Page 109 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings

“What’s between me and Cambrie ain’t none of your fucking business!” he barked.

“Maybe not, but what do you know about her? Did you do an actual background check on her?”

“Cambrie is cool, Rossi. She’s one of the most genuine people I know,” Sol divulged, which made me smile that she was defending me even when I wasn’t around.

“I know enough. She’s good for the kids, and she’s good for me too. Before we got here, before she came into our lives, we were coasting, and that ain’t no way for my kids to live. They’re happy here, and it hasn’t been long, but she’s making a difference in their lives and mine.”

“So does that mean you’re going to pursue something with her?” his mother queried.

“I don’t want to argue with you about this,” Staten voiced in frustration.

“Then don’t,” Rossi remarked. “Nadia isn’t going anywhere though, that’s also a fact around here. She’s the mother to two of your children.”

“And she doesn’t acknowledge the other two,” Staten rebutted. “You think I want to spend my life with a woman who can easily take off when shit is hard or not going how she planned? Then I suddenly come back home, and here she is on my fucking doorstep. I’m supposed to wife that to preserve the Marek name? Is that what you telling me?”

“If you get close to Cambrie, you need to know the risks you’re taking. At least with Nadia you already know what you’re getting. I know you love her?—”

“Love ain’t got shit to do with this!” Staten yelled. “And when you talk about the risks with Cambrie, you talking about the fact that it was her mother in that other car the night we were ambushed?” Staten prompted his mother, rocking me to my core.

Something shattered in the distance, maybe a plate or a glass. I wasn’t sure. Sol’s wide eyes locked with mine across the room as she stood there with her hands up. With ringing ears and a heart thrumming so loud it pulsed in my ears, I gasped. Robbed of the air in my lungs, my chest tightened, and I found myself struggling to breathe. I’d hear him wrong. I had to. There was no way. Gripping the doorframe, my hand fell against my chest and I fought for oxygen as my airways closed. Staten and his mother both turned to me with mirrored expressions of shock.

“Wh-what did you just say?” I demanded shakily from the kitchen doorway as my knees buckled.

To Be Continued