Page 82 of The Mob: Shio Cuppacio
Accessing Glow’s face, I could tell she was feeling insecure about her appearance. One of the hairs from her bun kept falling into her face. I tucked it back in place and lifted her chin. “You look beautiful, Glow.”
Taking her hands in mine again, I locked eyes with her. In a fucking tennis skirt and sneakers, Glow was the baddest fucking thing this side of Memphis. She could be in a paper bag and still kill everything within a fifty-mile radius.
“Payne, you first. Repeat after me.”
“Hot summer nights, mid-July… When you and I were forever wild,” the choir sang their asses off.
“I, Tunan, take thee, Glow, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part… Say it nigga,” Pastor Lucifer spat when I hesitated.
Clearing my throat, I repeated his words.
“I, Tunan, take thee Glow, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in… in… health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”
I’d loved a bitch through sickness already, and the thought of doing that shit again had my own fucking palms sweating. I couldn’t do that shit again. I wouldn’t do that shit again. If a woman had any type of medical shit going on, I was out of there. Stella was the last hoe I’d bring back from the dead. Glow had her own money and looked healthy enough, so I wasn’t too worried about the sickness part. But still, I wasn’t repeating that shit, even if this was a cursed-ass church.
“Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful! Will you still love me when I got nothing buuut my aching soul! I know you will.”
No cap, if the choir didn’t win their next competition, I knew something was up. They were singing like the rent was due.
“You next, pretty lady,” Pastor Lucifer said, low-key fucking Glow with his eyes. If I weren’t trying to give Glow some decency through this ceremony, I’d bust him in his shit.
“I, Glow, take thee, Tunan, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part,” she rushed out in one breath.
“At least somebody got the shit right. You got the band?”
Pulling the other portion of the ring out of my pocket, I slid it on her finger. It was crazy how perfect it fit—shit was almost as spooky as the souls of the pastor’s wife that I knew roamed these damn halls.
“By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you… husband and wife.You may now kiss the bride.”
Swiping my thumb over her hand again, I pulled her into my chest and lifted her chin. Her eyes watered, but she didn’t letanything fall. Leaning down, I pecked her lips before swiping my thumb over them. I could feel her heart drumming against my chest as she stared at me. I was ignoring my own heart as the choir serenaded us and Lucifer’s creepy ass looked on. Glow was the perfect fucking wife, but this was a job—a duty. So instead of tonguing her down, I let her go. I had to remember what the fuck this was and what the fuck my ultimate goal was.
“Yeah, nigga, you a damn fool for real. Come sign these papers and give me my bread so I can get the fuck on with the next wedding.”
Ignoring what looked like disappointment on Glow’s face, I went to the podium to sign and then motioned for her to come and sign the documents too. I pulled out a two bands and pushed it into the pastor’s chest so he could take his eyes offmy wife. While I had no plans to treat Glow as my wife, I, for damn sure, expected everyone to treat her as such.
“Don’t forget to file my shit, Luci. I’ll come back for a copy later this month.”
Pastor Lucifer waved me off while beckoning for the choir to stop singing. “Take five, y’all, and not a minute longer. It’s gonna be a long night.”
We made our way back to my sister’s car in a comfortable silence. Glow didn’t look nervous or anxious anymore, so I left her to her own thoughts while I succumbed to mine. I’d done what Don needed for me to become an official member of the mob. Now I had to make sure Glow stayed my wife on paper and didn’t become my wife in real life because I didn’t have time for the relationship shit. Glow wasn’t Stella, and Stella damn sure wasn’t Glow, but one bad apple had spoiled it for the whole bunch. That love shit was a no-go for me. Glow had come up with all these boundaries any fucking way, and I fully intended to abide by them. Pussy was cool, but money was so much fucking better.
Now, I had to figure out a way to tell my brother that I’d married his bitch.
Chapter 14
Shio Cuppacio
My day started like any other—early. I was up at 4:00 a.m., showered and dressed by 4:30 a.m., and had my Nikes on the pavement by 4:35 a.m. Today, instead of working out inside, I decided to do a ten-mile run. Near the end, my lungs felt like they were about to collapse inside of my chest. My mind was going haywire, and by the time I got back to my driveway, the world had woken up, but my thoughts hadn't settled.
One reason I’d been uneasy was because of my new houseguest. Don was surely going along with this quest of me “teaching” Solana how to be a wife, but I hadn’t figured out why. I knew he’d researched Ines and Solana; he wouldn’t dare bring chaos in his own backyard that he couldn’t eliminate. I, too, have always been the type to solve any problem that comes my way, and this one was no different. The problem was that I was under Don’s hand, with little control over what I could do outside of my home. While Don had the advantage of knowing everyone’s secrets and plays, I had my own ways to gather intel on folks. So after my intense run, I did what I do best—research. I needed to find out everything about the Ledesmas from my home.
I already knew about her father and his business dealings, but I hadn't been told about a daughter. Why’d he hide her from the world? Ines had Solana put up in that cold-ass, castle-like home, but for what reason? Besides the Rodríguezes and his witch of a wife, no one knew about Solana’s existence. Well, no one knew she was his daughter, but she hadn't done much to hide herself on the streets of Mexico City. Little Baby was out there in the clubs, bars, holes-in-the-wall, and elusive lounges. I spent most of my day talking to my sources, and considering how long it took to find out shit about her, you’d think I’d know more than just her “party girl” lifestyle.
For as much as Solana partied, I was expecting to find a long line of men who had been linked to her. She was living in my home, and although temporarily, I didn’t want any fucking surprises. If any of them fucks were dumb enough to try and come and be the fucking hero by professing his love on my doorstep to stop her from marrying into the Rodríguez Cartel, I was going to send them bitches back across the water, wrapped in a Mexican flag and soiled in their own blood. Shockingly, all I found were a few associates I'd hardly call that, and some club owners who loved it when she came through and respected her because she spent mad bread in their establishments. I couldn’t find a manora woman who had been romantically involved with her, which would be virtuous for the nigga that was set to be her husband, but terrible for me. It meant that she had either learned the art of sneakiness or she was untouched. I knew for damn sure she was no fucking virgin. Solana was not only attractive, exotic, and desirable, but she reeked of “I’ve been fucked” under that shy yet sassy demeanor. With a father like Ines Ledesma, I was certain she got her shit off when she could, which meant her ass was slick. I didn't like sneaky motherfuckers, and I damn sure couldn't be easily fooled ormanipulated.While my eyes saw what they could, my antennas were up higher than ever.
“Aye… Get up.”
The room was dark, even though the sun had risen and been out all day. She was in this bitch, lightly snoring like the whole day hadn't passed, and it wasn’t damn near three o’clock in the afternoon. Lifting the Audemars to my face, I was wrong; it was ten minutes past three-thirty, which meant I’d been standing here watching the rise and fall of her back for well over thirty minutes.
