Page 42

“Good evening, I’m reporting live from the charity gala for underprivileged children, where tonight’s festivities have taken a shocking turn.

Just moments ago, Dr. Edward Mercer, the surgeon general, was arrested on-site in connection to the ongoing egg farming investigation and scandal.

He’s also being connected to disturbing allegations tied to last year’s high-profile child pornography case involving Governor Johnson, who was ultimately acquitted.

New information has reportedly been submitted to federal authorities, linking Dr. Mercer to a broader investigation involving the Surgeon General’s office and potential child abuse cover-ups.

While full details have yet to be confirmed, sources close to the FBI indicate that newly surfaced evidence has reignited the case and brought national attention back to the state’s highest levels of leadership.

For now, I’m Amaria Robinson, live from midtown Manhattan.

“I know there’s somebody that don’t play behind Ms. Mamas,” Kobe laughed as he watched the camera continue to catch her as she walked back to the news van.

“He doesn’t.” Cappadonna replied.

Kobe, thirsty for some gossip, was ready to sit and pick Cappadonna’s brain about what he knew about Amaria Robinson, as if I gave a fuck about her right now.

“What the fuck is going on with Mercer?” I looked around for the answers.

We were in real time watching them put Mercer, handcuffed, into the back of a black SUV.

“Consider it a thank you for all you’ve done for me.” I heard a familiar voice and turned.

Hassan was standing in the doorway. The somber look in his eyes and his expression told me he was being strong. He had been hanging on, and seeing me in person, it was becoming harder for him to be strong.

“San… you involved in this?”

I hadn’t seen Hassan since I had woken up, and my feelings were starting to become hurt because he hadn’t come to see me. Ramos told me how he saved me. Wouldn’t stop until I was stable and argued him down that he was going to save my life.

You don’t forget shit like that, and you damn sure don’t move on in life without properly thanking the person. “What’s up, King?”

I tried to stand up, and Cappadonna spotted one side while Kobe got the other, allowing me to stand with their help. “You saved my life, Dr. King.”

He smiled and looked away, his eyes red as the tears tap-danced on his water line. “You would have done the same thing for me.”

“We not talking about me, Hassan.”

He avoided eye contact with me, but the tear slipping down his cheek couldn’t be missed.

“I couldn’t see you go out like that, King…

not like that. I’d do that shit all over again, keep the same nightmares I been having just to stand here and be able to look into your eyes, not down onto your body like we had to do with Ellis… shit fucked up.”

Corleon stood up and walked over to him, pulling him into his arms. Everything was hitting him at once.

Seeing me, someone he admired and saved was all too much. It had him spiraling, and I hated that shit. While holding onto Cappadonna and Kobe, I walked slowly over toward him.

I shook them off me and stood, tossing my arms around him. Squeezing him as he cried into my chest. Cappadonna’s hand could be felt on my back, making sure I didn’t lose balance, as I embraced Hassan.

“I owe you my life, Hassan. There was a time when I wanted someone to take me out. I wanted to leave this earth and never return. You get what you ask for, but you saved me. Saved me so I could be here for my children and wife. So my wife didn’t have to mourn me… there’s no way I could ever repay you.”

“You already did… Had you not been you… I wouldn’t have been able to save you. This shit is all in the stars, all mapped out and we don’t have a say in how the universe loops us together… feel me?”

“There he go talking about the stars and shit like I’m not an astronomer.” Cappadonna mumbled.

“Capp?” Capone called him.

“What up, Twin?”

“Shut the fuck up,” he busted out laughing as he held his chest and fell back onto the couch because he knew his brother was fool.

It wasn’t the fact that Cappadonna claimed to have all these jobs. It was that he said the shit with a straight face, and knowing the man, I felt like he could do all of those things.

“Great, you’re here, too,” Ramos came into the room.

From the look on his face, I could tell he didn’t have good news for me, and I would remain here for a little bit longer.

“Do you want to do the honors, or should I?” Hassan asked him, and Ramos blew a sigh of relief.

“Take over as you please.” He left the floor to Hassan, who stared at me.

“He can’t approve you to fly right now. I know the plan was for you to lay low in Barbados, but we’re not comfortable with you flying right now.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“The fuck you want me to say? Do I have to stay here?”

“My shit nice… don’t act like I got you in a dump,” Capone laughed as he opened a bag of chips, and put his feet up on Kobe, who sat back down on the other edge of the couch.

“Get your big ass feet off me! These are Valentino pants… runway.”

Capone, unbothered, continued to toss chips into his mouth while Kobe went on about his designer pants.

“Ashbourne,” Capone finally said.

I turned to look at him. “Menace has a shore house there and it would be good for you to recover. They have a hospital and school so Elijah could attend school. I’m not saying that this is forever, but you need to recover, and Blair deserves to enjoy her pregnancy.

She has been running around here handling shit, and now she needs to rest.”

“Capone is right. You don’t have to fly and can get there by car. Healing is the most important and we will fall back. I know how important that get back is for you, and we’ll lay low until you’re ready to reemerge,” Cappadonna said.

This wasn’t about me anymore and I had to think about Blair and Elijah. Living this life of uncertainty wasn’t fair to them. They deserved to sit and enjoy a regular life without stressing out. I wanted her to have a safe pregnancy and deliver our baby.

Elijah had been through enough and shuffling him from home to home wasn’t ideal for a kid. He deserved to be in school now that we had the official papers from Corleon. Everything with Elijah had been transferred to Inferno.

“She deserves that shit.” I replied lowly.

I watched how my wife stared at me, and she deserved everything good in the world. A pregnancy where she wasn’t stressed she would lose the baby. I wanted this second round for us to be better than the first. It couldn’t end in tragedy, because we had gone through all of that already.

“Bet. I’ll work on getting shit set up for you.” Capone nodded at me.

I turned to look at him. “Good looks, Capo… on all of this shit.”

He smiled. “We never count favors over here… we family, King.”

Everybody chilled for a while before they left, and I was alone again. Leaning my head back on the pillow, I watched the news in silence. The door creaking caused me to look over, and I saw Anjo.

Recommendation: I’ll Do Anything For You by Ann Nesby

“You sleep, Simmy?” She whispered, closing the door back behind her.

My arms rested behind my head. “No, baby, come lay me with me.”

I watched as she slipped her feet out her heels, and even in her dress, she climbed up on the bed with me. Moving over, I let her have the majority of the space. I could see how tired she was in her eyes as she stared up at me.

“I love you, baby,” I kissed her nose, and she smiled while yawning.

“Simmy, I love you so much.”

Raising my eyebrow. “Then why the hell did you sneak up out of here?”

Blair busted out laughing. “In my defense, I told you that I would be right back.”

“Anjo, I was high as shit… knocked out.”

“Yeah, well, I told you.”

I tickled her and kissed her lips. She held the side of my face as she sucked on my lips before pushing her tongue into my mouth. As much as I wanted to be leaned over her, while sucking on her lips and giving her dick, my body was so fucking weak.

My room was dimly lit, most of the light came from the huge TV that rested on the wall.

The wind was so aggressive that you could hear it whipping through the trees outside of the window, a soothing whisper sound that I can admit had been putting me to sleep nearly every night.

Blair was curled up against me on the pillow, her dress pulled up and I could see her soft legs.

I ran my hand down her thigh, feeling guilty that I put her into this life. It was easier to run from her because I never wanted this to become our reality. I was prone to fucked up shit happening to me.

As I moved closer, brushing the loose eyelash hair from her face, and then kissing her forehead, I looked into her eyes. Her eyes, glassy, searched mine like she was clinging to something. As if she wanted to capture this moment forever and never let me out of her sight.

“I feel guilty because I can’t make love to you, my love.” I pushed my lips against her forehead, as she pulled back from me.

“Simmy, your body has been through a lot. When the time is right, we’ll get there… okay?” She held the side of my face.

She held my cheek, staring deeply into my eyes. There was this pure glimpse of love that she held in her eyes, only reserved for those she truly cherished. When it came to me, it was something else. It was her praying, showing, and reminding me that she loved me.

She chose me.

Chased me.

Fought for me when I had no fight for myself.

Reminded me.

Every time our eyes met, they gave me that reminder that I deserved her. I deserved good things, and my wife was a good fucking thing.

“I’ll do anything for you, Quasim,” she whispered as her voice trembled, not with fear, but with conviction. “My love has no bounds when it comes to you.”

The air between us had been removed and the world stopped moving.

I could hear the sound of the wind picking up, and the outside chatter that went on at the nurse’s section.

All of those sounds slowly faded away, and all that existed was her hand on my face, and her body next to mine.

Two people who had been wrapped in trauma for so long that happiness didn’t feel possible.

The warmth of love didn’t seem attainable, no matter how much we both prayed for it.

We were two people wrapped in love, pain, and trust that you didn’t find twice in this lifetime. A trust that scared most people, but not us.

A tear slipped down her cheek, but she didn’t brush it away. Her hand, with the ring I had put on it, remained rested on my face as our eye contact remained. I took her hand and kissed the palm softly, then rested my forehead against hers. Her face was warm, but her hands and legs were cold.

“My love, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. I know it took a minute for us to get here, but we are here, and you are my wife. I would give this life if that meant you and our baby would live. They tried to take me from you, Anjo, and I can’t sit back and allow that.”

“You being here… still breathing, alive, that’s enough for me. Simmy, I don’t want to lose you. We need you, baby.”

I could tell that everything was finally settling with her. She was feeling all the emotions she had been forced to tuck away for the sake of being strong for me. She took a deep breath, as she continued to hold onto me.

“I thought you were going to die, Quasim.” She whispered. “I prayed that he would send you back to me… for a brief moment, I had to come to terms that I might have to do this without you and that’s something I never want to do.”

I pulled back as I softly pecked her lips while the tears fell down both of our faces. “You won’t ever have to find out what doing life without me is… my love, I’m here. Never going anywhere.”

“You cannot promise me that.”

I kissed her lips once more. “When it comes to you and Elijah, I’m always going to come through on my promises. We’re going to move away for a little bit so you can have my baby, and I can recover. Allow Elijah a normal life… hmm?”

She slowly nodded her head as she came closer to me, wanting to be in my skin. “Yes.”

“Give me some time, Anjo… then that pussy is mine.” I kissed her ear and grabbed a handful of her ass. “This shit getting thicker and thicker, my love.”

Anjo had all her teeth on display as she stared up at me. “Since I was gonna have to look for a new husband, I been eating.”

I pinched her ass, and she squealed. “Stop fucking with me… I may be unstable on my feet, but that finger still works fine on a trigger, my love.”

Junkie: You up?

She grabbed her phone as it buzzed and turned the screen to show me. “Speaking of…”

I raised my eyebrow as I looked at the conversation between the both of them. “You bringing him to me, my love?”

Anjo smirked and kissed my lips. “As my king wishes.”

.