Page 149 of Meraux Mafia: No Ordinary Love

The night finally wound down, and we were headed out when Benjamin Bannerman caught me in the doorway of the exit. I almost told that motherfucka no, but I gave him ninety seconds while Hailo walked out with Tyson, Mack, and Skylar.

“I think the city could benefit from an investment.” Benjamin’s sentence was cut short by a barrage of bullets.

Tyson immediately jumped to shield Hailo because he was closer to her than I was, and Mack did the same. Pushing Benjamin out of my way, I immediately pulled out my gun as the black truck skirted down the street, leaving everybody who was outside scrambling for cover.

Tyson stood up as I went down the steps, “Gianni!” Tyson yelled, falling to his knees to assess the situation.

“Gi.” She struggled to get out as I rushed to her side.

“Lo! Hailo! Listen to me. Focus.”

“I-I’m t-t-tired.”

“No, you’re not tired. Focus on me, Hailo,” I insisted, gently tapping her cheek to keep her awake. She didn’t appear to be bleeding, but Lo was out of it, and that wasn’t a good sign, “Rosa. Think about me with Rosa and stay awake.”

“Get some fuckin’ help!” I erupted, looking around until a gut-wrenching scream caught my attention.

Mack was kneeling over Sky’s lifeless body. She looked in far worse shape than Hailo, and the most devastating part was that her once crème gown was drenched in blood. Her blood.

Sirens neared as I reminded Hailo to focus on Serenity. She constantly reminded me to be safe because she refused to raise Serenity without a father. It never occurred to me that I might raise Serenity without her one day.

My family was gathered in the waiting room, all trying to put their heads together to figure out who would be dumb enough to come for us. It all happened so fast, but somebody wanted to send a message. It was the perfect night to strike against the Merauxs because we were all in one place- except my mother.

My father had already secured her safety and sent Sophia and Xora to the house with her while we were still at the hospital. I didn’t give a fuck about who did what right now. My only concern was Skylar as I sat in the waiting room, covered in her blood.

The longer I stared, the more enraged I became. Skylar trusted me. It was my job to keep her safe, and now she was in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, fighting for her life.

“Who would want to do this?” My father asked, and despite being distressed, I noticed how Tyson’s eyes shifted to my uncle.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out.”

“We must work on a strategy instead of waiting around at the hospital.” Lucas fired back.

“My daughter is here,” Ross didn’t hesitate to speak up and claim Hailo the same way he would’ve done the rest of the family.

“Hailo is fine. Which means we have bigger things to focus on.”

“Skylar is still in surgery,” I finally spoke up.

“That woman is not our problem. We need to be out there trying to figure out who did this!” Lucas yelled, causing me to grab him by the collar of his shirt. He had me by a few inches in the height department, but the way I was raging, it didn’t matter.

“What the fuck you say?”

“Macklen, calm down,” Everett spoke, grabbing my shoulder.

“Don’t tell me to fuckin’ calm down! Everybody is always preaching family, but what the fuck happens to hers if Sky dies because of our shit! I’m the one that has to look Cam in her face and tell her that. If she dies because of me, where the fuck does that leave Cam?”

“You know we would make sure Cam is okay,” Ross justified trying to defuse the situation as Gianni came down the hallway.

“You sound crazy! Ain’t no coming back from that. That’s her fuckin mother! There is no being okay after that!”

“Emotions are high. We can have this conversation later,” My father interjected.

“Ain’t no conversation to have later. She’s in this shit because of us. That makes her mine. That’s my family, and I will do whatever I have to do. Anybody that doesn’t like it can see me about it.” I took my stance as my eyes floated from my father, uncles, and cousins, waiting for somebody to object.

They wanted to, mainly my father, but Ross shook his head, reminding them that now wasn’t the time as I turned to walk away. I didn’t go far because I was praying the doctor had an update soon.

“I’m not in the mood for that peace shit tonight, Gi. Don’t come over here with that,” I didn’t need to turn around to know it was Gianni. He was the only one crazy enough to come down here right now.

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