Page 9 of His Aries Heiress
Gregory coughed, and Cassydie wanted to get him some water or help in some kind of way, but she didn’t even feel like she could breathe. She stood still as she listened, grasping on to every single word.
“Tato needs you,” Marcellus warned, and Cassydie heard the desperation in his voice. Another tear rolled down her cheek. But that one was for Marcellus. She felt his pain tenfold and hated it because she was already feeling too many things at the moment.
“No, Cell. He needs you now,” Gregory corrected. A moment passed between the two men. It was silent, and she heard Marcellus sniffle as his head bowed. “Listen to me, youngin. There’s something else I need you to know, and forgive me because I know this puts you in a shitty position.” Several seconds passed as he took in more oxygen before he continued. “I have a daughter . . .”
Marcellus glanced behind him at Cassydie and connected his gaze with hers. Her heart hammered in her chest. Was this the moment Marcellus would let Gregory know she was there? Gregory spoke again, pulling both of their attention back to him.
“Cassydie. Her name is Cassydie Lee. Find her and take care of her for me. Promise me.”
“Grim—”
“Promise me.” It sounded to Cassydie like he used all the strength in his body to say those words. Her heart ached at the way he wanted her to be taken care of. She took a small step forward as Marcellus said, “I promise. But?—”
Gregory coughed again, and Marcellus let his sentence fall short. After a few seconds, it became clear that this cough was different from the previous ones.
Cassydie’s feet immediately became unstuck when she saw Gregory’s legs shaking and Marcellus freeze up.
“Someone, help!” she shouted into the hall before she ran to Gregory’s side. All she could think was,not again.
When his face came into view, she almost stopped again from shock. Her face looked so similar to Gregory’s. Kids always teased her because she looked Dominican. They said she could pass for Cardi B’s sister. Well, this man could pass for Cardi B’s father. His bushy brows were speckled with gray, and his slightly slanted eyes matched hers exactly.
She saw the moment recognition pinged him. He reached a shaky hand out to her, though she could tell it took great effort. She latched onto it as tears spilled from her eyes. All she could think to whisper was, “I’m here.”
His eyes were wide as he stared at her while his body shook. Marcellus cursed the doctors out in the background, but her eyes didn’t leave Gregory’s, and his stayed on hers too. So much passed between that gaze. She felt regret and love coming off him in waves.
The nurses and doctors did their best to save his life, but with tears blurring her vision, Cassydie witnessed the life leave his eyes, and although she never knew him, a piece of her heart died right along with him.
Aries men don’t cry often. When they do, the sky glows red, and if they’re about that life, the streets just might too.
Hours had gone by,and Marcellus sat in a chair next to Grim’s body with his head bowed. He hadn’t moved from this position, but he knew he would have to soon. His mind felt stuck though. It felt impossible for him to move from that spot.
Once they called time of death, he threatened the nurses not to touch Grim’s body anymore. They couldn’t save the onlyfather figure he knew, so there was no need for them to have access to him until he said so.
“Damn, OG. You fucked me up with this one.” He tried his best to hold his emotions in, but he failed. At his core, he was a sensitive being. That was that Aries shit. Hard exterior but soft as puddy on the inside.
Marcellus ran a hand down his head as his thoughts slowed some. He cried all his tears, and he knew he needed to start thinking about his next move. It would have been so much easier if someone had taken Grim’s life. At least he could focus his emotions on avenging his OG’s death. There was nowhere to place the spiraling anger swarming inside him, so the best he could do was try to shove it away.
“Tato,” he mumbled out loud, grasping onto the first solid thought he could. “You would want me to be with Tato right now, Grim. Wouldn’t you?”
He nodded as if he heard verbal confirmation, though the room was silent.
With a heavy heart, he stood and placed a hand on Grim’s. The touch was cold and brief before he squared his shoulders and turned away.
By the time he was out of the room, nobody could tell that he’d had his first mental breakdown since he could remember.
He stalked down the hall in search of a familiar face, any familiar face, when he ran smack dab into Cassydie. For the second time that day, he had to catch her. His arms naturally circled around her so she wouldn’t fall.
“You good?” His brows dipped as soon as the words left his mouth, and he noticed hers rose in surprise.
It was crazy that even she, who had known him all of six hours, knew he was an asshole that didn’t care about many people’s well-being. Internally, he wondered if that was something he should fix about himself. He’d always been thatway. Unless a person could knock through the tough exterior of his heart, he pretty much disregarded them. For some reason, the question that just tumbled from his lips seemed genuine though. Not that he would ever admit it.
“Y-yeah, I’m good. I was just going to get some more coffee.” She lifted the paper cup in her hand to punctuate her point.
He glanced around the isolated hall. “Where everyone else at?”
Cassydie scratched the top of her head. He took the time to notice her bun was slipping down her head, and her eyes looked tired and even more puffy than before. It irritated him that this woman made him realize how selfish he’d been over the past few hours. He knew as an Aries, being selfish was aligned in the stars for him. Normally, he paid it no mind, but again, there were a few people he tried setting that aside for.
“They all left. Your . . . uh, friend? Ronny? He left with Tato.” A ghost of a smile danced on her face, and the truth slammed into Marcellus. She thought Tato was her brother. He didn’t know this woman’s story, but it was clear she came to Ellwood for something. Could it be possible she truly did only want to know her birth family and that she wasn’t there for money or something? The fact that Grim had a damn daughter still blew his mind. And then he remembered his final promise to him. As he stared at Cassydie, he realized his job now was to take care of her, though he didn’t know how to take care of anyone but himself. His mind flashed to Tato, and with a heavy heart, he knew he now had two people he was responsible for.Shit.
