“Boy… you done lost your damn mind.”
Jio ignored being called a boy. “Sir, with all due respect, I came here man to man.”
“Me and you are not the same, let’s start there.”
“I can see that.”
Charles rubbed a hand across his face before looking at the made man standing in front of him.
“You fuckin’ popped up out of nowhere and changed my baby girl. You destroyed everything I instilled in her. She barely talks to us, and I know you know that.”
Jio ignored everything he said. “I wanted to do it the right way.”
“She knows you’re here?”
He shook his head. “No, sir.”
“How did you get my number?”
Jio gave him a look that told him to cut the fuckin’ bullshit. He knew exactly who gave him his number.
“You want my blessing to take my daughter’s hand in marriage and make her a GOTTI?” he said disgustingly.
It counted for something, but it wasn’t enough. Nina could not marry a made man.
Charles sighed. “I appreciate you coming to me, and you probably love her, which I wish you didn’t, but hey, it is what it is.”
Jio’s chest tightened as he anticipated his final decision.
“But my answer is no.”
Jio searched his face, waiting for him to smile or to say he was joking, but he never did.
“No?” he repeated quietly. He’d never been told that before. Jio was used to getting his way.
Charles rested both hands on the top of his club.
“Marriage isn't going anywhere. What’s the rush? Nina needs to stay focused. She has a lot to look forward to. Marriage shouldn’t be one of those right now,” he tried to soften the blow.
Jio wanted to remind him that he was her best friend and she told him every fuckin’ thing, so he was more than aware that they’d been trying to get her down the aisle since she was eighteen years old.
Jio swallowed the anger rising in his throat. He could have this nigga murked right now if he wanted. His trigger finger was itching so bad. Every instinct inside of him wanted to react. Jio thought about explaining himself. He was good at closing deals, but something told him it would be a waste of time.
He nodded once.
“Cool.”
Charles offered his hand.
Jio looked at it for a moment before shaking it firmly. He had to remain the bigger person here.
“Thank you for hearing me out.”
As he walked back toward the clubhouse, his security detail immediately fell in behind him.
Jio climbed into the driver’s seat of his truck, shut the door, and rested both hands against the steering wheel. He stared through the windshield, trying to accept what’d just taken place.
He found himself laughing but wasn’t shit funny. It was one of those chuckles that a man let out when life refused to go according to plan.
