“How do you know my husband?” Ivana demanded, and Mistro didn’t seem surprised nor shaken by the revelation.
He grabbed a crab cake off the platter and plucked it into his mouth.
“Oh, we was fucking around for a little bit,” he responded, chewing the appetizer slowly as his wife’s oval-shaped irises landed on him questioningly.
“Excuse me? What’s a little bit, and how long ago was this?” Ivana commanded, dropping her plate onto the counter and placing a hand on her hip indignantly.
“This is him, Free. The guy that was giving me all those drugs,” Kara revealed. “You’re married? To my brother’s baby mama?”
“What is she talking about, Mistro?” Ivana grew more impatient as the truth unfolded.
“Baby, it’s nothing for you to worry about.” He rubbed her back, condescending as ever.
Like the fact that he had been with another woman and was feeding her drugs was some everyday shit. Ivana flinched from his touch, pulling away from him with a cold glare.
“Nothing for me to worry about that you cheated on me?”
“It’s not what you think. She was a means to an end,” he muttered.
“And what kind of end was you hoping for?” Frequency’s hand went right to his hip, gunplay mode.
Slice and Ledge were also ready and with the shit, so Mistro didn’t stand a chance. I thought it was bold as fuck that he even showed up here to begin with. Free didn’t mention anything to me about who he was or what was going on, so all of this was news on top of Kara popping up with even more tea to spill.The hell was going on?
“Um… what’s going on in here?” Ivy’s bewildered voice caught us all off guard.
Her brown button eyes absorbing everything around her. She was perceptive, picking up on the energy from the adults in her life. Ivana immediately put a smile on her face and perked up.
We all needed to do a self-check at this point. Free was still reluctant to back down. Stepping in behind him, I placed a gentle hand on his back, and his spine and rigid shoulders relaxed some.
“Not here,” I said in his ear, and he let out an uneasy breath.
“Hey, ladybug. What do you need?” I stepped around her father to address her.
“I wanted to see if you could come and get on the Ferris wheel with me, please?” she clasped her hands together and pleaded.
“Ivy, what about me?” Ivana cleared her throat.
The childish manner in which she spoke had Frequency looking at her crazy. Ivy looked like she was caught between a rock and a hard place. There was indecisiveness in her eyes as they roamed from me back to her mother.
“We can get on a ride too. Whichever you want. But Ivy, before you do that, there is someone I would like you to meet.” Ivana piped up, circling the island so that she was beside her daughter. “While I was away, I got married. This is Mistro, my husband.” she introduced them.
From across the counter, he waved, and Frequency nearly lost his shit. I placed a hand to his chest, keeping him in place where he stood while Ledge remained behind him, just in case.
“Hi.” Ivy waved awkwardly. “Is that what you all are in here talking about? You being married?”
“Among other things.” Ivana consented. “How are you feeling about everything?”
“I don’t know. This came out of nowhere.” she answered.
“And you don’t have to give it any thought right now. This is your party.” I stepped in, bringing my eyes to hers and cupping her chin. “We were talking about how we didn’t want to interrupt it with this grown-up mess. That’s it. But you are thirteen now. So if you have any questions, you can ask them.”
“I’m good. Not like anything I say is going to matter around here.” she muttered, causing a frown to cross my face.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, face molding into a frown.
“I’m talking about the fact that you just left. You took the twins and were gone. Just like everybody else! You planned this whole party for what? So you can go back to that apartment,away from us, again! Why don’t you leave now, they all do. From Daddy to her!” Ivy blew up, and shock rocked the entire room.
She aimed an accusing finger at her mother while she stood there shaking.
