Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
EMERY
One month later . . .
It took weeks for Yumi to come out of her funk after hearing about her bitch ass daddy and cousin, but I was determined to get her back to a good place.
While I allowed her to grieve her relationship with them bitch niggas, I still made sure I took her out and made her smile.
Yesterday, she got the news that she had been promoted to senior partner at Jones however, he has proved to me over these last two months that he’s ready and capable of calling the shots and making the deals.”
I could see my father and Uncle Nick frown in confusion.
“What you mean, Nephew?”
“What I said, Unc. My time doing this shit has come to an end. I want to get married, have children, and open my school before I’m old and gray.”
“You can still do that. Look at me and your pops. We did this shit since y’all came out the womb—”
I cut him off. “And forced us into a world we didn’t ask for.”
Uncle Nick shook his head. “It was your birthright. You have made more money than you knew what to do with at the age of fifteen. Went abroad and vacationed at the most exotic places, fucked the baddest bitches, and drove foreign cars before you even became an adult. You were built for this sh—”
“My son has spoken, brother,” Poppa chimed in.
Everyone looked at him as he looked at me.
“If that’s what you want to do, Douda, I’m behind you 100 percent.
Since I know you’re passing the torch to your brother, we will speak about that in a different setting.
As for the other families, I’m hoping that you all will agree that my son is stepping down from the organization indefinitely. ”
Sloan spoke first. “As long as business continues as it has been, I’m totally fine with it.”
“I agree. Good luck with your endeavors, Emery,” Pierre added.
“I don’t see a problem with it. But I do have one question,” Louise said. I nodded to him to ask. “Where is Torrance?”
“He’s not the head of his family anymore. The five families have now been cut down to four. My brother will take over with finding a new arms dealer.”
“And you expect us to be okay with adding another family we don’t know?” Louise asked.
“We can always make it three families,” Emil spoke. The room was quiet, waiting for Louise to say something else to combat the decision. He tossed his hands up in mock surrender and remained silent.
“I just wanted to know what happened.”
“He was a snake, and that’s all that needs to be said about that. Any more questions?” I asked. Louise, Pierre, and Sloan shook their heads as I stood. “Well, if that’s all, I have to get going.” I walked over to Emil and hugged him. “Be great, my G.”
“I got you, bro.”
“Well, gentlemen, I believe this meeting is adjourned.”
The men rose, shaking my hand and congratulating Mill. Once everyone left the room, aside from my family, my pops stood and looked at me. “Come by the house tomorrow so that we can have a little chat.”
“No can do, Pops. I’ll be in Antigua, then Fiji for two weeks. I’ll hit you when I return.”
“Antigua? For what?”
“I’m taking my wife there.”
“Wife?” Uncle Nick queried with a look of confusion on his face.
I chuckled. “We’re getting married on the beach there. Private and intimate. Then, we’re going over to Fiji for our honeymoon.”
“And when were you going to let us in on this? You know ya moms is going to put a fucking hit out on you if she finds out you got married and she doesn’t know,” my pops reminded me.
I chuckled again. “Yeah, I know. But with everything going on with her people and me trying to get my school open for the fall and winter semester, I’m already behind schedule on giving y’all grandkids. We’ll do the wedding thing later, but right now, it’s just us. I got Moms.”
He laughed. “Yeah, . . . if you say so.” He walked over and pulled me in for a hug.
“I’m proud of you, Son. I knew from the very beginning that this wasn’t an end goal for you.
And whenever your knucklehead brother wants to call it quits, I’ll grant him the same as long as he chooses the next Aldana to represent. ”
I nodded.
“Proud of you, too, Cuz. And since we announcing shit, me and Mill are about to hit Cancun and enjoy being free men!” Mook exclaimed.
“Nah, Cuz, you on ya own with that. I’m in the biggest doghouse known to man. I’m trying to figure out a grand gesture to present to my wife because her ass done moved out on me.”
“Damn, she wasn’t playing, was she?” Mook asked.
“Unfortunately not, but when I’m not working, I sit outside her crib every day and every night, making sure she ain’t bringing no niggas in that bitch.” We laughed as my pops and uncle shook their heads.
“That’s your fault, Mill. I told yo’ ass to stop playing with that woman’s feelings. You better be glad she didn’t kill yo’ ass,” Poppa told him.
“She humbled his ass; now he trying to act right,” Uncle Nick jested.
“Speaking of: What happened with the Banks?” Poppa asked, looking at me.
“Torrance is somewhere recovering still, and Normani is probably somewhere committing suicide.”
They frowned.
Mook spoke up. “He severed two fingers on both her hands and cut the tip of her tongue. That bitch won’t be able to snitch or write another fucking testimony again.”
“Damn. Well, she deserved whatever happened to her,” Uncle Nick said, shrugging.
“Indeed. I gotta bounce. I’ll see y’all when I get back,” I told them, heading toward the door.
“Give Yumi my love,” I heard my pops say.
“I got you.” I left my parents’ home and went to prepare for a long-needed vacation with my beautiful woman. We both needed and deserved this.
“You’re kidding, right?” Yumi asked as soon as we pulled onto the airstrip. I smiled and kissed her hand.
“I don’t play about much, Yummy, and definitely don’t play about you. Happy Birthday to you,” I joshed, mocking the nigga from Don’t Be a Menace.
“For me?” she countered.
“Yeah.” We laughed.
“Emmy, this is crazy. Is this mine?”
“It is.”
She squealed in excitement. “I cannot believe this. When you said you had a surprise, I didn’t think you meant this.”
“If you think this is something, wait until you see what else I got you.”
“This is more than enough, babe.”
“Nah, I got twenty years to make up for.”
She smiled widely as Juno opened my door, and I stepped out, giving him a firm handshake, then helping Yumi out.
I left Juno to retrieve our bags. We went through the check-in process and then boarded the jet.
Yumi paused at the top of the stairs, and I knew she was in shock.
I leaned down and softly bit her ass as she yelped while laughing and walking further inside.
The jet was customized with ten large, cream seats, a sage-green strip down the middle, and gold accents.
I had that stupid fluffy carpet she liked installed, with The Yumi Express stitch in the seats and across the overhead cabins.
There was a bar, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a bedroom in the back.
“Emmy,” she said, turning to me. “This . . . I love you so much.” She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me deeply. I wouldn’t lie and say a nigga wasn’t happy to be able to bring her smile back.
“I love you more, baby. This is only the beginning. I’m about to spoil the fuck out of you.”
She giggled just as Juno brought our bags on, and the pilot and attendants came from the front of the plane.
“Baby, this is your pilot, Lemuel Gooden, and your flight attendants, Kierra and Samantha.”
“Welcome aboard, Mrs. Aldana,” Lemuel greeted and smiled. The attendants greeted her as well and handed her a glass of her favorite wine and my thumb of bourbon. After showing her around, we settled in to get ready for takeoff.
While Yumi took pictures, and the plane started to ascend, I spread the small blanket over us and slid my hand up her dress, trailing my finger over her panty line while licking her neck. My fingers went lower and slid over her clit. Yumi bit her lips as her eyes lowered.
“Can we go to the bedroom now?”
I chuckled. “Not yet. Open up. Let me get you ready for the Mile-High Club.”
She spread her legs, and I slipped my middle finger inside while rubbing her clit with my thumb.
Her head fell against the headrest as she let out a breathless, “Emery.” I continued my assault on her clit and felt her body tense, mouth open, and pussy get wetter before she splashed a tsunami over my hand.
“Shit, Em—” I stuck my tongue in her mouth to quiet her.
Once she was calm, she looked over at me with lust dancing in her eyes.
“I can’t wait to suck our babies out of your dick.
” I grinned, wiping my hand on the blanket, ready for this fucking plane to level so I could go have some fun in my happy place.
Seven hours later . . .
The sunset sitting over the ocean, with deep orange and pink tones, was the perfect backdrop to our evening wedding. Yumi and I stood on the makeshift stage with the white and green flower awning, gazing into each other’s eyes.
I wanted to do this the right way by inviting all our family, friends, and colleagues, but my baby didn’t want that. I knew it was because she was at odds with her family, and whatever my Yummy wanted, I was going to give it to her.
Although I gave her whatever she asked of me, I just couldn’t leave our moms out of the equation.
Yumi wasn’t upset with her moms, but she did feel as if she had overlooked a lot of shit concerning her relationship with me and her life choices.
She may have been a little peeved, but I knew I couldn’t leave our mothers out of witnessing our big moment.
“What is she doing here?” Yumi asked, watching our mothers walk up the sandy beach toward us. I guided Yumi’s eyes back to me.
“I know you feel a way about her, baby, and I agree and stand ten toes behind you on your decisions. But we only get one moms, and the only thing she was guilty of was having her husband’s back when it came to you.
She loves you, Yum. After we say I do, you two are going to kick it for a minute, then we’re going to enjoy the rest of this vacation until we leave for Fiji.
Oh, and I couldn’t leave Marilyn out. I couldn’t even come up with a big enough excuse to explain why she wasn’t here to witness this.
” I chuckled lightly as she gave me a soft smile.
“Did I fuck up? You still want to marry me?”
“No, you didn’t, and there is no way I’m not marrying you today.”
I winked. “My girl.”
My moms stepped up first and smiled at us.
She took Yumi’s hands and air-kissed her cheeks.
“Yumi, you look beautiful. After all these years, you still have my son wrapped around your fingers. It concerned me for a while, but he’s always known what he wanted and would stop at nothing to get it.
I’ll be honored to call you my daughter-in-law. ”
Yumi’s smile illuminated, and my dick twitched. This woman was one of the most beautiful beings in the world to me.
“Thank you, Mrs. Marilyn. I love you.”
“Mama is fine, and I love you more, baby.” My moms stepped to the side, and Mrs. Marie timidly walked up.
Before she could get a word out, Yumi cut in. “We’ll talk later, Mom. Thank you for coming.” Marie smiled lightly, then they both took their places at each of our sides.
“Are we ready to begin?” the officiate asked.
Yumi smiled widely. “Ready.”
“Been ready,” I countered, and the vows began.
There was no explaining how or why this woman was assigned to me.
When the world around me seemed pitch black, Yumi was the light that guided my way.
I would move heaven and earth for her, take an express train to hell, or do a hundred years behind bars for her ass.
Not even a bad bitch like Normani could break the pitbull hold Yumi had on me, and no one ever would. She was my love, my peace, and my purpose.
And now our real journey to love could begin again.