Marz

Chapter 20

Chapter

Twenty

Heir

“Sis!”

My body locked in excitement at the sound of Neptune’s voice. Turning, I walked into his waiting embrace.

“Neppy! It’s so good to see you!”

“You too, pumpkin. What you doin’ on this side of town?” Neptune asked as he released me.

Yesterday was my first day working on Iman’s files.

It left me so mentally exhausted that I had my first migraine since everything went down.

Today, I decided to work on other clients’ accounts just to avoid feeling sick twice in two days.

To celebrate a successful day of work, I came to my favorite wing place, which just so happened to be in the hood.

“I wanted these honey hot wings with garlic parmesan seasoning with a passion,” I confessed, making him laugh.

“You put the garlic parmesan on top instead of lemon pepper?” he confirmed.

“Exactly. It’s so good.”

“I might have to try that. If that shit nasty I’ma clown you.”

“Are you eating here? If so, you can try some of mine.”

“Actually, I’m picking up an order to take to my folks’ house. We’re doing family day a little early in the week since Merci will be out of town this weekend.”

“Oh.” Sadness immediately filled me at the thought of their family day. I’d had so much fun spending time with them, and me, Ariel, and Merci still talked to each other. Now that Marz and I were over, a part of me regretted connecting with his people. “Well… tell everybody I said hi.”

“If you come, you can tell them yourself.”

My head shook as my mouth twisted to the side. “I can’t impose like that, Neptune. Marz and I… I’m back home.”

His smile was soft as he tilted his head and briefly looked over mine, as if he was trying to think of what he wanted to say.

“I saw what the two of you shared, and I know how my brother feels about you. You might be trying to convince yourself that it’s over because he no longer has to guard you, but you know that’s not the case, Heir.

What y’all had was real. Don’t downplay it like that. ”

“Even if it was real, it’s over,” I said with a shrug. “I can’t do that to him. He asked for space so… I’m going to honor that.”

My number was called, so I went to grab my order.

Since his wasn’t ready, I told him he could sit with me while he waited.

He tried my wings and loved them like I figured he would.

By the time I was four wings in, Neptune had called his mother and told her he was eating with me.

Somehow that led to her telling me to come over, and even with me telling them I wasn’t sure that was a good idea, she and Merc insisted.

In the midst of me pleading my case, Marz called me.

“See. Now you’re about to get me in trouble,” I griped, ignoring Neptune as he laughed. “Hello?” I answered, far more excited to hear Marz’s voice than I should have been.

“You got plans for tonight?”

“Um, no.”

“Then come over.”

“Marz, I’m not sure—”

“Look, if you don’t come over, I’ma have to hear their mouths all night.”

“I don’t know why I expected you to say you wanted to see me.”

His chuckle was sexy before he confessed, “I do. I assumed you’d come sooner for them than for me.”

“Not sure why you’d think that. If you’re really okay with me coming, I’ll come.”

“Good. See you soon.”

After ending the call, I ignored Neptune looking at the side of my face with a wide grin.

“Please shut up, Neppy,” I said with a groan.

“I ain’t even said nothing yet…”

Surprisingly, I ended up having an amazing time with Marz’s family.

I line danced and gossiped with his mom and sisters, played spades and smoked with him, his brother, and his father, and ate more than enough wings and fish to be satisfied for the rest of the night.

Marz and I kept it light all evening. Never alone.

Never talking about anything deep. We were partners for spades, but that was about as deep as things had gotten between us.

It wasn’t until I got sleepy and was ready to go home that he asked to talk to me.

I agreed, and he decided to walk me to my car, which wasn’t a good sign.

It felt like he didn’t expect the conversation to take long, so this clearly wasn’t about to be a moment of reconciliation.

Not one that he started at least. The whole time we walked to my car, I battled with if I wanted to tell him that I missed him and wanted to be with him or not.

I could admit that we weren’t together because of my choice, but I also wanted him to understand it wasn’t a choice I made to intentionally upset him.

Now that the fog was no longer over my eyes, I realized I could have waited for him to safely get me to the hospital.

But in that moment, I was desperate and willing to do whatever to get to my family.

It wasn’t that I wanted to make him feel like his leadership or desires didn’t matter, but I also didn’t want to be with a man who expected me not to do the things I wanted or needed to do.

Daddy helped me understand that Marz’s frustration could have come from a place of fear because he wanted to make sure I was safe, and in order to do that, he had to have a certain level of control.

I could respect that, but I still didn’t like feeling like I had to be under his control just to be with him.

What I had accepted was that if I’d gone to him and told him I was unwilling to wait that there was a chance we could have come to an agreement, and that compromise could have avoided us no longer being together.

I wanted to tell him that and see if he’d be willing to give us another chance, but I’d never been the type of woman to make the first move, and I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to.

What if he rejected me?

What if he still needed space?

I’d rather just follow his lead, because if he no longer wanted me, I definitely didn’t want to spill my heart telling him how much I missed and wanted to be with him.

“How have you been?” Marz asked as I leaned against my car.

“Good. A little stressed over work but that’s nothing new. You?”

“Same. Iman and Jay… they haven’t been bothering you?”

“No. I haven’t heard from either of them since the agreement.”

“Good.” Marz inhaled a deep breath before his thumb gently grazed my cheek. “I really am happy things worked out. How’s your grandma?”

A nervous chuckle escaped me. “She’s out of the hospital and in rehab. She has a long road of recovery but I’m hopeful, even if no one else is.”

“Keep that hope. She’ll feed off it. She needs it more than you’ll ever know.”

Silence found us for a while as we avoided each other’s eyes. He cursed quietly under his breath as he looked at me.

“Marz, I’m—”

“Kiana is pregnant,” he blurted. It took me a second to remember that she was his best female friend. I wasn’t sure why he was telling me that, so I remained silent so he could continue. “I might be the father.”

I was glad I was leaning against my car because my knees grew weak. When we talked about Kiana, he made sure to tell me they had a truly platonic relationship and had never dated. Now, he was telling me there was a chance she was pregnant with his child?

“I thought you said there was nothing going on between the two of you?”

“There isn’t,” he assured me quickly. “We’ve had sex twice.

Prom night, and like three months ago. She was getting over a breakup and needed affection and attention, and I didn’t want to reject her.

When we came back home from our trip, she had sex with her fiancé, and now she doesn’t know which one of us is the father of her baby.

“But I’ve never had any romantic feelings for her, and all I’ve ever seen her as is a friend.

Even more now after the last time we slept together.

She’s truly like a sister to me, and I didn’t enjoy having sex with her at all.

I know it sounds fucked up to say, and maybe you don’t believe it, but I really only did it because she wanted to. ”

A tinge of jealousy filled me, and before I could stop myself, I said, “Great. You being a good friend is about to lead to you being a father. Congratulations, Marz.”

I turned and tried to open the door, but Marz pressed his body against me. He rested his forehead against the back of my head as his hand covered mine on the door handle.

“This ain’t what I wanted, Wifey. Not with nobody that wasn’t you.”

Scoffing, I pushed him off me. “It is what it is, Marz. That happened before we came back into each other’s lives. I can’t be mad at you for that.”

“But you are,” he noted quietly, closing the door after I’d opened it. “And I know it’s because you’re hurt. And I’m so sorry, bae.”

I wanted to tell him that he had nothing to be sorry for, but he was right. I was hurt. I was angry. I wanted to be the mother of his children—the only mother of his children. Here I was thinking maybe there was a chance for us to get back together, and now, that shit was done.

“Can you let me go?” I asked, not wanting him to see a tear fall from my eyes.

“I don’t want to, but yeah. I will.” Gritting my teeth, I swallowed hard as I avoided his sad eyes.

“I’m sorry, bae. This wasn’t how I thought things would go between us.

If her baby is mine, I have to do right by my baby.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to be with her at all, but I will be present in my baby’s life, and I don’t know how a new relationship would fit into that.

You deserve to be a priority in my life, and I don’t want to put you in this complicated bullshit.

That will be a huge adjustment for me, and you deserve a man who doesn’t have that kind of attachment. ”

“Trust me, I agree.”

Marz ran his hand over his mouth before shoving his hands in his pockets. “Can I reach out to you when I get the results? If the baby isn’t mine, I’d like for us to try again.”

I smiled as a tear finally fell. My head shook as I opened the door again, and again, he closed it.

“Maybe this is a sign that we’re just not meant to be together, babe. Love isn’t supposed to be hard.”

“I’m unwilling to accept that,” he muttered, pulling me into his arms. “Love between us isn’t hard.

We were put in a difficult situation with Iman and handled it the best way we could.

I should have told you not listening to me and trusting my lead was a boundary of mine and you crossing it made me feel disrespected.

On top of that, I was scared out of my fucking mind thinking they were going to do something to you, and that fear and hurt came out as anger.

“I should have been more understanding of your situation and worked with you instead of trying to do it my way. It wasn’t my place to control you in that moment, even if it was to keep you safe.

I said I wanted more for my partnership, but I could have been a more understanding partner in that moment as well. ”

My head lowered before I buried it in his chest. This was what I wanted… but not like this. Not after finding out he might have a damn baby on the way. Marz kissed my cheek and held me tighter.

“And like you said, this happened before you, but now that I have you, I ain’t trying to let you go. We had a disagreement over the Iman shit, and I can get over that if you can. Just tell me I can come after you if this baby isn’t mine, and I swear to God I will.”

I heard everything he was saying, but my heart was still hurting over the idea of him having a baby with someone else. What if I waited around hopeful just to find out the baby was his? I’d be disappointed all over again. Releasing a shaky breath, I took his hands into mine.

“How long before you take the paternity test, Marz? Because I can’t spend months wondering and waiting and hoping just to be let down.”

“I’ll get it set up with her ASAP. It won’t be long. I promise. As soon as I know it’s safe for her to get the test done, we will.”

Nodding, I wiped my face and stepped to the side so he could open my door. When he did, I got inside, but I didn’t start the car.

“I can’t say I’m going to wait for you, because if you’re the father, I’ll be disappointed. So I’ll say I have no desire to be with another man, and if on the off chance you find out you’re not about to be a father in the next couple of months or so—”

“You’re mine.”

My heart squeezed as I started my car. This wasn’t how I saw the night ending, but at least Marz and I got closure on the Iman situation.

We were on the same page with that, and I could accept that being our first disagreement.

What I wouldn’t be able to accept was dating a man with a newborn baby.

When he closed my door and walked away, I decided I’d live my life and not worry about the outcome.

If we were meant to be, we’d find our way back to each other… again.