Page 28 of Reckless Forever (Jennings Mafia Family #3)

Judah

To my daughter’s husband:

Congratulations, you have passed her godfather’s test. Every father would say so, but my daughter is a special woman.

She is driven, talented, beautiful, but most of all, she is the last purity that this life created.

Cherish that and cherish her. I do not know you or your story, but if I know anything about Santos, you are a soldier.

Normally, a man would ask a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage, but you were chosen. By me and by him. Protect my daughter from all of the wicked things that I have done in this world that she will have to answer for.

I gave my life to protect my daughter, and now I’m passing on the responsibility to you to do the same.

Do not fail me. Do not fail her.

-Her Father

My chest tightened as I read the letter; the words felt like someone was stabbing me.

Even when I was done, they just echoed in my head.

To my daughter’s husband… do not fail me.

Do not fail her. Of all the things that I had seen in the Mafia life, nothing had ever shaken a nigga like those words had.

I looked up and caught Santos watching me. That same smile was creeping up on his face, like he’d been waiting his whole life for this moment. It hit me hard. For a split second, I wanted to drop the rifle and sit in silence, but instead, I turned around and handed the letter to Jax and Trouble.

They both read it quietly. Trouble didn’t say shit, but the way he looked at me was enough. Jax let out a slow exhale and gave me a nod. It wasn’t sympathy. Just the look of a brother who understood what the weight looked like.

Santos waved off his men. They saluted us in respect before dropping their rifles at their side and disappearing into the shadows. The air shifted. It wasn’t war anymore. It was something heavier.

The old man walked toward me. His steps were careful, almost cautious, like he didn’t know how I would react because my men were still armed and trained to go.

Then he did something I didn’t expect. He reached his hand out.

His voice cracked, thick with accent but clear enough to speak the first word of English that I had heard since I had known him.

“Son.”

That one word almost got to me.

I hesitated, staring at his hand like it was a setup, but I took it.

His grip was firm, steady, and then he pulled me in with surprising old man strength.

He embraced me like blood, not business.

For the first time, I didn’t see the boss of the Cartel in his eyes.

I saw a man carrying a promise he would die before breaking.

He pulled back and spoke to Jaxon in Spanish. My brother nodded, his eyes shooting to me. “He said Ivy’s father made him swear her husband had to be strong enough to survive a war. That was the test.”

Santos placed another letter into Jax’s hand.

The second one. Jax read aloud, his Spanish smooth, translating word by word.

That one wasn’t for me. It was from Ivany to Santos, swearing him to guard Ivy’s future.

Hearing it out loud, knowing that I was the nigga chosen for that type of promise, hit different.

I took the letter he had given me, sat in the truck, and re-read it. Every line pressed on me like a weight I didn’t know if I was ready to carry. My chest was tight, my mind moving faster than I wanted it to.

Trouble leaned against the doorframe, watching me. “You good, bro?”

“Nah.” I shook my head. My voice came out lower than I expected.

He smirked and crossed his arms. “It’s hitting you hard because you already knew. You want her. You want to marry her. But now it’s not just a thought. It’s written on paper now. Santos said it, and her father stamped it. Now your tough ass scared, huh?”

I shot him a sharp look. He held up his hands in mock surrender, grinning.

“I been there. I married Storm first and panicked when I realized I wanted her to be my wife for real. Ain’t nothing wrong with that fear. It just means you're serious about her. Whatever you decide, you got four niggas around you who won’t let you fail.”

He extended his hand, and I clasped it tight.

“Preciate it.”

I climbed out of the truck, still feeling Ivany’s words. Trouble raised an eyebrow at me. “You sure you good, my nigga?”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. I’m good.”

Then I cracked a small grin, shaking it off and coming back into the moment. “But let’s go. That letter shit was deep and all, but Santos still gotta answer for sending them niggas in my moms’ crib and disrespecting my grass.”

Trouble chuckled, shaking his head, knowing that no matter what, I wouldn’t be in my head for long. Then we walked toward Jax and Santos. The war wasn’t over, but something in me had shifted. I wasn’t just fighting for Ivy anymore. I was fighting with her.

We walked into Santos’ crib. But I was still on guard. We still had done some things to each other that should make us enemies for life. I may have left the rifle on the backseat of the truck, but I still had my Glock on my hip. Trouble and Jax were on the same time, I could see them clutching too.

Santos could have realized that Ivy was the only weakness he could target in me and play on that. But it wouldn’t be that easy. For now, I would accept his truce, but I would still watch him closely.

We sat at the table and talked for hours.

Jax was the translator between us. The conversation didn’t do anything other than give me a better understanding of who Ivy was.

A little bit about her father and her upbringing.

Speaking to Santos really just confirmed his loyalty to her father, and vice versa.

Trouble sat by quietly the whole time. I know that he was downloading the conversation so he could give me his last round of advice. But I appreciated that nigga. We joked and said that he had started to act like Pops with the advice, but I heard every word he said, even when I told him I didn’t.

By the time I got up from the table, I didn’t really feel any better than when I had sat down.

But I had clarity. All the things that Santos had known and how he moved in regard to us gave me a different level of respect for him.

He had always treated us like family, but this just solidified his position in our lives.

We got up from the table, and Santos stood to shake each of our hands. When it came to me, he put his hand on my shoulder and said what Jax told me was a Bolivian prayer. I nodded to him and touched my chest in respect.

The walk to the trucks was quiet. We rode through the streets with the fleet behind us like the secret service. I had come here to burn this muhfucka to the ground, but I was leaving with responsibility.

Jax hadn’t been able to give his opinion, so as soon as we got into the jet, he made sure to let me know his stance on the situation.

“Santos fucks with you. He kept calling you the toro, which means the bull in Spanish. It’s a sign of respect for your heart.

He did what was asked of him in the way that he knows how.

He was about to die about it, but he got it done.

His ass is paying for our grass, though; I made that clear. ” He scoffed.

I chuckled.

“Now you know what you got to do, right?” Trouble came behind him like I knew he would. I nodded because I already knew what the next step was. I didn’t know if I was ready for it, but today solidified that I am now more ready than ever.

Ivy’s name flashed across my screen as we rode back to the safehouse.

I had just let her know that we had touched down, and she responded, “I’m glad you’re safe, I love you.

” When we went through the gate, I could see in the distance that our parents had just pulled up as well.

I pushed open the door and walked up to Pops, who was closest to me.

He shook my hand and brought me to him and held the back of my neck for a while.

The silence in the air was louder than anything that had been said to me.

Trouble’s ass was going to beat us to Moms every time. Then she came over to me and pulled me into her.

“I’ll tell everybody who will listen that I have the best boys on Earth. Every time I think you’ve done it all, you all surprise me again,” Moms beamed as we parted, and she touched my chin.

“Love you, Mama,” I said as I kissed her temple.

“Love you too, baby boy.” She said as she gave me her hand so that I could help her up the stairs.

Zo opened the door and greeted my parents as we walked past them and into the family room. My eyes scanned the room for Ivy. Kennedy was sitting on the couch with Juree between her legs, fixing her ponytails. Storm was on the other couch, lying across Remy’s lap while she scrolled on the phone.

“Where’s Ivy?” I asked without even speaking first.

They all started giggling, “Cupcake loves her, she’s got that girl held hostage somewhere around here, painting her nails. She even fell asleep in her room last night.” Storm laughed before getting off the couch to run over to Moms.

I walked through the house looking for her until I saw a room door open. I looked through the crack at Ivy on her knees in front of Cupcake, painting her toes.

“Don’t move,” she said as she blew on her feet.

Cupcake repositioned and sat still, as if she deserved that kind of treatment, and let her paint them.

“All done, you look so pretty.” She said as she smiled, and Cupcake hugged her. I was so busy looking at her that I didn’t even feel Trouble come behind me to get a closer look, too.

I turned to him, and he raised his eyebrow and nodded. Pushing the door open, I made my presence known, and Cupcake shot out of the chair and ran straight past me to her ugly ass daddy.

“Hey Ma Ma, you being good?” He asked.

“Yes! Auntie Ivy painted my nails.” She said, and my eyes cut to Ivy, who made a pouting face.

“They look pretty. Let’s go see Grandma.” He said, leaving us alone.