Page 88 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings 2: The Finale
Emerald hopped up.
“Of course. But I was going with Cam to check on Tavi. We don’t plan on leaving tonight. The staff is going to be sick of us. I need some real food though.”
“Girl, who you telling. I heard some of the nurses talking, there is a taco truck on the corner,” Cambrie disclosed.
“Say less. Let’s go.” Emerald followed her to the door.
“Hol’ up. I’m coming.” Six jumped from Brick’s side and trailed them past Rossi and out the door.
“All them heifers are pregnant,” she murmured, glancing over her shoulder as the door closed behind her.
Ivo gripped his side in pain when he threw his head back and laughed.
“Ma, don’t be putting that on me and Six. I just bust that shit open.” Brick came up to the side of Ivo’s bed.
“Mark my words.” She pressed the lever to her chair so that she was at Ivo’s side, pushing Brick off. “Your father isn’t here anymore. This whole Mafia shit can die with him. At the end of the day, he raised three men to be exactly who they are. Don’t ever run from it or let it outrun you. This is your legacy. Justus might be gone in the physical, but he clearly lives on in each of you.” Our mother skimmed each of us carefully with a satisfied grin.
She was right about that. I’d heard back from three of the other four families. I expected Lathan to give some push back, which is why when he arrived home tonight he was going to be met with a fresh bullet to the fucking head. I’d tolerated him long enough and as far as I was concerned, he was the weakest fucking link. With him out of the way it left his territory open and I was sure some of his team would come for it, but the rest of us would be waiting. Our lives were never going to be normal, but making sure my family was safe and whole was top priority.
Epilogue
Cambrie
One year later . . .
“I didn’t realize how much I needed this.” Emerald tilted her head back into her lounge chair and tipped her sombrero-style wicker to block the hot sun.
St. Lucia was beautiful! I’d never been, and now that I had, I was thinking it needed to be an annual staple in my life. She was adorable in her two-piece yellow bikini with her five-month pregnant belly poking out. I was glad to see her so relaxed, considering how tight she’d been the last few weeks. She brought that peach iced tea she’d been obsessed with since we landed to her lips and sipped through her straw.
She gave birth to twin girls right before this pregnancy, and only a few short months later, Ivo had her knocked up again. I don’t know how they found the time between him helping Staten run things and Emerald becoming a voice in the media with her in-depth columns on the budding businesses and their black owners. She loved shining a light on places like that and getting them the recognition they deserved. She even started going to different food places and posting reviews. Being thatshe was gorgeous and connected to Ivo, her views and following skyrocketed. Including Brick and Six in some of her adventures left them all going viral online.
Not only did they have their twins, but Emerald had custody of Jury half the year as well. She and Juke had found a routine, and he’d even married his long-time girlfriend. Sapphire had gotten accepted to Syracuse University, and he was up there balling like the next up-and-coming star. We all took the time to go support him at his games and make sure he was good. I loved how Ivo, Brick, and Staten rallied around him. Even his former coach, Blaine, rocked with him from a distance with his coaching job in LA.
“Girl, who you telling? Don’t get me wrong, I love being with Brick and the social media checks don’t hurt, but . . . having a little bit of solitude and peace is ideal.” Six shifted in her lounge chair under her umbrella and soaked in the warm rays.“Plus, him and Diamond be in they own little world. I swear I just birthed that girl. He’s the one raising her.”
Their daughter came like a thief in the night. Six’s cycle was all off. She was still having regular periods and everything up until the day she was wheeled into the ER with stomach pains she couldn’t get rid of. Those two became popular all over again on social media due to some ‘I didn’t know I was pregnant’ type shit. TV networks were beating the doors down with deals to try and get them on a larger platform. Six wasn’t lying when she said Brick and Diamond were connected at the hip though. She didn’t want to ever be separated from her papa. She didn’t say Dada like the other kids, nah, that was her papa all day.
“It’s been a while since I took a vacation myself. I adore Staten and the kids, even with all the daily challenges. It’s them baby mamas and Rossi that be having me ready to snap. This man is struggling to tame the beast I know lays inside him, but I keep telling him I don’t need him to shield me from none of that.It makes me feel like we’re not equals when he has to hide things from me,” I complained, tipping the tall sangria mix to my lips.
I’d gotten pregnant right before we were engaged but ended up losing the baby. Staten wasn’t letting it come between us, but I couldn’t help the grief that had taken over after that. He was more focused on making a baby, and I just wanted to heal. Being married to him and raising the kids was more fulfilling than I could ever express. There were those quiet moments when I thought about our baby and what they would look like or what milestones they might have hit by now, but I was more grateful for the family that we already had. I didn’t want him to feel bad about it or blame himself.
I had them make all my drinks extra strong, emphasizing to the whole staff what I wanted out the gate. I had every intention of getting lit as fuck this entire trip. Since Emerald couldn’t indulge, I vowed to toss ’em back for her. Our all-inclusive suite in Marigot Bay was luxurious and simplified. I loved it over here. We weren’t but a few miles from their buzzing downtown area, too, so we were able to sightsee.
Nadia went back to Jersey and figured out how to live her own life, which meant she rarely came around to check on her kids anymore with me in the picture. I peeped that both Saga and Tavi had grown resentful of her. The only time she did come around was to flex on some new shit. She had a new husband, and they were traveling and planning their lives together, but none of her endeavors seemed to include her own children. I hated the effect that it had on Tavi. Even though Staten wasn’t a fan of it at first, therapy really seemed to help her. After her accident, she tried pushing me away. At that point, she didn’t believe that anyone gave a damn about her, but I wouldn’t give up. Each session to get her back mobile was a challenge, but it was one that I was up for.
“Cambrie, let’s be real. You got the good brother. Baby mamas and all. Staten has stood on nothing but business behind you from day one. Don’t let that go over your head, and don’t let Nadia or Cyra drive a wedge between you and that man,” Six advised. “As for Rossi, I can’t speak on that because she adores me.”
“Hey, we started off rocky, but she loves me too,” I chimed in.
“She loves me more.” Emerald caressed her stomach.
Six and I both paused mid-convo to stare at her.
“What? Like y’all don’t know Ivo is her favorite son.”
“Girl, please. You wish. She strolled alongside me down the aisle at our wedding,” Six scoffed. “The sun rises and sets on Brick for that woman. I don’t know how you came up with that.” She fell back in her lounge chair with her Prada shades shielding her eyes from the sun.
“I told y’all they was out here trying to put us on babysitting duty.” Brick emerged from the villa with Diamond on his hip, and Ivo sported a twin daughter on each side as well as they sucked on popsicles.
