Chapter 29
SOLEI
I knew what “handling business” meant. It meant drug business.
The same drug business he’d been promising me he was going to leave behind forever.
But I’d been trying. God, I’d been trying so hard to believe him and to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I’d been trying hard to trust that the man I’d married was still in there somewhere beneath the kingpin.
I’d been tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable because my cramps were killing me.
I’d just decided to get some more work done, so I was sitting up in bed with the TV on mute when I heard his footsteps coming up the staircase.
When he walked into the bedroom and saw me sitting up, he froze.
My mouth dropped at the blood I saw splattered all over him.
“What happened?” My voice came out flat.
“Nothin’.” He started unbuttoning his shirt, not meeting my eyes. “Just had to handle some shit.”
“That’s blood, Money.”
“I know what it is, Solei.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Then whose blood is it?”
He pulled off the shirt and balled it up. “Nobody you need to worry about.”
I shot to my feet, fists clenched, jaw tight. My voice shook with frustration. I was sick of the bullshit. “You come home at damn near four in the morning covered in someone else’s blood again, and you think I don’t need to worry?”
“Solei…”
“What… happened?” I climbed off the bed and walked towards him, my voice rising. “Were you in a fight? A shooting? What the fuck happened, Montana?”
“There was a situation…”
“A situation?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Our children are asleep in this fucking house, and you’re walking in here covered in blood from a situation?”
“Keep your voice down.”
“Don’t tell me to keep my voice down!” I was in his face now, shaking with rage. “You told me you were at the club and you’d be home by midnight after a business meeting. You told me…”
“Shit ran late. It’s not that…”
I gestured at the blood on his hands, his chest, his face. “What kind of business meeting ends with you covered in someone’s blood?”
He grabbed my wrists, his grip firm but not painful. “Baby, listen to me…”
“No.” I jerked away from him. “I’m done listening. I’m done believing your excuses. I’m done pretending this is normal.”
“It was just wrong place, wrong time.”
“Bullshit.” My voice was cold now. “You’re still running shit. You’re still putting yourself–putting us–in danger every single night.”
“I’m fuckin’ protectin’ us!”
“By getting shot at?” I was crying now, hot tears streaming down my face. “By coming home covered in blood? By lying to me about where you are and what you're doing?”
“Nobody shot at…”
“But they could have!” I was screaming now, all my control gone. “They could have killed you, Money! And then what? What happens to me? To Junior? To Soso? What happens to your family when you’re dead in the street over some bullshit drug territory dispute?”
He caught my hands just as I was about to slap the black off his face, pulling me against him. “Calm the fuck down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down.” But I was sobbing now, all the fight draining out of me. “Don’t tell me to calm down when you’re destroying us.”
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?”
I looked up at him, and I saw it in his eyes. The truth he wouldn’t dare say. “You’re never going to leave it, are you? The game. The streets. The empire. You’re never going to choose us over it.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Money sighed heavily and then turned away from me, walking toward the bathroom attached to our bedroom.
“Exactly.” I followed behind him. “You’re always saying what you do for this family, well, prove it. Get out right now. Walk away from all of it.”
He stared at me for a long moment, his hands gripping the edges of the his-and-hers sink. Then, he shook his head. “You know I can’t do that, Soul.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Baby…”
“Get that blood off you before the kids wake up for school.” I turned away from him, my voice dead. “And sleep in the guest room. I don’t want you near me tonight.”
I climbed back in bed, unable to focus on work. I shoved everything aside, my body shaking, jaw clenched, hot tears stinging my eyes. Fed up didn’t even come close.