded once. “He was a part of a mob. The Cuppacio Mob.”
“I thought that was just a rumor.” She chuckled.
There had been whispers all over Chicago about the Cuppacios. It was probably one of the reasons we got so much respect when we were first trying to figure out how to take care of everyone. We didn’t pay any attention to the rumors; we couldn’t afford to. We also didn’t give a fuck enough about our fathers to glamourize the tales floating around Chicago.
“Nah. It wasn’t a rumor.”
“But people in the mob are rich, and when I got with you, you were?—”
“Trying to come up, but you interfered with that because you were constantly in your fucking feelings.”
She recoiled and cleared her throat. “Shio… I?—”
“It’s cool. I’m past that.”
And I was, truly. I didn’t dwell on shit. It didn’t do anything for my mental.
I’d made it to the gated subdivision of my home—a home that was once my peace, where I resided alone. Now, I was sharing my roof with three other people. The magnetic key attached to my dash allowed access without having to speak to the guard.
“Our fathers didn’t leave us shit. They fucked off their bread. We built our shit from the ground up. We ended up merging with another mob—the Rinaldis—and that’s why I’m here in Jagoda Bay.”
“So, you’re a mobster?”
“Look, the only reason why I’m telling you this shit is that we’re all close, and we don’t filter our words. Everyone has wives, and they’realwaysaround. You’ll hear shit, and instead of you trying to play detective, you’re getting your information from the horse’s mouth.”
“Everyone in the mob has a wife… All of your cousins are married now? But wait… I didn’t see rings on anyone but the light one, Ezio, I think. Oh, and the mean one, with the braided dreadlocks. Plus, the man with the nice suit. I don’t remember either of them, though. Are they the ones who you moved here for?”
Bahati was playing coy. She knew almost everyone in my family. We were never a couple, but sometimes, they stopped by her apartment to pick up our product or drop off money. The conversations were brief, but she made sure to know who they were.
“And you were able to see all that with the pain of a broken arm, through them tears you was pouring out?”
With the way Bahati had been carrying on, one would think inspecting my cousins would be the last thing on her mind.
“What else was I going to do? I was scared, confused, and just trying to figure my surroundings out.”
Instead of calling her nosey ass out, I continued. “Matteo isn’t blood, but he’s family. He’s married to our cousin, Scarlett.”
“Scarlett… Scarlett… Wait! Is that the one who?—”
“Disappeared? Yeah. She was living here, though.”
I was so lost in my thoughts that hearing about Princesspa didn’t even bring a smile to my face as it usually did. I wasn’t going to detail Nel’s and Vello’s arrangements because, if she stayed around long enough, she’d figure them out. I didn’t understand how baby mama’s operated in the mob, but I knew Bahati wasn’t going back home, pending the DNA test. She wouldn’t be staying with me, but she’d have to live here long-term with my child.
If you marry her, she’ll be here forever.
I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind as soon as it came.
“Our organization is built on family, bonds, and loyalty. Anything pertaining to my business dealings won’t be your concern, but I didn’t want you in the dark. I apologize to you for the kidnapping, Bahati, but had they not done that, I wouldn’t know I had a child out here.”
She shifted in her seat.
“I know you had your reasons, Bahati. I ain’t gone hold that shit over your head. What matters is what we do going forward. Decisions don’t have to be made today. Take a few days to clear your head and call your people. I don’t know if they have a missing persons case out on you or not.”
Bahati blinked, picking invisible cotton off her cast. “My father… He died about a month after… You know.”
“I didn’t kill your pops.”
“I know.” She rushed out her response. “It was business and… greed.”
