Page 26 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings 2: The Finale
His younger brother, who I remember as Brick, turned a little to face me. A grin lit up his boyish features as he looked me over from head to toe.
“What’s up, Emerald?”
“Hi, Brick. What are you doing?” I asked, hovering behind the couch where he was seated.
“This nigga bought you a vanity table. I told him don’t put that shit together down here ’cause who walking it up them stairs?” Brick leaned back and tossed the instructions in his lap.
“Nigga, you ain’t even helping. You just sitting there,” Ivo huffed.
“I’m just the assistant,” Brick replied.
“Okay, I finished the grocery order. They said it should be here in about an hour.” A soft woman’s voice left me half turning to see who else was here.
The bronze-skinned beauty sailing out of my kitchen with her pink iPhone in hand paused. Our eyes immediately locked, and she waved with a smile.
“Thanks, Six.” Ivo nodded.
“Hi there,” she greeted me. “I’m Six. You must be Emerald.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, not sure who or why she was here.
“This my girl.” Brick filled in the blanks and winked at Six.
“It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t know you were bringing company over.” I swirled my head back in Ivo’s direction as he frowned at the pieces he was trying to put together.
It was adorable how frustrated it was making him. Little beads of sweat had even gathered at his forehead.
“It’s just Brick and Six.” Ivo shrugged. “I saw you needed groceries, so I had Six put in an order for a little bit of everything. Where’s Sapphire?”
“Basketball practice. You didn’t have to do all this though. I planned on taking myself shopping.”
“Now you don’t have to. I left a credit card for you in your purse too. Use it for whatever.”
“Ivo—”
“Don’t argue with me, mama.” Immediately, he paused and gave me a stern look, which left my mouth snapping shut.
Six rounded the front of the couch, and Brick grabbed her arm and pulled her down into his lap.
“Don’t worry, we know how to practice discretion. Ivo told me about the whole surrogacy shit. I think it’s pretty dope for you to do that. I just wanted to come through and show my support. Let you know if you need anything you can call me and Six if bro ain’t available,” Brick offered.
“That’s sweet. I’m sure I’ll be fine though.”
“No doubt. Just know we here and I got ya back.”
“So I guess I’ll be seeing everyone at dinner Sunday then.”
“Dinner?” Ivo repeated. “What you talking about?”
“Jordan called earlier. Invited me and Sapphire to your mother’s house for dinner this week. She didn’t leave much room for me to say no.”
“That sounds like Jordan,” Brick muttered, shaking his head.
Ivo studied me for a minute. I could tell he wasn’t feeling his wife’s offer, but what could I do? If I said no, it would only castsuspicion, and I wasn’t trying to set her radar off. I was already keeping her at arm’s length, and I think she knew.
“Listen, we’ll go, have dinner, and leave. I’m not trying to make it awkward and uncomfortable. Your mama don’t even like me,” I sighed, and Ivo hopped up on his feet.
“I don’t give a fuck about that. I just want to make sure you good with it. Nobody should be trying to force you into anything, and that includes Jordan. I can talk to her if you want,” he suggested, coming up beside me behind the couch and wrapping me in his strong arms.
