Page 5 of Still Forever
Before I could silence the engine on the truck, my phone started ringing. Not wanting anything to distract me from the moment, I was about to silence it, but I looked down at the caller ID, and it was Trouble. I answered without hesitation.
“What’s up?” I questioned as I pushed the door open and stepped out onto the pavement. My eyes scanned the rows of cars again as I walked through the parking lot.
“Nothing, you know that situation that we talked about this morning?” His voice was tight. No lead in, just business.
“Yeah,” I said as I waited for an update.
“Gather everybody except Keys. I want you to call a sit-down. However, you handle it, I’m behind you. But it has to happen today.” He gritted. The ice in his voice told me everything I needed to know about the outcome that he expected.
“What you thinking?” I questioned just for confirmation.
He chuckled with no humor in his tone. “Nigga, it’s on you. You the underboss. When I’m not there, you call the shots. I trust you.”
“Aight, I’ll have an update for you in an hour,” I said before we disconnected the call. When we hung up, I stopped mid-stride to send a message to Judah and the rest of the board to meet me at the headquarters in thirty minutes.
I had planned on handling business today, but not this kind of business. This mission had thrown me completely off my square, but I didn’t choose this life; this life chose me. Being the underboss wasn’t just a position; it was a blood promise. When business called, I had to answer.
The cold air from the store hit me as I swung open the door and stepped inside. The showroom was empty; the lights were low, and a jazz instrumental played softly on the speakers. To pass the time, I went over to one of the spinning jewelry display cases and looked at the watches.
“Welcome to Diamond Theory. How may I—ah, Jax! My man…” The jeweler emerged from the back and came around the display case to dap me up. I had gotten every piece of jewelry that I owned from him, so we had a decent relationship.
“What’s up?” I asked as we slapped hands and embraced briefly.
“Let me go to the back and get your piece.” He said as we parted and he hurried to the back of the store. He came back lessthan a minute later and handed me a black velvet box. I opened it and was met with the most fire ring that I had ever seen.
“You told me you wanted the best of the best. This is what I came up with—the Forever ring. A flawless five-carat emerald cut diamond. It’s set on a platinum eternity band wrapped in full-cut diamonds. No clusters, no shortcuts. Just clarity, love, and forever written in ice.” He opened it slowly, letting the LED light from the box hit the diamonds just right. I held it between my fingers and looked over it.
The clarity of the diamonds said everything that I wanted them to. It was the type of ring that you gave someone when you knew.
“Preciate you,” I said as I placed it back inside and dapped him up again.
“Thank you for your business, boss. I hope the Mrs. loves it.” He smiled and went back around the counter to clean and bag it for me.
I gave him a quick nod. “She will.”
It wasn’t long before I was on my way out of the store, just as quickly as I had come. I had business to handle, but immediately after that, I was going to propose to my girl. Kennedy and I hadn’t been on the best of terms lately, but there was nobody else I could see myself with other than her. No woman had ever had me like Kennedy, and even if shit went south, no one ever would. The way she loved me was one thing. But I loved her on the strength of who she was. Smart as hell, always focused, smart ass mouth, and would stop on the corner to give a stranger a plate of food. The fact that she was fine as fuck, only added to it. After all the shit that I went through on a daily basis, even after three years, I couldn’t wait to go home to her.
One of the few times that we talked about marriage, she told me exactly what she wanted. We were lying in bed, her handstrailing my chest, and she was watching the movie The Best Man for the thousandth time.
“You know how I always say I don’t like to do too much? Not when I get married. I want a ridiculous wedding with everyone I know there. I want some flashy, unreasonable stuff too, like our initials in ice sculptures, a pianist hanging from the ceiling, a million flowers, champagne towers, a five-tier wedding cake.” She laughed. “The ring doesn’t matter; the only thing I want specifically is an emerald cut diamond, size seven. But when you ask? I want a simple proposal. Just you and me. It doesn’t have to be planned; I could be standing at the stove in a T-shirt and a headscarf. I just want privacy. I can promise you that I’m going to ugly cry, and I don’t want that on camera. When I’m done, I’m giving you the best head you’ve ever had. I mean, unless you want that on video, then...”
I laughed and kissed her forehead and told her that I’d give her whatever she wanted.
I still remember every unreasonable ass request she made till this day, and I was going to make that happen for her.
Checking my watch, I looked at the time. I had just enough to make it across town to the meeting. I pressed the button on the key fob and unlocked the door of my truck before I hopped back into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking space.
My phone chimed, and I looked down at the screen. It was Kennedy texting me.
Mine: I guess I’ll spend another night alone.
I took a deep breath and ran my hand down my face; Kennedy was in one of those moods tonight. It was her way of telling me that she wasn’t mad, just tired. Our relationship hasn’t been the smoothest over the last year or so. There were days when she loved me, and days when she told me that I needed to learn how to balance my work and home life. Betweendrops, sit-downs, and weeks in different cities and countries, I missed a lot of us.
Being the underboss and the negotiator meant that my role in the Mafia was more demanding. Going from only overseeing the deals to being involved in every operation was something that Kennedy wasn’t used to. But I understood, I had been in this shit for thirty years, and sometimes I wanted to take a step back from it too. So, I couldn’t fault her when she got irritated with the time that I spent away from home.
I tried to balance my lifestyle and her. But at times like this—being called on to lead or show up when I was supposed to be home put me in a tough position. Getting out of the Mafia was easier said than done. You can’t clock out of the Mafia. You die out or get wiped out. Even in retirement, you’re never out, just on ice until you become necessary. Our family is tied to too many secrets, things that the elites could only trust to be safeguarded if you were dead. I was stuck in my position, but I was also stuck on my girl, and I’d do whatever to prove that to her.
I picked up the phone and texted her back.
