10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace (Caselli Family Book 1)

“Cornell… flunky to the stars. I thought you’d take the hint when I deleted your text thread, which by the way gives me fucking weirdo creep vibes. Whatever you did to my wife, and the reason she’s not talking to you is why you gotta get fucked up.”

Homie was delirious with how many times I had slammed his head on the table in front of us, and I slammed it again for good measure. He had blood leaking everywhere, but he fucked up the minute he put his arms around my wife.

I was coming to the club to get Wonder anyway, but when I came in the club, I snatched my sunglasses off because maybe it was too dark, and my eyes were playing a game on me. The minute I saw him keep inching next to her and her body language told me she wasn’t comfortable with him, it was clear they had some fucked up past that she never wanted to speak about.

When I deleted his number out of her phone, I saw him begging her to speak to him and apologizing. “I’m feeling nice today because I need to get out the doghouse and make nice with my wife. If I wasn’t focused on that, I would fucking snap your neck in this section… whatever the fuck you did to her, don’t do that shit again to another bitch or I will appear in your house and finish the job, cool?”

He nodded his head quickly as I shoved him away, and he laid back on the couch. “You gotta go and die somewhere else because you already got blood on the table.” Aimee shoved him, and he tried to stand up, but kept staggering.

“I’m out… you got the itinerary for Thanksgiving?” I looked at Skyler, and she laughed while nodding her head.

“You really wanna be on her good side again?”

“You just said fuck this family, Skyler?”

Corleon laughed and kissed her head. “The Brusters have already RSVP’d. Sexy already told you that we’re gonna be there.”

“I don’t see a ring on either me or Jeffie’s finger… tuh.”

“The minute we finish this shit with homie, and I change Estella’s last name to Bruster, you both gonna get the rings.”

I looked at Landon, and he turned the lights back off, and I headed out of the section and out the club. As quick as I came, I was back out and heading to the car with my lady. She had her legs crossed, looking good as shit. She had this whole wine color outfit on with shorts, leather jacket, and then tights on.

Her hair was back curly, wild and free, while she had her arms crossed waiting on me. Duke held the door open for me, and I climbed inside, and we were heading to the next spot.

“What up, Boo?”

“Hello, Maverick.”

“Miss you.”

“I miss you, too,” she admitted, which was better than the silent treatment she had been giving me.

She was mad at me getting her arrested like every nigga didn’t send they girl to prison because he loved her.

“Can you come home now?”

“No.”

“You look pretty, Boo.”

She smiled. “Thank you. It was very expensive, too.”

I watched as she held her foot up showing me the heels she probably spent a grip on. Whenever she was mad, she liked to spend money, and I didn’t mind. We had enough for her to shop every time she was mad, and we would never end up broke.

“Never gonna be mad at you spending money, Wonder.”

“Where are we going?”

I took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I have something for you.”

She yawned. “Okay.”

“How many others had a problem with our friendship, and you end up calling me saying it didn’t work. What makes things different with her, Maverick?”

“She’s my wife and I love her.”

She chuckled. “Maverick and love don’t even belong in the same sentence. This is someone who has your attention, just like Kim, and then you’ll get back to calling and venting to me about it.”

I looked at my phone because she was trying to tell me how this shit would go, and I knew how it would go. It would go with me being happily married. “Angie, fuck all that shit you talking about. She’s my fucking wife and she got a problem with us having a relationship.”

“Who’s fault is that? Why would you tell her our past? What we have is special and has always been special. You are my person… soul mates.”

My jaw ticked. “Nah.”

“Nah?”

“You fucking heard me, Angelica. All the shit I was doing for you has to stop. I’m not only betraying my wife, but my best fucking friend. Jefferina doesn’t deserve that shit from me.”

She scoffed. “Jefferina decided to cut me off without ever hearing what really happened.”

“What really happened? You saw me in the kitchen eating and saw me stressed, pulled my dick out and sucked me off in the kitchen. Only reason I didn’t bust a nut was because Zoya came downstairs, and you hid behind the counter. You seemed to love sucking my shit in the kitchen, which is why Kora eventually caught us.”

The phone was on speaker as I rubbed my hands and listened to the silence. “We loved each other.”

“I ain’t even trying to hear all of that or revisit it. My wife means the fucking world to me, and if I hurt her, then I’m hurting me.”

“She has you having emotions… something you could never give me.”

Angelica was talking about everything else except what the fuck I was saying. Corleon said I didn’t need a conversation, but I felt like I did before I cut her off. Now I was thinking I should have listened because this conversation was getting nowhere, and it was making me feel different about her.

When Wonder said she groomed me, I was offended and pissed because that wasn’t the case. As I listened to her talk on this phone, I was feeling differently, and I didn’t like how that shit felt.

“Can we meet up somewhere? I want you to say this to my face… fly me in so we can have a proper sendoff.”

“I wish you the best, Angelica.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Shit, it sounded nice. Angelica, I don’t care if you call this phone again… just know I ain’t answering the shit. Spend more time trying to fix your relationship with your daughter than trying to see me. She’s fucking amazing and you missing out on the life that she’s building.”

“Phone works both ways, Maverick.”

“Yet, your phone always seems to work to call or text me.” She was trying to say something, and I ended the call.

The driver looked in the rearview giving me the signal that we were getting closer. “Boo, put this on for me.”

I handed her a blindfold, and she looked at it and then at me. “You not going to kill me, right?”

“Nah.”

“Send me to prison?”

I laughed. “Put the damn shit on, Wanda.”

She pulled it over her eyes, and I waved my hand in front of her to make sure her sneaky ass couldn’t see anything. The driver opened my door, and I went around and helped my baby out. She held onto me as we stood outside, and I grabbed her ass in the process.

“Maverick, my ass has nothing to do with leading me… why are we standing in the cold? I’m freezing.”

“Shit… I missed it.”

“Shouldn’t have tried to send it to prison.”

“Damn, baby, you gonna keep bringing it up?”

She snatched away from me, turned in a direction that I was not in and pointed her finger. I held my laugh in as she swayed her head and cussed me out. “So, yes, I am going to continue to bring it up.”

I came behind her and kissed her neck, feeling her fold into my arms. “I’m sorry for getting you arrested, Wonder. You make me fucking crazy and waking up with you gone had me lose my shit. It made me see how much I not only need you, but I also want you, too. I love you, baby, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like I don’t consider your feelings.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

I kissed her lips, and she allowed me to before she finally kissed me back. “I handled that, too. You told me what makes you uncomfortable and my only job is to make you comfortable. I was a bozo not taking my wife’s feelings into consideration over an ex-bitch.”

“Oh, she’s a bitch now?”

“Any woman I fucked with in the past is a bitch. You the standard, the wife, my one and only… your name on all those papers.”

“And I have two islands.”

“And you have two islands,” I kissed her lips. “I’m sorry, Wonder… I want you home where you belong and not in the damn club.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Anything.”

“I don’t plan on going to a club again… not my scene. I used to love it, but I was annoyed the whole time.”

I could see it in her face that she didn’t want to be there. I’ve never been into the club and the only reason I found myself there was because my wife was there.

“We don’t have to go to another club.”

“Mavie, we might not be allowed with the way you head butted that man. Are you alright?” It was hard not to laugh with her still being blindfolded.

“Always good. I wanted to give you something to show you that I hear you, I love you, and I’m going to do better. I’m not always going to get it right, but when it comes to you, I am damn sure going to try, Wonder.”

I softly removed the blindfold, and she searched my eyes. The only person I allowed to truly look into my eyes that way.

“This was supposed to be a business agreement, and we found love with each other. All I want is for you to try, and I don’t need you to be perfect. Just be you, Maverick. I want to know that I matter, because to me you matter. This wasn’t about her. It was about you putting her before my feelings. I’m your wife, so I needed you to see that I can and will walk away from this. Your money, the islands… okay, the islands do mean something. But I will start my life on that island newly divorced.”

I kissed her lips as she spoke because I missed her. Since she had been gone, I ain’t even been home because I couldn’t sleep under that roof knowing she wasn’t there. Wonder made it a home and without her, it was just the same place it was before she existed in my world.

“I love you, Wanda.”

“Mitchell, I love you so much. You don’t even know the half of how I feel about you.” It was like she was saying something without saying something. “Why are we in the cold on this street?”

I turned around and pulled her back some so she could see what I was showing her. “I remember everything that you tell me, Wonder. Everything about you interests me and I love learning you, boo.”

She was choked up and trying to put her words together. I held her and kissed her neck, as she spun around in my arms and looked at me. “Maverick,” she choked out.

“I want you to have all the things that your heart desires and this is one of those things. Stevie, I was put on this earth to make all your dreams come true, and that’s what I plan on doing ‘cause you breathing the same air as me makes my dreams come true.”

She kissed my lips, and I tasted her tears as she held onto me. “The Messy Muse,” she cried, and hugged me tightly.

Every time she spoke, I listened because I thought she was the most interesting person I had ever met. Conversations would usually bore me quickly, but not with her. I could listen to her talk for hours and never get tired.

Except during quiet hour.

What I loved about my wife was that she never stopped dreaming. Even though when I met her, she was nowhere close to having her dreams, she still spoke them into existence and never gave up on them. I watched all of her little fake vlog videos when we were in Paris and watched how she spoke to herself and how she was so determined to have what she wanted.

Stevie always spoke about feeling lost and never knowing what was next, but she wasn’t lost at all. She knew what she wanted and where she wanted to go. Life was just hard for her, and I was sent to make it easier for her.

Quiet her mind when she needed it.

This gallery and giving back to children was something she was passionate about because the seed had been planted by her mother. Her mother put her into an art class, which molded Stevie into who she was.

Life got her down and she couldn’t afford to follow her passion, so she found other ways to express her creativity. I wanted her to have what she always wanted, and it was a gallery for her to truly follow her dreams.

I’ve bought a jet without even taking a second look, so investing in my wife and her career was nothing for me. I wanted her to have her own life, not just become Menace Caselli’s wife. I wanted her to be Stevie Caselli, and have things that she accomplished on her own, so if me giving her this nudge was what it took, a nigga couldn’t wait to see it.

“You remembered,” she whispered as she held my face and kissed my lips. “Sometimes I don’t think you listen because I talk so much.”

I kissed her lips. “I hear everything that you say. Wonder, I wanna spend the rest of my life hearing everything that you have to say. I want your advice on art, so you can spend big money on making our family artsy.”

Her eyes widened as she continued to hold my face. “Like auctions and stuff?”

“Yeah. I want you to follow your dreams, Wonder. Boo, I wanna continue to quiet your mind, and keep you warm and safe.”

She hugged me so tight and then looked up at me. “Can we go inside?”

I held the keys up and she snatched them and ran over toward the door to let us in. Soon as she stepped into the gallery, she screeched and did my favorite stomps. “Where you gonna have the kids paint?”

I stood by the door with my hands in my pockets watching her. “Over there. I want to host classes every weekend and even after school some days. I want them to be free, too… something for the kids. Parents need that at times, you know? I have to call Kora because I need her help getting some local Black artists in here. I want so many new and upcoming artist on all of these walls. I think we may need to knock that wall down because we can then put more art there… is that alright?”

“You got the accounts, Wonder. Do whatever you need to do because this shit is yours. I want you to do exactly what you spoke about on that video you made.”

She stood there and looked down at her feet. “God, how is this my life? I need to call Kora tomorrow.”

“You can talk to her on the jet to our holiday vacation as a family.”

She folded her arms. “I may have heard you reached out to your siblings, and they all agreed to come.”

“You the only one that didn’t confirm if you were coming, Mrs. Caselli.”

She ran her hand through her hair. “I don’t know, I’m a gallery owner and very busy. Lots of auctions and events and such.” She put on this snooty voice and flipped her hair.

I laughed. “Even too busy for me? Damn, I’m one of your biggest clients.”

She looked at her phone. “I don’t know, Mitchell… I have to speak with my assistant and make sure everything is all good. I’ll have Greene contact you.”

I shook my head. “So, you just going to steal Mahogony from me?”

Wonder walked over toward me and hugged me. “You just put a battery in my back, Maverick. I’m excited to have something… to do something. I was scared about losing myself when I married you, not having anything of my own. This has renewed me, made me want to finish a painting and actually immerse myself further. I really think I can do this.”

“I don’t think you can do it, Wonder.” She looked down, and I lifted her face, and kissed her lips. “I know you can do it, and I can’t wait to witness everything that you do. You gonna be fucking great, Mrs. C.”

She kissed my cheek and then took off running to the back of the gallery. Stevie was sent to heal me. Every time I counted my blessings, and a nigga never counted his blessings, I counted her twice. I never thought I was supposed to ever be someone’s husband, and at times I still questioned it.

Wonder knew that I wasn’t all the way there and even knowing that she loved me. She wanted to be with me because of who I was, not what I could do for her. When she left, she showed me that she wasn’t about to put up with shit and demanded what she deserved.

I never wanted to imagine a world without my baby, and her leaving our home and being gone was something I never wanted to experience again. Stevie came into my life and shook shit up, made me anxious, nervous, and intrigued all at one time.

While she triggered the fuck out of me, I couldn’t stay away from her. We were learning each other, and I think she knew me best. She handled me with care, and she never judged. No matter how stupid something that I had to do was, she always respected that.

Stevie Caselli was one of a kind, and I would smoke a whole carton of cigarettes if she left me again. I was considering buying me a little jail so if she tried to leave the next time I could lock her ass up, and it would just be us in jail together.

I was downright crazy about Wanda.

“Listen, I need the room with the balcony because I have to have fresh air at night,” Zoya got off the speed boat barking demands.

She and Kora had to fly in later since they had to wrap up cases before the holidays. Kennedy boarded the yacht and smiled at me. “Hey Menace… thanks for inviting me.”

“Didn’t invite you Kennedy.” I looked at Zoya.

She rolled her eyes. “She’s your goddaughter, Menace.”

I kept my hands in my pockets as the staff pulled up all the luggage up onto the yacht. Kennedy came over and hugged me. “I am alright, promise.”

I looked in her face and she gave me a reassuring smile and then went with Zoya to claim a room. Kennedy was my God daughter, and as much as I hated that she worked for Case House, the girl was stubborn like her damn father.

Xander was my father’s best friend, and he asked me to be his daughter’s God father. I thought the shit was weird because I was young, and why the fuck would anybody want me to be their child’s God father? He wanted someone to look out for her, and to make sure she was always good.

It was a conversation that we never got to finish because he was murdered soon after. He didn’t give me no information on who the fuck his daughter was and how I was supposed to find her. All I knew is that I had a supposed God daughter somewhere out there, and she was put up for adoption and he lost touch with her when all the shit popped off with my uncle.

I received a packet with a lot of information from someone without a return label. Inside there was a bunch of information on this said God daughter, who happened to be Kennedy. By the time I found out who she was, she was grown, and I couldn’t locate her ass until her information popped up in Case House database that I found her.

Kennedy was stubborn and had been doing what she wanted for so long that she didn’t want to hear shit from me. At the end of the day, as much as I made a promise to her father, she was grown. The fuck was I supposed to do? I never signed up for the shit in the first place, and Kennedy was going to do what she wanted to do anyway.

Shit, she was working for me before I even knew she was. At twenty-one, she was a grown ass woman and could do what she wanted. It was one time when I didn’t protect her, but I damn sure made sure those bitches got handled.

It was the reason I told Don he needed to stay the fuck away from her. Not only was she a Case House girl, but she was also my fucking God daughter.

Landon was knocked out on the couch and the minute he heard Kennedy laugh with Zoya, his ass jumped out his sleep and was looking around like he was hearing shit. I watched him as he sat up rubbing his eyes and looked around.

“Leave her the fuck alone, Don… I already warned you,” I told him, as I continued to the back deck where my baby was.

She had been fucking up those lemon Sorbets since we got on the boat. The chef had been making it every damn day. I walked over to her and Crimson on the day bed with their laptops out. She had her hair pulled up, a pink bikini that had her breast looking right. Instead of getting her own, she had my Celine sunglasses on as she was telling Crimson whatever plans she had.

It was crazy how she came and stole my second assistant like it was hers. Then she went and raised her salary and gave her personal mental days. The second I gave her the keys to that gallery; I saw my wife tap into someone she always wanted to be. All she spoke about was her plans. Instead of humming at night, she picked my brain for business advice.

“Hey baby, what you doing?”

“Zoy just got here.”

She clapped her hands. “Kora told me that she should be here later on today. I spoke to her earlier this morning while you were in the gym.”

“You talk to my sisters more than me.”

She smiled. “You started this family group chat and never reply back to any of us.”

This was the first holiday that I was spending as a married man, but with my family. We hadn’t spent any holidays together, and this was happening because Wonder wanted it to happen. She wanted our family to be close, and as much as I fought her on it, it felt nice to be surrounded by family.

“Mens, your suit and Stevie’s dress arrived in Monaco.” Jeffie came from inside with her iPad in one hand, and Estella on her hip.

Once we were done here, we all were going to Monaco for the ball. This was the first time in a long time that both Zoya and Kora had attended one. Landon attended them because he was always with me when it came to handling most of Case House affairs. It was my sisters that was never around for them.

This was the one place where Kora could show her face without any problems. I had blackmail on every single person that attended. They opened their mouth about anything at the balls, and they could kiss their life goodbye.

“Jeffie, I am her assistant now, you gotta let me do things for her,” Burgundy told Jeffie, while taking her sunglasses off.

“You are so right… I will remember that the next time.”

“Why are you working anyway?” Stevie asked, eating that damn sorbet.

Jeffie turned to leave. “Not you both about to gang up on me… I am shutting it down after I make sure the final details are handled.”

Estella yawned. “I’m gonna put her down for a nap, and then we gonna go to shore for lunch.” Corleon took Estella, as Skyler came out and sat on the bed next to her cousin.

“Who is going to watch Stellie if we’re all going?”

“Me,” Stevie volunteered.

“Wonder, you don’t ever volunteer to babysit,” I told her. Clearly the damn sorbet had been going to her damn head.

“You don’t remember all that God daughter talk?” Skyler reminded me, as she took some of Stevie’s sorbet.

“Clearly I have too many,” I muttered.

Don came out without a shirt on and stretched while standing near the banister. “Landyyy!”

He looked up, and Kennedy was there waving from the top deck. “Oh shit, what up, Kennedy?”

I gave him a death stare.

“The fuck you want me to do? Ignore her.”

He was sweet on Kennedy and had been for a while. Don knew the rules, and he knew that I didn’t play when it came to breaking the rules that I had put in place for this shit to run smoothly.

“I think I’m going to come with you to shore, too,” Don told Corleon and then went back inside.

The one promise I had Wonder make is that we wouldn’t do the whole sitting at the table for family meals. That shit wasn’t us and had never been. I could get with us being together on this boat and spending time together, but I wasn’t about to force sitting around a large table and pretending.

Every single one of my siblings agreed with me.

My baby had to take baby steps when it came to us. We would eventually get there, but not right this moment.

“Let me change and then I’ll come, too,” Kennedy called over the banister.

“I’m trying to take my wives out for lunch and here come the fucking third wheels.” He kissed Stellie’s head and turned to head back in to put her down.

“Watch his ass,” I told him.

“Mens, he a grown ass man. He knows what the deal is, I can’t stop him from doing what he wants to already do.”

“Baby, wanna go sit on the top deck and eat sorbet with me?”

I looked over at my baby. “Yeah. Finish up here and meet me up there since everybody is going to the shore.”

“I’m good for the day?” Indigo looked at Stevie.

“You were always good… I was minding my business, and you came out working with your laptop.”

She laughed. “You right.”

“Yo, Don… I saw some fire ass hoes,” I heard Beans call from the lower deck. “You know how they love Americans… especially the niggas.”

“Fuck it, we ‘bout to get us a room on shore so we can hit the night life tonight,” Don called back down to him.

“Bet.”

“I wanna party, too!” Teal hollered behind Don.

“Me, too,” Kennedy yelled, too.

I looked at them, while trying to refrain for putting both Kennedy and Orchid on punishment. “They are grown women, Mavie.”

I smelled the familiar pistachio scent and soft hand rub my chest. “I don’t give a fuck, Wanda.”

“Come on… I wanna talk to you about something, and we can do it over sorbet.”

I allowed her to pull me back inside and up to our room. “What you wanna talk about?”

“Priscilla’s cousin reached out to me and told me that her cousin was found murdered.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Yes.”

“What you wanna know, Wonder?”

She kissed my chest. “I don’t want to know anything. Think it’s best for me to never know anything when it comes to that side of your life. Requirement?”

“One that should be number one. Long as you know that I’m going to do everything to make sure you never have to worry about anything. Buy us pretty art and make us money with the art shit.”

“I can do that.”

“What else?”

“My dad… have you heard from him?”

I never planned to lie to my wife. “He got into some trouble with some other people. Shit I couldn’t stop, so I let them deal with him. I didn’t want his blood on my hands because no matter how much you may hate him, he’s your father. I don’t know what happened to him and I didn’t ask, baby.”

Wonder nodded her head. “Okay. I’m going to get our treats.”

While she went downstairs to get the sorbet, I relaxed on the bed upstairs and watched the sky. The shit was so beautiful and peaceful, even with hearing Don and Beans argue over who is driving the boat.

“Neither of you niggas are driving the boat,” Corleon said.

“Bossy ass,” Beans said.

“Aye, wait the fuck a minute… let me and my wives get the fuck on first. Sexy, come on… hold my arm. Baby, where you at?”

“Getting your wallet because you left it.”

I tuned out their conversation as I continued to relax and closed my eyes. “Hey, you sleep?”

Opening my eyes, Zoya stood there. She took a seat at the edge of the bed, and I leaned up. “What up, Zoy?”

“I wanted to check in with you.”

“I’m straight, what about you? Heard you doing your thing with the case.”

She smiled. “Dane don’t make it easy because he’s forever trying to kill someone. He threatened the prosecutor the other day. I think because I have him on the straight and narrow, he is becoming restless.”

“Those Amante brothers are ruthless. Did you find that witness yet?”

“Nope. Wherever she is, she is hiding in plain sight… I got Core working on it, so we shall see if she turns up. Deuce is already on alert to get rid of her the minute she resurfaces because if the other side finds her, Dane is going away for the rest of his life.”

“I got faith in you and K.”

“Yeah.” She looked down at her hands and then looked up at me. “Thanks, Maverick.” Zoya never called me Maverick.

When she was younger, she used to, but as an adult I was always Menace. It was less of a nickname to her, and more of who she thought I was. Her apology had nothing to do about me having faith in her and Kora. It was about the information she found out about her ex-boyfriend.

“Don’t mention it.”

“I know you don’t agree with me being with Sigel, and some days I don’t either. Allow me to have my own life and make my own decisions.”

I broke out in laughter, and she stared at me crazy. “Zoy, I can promise you don’t have to worry about me getting at him.”

She was confused. “So, you want to meet him?”

“Why did you just call me a stupid bitch, Zoy?”

“Menace, I never called you that… you want to squash the beef, so I think it’s only right you meet him.”

I smirked. “I’m not who you need to be worried about, Ms. Lawyer.”

“Gerald?” she screeched.

“You want me to mind my business… that’s what I’m doing, Ms. Lawyer… heard you gonna have some chocolate babies.”

“Fuck you meannnn! I’m not having no kids,” she stormed back inside, leaving me to close my eyes and smile to myself.

Me and Goon would be having that sit down depending on how he handled Sigel. If he could come behind my baby sister as hard as I would, then he could have that sit down and gain my respect.

“Alright, here is your sorbet… eat it before it melts.”

I opened my eyes again to a lemon with lemon flavored sorbet in the inside. It wasn’t the sorbet that threw me off, it was a fucking pregnancy test sticking out of my fucking sorbet.

“Boo, I’m trying real hard to get my personal shit under control and then you go and do some nasty shit like this… you pissed on that?”

“Mitchell, pull the stick out the damn lemon,” she raised her voice.

I pulled the stick out of the sorbet and looked at the word pregnant on the test. “You carrying my baby, Wonder?”

“I am.” She nervously smiled, as she stood over me.

She kept shifting her weight from one foot to the next. I snatched her down on my lap and kissed her all over her face. “You got Dennis in there, Wanda?”

She giggled as she held my face. “Maverick, how do you feel?”

“How the fuck you think I feel… I’m nervous as shit.”

“Excited though, right?”

Kissing her lips, I searched her eyes. As I held her, she was nervous and needed to know that I was okay. “Wonder, you carrying my legacy… I’m fucking excited. What you thought?”

“I was nervous.”

“Tell me how you feeling, boo. I need to know.”

She kissed me on the head. “I am nervous to become someone’s mama, but I am excited.”

“Requirement?”

I could see the nervousness swirling in her eyes. “Yes.”

“We do this shit together… me and you. We’ll figure this shit out together, Wanda?”

Wonder tossed her arms around my neck and hugged me so tight. “Together, Mitchell.”

“I got Wanda pregnant!” I hollered off the balcony.

The chatter from below stopped. “Who the fuck is Wanda?” Don yelled back.

“I’m going to be an auntie! I need to call Kora right now because she gonna fucking bug out… move out the way, Beans.” I couldn’t see her, but I just knew she football shoved the fuck out of Beans.

“Damn, Zoya… I was moving.”

“Yo Mens,” I heard Core’s voice, and got up to look over the deck. He smiled, as he saluted. “Happy for you.”

“Appreciate it.” I looked at Jeffie, Skyler, and Duke. “Why the fuck none of you surprised? Y’all said y’all hate my baby?”

“Bye Menace!” Skyler laughed.

“Because Stevie told us already and we cannot wait to spoil the hell out that baby.” Jeffie blew me a kiss.

“You straight?”

“More than straight… Love you, Mens.”

Duke coughed. “Your wife forced me to wait with her while she took one. So, I knew before everyone.”

“Thanks again, Dukey!” Stevie came over the banister beside me.

“No problem, Steve-o.” He smiled, as he got onto the boat so they could head to shore. I picked my wife up and spun her around.

“We’re going to be parents, Mitchell.”

“For the rest of our lives, Wanda. I love you, baby.”

She kissed my lips. “I love you more than you know, Mavie. You and me makes three… you ready?”

I sucked on her lips. “More than fucking ready. One more requirement.”

“Go ahead.”

“We’re in this forever.”

“Forever, Mavie.”

I held her tight as we shared a kiss, and I thanked my lucky stars for the woman I had. Stevie Caselli was sent to me by her mother and my parents. I liked to think they were up there having coffee knowing they made this love connection. A messy, carefree woman with a structured obsessive man, who both had ADHD.

“I got something for you now.”

She looked at me weird. “What do you have for me?”

I dug in my pocket and pulled my phone out. “Toss it.”

She held my phone in her hand. “What do you mean?”

I kissed her lips. “You told me that you wanted me to be done with Angelica, and I told you that I am. I changed my numbers, and this is the last piece. Toss that shit in the ocean.”

She held the phone in my hand. “Are you seriously done with her, Maverick?”

“So done, Wonder. I hurt my boo’s feelings, and I don’t like that shit. It was toxic holding on all this time, and my loyalty is to you and Jeffie.”

Stevie looked at the phone. “Are you going to ever tell Jeffie about you still talking to her mother?”

I shrugged. “One day… not today. One thing at a time, Baby.”

She smiled and continued to hold the phone. “I want you to toss it. This was never about me… this is closure for you.”

I took the phone from her and tossed the phone far into the water. We watched as it dove into the water, and she kissed me. I spun her around, as I held her tightly and she giggled. This was a match made in heaven, and I refused to believe anything else.

“Put me down.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to vomit.” She jumped out my arms and rushed inside.

“Oh fuck, Wonder… I don’t do that throw up shit.” I gagged. “That shit gonna make me vomit.” I slowly followed behind her, feeling like I was gonna empty my stomach next.

What the fuck did we get ourselves into?

Some good ass pussy… that’s what.

Stevie knew if she ever tried to leave me, she would smell the cigarette smoke, and I would be wherever she was. This shit was forever, and she wasn’t going nowhere, not that she wanted to. It was Wanda and Mitchell forever.