Page 6 of His Aries Heiress (BLP Signs of Love #21)

Legend notes that Aries energy is about sacrifice and destiny. They may lose a lot, but they will always come out on top.

As Cassydie stood with her back up against the wall of the private room they occupied, she couldn’t help but wonder what the hell she’d gotten herself into. She had half a mind to unblock Austin and somehow scam him into digging deeper into Gregory and the people he surrounded himself with.

She was still unclear on who was who. One thing she knew for sure was she had a brother.

Her eyes misted over as she thought about the energetic little boy who had stolen her heart the moment she laid eyes on him.

The thought of having a sibling tugged at her heart.

She yearned to know him, but she knew she needed to confirm that she was, in fact, Gregory’s daughter.

The tension in the room was thick as the doctor spoke to Cassydie and Marcellus, who demanded they be the only two to get the results of the tests they ran.

It seemed to Cassydie that he only wanted her there so he could gloat, or worse, maybe punish her, if the results came back that she was not Gregory’s daughter.

If that happened to be the case, she would visit Austin personally and handle her own justice.

She didn’t do well with being made a fool of, and he would be the person that needed to pay in this situation.

Her stomach boiled with anxiety as she watched the doctor fidget with the computer screen while Marcellus stood over him with his brows pulled in. The man was a damn bully, and Cassydie didn’t know whether to turn her nose up or be turned on.

The doctor finally cleared his throat and spoke. Cassydie’s anxiety skyrocketed.

“It looks like there was only one match.”

Cassydie had to do a double-take and blink extra hard to make sure she saw correctly. Marcellus had actually smacked the blond doctor on the back of the head before his voice filled the space. It sounded like a growl, which caused chills to cover her skin.

“Who the fuck is the match?”

The doctor flinched before turning toward Cassydie and pointing a finger toward her. “Are you Cassydie?” She nodded slowly as her breathing hitched. The doctor glanced up at Marcellus. “She’s your match.”

Cassydie watched as Marcellus’s jaw clenched. He glared at her before he focused back on the doctor. “What the DNA results say?”

The doctor clicked around on the computer for a second, and Cassydie worried Marcellus might hit him again. Patience was definitely not his strong suit. Luckily for the doctor, he spoke before any more harm could come to him.

“The DNA between Mr. Malone and Cassydie are a match. He’s her father.”

Cassydie couldn’t stop the tears if she wanted, even with Marcellus’s iron hot glare on her once again.

Nerves bounced around her as she thought about what this truly meant.

She had a father who gave her up for adoption, and was currently on his death bed, and a little brother.

She glanced at Marcellus as her thoughts raced. She wondered if he was her brother too.

God, I hope not.

She swiped at her tears in irritation at the small voice in the back of her head. What the hell was wrong with her?

“You need to give him your liver.” Marcellus’s demanding voice jolted her out of the chaos happening in her mind. Her brows pulled in as she addressed him.

“Excuse me?” Truth be told, she would have given her liver to get the chance at getting to know Gregory.

What if he was a good guy and had a legit reason for putting her up for adoption?

Even if he didn’t have a legit reason, she loved her parents more than anything and had a beautiful life.

She couldn’t be too mad at him for making that decision, could she?

What she didn’t appreciate was the fact that Marcellus assumed he could tell her what she was about to do to her own body.

Marcellus closed the gap between them. He dwarfed her with his size, but she didn’t shrink back into the wall. She stood tall and met his gaze.

“How did you know you was Grim’s daughter? That nigga don’t have kids.” His question surprised her and threw her for a loop because it was so off topic.

Cassydie frowned. “Isn’t that little boy his?”

Something flashed across Marcellus’s face. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Besides him. How did you know?”

For some reason, hearing that the little boy was Grim’s only kid made her heart skip a beat. She gazed up at Marcellus and wondered why she felt so drawn to his rude ass demeanor.

“I hired a private investigator, and he found Gregory for me.”

Marcellus’s jaw clenched and unclenched several times before he asked, “I’ma need his information.” Cassydie wondered why but couldn’t ask because Marcellus spoke again. “You’re gonna give Grim your liver.”

“Sir, it doesn’t really work like that. Besides, as I tried to say before, Gregory is too far gone?—”

Marcellus whirled around on the doctor. “Aye, man. What the fuck I say? You need to be prepping mothatfuckas for surgery instead of tryna buck against me.”

Cassydie didn’t know what made her do this, but she lifted her hand and placed it on Marcellus’s forearm. His head jerked back around to face her, and she really saw him for the first time. There was fear behind his eyes, which touched the empath in her.

“I’ll do it. I’ll give him my liver, okay?

” She knew what she said may not even solve the problem since it seemed like the doctor thought Gregory would die either way, but she really wanted to appease Marcellus for some reason.

She didn’t want to witness him crashing out because of his pain.

Deep down, she got the notion that witnessing that would hurt her too.

“Can I meet him first? My . . . Gregory. Can I meet him?”

Marcellus didn’t take long to think about it. She got the sense that he understood time was of the essence. He simply nodded once before speaking over his shoulder. “Go do whatever you got to do so we can get this surgery done.”

“There’s prep for the patients, sir. The surgery can’t even happen until tomorrow at the earliest?—”

Marcellus didn’t stick around to hear the doctor’s excuses. He walked out of the room, leaving Cassydie there feeling awkward. After a moment, she mumbled a quick “Sorry” before leaving the room, too, and rushing to catch up to Marcellus.

He took quick strides down the hall toward the elevators.

Cassydie was just able to slip into the elevator with him before the doors closed.

The ride up to the third floor was silent.

Cassydie noticed Marcellus staring at her the entire time.

She didn’t know if he was trying to intimidate her or what, but all she felt were her emotions heightening.

Everything happened so quickly, and this intense man only made her feel things that added confusion into the mix.

When the elevator doors opened, he stepped off swiftly, once again leaving her behind. She huffed and urged her short legs to keep up with him. Just before they got to the room, he stopped abruptly, causing her to run into his hard midsection.

“Oof.” Cassydie stumbled back, but he gripped her waist to prevent her from falling.

When she was steady, he let her go and peered down at her. “If he’s awake, let me talk to him first. I’on even know if he knows about you. I ain’t tryna give him a heart attack.”

Cassydie nodded slowly. She didn’t want to go in there and cause any problems. She just wanted to lay eyes on the man who helped create her.

Her breathing quickened as tears filled her eyes.

She looked away from Marcellus’s gaze. Her parents filled her mind, and she wondered if wanting to speak to Gregory was a slight against them.

Damn, she wished like hell they were alive so she could talk to them about all this.

She desperately needed guidance, but she had none.

“Aye, you good?” His deep voice sent shockwaves through her system and forced her thoughts to scatter.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she looked back up at Marcellus. He looked at her with a frown, but she saw a hint of concern there. Maybe that was why she decided to be honest when she answered instead of putting on that tough front.

“Honestly? No. This is . . . a lot.”

Marcellus stood there for a second and stared at her. She squirmed slightly. It felt like he wanted to say something, but he never did. He simply turned toward the door and walked into the room.

Emptiness filled Cassydie again. She tried her best to mentally prepare herself, but that was useless. Only time to process could help, but she didn’t have that, so she squared her shoulders and walked into the room.

She stilled when she saw Marcellus bent over a man and speaking so softly, she had to strain to hear.

“How you feelin’, OG?”

“Been better.”

Cassydie’s breath stalled. His voice sounded weak but warm. There was no use in trying to stop her tears. It felt like a dam broke as soon as she heard his voice.

“How long you been sick, old man?”

Cassydie noted that Marcellus’s voice sounded calmer and softer when speaking to the man. Once again, she found herself wondering who Marcellus was to Gregory.

“Ain’t been feelin’ well for a while. You know how I feel about the doctors.

Don’t like people makin’ a fuss over me.

” He paused for a second to catch his breath.

It was then Cassydie realized he had an oxygen mask in his hand.

From her position, she couldn’t see his face, but she desperately wanted to.

“They say it’s liver failure. Say it’s too far gone?—”

“I ain’t tryna hear none of that?—”

“Listen to me.” The force behind the words caused the old man to take a break so he could catch his breath. Cassydie understood how much respect Marcellus had for Gregory because he shut up and allowed Gregory the time to get his breathing under control before he continued. “Tato . . .”

Gregory coughed, and Cassydie wanted to get him some water or help in some kind of way, but she didn’t even feel like she could breathe. She stood still as she listened, grasping on to every single word.

“Tato needs you,” Marcellus warned, and Cassydie heard the desperation in his voice. Another tear rolled down her cheek. But that one was for Marcellus. She felt his pain tenfold and hated it because she was already feeling too many things at the moment.

“No, Cell. He needs you now,” Gregory corrected.

A moment passed between the two men. It was silent, and she heard Marcellus sniffle as his head bowed.

“Listen to me, youngin. There’s something else I need you to know, and forgive me because I know this puts you in a shitty position.

” Several seconds passed as he took in more oxygen before he continued. “I have a daughter . . .”

Marcellus glanced behind him at Cassydie and connected his gaze with hers. Her heart hammered in her chest. Was this the moment Marcellus would let Gregory know she was there? Gregory spoke again, pulling both of their attention back to him.

“Cassydie. Her name is Cassydie Lee. Find her and take care of her for me. Promise me.”

“Grim—”

“Promise me.” It sounded to Cassydie like he used all the strength in his body to say those words. Her heart ached at the way he wanted her to be taken care of. She took a small step forward as Marcellus said, “I promise. But?—”

Gregory coughed again, and Marcellus let his sentence fall short. After a few seconds, it became clear that this cough was different from the previous ones.

Cassydie’s feet immediately became unstuck when she saw Gregory’s legs shaking and Marcellus freeze up.

“Someone, help!” she shouted into the hall before she ran to Gregory’s side. All she could think was, not again .

When his face came into view, she almost stopped again from shock.

Her face looked so similar to Gregory’s.

Kids always teased her because she looked Dominican.

They said she could pass for Cardi B’s sister.

Well, this man could pass for Cardi B’s father.

His bushy brows were speckled with gray, and his slightly slanted eyes matched hers exactly.

She saw the moment recognition pinged him. He reached a shaky hand out to her, though she could tell it took great effort. She latched onto it as tears spilled from her eyes. All she could think to whisper was, “I’m here.”

His eyes were wide as he stared at her while his body shook. Marcellus cursed the doctors out in the background, but her eyes didn’t leave Gregory’s, and his stayed on hers too. So much passed between that gaze. She felt regret and love coming off him in waves.

The nurses and doctors did their best to save his life, but with tears blurring her vision, Cassydie witnessed the life leave his eyes, and although she never knew him, a piece of her heart died right along with him.