Chapter 24 #2
Nel was in a black polo-style Burberry shirt, with the signature Burberry print at the collar.
He had on black jeans, even though it was hot as fuck.
My nigga looked fly, though. The jewelry, fresh retwist, and Aura cologne added to his look.
Above all, the woman on his side boosted his shit times twenty.
“Neltz told his ass he was dressed like a YN, but he wouldn’t listen,” Vello revealed, his focus still on Discover.
“On foe ’nem… Sometimes, ion like you. You don’t know if you my sac mate or my opp.”
Vello shrugged. “I was just sayin’.”
Nel waved him off and pulled Pia in front of him. “Pia baby… Who paid for this? Me, right?”
“Renello… No, baby.”
We all laughed so loud that everyone turned our way. Nel was too hot as he dropped her hand and crossed his arms over his chest.
“My daddy asked to throw it, so I just let him, baby. I let him handle everything. The flyers, the vendors, and the decor… Everything. I been too tired to care about this stuff.”
“What about the wedding planner? Daylani? She couldn’t do it?”
“She’s planning about twenty weddings, including ours, your brothers and Discover’s, plus our baby shower. I didn’t want to add anything extra on her plate.”
“Baby, she got a whole team. She making six figures every time we book. She could’ve handled it.”
“Is it a problem that I let my dad throw it, Renello?” The way Pia asked the question, I knew Nel had to tread lightly with his answer.
“It ain’t no problem, baby…” Nel grabbed Pia and turned so that his back was to us now. He tried whispering. “But, damn… You should’ve asked me. I coulda let my mama do it.”
“Your mama! Did you see the way yo’ mama had your house decorated? Hell nah! Wasn’t gone have my baby shit country as fuck!”
We was no more good from laughing at these two fools. I’d told Ezio that Nel had met his match when he decided he was going to marry Pia.
“Okay, Pia baby. You right. What’s the theme, though? I thought at the gender reveals, you supposed to wear pink and blue?”
“Renello… Let’s be real. You didn’t care nothing about no theme until you found out he was in charge. My daddy is a man of opulence and class. He knows how to throw a party. You saw how nice Discovery’s party was.”
Silence followed her statement. She wasn’t lying about Discovery’s party being laced.
Nel’s shoulders relaxed. “Aite. You right, baby.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. “I know. Now, I’m going over here with my girls. And Shio?”
I looked up from my phone. I was waiting for Italian to text me back. “Wassup, Pretty Pia?”
Nel turned around and sneered at me. “Don’t push it, nigga.”
Ignoring him, I watched Pia cock her head, her bang falling over her left eye. “We missing Solana…” She blinked sweetly at me as my face remained unchanged.
“That man got a whole baby mama who ain’t Solana,” Vello inserted.
Pia snapped her neck to look at him. “Take a look around… Do you see her anywhere? News flashhh! You’re not gonna. The fuck!”
“Aye! You got it, sis.” Vello held his hands up.
“Umm hmm. I know. We’re full anyway. No new bitches allowed.
Ion give a fuck if she got a baby by the pope.
” She faced me again, protruding belly round as fuck with her hand resting on it, the rose diamond ring gleaming in the sunlight.
Pia took a few steps toward me and then patted my chest, her powdery perfume tickling my nose. “Don’t count my girl out.”
Instead of waiting for me to respond or giving Nel the opportunity to block her from walking away, Pia glided between Ezio and me toward the circle of wives and fiancées.
I didn’t bother to look over my shoulder in that direction because, although I loved all the wives, no one over there belonged to me.
Ezio kissed his teeth, gaining our attention. “I’m just saying… How the women still be side-eyeing me, but you lock one of their friends away, and they be nice as hell to you?”
“Nigga cuz you nearly killed Jisei. I ain’t holdin’ it against ya. Just know, them pills had you by the balls, my boy.” Vello shrugged.
“I’m starting to think Shio could fuck all the women if he wanted to, except mine. He ’bout can even fuck Don’s.”
Instead of arguing against what Ezio said, I flashed a smile and winked.
I had no desire to fuck anybody’s wife, but I enjoyed seeing these goofy-ass niggas nut up about something.
For so long, these three had no plans to be one-woman men.
Now, they cried and complained about their significant others all fucking day.
“Yo’ ole Gerald Levert-looking ass. I wish the fuck you would try Pia.” Nel stuck his middle finger up at me.
I laughed while pocketing my phone. “You been talkin’ a whole lot of shit to be a nigga that let a gay man plan his gender reveal party. I cannot wait to see this shit.”
“Yeah, Twin. You slipped up on this shit,” Vello added.
“Fuck yo’ boring-ass-event having ass. What the fuck was yo’ shit? A baby shower slash engagement? Well, I did both, separately! Lazy, cheap-ass nigga. Yo’ bitch came with a whole dowry, and you still took the basic way out.”
Ezio and I were laughing hard as fuck, but Vello must’ve had enough because he finished his water bottle and scowled at his brother.
“You got the cheapest ring of us all. Fuckin’ costume jewelry.
Got Pia walkin’ ‘round like she Bell from Beauty and the Beast. One last rose petal-ass boi! Don’t be mad that Daylani did ours.
You know… rich nigga shit. We didn’t need a daddy or a brother, bitch. I’m the daddy.”
“Nigga, that’s cuz you engaged to Little Orphan Annie. She ain’t got no fuckin’ daddy.”
“You ain’t got no daddy neither, nigga,” Vello countered.
“And may his bitch ass rest in hell. I know what Discover do got, though.”
“Nigga, what?” Vello challenged.
“Baby daddies. Several, and we standin’ on the turf of her ex-husband. Yous a strong fella, Twin. You competin’ with a rich mobster and a rich rapper. Shits tough for you, my boy.”
Ezio had fallen onto me, laughing through a choke, while Vello seethed at his brother.
He hated for anyone to bring up his Lil’ Chef being Essex’s child.
Discover didn’t have any kids by Rio, but since he had financed her life so she could raise Discovery with no worries, he was just as much of her dad as Essex and Vello.
Before anyone could say anything else, the crowd had quieted, and when I shifted my attention to see what was the cause, Rio Mecanio was standing on his doorstep with Patty.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.”
He was team boy, dressed in a black linen set, and Patty was matching him with the same set but form-fitting to her body.
Pia was a perfect mix of both her parents.
Just like Nel had his fingers intertwined in Pia’s earlier, Rio held Patty’s hand the same way.
I didn’t care to know their business or what they did behind the walls of his mansion, but she was always smiling, and so was he.
The jokes were never-ending because we’d all seen that nigga get gobbled up by men, but we let them be.
“Children—that includes you, too, grandson—please board the train. You will be escorted to the guest house on the west side of the property,” he said into the mic. “Parents, the west side is properly staffed.”
A kiddie train, like the ones at amusement parks, rolled up on wheels, pulling six individual carts, all a different color of the rainbow.
I watched Neltz mumble some shit under his breath as he climbed onto the last cart.
He was in a brown Jordan hoodie with khaki pants, standing clear on wanting a baby sister.
Auntie Erni boarded, too, with Little Ezee.
Vello’s twins were still too small to be outside, so Auntie Irie had stayed at Vello’s house with them.
Once Pearla and her crew piled on, including Bella—although she was considered an adult—the train honked and pulled off.
It was deep as fuck with kids since other members of the mob had brought theirs too.
“Now that that’s settled, I must say you all look beautiful in your brown, black, and white. Daughter, you look amazing. My heart is overfilled.” Rio pressed the hand that was holding Patty’s hand to his heart and kissed.
Pia fanned her eyes, and the ladies consoled her as she became emotional.
“This is my first time hosting a gender reveal, but I had the most fun putting this together for my favorite couple.”
“Fake-ass nigga!” Don’s childish ass yelled out, sending laughs across the yard.
He’d been standing off to the side with Big Zan, Matteo, Rut, and Lorenzo.
He hadn’t come over to fuck with us, and we made no moves to walk over and chop it up with them.
I wasn’t running from the nigga or no shit like that, but there were only a few days left before my thirty days were up, and I was about to tell that nigga to go fuck himself.
I’d had two failed DNA tests, no answer on if Bahati could be trusted, Solana was still detoxing, and his ass hadn’t said shit about making a move on the Rodríguezes.
Giving in to my desire for Solana had fucked my head up.
I was texting Italian more than usual because I couldn’t watch Solana on the camera anymore.
It was powered on so I could hear her, but she had something covering it now.
I should’ve been thanking her mad ass for forcing me to stop watching her.
The lack of access would help me make my decision on who to marry based on pure strategy rather than lust. I couldn’t see myself loving either one of these women, but thinking back to that night, I knew Solana could definitely feed my sexual appetite if we were married.
I’d only tasted her pretty ass and was fucking obsessed with the pussy. But, that shit wasn’t enough.