Page 2 of A Million Boss Kisses

Marissa Marucci

I silently wiped my tears as I took my exit. My phone rang again, and this time rage pushed me to answer the call.

“Cheating wasn’t enough, you have to harass me too?!” I exploded.

“Marissa, you took off before letting me explain, and you gotta give me some credit. I could’ve taken your virginity tonight and never said shit.

You would’ve never found out, but I wanted to keep it real with you,” Kadeem explained.

“I love you. I don’t want that bitch. I only want you, but you know your family makes this shit tricky.

I got needs, and I’m not trying to have your uncle blow my head off because I took your virginity.

He made it clear that’s what would happen.

A nigga not trying to play with his life like that.

Can you blame me? Before we left for prom your uncle took me into his office and turned on his laptop where I could see security cameras in what looked like a torture chamber where he had a bloody man strapped to a chair.

Your uncle made a call, and he made me watch somebody cut the man’s dick off!

A lot of men hurl empty threats at their lil girls’ boyfriends, but your uncle’s threats ain’t empty.

Everybody knows he ain’t wrapped too tight.

You know he could kill me, and his army is bigger than my father’s, so he’ll get killed trying to exact revenge, leaving my mom and sister to fend for themselves. ”

“If I go in the house crying because you broke my heart, what do you think will happen?” I hurled an empty threat.

Kadeem took a deep breath, exhaling slow and heavy, I could hear the weight of his angst in the way he let it out.

“I can’t go back and change things, and if I could, I would.

I wish I would’ve just said fuck it and approached your uncle about marriage.

I just didn’t have the nuts, but if you give me another chance, I’ll do it. Tonight if you want,” he offered.

Hearing that bullshit only further pissed me off, and I hung up on his ass.

Saying that shit at this moment seemed disingenuous as fuck.

I’d have to decipher whether the offer was real or a way to save his ass.

If he wasn’t Karina’s brother, I probably would’ve taken my heartbroken ass in the house and cried on my uncle’s shoulder, signing his death certificate, but I wouldn’t.

My phone vibrated again and I glanced down.

There was a voicemail from Kadeem. I approached the red light before turning into our subdivision, and couldn’t help my curiosity, I had to listen to the message.

Quickly performing the steps to access my voicemail, I placed the phone to my ear as the light turned green.

“Marissa, I know that I fucked up in the worst way and I apologize. I want to marry you one day, make you my wife. I know with you by my side we can take this shit to the moon. Please forgive me. I’ll do anything to have a second chance,” Kadeem pleaded on my answering machine.

When the automatic message asked if I would like to save or delete the message, I quickly hit delete.

The rest of my drive home was silent, only my sniffles filled the car as I tried to gather myself before going into the house.

There were additional unfamiliar cars in the driveway, and I quickly pulled a pack of Kleenex from my purse to clean my face.

The last thing I needed was strangers in my business.

While I cleaned my face, a call from Karina came through.

I ignored her ass. My spirits were in the toilet and I couldn’t handle it if Karina knew what Kadeem was up to behind my back.

I couldn’t handle more betrayal. When I looked presentable, I powered my phone off and stepped out of the Benz my uncle bought me as a graduation gift.

Glancing at the damage to the front driver’s side, I knew he would be on my ass in the morning about the dent.

I’d have to come up with an acceptable excuse because admitting I ran Kadeem over after finding out he cheated on me wasn’t exactly something I could say out loud, especially if he was going to live through the week.

Sulking on my way inside, I hoped my uncle and his friends weren’t in the common areas and were tucked away in his office or somewhere else because I wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries.

The life I was born into looked fun from the outside, but I was beginning to hate it.

I wanted to move far away, somewhere no one knew that I was Vincent Marucci’s niece.

Hell, if they didn’t know who the hell Vincent Marucci was that would be even better.

My parents died when I was thirteen, and at just twenty years old, Uncle Vincent stepped up to the plate to raise me.

We practically grew up together but Uncle Vincent always made sure I knew he wasn’t one of my lil friends.

For the past five years, he hadn’t just been my uncle, he had been my father in every way that mattered, and he made sure the world knew it.

It was the summer after my senior year of high school, and all of my friends were wilding the fuck out.

Partying, getting drunk, losing their virginities, doing all of the coming of age things, and I wasn’t able to participate in much of it because everyone was fearful of something happening to Vincent’s niece.

“Come on, Vincent, do me this solid and let my son chill up here until his face heals. My wife is gonna divorce me if she sees what I did to him. Plus, you owe me nigga,” I heard a voice pleading.

“He can stay but you better have the cash for the doctor to come check him out. The lil nigga looks like he on his fucking deathbed. How you gone beat him half to death then dump him on me? I can’t have him dying on my watch,” Uncle Vincent conceded.

Rolling my eyes, I wish I would’ve stayed outside because all eyes landed on me, and the conversation ceased when they heard my heels clicking against the marble floors.

I prayed I did a good job masking my bubbling emotions, but the way my uncle abandoned his position and charged in my direction, I couldn’t be too sure.

“Princess, your eyes are red. You high or somebody got you fucked up?” He cupped my chin and examined my face.

Huffing, I swatted his hands away and headed towards the stairs.

I had a love hate relationship with how attentive he was.

I loved it because he consistently showed me that he’d give me the world and wouldn’t let anything or anyone harm me.

I hated it because I couldn’t get shit past him.

He knew I didn’t smoke weed, so that was his way of being funny.

After showering and changing into my pajamas, I looked out of the window and saw my uncle in the circular driveway talking to a group of men. Making my way downstairs, I was going to grab some ice cream and eat my feelings away.

I walked into the kitchen, allowing a few tears to fall. When I flicked on the lights, my body jerked, and I damn near jumped out of my skin. My heart slammed against my ribs like it was trying to escape as a scream slipped from my mouth.

There was a man sitting at the kitchen island, staring into the doorway with a vacant expression on his face.

His face was swollen and bruised so badly that it took my brain a moment to process what I was seeing.

One of his eyes was shut, blood covered the rag he held against the side of his head, and his bottom lip was split open.

My heart sank again.

Not just because I hadn’t expected anyone to be in here, but because he looked like he’d been through hell and barely made it out alive. Then the piece of the conversation I walked in on replayed in my head.

“Your own dad did that to you?” I questioned.

His eyes narrowed in on me like, girl, you heard exactly what the fuck my dad said earlier.

I got the message loud and clear. Strutting over to the freezer, I reached in for my cookies and cream ice cream, then maneuvered towards the drawers behind the stranger to retrieve a spoon.

“What did you do that was so bad your dad would do this to you? You stole something? Killed somebody? Fucked up a bunch of money?”

“I fell in love with someone who doesn’t come from this life,” he uttered, pain heavy in his monotonous voice. “She can’t offer my family any power. We won’t receive any benefits from me marrying her, but I love her anyway, and he can’t stand it.”

“Oh wow, and I thought I was going through a rough breakup,” I sighed, pulling the top of my ice cream and shoveling a spoonful into my mouth. “What’s her name?”

“Lavita.” He replied, and the room fell silent. “This isn’t even a breakup. When he found out about her four years ago, the nigga kept me locked up hoping to torture her whereabouts out of me, but I wouldn’t budge. I tried to stay away from her, and I did for a while, but I couldn’t help it.”

He took a deep breath.

“The fact that you went against your father knowing that this could be the outcome shows you really love her,” I noted, admiring his commitment and willingness to take an ass whooping for the woman he loved. If only Kadeem could’ve been so brave.