Page 122 of Heart Of A Goon II

I was a little touched out today, and every time I said those two words, everyone felt the need to toss their arms around my neck and give me a squeeze. I welcomed it because they were family, but I had to be honest, I was done with the hugs.

“Thank you.”

Don smiled and gave me a big bear hug, kissing my forehead. “I’m about to be an uncle again.”

“Usually what that means, Landon. You ignore the hell out of this one. Zoya, don’t get your hopes up… Dennis is perfect. Hard to compare.”

I snorted, because only our family understood the humor. Anyone else would have been offended, but you had to understand us to know that meant she was happy about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had baby classes lined up for us to attend together.

Mind you, she has never attended a baby class since Dennis had been born. She would just sign up because she knew it would get on my nerves.

“We don’t plan to measure up to the golden lunatic.” I kissed my nephew’s head and then headed toward the backdoor.

“Where you going, Zoya?” Duke asked.

“To the lion’s den, possibly. None of you are going to go after him.” I shrugged, knowing that this could go terribly wrong.

“Gang invited us to have dinner with them and since we have no dinner, me and Dennis are going to walk over there. He can join if he wants, but I doubt he will.” She rolled her eyes.

“Gams… her name is Gams,” I corrected to her.

“That’s what I said. You walking over with me, Navy?”

Navy was wearing a slip, and her hair showed she had been preoccupied before they heard Menace’s outburst.

“I’ll walk over with you, Stevie,” Corleon came down the stairs, holding Estella’s hand.

That little girl loved that man with her entire heart. The entire time he had been gone, she kept telling her mother to look him up. It was amazing to watch how they fostered her curiosity for tech things. Corleon had her in coding camps and afterschool programs, too.

“Hi Stevie!”

“Hey Stellie Bellie… wanna push the stroller?”

She smiled. “Uh huh. Core-Core said we might have a baby of our own soon… from Jeffie.”

My eyes became wide. “Well, I have a baby on the way. No, you cannot have him. Don’t think my husband would like that.”

“Husband?” Duke hollered, and I had half the mind to put his ass in a headlock. The word slipped out.

“I never said that.”

Corleon had the biggest smile on his face as he came near me. “First, you did. Second, congratulations, Zoy.”

He was going to give me a hug, even if I didn’t want one. “Thanks, Core.” I melted into his arms.

“I’ve always wanted this for you, Zoya. Be happy and allow that nigga to love you, ‘cause I know he will. He’s proven himself to you… just let go and be.”

“I’m trying, Core… really hard.” I smiled up at him.

He pinched my cheeks, something he had done since I was younger. “No trying…do. You called that man your husband.”

I pulled away from him. “It was a slip of the tongue… I’ll come to the villa once I’m done here.”

Stevie nodded and headed out with Corleon and Estella. Jeffie had been at the villa with Gams cooking all morning, and Skyler was doing whatever Skyler did. If that phone wasn’t glued to her ear, she was in bed sleep.

I didn’t know where he went, so I looked around the massive yard, and couldn’t find him. Just when I was about to give up, I spotted him down on the beach. I stood there for four minutes rubbing my eyes because he couldn’t have been sitting in the damn sand. Menace hated anything with mess and seeing him sitting in the midst of the mess had me confused.

As I stood at the top of the beach, I battled with myself. Did I want to go and talk with him alone? We were always misunderstanding each other, and that worried me. There wasn’t anyone here to play mediator if this turned wrong. It was just the two of us alone, and he was already heated.