Chapter 48
Nikki
“She said what?” I asked Claudia to repeat what she’d just told me about her visit with Gucci. However, before she had time to, my line clicked. It was Maine. Instantaneously, a smile lit up my face.
“Ms. C, can I call you right back? This is my cousin.” I didn’t even think I waited for an answer before clicking over. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby. What are you doing?” Maine’s voice always melted my panties.
“Nothing really, except emailing my cousin the completed manuscript of my novel.” The day had finally come. It was finished. Now it was up to Anjela to do her thing and see what happened.
“Congratulations, sweetheart! How’s my baby?” After he discovered my secret that night at the hotel, there was no alternative other than to spill the beans. It would’ve been wrong to lie about it, especially since he just lost a child.
“The baby is fine.” I closed the laptop, lying back across the bed. Mario was gone, and Junior was playing on my floor with his toys.
“When is your next appointment? I want to be there.” He was excited. However, I wasn’t.
“Maine, I haven’t told Mario that we’ve been in contact. Therefore, you just can’t be showing up to appointments.”
“I thought you said he knew you were carrying my seed.”
“He does know, but we had plans to raise the child as ours. I didn’t know you would pop back into the picture.”
“Well, I’m back, so you can tell dude to step back!”
“Maine,” I sighed. This is where shit gets complicated.
“What, Nikki? I know you don’t expect me to sit back and watch another nigga raise my shorty!” As he spoke, I thought about the current situation Mario was experiencing with Gucci and Cartier. Maine was right. It wouldn’t be fair. Now I was between a rock and a hard place.
“I’m not saying that. I’m just asking you to be patient with me.”
“All right. I can do that, but my patience is short, so you better expedite this shit.”
“Thank you for understanding.” Times like this reminded me of why I fell for him in the first place.
“Nik!” Mario called out as he came through the front door.
Shit! I hadn’t even heard him pull up. “Maine, I’ll call you later!” I hung up the phone, then deleted the call from my log like a scared little kid.
“I’m up here. What’s wrong?” I placed the phone on the nightstand just in the nick of time.
“I’m gonna fuck around and murk Gucci’s ass.”
“Don’t talk like that.” I slid onto the edge of the bed.
“Do you know what she did?”
“Yes. Your mother told me.” I watched him remove his shoes.
“How dare she?” He tossed a shoe across the room.
Junior knew it was time to get out of dodge. He collected his toys, then politely walked across the hallway into his room.
“Mario, calm down. She can’t keep Maria from you. Call an attorney.” I would’ve recommended my cousin, but she was no longer a fan of Mario’s. After what he did last year, she was left with a bad taste in her mouth.
“I don’t want a lawyer all up in our shit like that.”
“Have you tried being civil when you call her?” I knew Mario had a bad temper. Most times, it got the best of him.
“Of course I have!” He lay back on the bed. “I wanna do some foul shit to that bitch. But then I think about you and my kids.” He leaned over and kissed my stomach. “Some days, y’all are the only ones keeping me sane.”
I wanted to tell him about Maine. How could I, particularly after a moment like this?