Chapter 25
YOUNG SOLEI
Two & A Half Years Into The Relationship
The villa was paradise at six in the morning. Standing on the balcony in nothing but one of his shirts, the hem barely covering my thighs, I watched the sun rise. It was beautiful.
Looking down at the buzzing phone, I smiled and answered the FaceTime call from my mother.
The time difference was crazy between Isla Parisio and East Hollis, but I was awake and glowing, so I answered.
I expected her to be happy and want to know all about the island.
Instead, her face filled the screen with her eyes wide, mouth open, holding six-month-old Junior against her shoulder.
“Solei Arline Winters,” she said, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. “What the hell is going on?”
I blinked. “What… what do you…?”
“Don’t play with me, girl.” She shifted Junior higher on her shoulder, patting his back gently even as her eyes blazed. “I just got a call from Kyesha’s mother asking me about your wedding. Your wedding, Solei. The one I apparently wasn’t invited to because I didn’t even know it happened!”
My stomach dropped. Shit. Kyesha’s mother was so nosy. I knew I should’ve picked June and Christen as witnesses, not Christen and Kyesha. “Mama, I can…”
“You got married?” Her voice cracked. “You married that boy and didn’t tell me? Here I am thinking you’re on vacation to celebrate your birthday!”
I glanced over my shoulder toward the bedroom, where Money was in the shower. I could hear the water running and pictured him in there naked, tatted, and perfect. “It wasn’t like that,” I replied carefully. “We just... we wanted it to be private. Just us.”
“Private?” Mama’s voice rose. “Private is eloping to Vegas and telling your mama afterward. Private is a small ceremony with close family. Private is not sneaking off to a courthouse like you’re ashamed of what you’re doing!”
“I’m not ashamed.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Her eyes were wet now, hurt mixing with anger. “I accepted it when you told me you were pregnant. I embraced it. Why didn’t you let me be there for one of the most important days of your life?”
Guilt twisted in my chest. “Because… because I knew you’d try to talk me out of it,” I said quietly.
My mother stared at me through the screen, her expression shifting from anger to something softer, sadder. “Baby,” she said finally, her voice gentle. “Is that really what you think of me? That I’d stand in the way of your happiness?”
“No. I just…” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “I know you like Money but I also know you still have concerns about his... lifestyle. And I didn’t want to hear them. I don’t want anything to ruin what we have.”
“What you have,” My mother repeated slowly. “And what exactly is that, Solei? Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you married a thug who’s still deep in the streets, still deep in shit that could get him killed or locked up any day. A man who…”
“Loves me,” I interrupted, my voice firm. “A man who would burn the world down for me and our son. A man who’s building something real and something legitimate, so we can have a future.”
“Is he?” Mama’s gaze was piercing. “Or is he just telling you what you want to hear? It’s been almost three years, Solei.”
“Money’s trying, Mama. He’s really trying.”
“Trying isn’t the same as doing.”
I looked down at the ring on my finger–a flawless pear-shaped diamond set in platinum, so big it was almost obscene. Money had slid it onto my finger at the courthouse just as we were pronounced husband and wife. “You’re mine now,” he'd whispered against my lips. “Forever and nothing less.”
“I love him,” I said softly. “I know you don’t understand it. I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but I love him, Mama. I love him more than I’ve ever loved before, and he loves me the same way.”
Mama was quiet for a long moment, just looking at me, then she sighed. “Let me talk to him.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Let me talk to my son-in-law.” Her tone was dry, but there was something else underneath it. Resignation, maybe. Or acceptance.
I hesitated. “He’s in the shower.”
“Then go get him. I’ll wait.”
I set the phone down on the balcony table and walked back into the villa, my heart pounding.
Money was just stepping out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped low around his hips, water still dripping from his hair and running down the hard planes of his tattooed chest and abs.
God, he was beautiful. Dangerous and beautiful and completely mine.
“Who were you talkin’ to?" he asked, his eyes tracking over me in that possessive way that made my thighs clench.
“My mother.” His expression shifted slightly, but I caught the wariness. “She knows,” I said.
“Knows what?”
“About us getting married. Kyesha must’ve let it slip around her mother, and she told.”
Money’s jaw tightened. “Fuck.”
“She… wants to talk to you.”
He stared at me for a minute, then nodded once.
“Aight.” I led him back to the balcony and handed him the phone.
My mother’s face filled the screen again, her expression unreadable as she took in Money’s shirtless, still-wet appearance.
“Ms. Winters,” Money said, his voice respectful but steady. “I know you’re upset.”
“Upset?” She cut him off. “Son, upset doesn’t even begin to cover it. You married my daughter without telling me, but more importantly, without asking for my blessing. You took away the opportunity for me to be there.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for that. But I’m not sorry I married her.”
My mother’s eyes narrowed. “You think this is a game, Money? You think you can just take whatever you want and deal with the consequences later?”
“No, ma’am. I know I love your daughter more than anything in this world. I think she’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and I think I’d rather die than lose her and my son.” I held my breath as he spoke, watching my mother’s face.
“Are you still planning on selling drugs?” she asked finally.
Money didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“Are you still planning on getting out?”
“I’m workin’ on it. It takes time to…”
“Time you might not have,” my mother interrupted. “Time that could get you arrested or killed. Time that could get my daughter and my grandson caught in the crossfire.”
“That won’t ever happen.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I can promise I’ll do everything in my power to protect them. That I’ll die before I let anything happen to them. That they’re my priority, always.”
My mother studied him for a long moment, then she sighed again, deeper this time. “You really love her that deeply?” she asked quietly.
“More than my own life.”
“And you’re gonna take care of her? Provide for her? Be the man she deserves?”
“Every day. For the rest of my life.”
There was another pause. Then, finally, my mother’s expression softened just a fraction.
“Well… welcome to the family…” she said, her voice low and serious.
“...but you just remember. I don’t care how much money you have or how many people you have working for you.
You keep being worthy of her. You understand me? ”
Money’s lips twitched in a half smile. “Yes, ma’am. I understand.”
“Good.” My mother shifted Junior again, and my son made a small cooing sound that made my chest ache.
“Kiss my baby for me,” I beamed with joy, watching as she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Money handed me the phone, his hand brushing mine, his eyes holding a promise I felt all the way to my bones.
“I’m not happy about this,” my mother exhaled. “I’m not happy you didn’t tell me or let me be there. But…” She paused, her eyes softening. “I’m happy you found love, and I’m gonna trust that you know what you’re doing.”
“I do, Mama. I promise.”
“You two… just be careful, please. For me. For Junior.”
“We will.” Money said with conviction as he walked over to the balcony.
“Good. Now go enjoy your honeymoon and send me pictures of that island because I know it’s gorgeous.”
“I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too.”
The call ended, and I clutched it and sighed deeply. I set the phone down and turned to find Money watching me, his expression unreadable. “She’s right, you know,” I said softly. “About the danger and the risks.”
“I know.”
“But… you’re not gonna stop anytime soon.”
“I’m gonna get out. I told you that and meant that shit.”
“When?”
“When the time is right.”
“That’s not an answer, Money.”
He crossed the distance between us in two strides, his hands framing my face, tilting my head back so I had no choice but to look up at him.
“I will get out,” he said, his voice low and fierce.
“I’m gon’ build something clean for us. For Junior.
For whatever other kids we have. But right now, I just need you to trust me and have patience. Can you do that?”
I searched his eyes–those dark, dangerous, beautiful eyes that had me stuck from the first moment I’d seen them. “Yes,” I whispered.
“Good.” He kissed me then, deep and possessive and claiming, his hands sliding down to grip my hips, pulling me against him.
The towel fell, and I gasped against his mouth as I felt his dick, hard and ready, pressing against my stomach. “Money!”
“I need you,” he growled, his hands already pushing the shirt up my thighs. “Right now. Right here.”
“People might see us.”
“I don’t give a fuck.” He lay me onto the deck, spreading my thighs and positioning himself between them. I need to be inside you and remind you who you belong to now.”
“I’m yours,” I breathed. “I’m always going to be yours.”
“Say it again.”
“I’m yours, Money. Always.”
He thrust into me in one hard stroke, and I cried out, my eyes rolling back, my hands gripping his shoulders. “That’s right,” he groaned, his hips moving, driving deeper. “Mine. My fuckin’ wife.”
“Yessss…”
“Say my name.”
“Money…”
“Louder.”
“Moneyyy! Oh, Goddd!!!” I was already about to cum, already trembling, my body responding to him the way it always did.
“I love you,” he said against my throat, his voice rough. “I love you so fuckin’ much, Soul.”
“I love you too.”
“I’d kill for you. Die for you. Burn the whole world down if it meant keepin’ you.” His thrusts were punishing, and God, it felt so damn good.
“I know, baby… fuucckkk…”
“You’re everything, Solei. Everything.” I came apart in his arms, his name on my lips, my body clenching around him as he followed me over the edge.
Afterward, he carried me back to bed, laying me down gently, covering my body with his.
“We’re gonna outlast forever,” he whispered, his forehead pressed to mine. “You and me.”
“I’ll never leave.”
“I’ll never let you go.”
“Promise?”
Money kissed me deeply, tongue wrestling with mine before he whispered against my lips, “I fuckin’ promise.”