Page 7 of His Aries Heiress (BLP Signs of Love #21)

Aries men don’t cry often. When they do, the sky glows red, and if they’re about that life, the streets just might too.

Hours had gone by, and Marcellus sat in a chair next to Grim’s body with his head bowed. He hadn’t moved from this position, but he knew he would have to soon. His mind felt stuck though. It felt impossible for him to move from that spot.

Once they called time of death, he threatened the nurses not to touch Grim’s body anymore. They couldn’t save the only father figure he knew, so there was no need for them to have access to him until he said so.

“Damn, OG. You fucked me up with this one.” He tried his best to hold his emotions in, but he failed. At his core, he was a sensitive being. That was that Aries shit. Hard exterior but soft as puddy on the inside.

Marcellus ran a hand down his head as his thoughts slowed some.

He cried all his tears, and he knew he needed to start thinking about his next move.

It would have been so much easier if someone had taken Grim’s life.

At least he could focus his emotions on avenging his OG’s death.

There was nowhere to place the spiraling anger swarming inside him, so the best he could do was try to shove it away.

“Tato,” he mumbled out loud, grasping onto the first solid thought he could. “You would want me to be with Tato right now, Grim. Wouldn’t you?”

He nodded as if he heard verbal confirmation, though the room was silent.

With a heavy heart, he stood and placed a hand on Grim’s. The touch was cold and brief before he squared his shoulders and turned away.

By the time he was out of the room, nobody could tell that he’d had his first mental breakdown since he could remember.

He stalked down the hall in search of a familiar face, any familiar face, when he ran smack dab into Cassydie. For the second time that day, he had to catch her. His arms naturally circled around her so she wouldn’t fall.

“You good?” His brows dipped as soon as the words left his mouth, and he noticed hers rose in surprise.

It was crazy that even she, who had known him all of six hours, knew he was an asshole that didn’t care about many people’s well-being.

Internally, he wondered if that was something he should fix about himself.

He’d always been that way. Unless a person could knock through the tough exterior of his heart, he pretty much disregarded them.

For some reason, the question that just tumbled from his lips seemed genuine though. Not that he would ever admit it.

“Y-yeah, I’m good. I was just going to get some more coffee.” She lifted the paper cup in her hand to punctuate her point.

He glanced around the isolated hall. “Where everyone else at?”

Cassydie scratched the top of her head. He took the time to notice her bun was slipping down her head, and her eyes looked tired and even more puffy than before.

It irritated him that this woman made him realize how selfish he’d been over the past few hours.

He knew as an Aries, being selfish was aligned in the stars for him.

Normally, he paid it no mind, but again, there were a few people he tried setting that aside for.

“They all left. Your . . . uh, friend? Ronny? He left with Tato.” A ghost of a smile danced on her face, and the truth slammed into Marcellus.

She thought Tato was her brother. He didn’t know this woman’s story, but it was clear she came to Ellwood for something.

Could it be possible she truly did only want to know her birth family and that she wasn’t there for money or something?

The fact that Grim had a damn daughter still blew his mind.

And then he remembered his final promise to him.

As he stared at Cassydie, he realized his job now was to take care of her, though he didn’t know how to take care of anyone but himself.

His mind flashed to Tato, and with a heavy heart, he knew he now had two people he was responsible for. Shit.

He registered her words and nodded slowly as his thoughts weighed him down. “You said everyone left?” he asked for clarification.

She shrugged. “Aside from one guy. I think his name is Goldie.”

Marcellus relaxed a bit. If all the guards left, he would have had to lay a few niggas down.

Just because Grim was gone didn’t mean he could be vulnerable.

He added that to the list of shit to sort out in the coming days.

His heart sank even lower as he stared at Cassydie.

He had a feeling she had no idea that she was there to rock his entire world and change shit up for him.

Her existence ultimately meant he didn’t have one among the council.

His heart grew cold at the thought, and he straightened up after he realized he still held onto her.

His hands dropped to his sides as he said, “Bet. You gon’ come home wit’ me. ”

Her head reared back as if he had slapped her. If he wasn’t so mentally exhausted, he would have laughed. Poor baby looked utterly confused.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re excused.” Marcellus walked around her and toward the waiting room. He found Goldie sitting there, alert but with sad eyes.

Goldie straightened up when he saw Marcellus. He got his nickname from his light brown eyes that almost looked gold. Against his dark brown skin, it was a striking feature. When he was young, he got teased for it. Now, he got hoes for it. The circle of life.

“You good, man?” Goldie asked. He stood and dapped Marcellus up.

Marcellus shook his head, but before he could speak, Cassydie came into the room with her fiery spirit. “Excuse me, I wasn’t done talking to you,” she snapped.

Marcellus clenched his jaw and slowly turned to face her. He didn’t miss the look of amusement on Goldie’s face as he watched the two.

“I was done talkin’ to you, shorty.”

She cocked her head to the side, which Marcellus found oddly cute. “I get the sense that you’re used to people doing as you say, but I ain’t one of those people.”

He lifted a brow up at her. “You say that to say . . .?”

She huffed out a breath. The way she rubbed her swollen eyes and her slow movements gave way to how exhausted she was. Marcellus felt a small twinge in his heart once again.

“I’m leaving,” she stated firmly before spinning on her heels and attempting to walk away.

Marcellus caught her arm and pulled her into him so her back was to his chest. “Ain’t I tell you that you was comin’ home wit’ me?”

She tensed. “That’s what you said, yeah.” She spoke through gritted teeth as she tried getting out of his grasp. He held on tighter.

“Then act like you got some sense and hold on a minute.”

“Who do you think?—”

Marcellus ignored her as he turned both their bodies so he could speak to Goldie again. “You got the information from her about that PI?”

He’d texted Goldie earlier while he was still in the room with Grim, telling him to get that information from Cassydie. He knew that was something he could control and check off his list, so he delegated that task.

Goldie nodded. “Yup. Tech already got back to us. Was just waiting on you for the next move.”

Marcellus didn’t have to think about it long or hard. “Handle that. If he was nosy enough to find Grim, ain’t no tellin’ what else he might find.”

Goldie nodded. “Bet. What else you need from me?”

Marcellus thought about it. He needed a lot right now, but he tried to focus his thoughts. “I’m going to call for a meeting tomorrow. Just need you to ride wit’ me there.”

Goldie looked at him in understanding. Nobody but the council knew about the council, but there was definitely speculation.

Marcellus knew Goldie was a smart man. He’d been kickin’ it with Grim long enough to put two and two together on some shit.

The thing was, unless a person was actually inducted into the council, they couldn’t even fathom the shit they had their hands in.

“Just let me know what time to scoop you,” Goldie said before slapping Marcellus on the shoulder. “You good for the night?”

Marcellus nodded. Goldie had just lost a good friend. He deserved the night off. Marcellus could get him and Cassydie home safely.

The two men said their goodbyes, and it wasn’t until then that Marcellus realized he still held on to Cassydie. He looked down at her, and he almost smiled when he noticed her glaring up at him.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Hello?” she said, dragging her feet as he moved forward, trying to slow him down. All it did was irritate him, and he tugged her forward gently so she would move her damn feet. “I told you I’m not going with you.”

Marcellus halted and let out a long sigh before he turned to her with a glare melting his features. “Look, you want to get to know Tato, right?”

He knew it might be wrong to dangle Tato in her face when he wasn’t even really her brother, but he wanted to make good on his promise to Grim, which meant he needed her in his line of sight.

Her eyes softened, and he swore he saw tears swimming in them, but she blinked them away and nodded. “I do.”

“Aight, then. I’ma pick him up tomorrow, and you can be there when I do.

Did anyone explain to him what happened today?

” Marcellus asked. The thought of someone else doing what he should have done pissed him off and relieved him all at the same time.

He didn’t want to deal with the burden of telling Tato the only parent he knew was dead, but he also wanted to be there for his son to break the news.

He didn’t know much about comforting another human, but he knew he wanted to try to do that for Tato.

“No,” she whispered. “I think they wanted to wait for direction from you. Seems like everyone does that.”

She said the words with a questioning tone, as if she wondered why that was. If he had it his way, she would never know, but he knew that wasn’t his fate.

He disregarded her last statement and focused back on Tato. “He’s gon’ need his big sister when I break the news to him.”

He knew that was a low blow, giving this pretty woman false hope, but he needed to give her incentive to go with him so he could figure out what to do with her.

A smile tugged at her lips before it fell again. After letting out a long sigh, she said, “Fine. For him.”

That was all Marcellus needed to hear. He turned and walked out of the waiting room and toward the elevator. He heard her quick steps behind him. When they got on the elevator, he asked, “You drove here?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I came in the ambulance with Grim. I’ll drive your car back to my place.”

They got off the elevator, and her face screwed up as they walked toward the exit. “How do you know I want you to drive my car? I’m more than capable of driving.”

He didn’t slow his stride as he reached out his hand. “Where yo’ keys?”

“Did you hear what I just said?” she asked as they walked out of the hospital. The cool night air slapped him in the face, and he finally glanced behind him.

“I heard you. I just don’t care much.”

“Well, I do. I don’t let anyone drive my car. It was a gift . . . from my parents.”

“So?” He clenched his jaw as he waited for her response. He was losing patience. It had been a long ass day.

She looked at the ground as she spoke. “They’re dead. They died a few weeks ago.”

Parents were always a soft spot for Marcellus. That coupled with not wanting to waste time arguing with someone who seemed just as hardheaded as him, he decided to let it go. “Whatever, man. Just put my address into your GPS.”

He rattled off his address, and when they made it to her car, he shook his head. “You gotta be kidding me.”

Her face scrunched up as she unlocked the doors. “What?”

“This is what you drivin’?”

“Proudly.” She emphasized the word as she opened the door and slid into the car.

He couldn’t believe how ancient the car looked or the fact that it looked like it was lived in. It was filled to the brim with bags and boxes.

“Shit,” he muttered as he tugged on the door handle and got in. He was happy as hell his house was only twenty minutes from the hospital. Life had turned him bougie, so the less time he had to spend in the old ass car, the better.