Page 29 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings

“It wasn’t personal. My parents cut ties too. They wanted a fresh start for all of us, but I shouldn’t have allowed them to dictate who I had in my life. Daddy never liked Ivo either,” I sniggered.

“I remember that.” Jordan sat up straight.

Something had shifted, and I couldn’t say exactly what it was as she picked up the glass of iced tea she’d ordered before I got here and brought it to her mouth.

“So, how long have you two been married?” I pried, even though I already knew the answer.

I don’t know why I was such a glutton for punishment.

Part of me just couldn’t help but be curious about how those two got together.

Ivo barely paid Jordan any mind when she did hang around with us.

He usually preferred for the two of us to be alone when we spent time together.

Jordan paused from skimming the menu, and her dark eyes penetrated mine from across the table.

Setting her menu down, she leaned forward.

“Listen, I know that once upon a time, you and Ivo were like two peas in a pod. Everyone knows that, but they also know nothing ever came of that. You leaving just left a gap… for both of us. I don’t know, it started with us just bumping into one another here and there.

When we did, we would catch up and talk about you.

I could tell he didn’t really want to do that though.

It hurt him like it did me because we thought we were your friends.

” Hearing her basically say that I was the reason they got together left tears misting my eyes.

How is that for fucking irony?

“Then we started taking walks on the trails. He showed me this spot by the creek where you two would read and have picnics.”

“He showed you that?” A frown furrowed my brows.

Jealousy was an emotion I wasn’t quite familiar with, but somehow, in this moment, it had reared its head. Ivo taking her to our spot was like a slap to the face.

“He proposed to me there,” Jordan confessed.

Once a sacred place to me was now tainted.

“Wow.”

“I don’t want this to be an issue, Em. He’s my husband and you’re my friend. At least I want us to get back to that. So tell me now, before we even do this… is having this baby going to be an issue?”

Hell the fuck yeah! I screamed in my head.

Keeping my composure, I shook my head and decided on what I wanted to eat.

I didn’t honestly have much of an appetite, but I couldn’t let her know it.

Besides all that, I needed this money to support myself and my brother.

There weren’t many options left for me to gain this type of capital in such a short amount of time.

I could work at the diner seven days a week doing all twelve-hour shifts and not see that in the time I needed to make shit happen.

“No,” I assured her. “No issue.” I even forced a tight smile across my lips.

This thing with Ivo was done. He’d made that clear when he didn’t reach out.

If I wanted to maintain a friendship with Jordan, this had to be done.

What was between us was in the past, and although we slipped up, I was determined not to let it happen again.

Seated across from his wife discussing giving them a baby was the only red flag I needed that I had to avoid Ivo at all costs.

“Good. I’m so grateful that you want to do this. I honestly can’t thank you enough. So whatever you need, just let me or Ivo know.”

“Thanks.” We ordered food and sat chatting for the next hour or so.

Until she got a message on her phone and said she had to go. After paying the tab, Jordan knelt beside me for a hug, which I accepted.

“I want you and Sapphire to come over for dinner next week. I’ll shoot you the details. Remind me what your favorites are so we can have them. I’ll be in touch.”

“Okay.” I watched her saunter out, leaving me alone with my doubt and fears hanging over me like a dark cloud.

Shoving my plate from my face, I reached out for my glass of lemon water to finish and checked the time on my cell.

I had about an hour until my shift, which meant that I could go home and change then catch the bus there.

I was almost set to go when I heard the motorized chair coming up behind me.

I recognized Ivo’s mother immediately. Her resting bitch face had been certified since we were children.

She hadn’t aged all that much either. There was just something somber behind her eyes if anything.

“Hello, Emerald,” she greeted me, her tone even and emotionless.

“Mrs. Marek, hi.”

“I heard you were back in town.” She moved her chair a little further ahead so that she could turn and observe me.

“Yes, moved back months ago with my brother.”

“Hmm.” She narrowed her piercing eyes. “Jordan tells me they want to use you as a surrogate for their baby.”

“Yeah. It all kind of happened by coincidence.”

“How much for you to back out?” Mrs. Marek presented.

“Excuse me?” I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right.

“Everything has a price, Emerald. What’s yours?”

“Why would you do that to your son and his wife? They want this baby more than anything, especially Jordan.”

“And they’ll have it, just not with you as the surrogate. I’m surprised you think it’s a good idea after everything. Then again, you are desperate, aren’t you? Must have been hard losing everything, then finding your father after he committed suicide.”

“How did you know… you looked into my background?”

“I have every right to after how you treated my son!” she hissed.

“You took his heart and crushed it, leaving no regard for him. He loved you! Even then. I knew it, and I told him that if you couldn’t stand up to your father to be with him, then you weren’t worth it.

I was right. Jordan stuck around. She helped put him back together after you broke him.

So you’re right, she does deserve this baby after everything.

But that gift should not come from you. So, again, what is your price? ”

“There isn’t one. If you have a problem with this, talk to your son or his wife!

” I stood abruptly, snatching my purse off the back of my chair.

“For the record, I don’t want anything to do with Ivo.

He made it perfectly clear where we stand.

I do care about Jordan though, and we are working on being friends again. ”

“She doesn’t need a friend like you,” Mrs. Marek sneered.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Marek.” I grit my teeth and stomped to the door before I hauled off on this bitch.

I didn’t give a damn that she was in a wheelchair or that she was Ivo’s mama, I would slap her right out of that damn thing!

The main reason I was giving it so much energy was that I knew she was right.

This entire situation was a recipe for disaster.

Walking away meant putting more of a burden on myself than me or Sapphire needed, and I couldn’t do that.