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“You in here talking about you love me with a belly full of my baby. That and after tonight… hell yeah, a nigga happy as fuck,” I admitted before squeezing her tighter.
“Simp ass,” Ghazi muttered.
“Leave him alone!” Kinny jumped to my defense.
But I wasn’t focused on either one of them. All of my attention was held by the woman in my arms.
“You right. I love the fuck out of your difficult ass. I have for a while, even when you were beating me over the head with them damn rules. You’ve been the best part of my life since you started complicating it, and now you giving me the definition of real love. You and my baby… you really stuck with a nigga,” I warned her.
She smiled, and I kissed her, letting the chaos of the past few hours melt away. For a minute, I just held her, happy to have her back in my arms, determined that she would stay there from now on.
The sound of raised voices pulled us back to reality. Ismail was insisting he had something important to say, while Chennai went in on him for his kidnapping technique.
“Talking like you think of us as a family while you doing shit that’s just not family-friendly,” she ranted.
Ismail stepped forward, his presence admittedly forceful. “You will listen to me,” he said, then relented. “Please. One hour of your time, and if you are not interested, you never have to talk to me again. But for now, I need you to think of the possibilities if we operate as a unit. And remember the other things I passed on to you. I have yet to steer you wrong.”
The room fell silent, his words settling over us.
Finally, Cairo, as the oldest of my mother’s children with Ismail, made an executive decision.
“Talk.”
Ismail did. “The Federal Government released me in part because I revealed to them the location of one hundred million dollars I… came about in my younger days.”
I scoffed. “Came about? Nigga,just say you stole it.”
He nodded once. “Fine. They know of the one hundred million dollars. They do not know about the other two hundred million I stole, a sum that my dear friends have grown to about five hundred million. I am offering each of my eight children fifty million dollars, once it is recovered. Consider it an apology for my missing your youth.”
Kinny sucked her teeth. “What’s the catch?” she asked.
Ismail sighed. “The recovery will be no easy process. That is where you and your varied skills come into play.”
And then he began to explain in earnest. Ismail spoke of opportunities, of things we had only started to imagine. I kept Love close —like a good luck charm—as he described his plans. I didn’t know what my siblings and I would choose, but whatever it was, I’d face it with my Love by my side.
The bedside lampilluminated our bedroom, casting a soft light that wrapped us in its glow. I stood by the dresser, slipping into my sleeping clothes, the fabric soft and comforting against my skin. In the bed, Real was propped up against the pillows, cradling our infant daughter, Nairobi. He had that look—half-awake, half-in-love with our precious little girl—and my heart swelled at the sight.
“Can’t believe the wedding is in a few weeks,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at him. “Feels unreal.”
Real smiled, his eyes warm with affection. “I can’t wait to see you in that dress. Madame G is almost done with the alterations, right?”
I nodded, a grin spreading across my face. “Yeah, she said it should be ready by next week. I just hope it fits like she wants. You know how picky both of us can be.”
“You gon’ look stunning, Love. I know it,” he said, his voice low and smooth, as he gently rocked Nairobi. “I’m already imagining you walking down that aisle to me. Shit gets my dick so hard.”
“Real!” I fussed, then laughed softly.
I climbed into bed beside them, pressing myself against my fiancé’s side. “You just saying that,” I teased, leaning over to give my baby a soft kiss on her forehead.
“Trust me, I mean it,” he replied, and I could see the sincerity in his eyes. “You so fuckin’ beautiful to me. Always have been.”
My face warmed with a blush, and I blessed him with a lingering kiss before lifting my phone from the nightstand.
“Theory finally accepted that guy’s offer to take her on a date.”
“Yeah, you told me,” he mumbled, all dry.
Whatever.