Chapter 3 #3
“Oh, thank God they are all gone.” She reached for a pack of cigarettes on the table beside the sofa and grabbed one.
“The kitchen is clean, and all the food is put away.” Minx also kicked off her shoes and seated herself in a chair across from her mother.
“Thank you, baby girl.” Mila sparked her cigarette, and Jonah undid his tie.
It was obvious that he and Max were related. Jonah was a lot colder than his big brother, but he learned everything from him.
“So are we going to talk about what happened at the church now?” Minx wasn’t about to cut her mother any slack.
She wanted answers. Mila took a drag from her cig, and she and Jonah locked eyes. She blew the smoke from her lips and brought her hand to her head while resting her elbow against the arm of the sofa.
“Minx—”
“Ma, I gave you all day,” Minx responded, her tone stern as Rose and the others ambled into the living room.
Mila lifted one brow. She knew that Minx wasn’t weak. She was never a problem child for her parents either. She never had no problem speaking her mind.
“What is going on?”
“Fine. You want to do this now?” Mila sat up.
“I was fifteen when I met your father. My parents didn’t give a damn about me.
They left me in the care of a man that wanted nothing more than to groom me so that he could one day have me.
I wasn’t a human to him, I was… an object.
Derrien was a Muslim, so they believed in having many wives, which he did.
He was evil and calculated. He abused them and laughed about it.
He dealt with some of the lowest criminals on the planet, and then put on this front that he cared about his people.
It was sickening. I met Max. I don’t know how it happened.
We met at a bookstore of all places. Your father was this big, strong, gangsta ass dude, and I would find him sitting down reading random books at the Half Price Bookstore.
” A dreamy, whimsical, and then saddened look flashed in Mila’s eyes.
“We built a friendship, and eventually, it became more than that. We read together… we dreamed together. He was… my best friend, my everything. But when I became of age, I had to marry Derrien or he would make me disappear. To this day, I am still technically married to him, not your father.”
Speechless, eyes misting, Minx gaped at her mother, unable to form a solid thought. There were so many bouncing around that it made her dizzy, then nauseated.
“Max was my husband in every way that mattered. He rescued me from Derrien and didn’t even realize it.
Eirian, the man that was at the church today, that’s his son.
Galena, the woman with him, was one of Derrien’s other wives,” Mila explained.
“Galena’s ass always been the oldest hoe in the room.
” Mila’s head moved back and forth as her eyes drifted off hatefully.
“Are they responsible for what happened to Max?” Rose chimed in, anger clouding his face.
Mila’s eyes landed on him, somberness pouring out of her. She took another drag of the cigarette and exhaled. After a moment, she nodded.
“Yeah. That night, he called me. I guess Eirian was at the club,” Mila informed them.
“He was,” Minx recalled. “He hit on me at the bar, and Gannon intervened.” Rose’s nostrils flared, and his trigger finger twitched.
“Gannon is the reason they are here to begin with. I’m almost sure of that,” Mila spoke up.
“Max met with Eirian in the office that night. He told him to tell his wife that the Lynch family says hello. I never imagined that my past would come around like this. Not like this,” Mila whispered, pain submersing her tone.
“I killed Derrien. It was never proven, and I ran away with your father. I never looked back, until now. None of them existed to me. I built this life with you, your sister, and your father.”
“You lied all these years, and now Daddy is dead.” Angry, Minx shot to her feet.
“Minx,” Jonah chimed in, his tone calm but warning.
She whipped her head in his direction.
“No! Don’t try to take up for her! This is her fault!” Rage fleeted behind her eyes, and Jonah narrowed his eyes.
“She is still your mother,” Jonah responded. “And you will respect her as such.”
Minx choked back the tears, stinging her throat, as she cut her eyes toward the woman that birthed her.
She never thought she could feel anything but love for her, but in that particular moment, she hated her.
The daddy’s girl in her was pissed the hell off.
Mila stared back helplessly at her daughter.
She was right, and the guilt weighed heavily on her as her eyes pooled with fresh tears as well.
“I can’t even look at you right now. I need to get the hell out of here.” She stormed toward the front door, and Rose reached for her hand.
She snatched away from him and Luna chased right behind her.
“Minx—”
Finn and Rose remained, both staring Mila down from the doorway.
She recalled when neither of them even had chest hair.
Now they stood before her, two strong, forceful men.
She took another long drag of her cigarette before she put it out in the ashtray in front of him, then blew the smoke out and nodded to them.
“Go after her, Rose. I’ll be fine. We can talk later. Take care of my daughter.” Mila rose to her feet.
She started up the stairs, leaving the three men alone.
“What are we supposed to do here?” Finn asked.
“Go get some rest. We reconvene in the morning and talk strategy. Either way, these mothafuckas are about to feel it around here,” Jonah assured them.
“A’ight. We’ll see you in the morning.” Rose bowed his head and nodded for Finn to follow him to the door.
When they stepped outside, Minx was seated on the stairs to her porch, legs together and chin resting on her arms, which were draped over her knees. Luna sat beside her, resting her head against Minx’s back and trying to comfort her. She turned when the guys came out.
“Let’s get out of here. I got a pound waiting to be rolled up and a fifth of D’Ussé. We definitely need something to take the edge off,” Finn suggested.
“I’ll drive. We can go to my place.” Rose offered, walking past the girls until he was at the bottom of the staircase.
He and Minx locked eyes, and he held his hand out for her to take.
“Come on, Minx.”
Reluctant, she accepted his hand, and he dragged her down the rest of the steps with Luna and Finn bringing up the rear.
Loading his truck, they drove across town to his house.
It was small, secluded, and ducked off behind trees on a low traffic street.
He parked his truck in his gravel driveway and shut it off.
Finn and Luna were hugged up in the back seat, and Rose brought his eyes over to Minx as she sat staring out her window.
“Damn, Rose. This the new hideout?” Luna asked, peering around.
“Something like that,” he answered, keeping his focus on Minx.
“Come on. He got a hell of a view from his back deck.” Finn grabbed Luna’s hand and pulled her out of the car once he opened his door.
Luna hopped onto his back, and he grabbed her legs to support her and walked along the driveway to the back of the house.
“You good?” Rose asked Minx.
Slowly, her head swung in his direction. Eyes connecting in a deep stare, hers misted as she thought about everything. Thinking Max was gone and it was because of her mother left her empty. How could she ever trust her again?
“What do you think?”
“I think you just lost your father. You need to process that and not take it out on your mother,” Rose implied.
“You defending her on this?” she queried, her brows going up in question.
“She’s grieving. She made mistakes, and she is human,” Rose countered.
Minx didn’t want to hear that shit. She wanted to be angry, and she needed someone to take that shit out on. She had this gaping hole inside where her father used to be, and pain overwhelmed her, making it hard to breathe. Minx stared off ahead at his house and the land surrounding it.
“This is a nice place,” she muttered. “You feel like giving me a tour?” she asked, and he gave her the cutest simper.
“Yeah, come on.” He urged her out of the car and walked around to her side of his truck to help her out.
Grabbing her hand in his, he ushered her toward the front door and used his key to let himself inside.
It was a big house with very open space once they stepped into the foyer.
Rose hit the lights in the living room. Everything was plain, very bachelor style.
He needed a few other personal touches, but Minx was impressed with the space.
She stood in his living room at the fireplace, where a single photo sat in a frame.
Minx reached for it and brought it toward her so that she could get a better look at the picture.
It was of her and Rose when she was about fifteen.
He stood beside her, arm draped over her shoulder while he brought her close, and they both smiled big.
“Two peas in a pod,” Minx said, sensing him come up behind her.
Rose planted a hand on each hip and brought her back against his chest.
“Always been the other half of me,” he conveyed.
She clung to his arms and closed her eyes. The way he held her brought comfort. Minx heard Luna and Finn come inside. Finn already sparked a blunt, and it dangled from his lips as he paused in the entryway.
“What y’all doing in here?” he asked, taking a drag before he passed it to Luna.
“Nothing. Pass that bottle.” Minx pulled away from Rose.
“Let’s play cards. How about strip poker?” Luna suggested.
“Shit, I’m with it. Ready to see you and Minx in nothing but ya underwear.” Finn snickered, stepping past Luna with a bottle of Hennessy in his hand.
“Nah, fuck that.” Rose shook his head. “Y’all can keep your asses down here, and we going upstairs.” He grabbed Minx’s hand and tugged her toward the door.
“Shit, if y’all hear screams just mind ya business,” Finn joked as Rose pulled Minx up the stairs.