Page 14 of His Aries Heiress
“I won’t say it again,” Cassydie asserted, making direct eye contact with the woman.
“You’re at my house, bi?—”
Not even Marcellus was fast enough to catch Cassydie’s fist. It connected directly with Nicole’s nose.
“Aye, man, go get in the car,” Marcellus said, gently shoving Cassydie toward the car while he held back a wailing Nicole.
Cassydie simply shrugged, as if it didn’t matter to her, before she waltzed back to the car. On the outside, she was calm as a cucumber. On the inside, she boiled with rage. She didn’t do well with disrespect at all.
When she got back to the car, Goldie was there with the door open for her. He had a huge smile on his face as she got in. Whenhe closed the door and got in the driver’s seat, he looked at her in the rearview mirror.
“What?” she asked. She didn’t want to snap at him, so she tried to take some of the ice out of her tone as her foot bounced in irritation.
“You remind me of ya pops is all. He ain’t ever take no bullshit either.”
Her heart melted slightly at that.
“What was he like?” she whispered. The vision of him gripping her hand as he died plagued her. It sucked that was all she would ever know of him.
Goldie was silent for a long time. She almost thought he hadn’t heard her or chose not to answer, and she didn’t have the courage to ask again. It surprised her when he finally spoke.
“Like two sides of one coin. He was the meanest nigga I ever met. It’s where he got the nickname Grim from . . .” He trailed off as if he’d said too much. Cassydie wished he hadn’t. “Well, anyway, he was also the nicest nigga I ever met. Would give anyone the shirt off his back, long as they were good to him.”
Cassydie smiled. He sounded an awful lot like her. Granted, she didn’t think she was mean enough to warrant such a dark nickname, but her temper was ruthless. She could be the girl next door or a mean girl depending on who she was talking to.
The back door opened, and her mind immediately shifted gears. Sweat slicked her hands when she spotted Tato scooting into the back seat right next to her. When he looked up at her and smiled, her heart melted into two. He was missing several teeth, but it was so cute, and his jet-black hair was thick with curls just like hers. She realized now that her parents had thinner hair that was brown. She never questioned where hers came from. Now she knew. It came straight from Grim.
His eyes were inquisitive as he peered up at her, and when he opened his mouth and spoke, she felt at a loss for words. “Hey, you were at the hospital yesterday. Do you know my daddy?”
It’s a fact that Aries are known for their quick tempers and even quicker loyalty.
Marcellus watched carefullyas Tato and Cassydie spoke. He knew it wouldn’t take long for his son’s inquisitiveness to take over, and it didn’t.
Cassydie’s big brown eyes that looked so much like Grim’s looked at him in alarm, and he knew he needed to step in.
“There are some things I need to chop it up wit’ you about, lil man,” Marcellus said, drawing the little boy’s attention to him.
Cassydie’s brows rose. “Right now? In the car?”
He nodded. He didn’t want to do this here, while they drove back to his house, but he had no choice. The council was readyto meet, and he couldn’t keep them waiting, especially since he was the one to call this emergency meeting. “I have something important to handle right after I drop you guys off.”
“Maybe we should wait until later then?” Cassydie suggested.
Marcellus shook his head in frustration. She made valid suggestions, and her questions were understandable, but he couldn’t sit on this any longer. He should have been worried about his place with the council and his future, but the one thing that kept him up all night last night was Tato. He had to get this anxiety up off him, so though it may have been selfish of him to do this here and then dump the aftermath on Cassydie, he wouldn’t be able to walk into this meeting with a clear mind if he didn’t.
He looked at her over Tato’s head. “Nah, it gotta be now.”
Her eyes melted into understanding. He didn’t know how she seemed to understand him so well, but she did. She glanced down at Tato, and he noticed her expression change from understanding to heartbreak.
Marcellus cleared his throat. He knew it was his turn to take over. Though he was happy to have someone there as backup, this life-altering news needed to fall on him.
“Tato, you know pops was in the hospital yesterday, right?”
Tato nodded seriously. “Nicki said he wasn’t feeling good.”
Marcellus thought about Nicole. She had always taken good care of Tato. Both he and Grim vetted her years ago, and she was the only one they trusted with the boy while they were out doing dirt. She was out the way and stayed to herself. Marcellus made sure she was compensated beautifully for taking such good care of Tato, both with money and dick, but she crossed the line today. It left him wondering if he needed to find someone new to keep eyes on Tato. His eyes flickered up to Cassydie, but he refocused quickly. One thing at a time.
“Nicki was right. He wasn’t feeling well, and . . . well, he . . .”
