Page 35 of Reckless Forever (Jennings Mafia Family #3)

“IVANYS!” I yelled as I walked through the room to find my wife. I heard her groan. She hated it when I called her by her name.

“You ready, Mama? We're going to be late,” I said as I slid behind Ivy, right as she bent down to pick up her shoes. My dick bricked instantly just watching that ass curve up in front of me.

She chuckled low. “That’s exactly why we’re about to be late now. Unhand me,” she swatted at my hands, laughing, before sitting in the chair to put on her heels.

I snatched them from her hand, crouched, and slipped them onto her feet myself, pulling her up when I was done.

She turned toward the mirror, frowning at her reflection. “Do you think I should have worn this dress? I feel like it’s not the best fit.”

“You look good as fuck,” I slapped her ass, not even thinking twice, because the way she looked in that floor-length black dress had me about to skip the event.

When she didn’t move, I grabbed her chin, turned her head so her eyes met mine, and not the mirror. “You look fine, shorty. You just had a baby, what do you expect?”

“No, I just had too many damn babies,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes as she pushed past me. “Stay off me. I could barely snap back the first time and then boom. Pregnant again. Two under two.”

I watched her walk away and flicked my tongue at her just to piss her off. She slapped my arm, but her ass was jiggling in that dress, so I didn’t give a fuck.

Ivy had just given birth to our second child, Naivy Amor. Named after both our fathers, Ivany and Amar. She was still self-conscious about the little weight she had gained. But I loved it.

We headed downstairs, and at the bottom, our son was posted like an old man on the steps, arms folded across his chest, like paid bills around this bitch.

“Giannis, can you get up, please?” The nanny pleaded. I chuckled because he gave her hell, and she was always so soft on him.

“Getchoooo ass up,” I barked, making him hop to his feet real quick. He spun around with a smile on his face. His tank head ass had my entire face, and attitude.

I scooped him up and kissed his cheek. “Be good for Miss D, aight?”

He stayed silent, making Ivy laugh.

“Okay?” I pressed.

“K,” he finally said, like he didn’t want to lie to me.

“Give me a kiss, big boy. I’ll see you later.” Ivy leaned in, kissed him, then he wiggled out of my arms and ran toward the back of the house.

“That child is every bit of you,” she shook her head, lacing her hands in mine.

On the way to the event, Ivy stayed on the phone with Santos, running her mouth in Spanish. My shit had gotten better, so I caught every other word while pretending I wasn’t eavesdropping.

When we walked into the Remy Rich Foundation event, Taylor was the first one we ran into. “Thank you for coming. You look beautiful tonight, Ivy,” she said with a smile plastered on her face.

“Thank you, so do you,” Ivy kept it short and polite, moving past her.

“Hi, Judah,” Taylor greeted me.

“What’s up?” I nodded, guiding Ivy forward with my hand on the small of her back. I didn’t fuck with Tay since that condo shit years back. She hadn’t been a problem since, but given the history, I just kept my distance. Rem and Ivy had a good relationship, so she kept it cordial.

Inside the venue, I found our table and sat with the rest of the Jennings Mafia. I made my rounds. Kissing my moms, hugging my sisters, dapping my pops and the guys.

Storm didn’t smile; she had a frown on her face. Which wasn’t like her.

“What’s up with you, Rain? Why you looking like that?” I asked loud enough, not caring that Trouble sat right there. He knew I would test his old man strength when it came to my sister.

She rolled her eyes, cutting her eyes toward her husband. Trouble leaned in and whispered, “You want to fix your attitude, or do we need to go so I can fix it for you?”

“Man, let me switch my fucking chair,” I groaned. “Rain! Not my innocent sister.” I fake-wiped tears. She laughed and smacked my arm; her face flushed with embarrassment when she realized that I had heard him.

Kennedy waddled off to the bathroom, looking ready to pop any day. “Look at my kangaroo,” I called, making her give me the middle finger, while Jax grilled me and followed behind her.

The event kicked off, and Ivy was talking with my moms across the table about our babies. Tay got on stage and opened the charity segment. The Cross family and ours weren’t always smooth, but after Zo and Rem got together, we kept it respectful. Anybody who was family to Zo was family to us.

Donations went around, then the cocktail hour started.

Ivy excused herself to grab a drink, and I was watching her out the corner of my eye when some tall light-skinned nigga with a gray suit slid too close. He leaned down, grinning like he’d been waiting for his chance.

“You know, I didn’t think anyone could make black look so good. But then you showed up, and now I see the designer must’ve had you in mind when he made that dress.” He said loud enough for me to catch.

Ivy laughed nervously, trying to brush it off, and her eyes shot at me.

“Thank you,” she said, polite, stepping sideways to get space.

But the nigga stepped with her.

“You married?” he asked, bold as hell, eyes dragging down her body.

Before she could even answer, my chair scraped so loud the table shook. The whole Jennings side of the room looked up. I tried to restrain myself. Mafia events had a strict policy of no violence, but the heat boiling in my chest had me on my feet before anybody could tell me to calm down.

“The fuck you think you doing?” I gritted, voice sharp as a blade.

Dude turned, trying to play dumb. “Oh, Jennings. This your girl? I was just complimenting her.”

Before he could finish his statement, I tried to make that nigga swallow his tongue. Everybody in the room gasped as I sent a blow to his mouth so hard that I could see his lip split open.

“Baby!” Ivy gasped once the nigga flew across the chairs lined up at the bar. He was on the ground, rolling in pain and bleeding all over the floor.

Whispers in the crowd started as the security made their way over to me like they were going to attempt to say a word in my direction.

“Mr. Jennings,” One tried to reason.

“What?” I took a step toward him, and he took a step back. I didn’t even realize that Jax, Trouble, and Zo were behind me with their guns out.

I undid the top button of my shirt and the one on my sleeves and walked outside to get some air. Jax came out with me as I paced on the balcony. When I noticed how he was looking at me, I stopped.

“What?” I snapped at him, too.

“Nigga you’re still reckless.” He said, shaking his head and taking a sip from his drink.

“Fuck you,” I scoffed.

I took a seat as I looked back through the glass at Ivy talking to my mother. He was right. When it came to Ivy Jennings, I would be reckless… forever.