Motown Takedown (Motown Down Book 3) (34 page)

“You were my first kiss,
”
I say anchoring my fingers in his hair. “You’re the only man I have ever kissed with love on my lips, Eros.”

“Won’t let you regret it, Mo chuisle,
”
he whispers taking them again and our heartbeats were in synch.

There was weight.

Then there was hot breath followed by a serious tongue bath. Opening my eyes to Ares sprawled out on top of me while soaking me in his saliva had me squeezing him. Taking it as encouragement, he snuggled into my neck licking my skin and hair. Holding on tight, I let me baby do what he needed to do. I hadn’t seen him in hours and I missed him so much it hurt. Clearly he missed me too.

For Ares to be here meant Monarch was here and at that moment I didn’t have much emotion to lend to that fact. He’d hurt me. Then to hurt me further, he kept my dog. The first thing that had ever belonged to me. Let’s not forget the nasty shit he threw at me followed by his fingers around my throat. If he came here to continue my punishment, I’d let Camo shoot him, but I was keeping my dog.

“We need to talk, Cinn.”

“You’re right,
”
I tell him sitting up with Ares nestled in my lap. “My bag’s on the table, go into my wallet and grab your credit card.”

“I could care less about the credit card,
”
he says softly. “Plus, it’s yours.”

“My name isn’t on it,
”
I counter. “Therefore, it doesn’t belong to me. Take it with you when you go.”

“I came here to bring you home.”

“Assuming I’d
want
to go,
”
I argue. “Or is my
home
contingent upon your mood, Monarch?”

“Cinn…”

“You kept Ares,
”
I whisper. “To hurt me, you kept Ares.”

“Fuck.”

“I have never led you or your business around by your dick,
”
I remind him. “Nor would I ever try. So I did not deserve to be treated as if I have. That includes
your
hand around
my
throat.”

“I’m sorry for that,
”
he says staring at his hands in disgust. “I was pissed.”

“You asked me what I saw when I looked at you. That night my answer would have been I saw the man who held the key to my heart. Tonight my answer is, you’re the man who
broke it
.”

“When I look at you I see the woman who can make me whole,
”
he whispers. “I’m running on empty without you, Mo chuisle.”

“Until you kick me to the curb again, beat my ass or drown me, right? Or was it the part where you’d use my pussy? Isn’t that all a whore’s good for? You can lie to yourself, Monarch, but do not lie to me. For a man who claims to be nothing like Savage, you go out of your way to remind me that I’m property, that I’m
disposable
. Whose face do you see when you look in the mirror, Monarch?”

“Cinn…”

“No! Had you let me speak I would have told you I knew nothing about the message until a few hours ago. Do you honestly think I wouldn’t tell you? Everything I have done since I was a kid was to get to you! Yet you think I’d do something to put the man I loved in danger
on purpose
? Well fuck you!”

“You don’t love me anymore?
”
he asks looking up, and had I not been sitting, I’d have crumbled. Monarch looked wrecked.
Join the fucking club
…

“I’ll always love you,
”
I tell him. “But that doesn’t mean I have to be with you to do it. I’ve loved you from afar for a long time and I’ll do it again.”

“What would it take for you to give me another chance?
”
he asks coming to sit next to me.

“I don’t know if I have another chance in me.”

“I fucked up,
”
he says taking my hand. Running his index over my skin he stares at my finger. “I didn’t think, I reacted. For as long as I live I’ll regret it. I thought you played me and I was wrong about that. Looking back on it, it was fucking foolish to even consider it, but I did. All this is new to me, Cinn. I’d do anything for you, even walk away if I thought it was best for you.
”
Taking my chin in his hand he tilts my head up. “It’s not because
I’m
what’s best for you.”

“You hurt me,
”
I say closing my eyes.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“If you feel even a fraction of what I’m feeling then yes, Mo chuisle,
I know
.”

“I just wanted to keep you safe,
”
I confess. “Not that you can’t take care of yourself, because I know you can. But it’s my right to protect you. That’s all I was trying to do. I needed you to let me. I needed you trust me.”

Then lifting me up from under the knees, bringing Ares with me as he stands I ask him, “What are you doing?”

“Bringing my queen home,
”
he says giving me no room for argument.

And sadly, I didn’t have one because I actually wanted to go home. The problem was, would I know what to do once I got back? I wasn’t sure. We were not on solid ground and I wasn’t sure the damage could be repaired. The other reason I didn’t put up a fight was because I didn’t want my friends in danger for housing Detroit’s most wanted. I had enough on my conscience.

“She’s home,
”
I say when he answers.

“Is she happy?
”
he asks.

“No,
”
I admit. “But I won’t rest until she is.”

“Proud of you, son,
”
he says before hanging up. That was Pookie for you, he was alright.

The next few days she was quiet, reflective.

She didn’t engage me unless I initiated and I knew it was because she felt out of place now. This was my fault. Trying to fix it was mission fucking impossible between the boys up in her shit because they were leery of me, and keeping them busy with work. I ran out of shit for them to do because they not only tracked the lost shipments but against orders, retrieved said shipments.

Fucking double negative.

Hell, even the dog was avoiding me.

To prove she wasn’t playing me, Cinn handled business in front of me and I did the same. It’s what we should have been doing from the start but that’s on me too. Although, watching my woman do her thing was nothing short of fucking magical, I needed to do more. With no move from Casper, I decided to get everyone back on my good side and go out. As a family…

If the queen was happy, I was happy
…

Now we’re sitting at a round table and I watched my woman teach her boys how to behave like civilized humans. This was not cut and dry. From being rude to damn near threatening, I shook my head at their ignorance. Hell, when Dopey went at his steak with his fingers I was tempted to cut them off. Where Cinn was patient, I was not.

When she excused herself for the bathroom, I looked at each of them and asked, “You doing this shit for her attention or are you actually clueless? Because you four are a fucking embarrassment.
”
The second I said it, I felt like a dick. Especially when Jones
’
face fell. Sam, as I’ve come to figure out, was not silent. He only chose to speak when he had something to say. Which was, “We don’t go to fancy fucking places. Agreed to come for Cinn. You want us to go ‘cuz we embarrass you, say so.”

“Pardon?
”
She says taking her seat.

“Nothin’,
”
he says fidgeting with his plate.

“I insulted you, boys,
”
I force out. “My apologies.”

“First, this isn’t a fancy fucking place, Sam,
”
she says handing him his napkin and motioning him to put it in his lap. The other three followed suit. “But, when you take a woman out she’ll appreciate table manners.”

“Why?
”
asks Dopey.

“Do you want to get laid?
”
she counters and they all laugh but nod. “Well then, table manners will help with that.”

“Where’d you learn?
”
Pillbox asks me.

“By watching my queen,
”
and it was the truth. Even as a kid, she had manners. She taught herself with books and used to set the table like it was a banquet. Back then, we ate as a family so Savage bought her china, real silverware and linens. Cinn took manners and civility very seriously.

“He gets laid all the time,
”
this from Dopey. “Shit must work.”

“More to it than that,
”
Sam grunts. “You gotta tell her she’s pretty and shit too.”

“What if she ain’t?
”
he counters.

“Lie.”

“Wow,
”
Cinn laughs. “I’m shocked you boys don’t date more.”

“We get pussy,
”
Jones shrugs. “We just pay for it.”

“Ain’t good pussy when you pay for it though,
”
says Sam absently.

“Pussy’s pussy,
”
I chime in and Cinn’s eyes go wide. “Until that pussy means the world to you,
”
I amend. “Then it’s not about pussy, it’s about making
her happy
.
”
When her face softened and she took my hand under the table I realized how much she needed to hear it. So from that point on, I taught the boys what they needed to know to become men. They looked at Cinn a lot to see if I was full of shit but when she agreed, I saw it register. Life lessons out of the way, we drove back home and everyone went in except me and Sam. It was clear he still had some shit to say, so I gave him a one-time only opening.

“You two cool?
”
he asks leaning against the truck.

“We’re cool.”

“You apologize to her?”

“I don’t owe you shit, boy, but this one time I’ll be real. Yeah, I apologized.”

“Been hearing about you for years, Monarch. We all thought you were the shit until you hurt Cinn like you did. Closest thing to family we ever had. I need you to remember that next time you wanna break a female that’s been broke enough. Either keep her together or the next time it happens you’ll be in the ground.”

“Threatening me isn’t doing you any favors.”

“No threat,
”
he shrugs. “You’re a bad ass. Probably kill me easy. But you’re one guy, Monarch. Four of us and one of you ain’t odds you wanna place. Fuck with her like that again, know that you’re rolling those dice. We may be punks but we ain’t survived all these years on luck.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.
”
At this, I tried not to laugh because the kid was serious. Before turning to leave he says, “All them years listening to her brag out about you, how bad you were, how fucking thug you were. Got us to believing that one day we’d get to be where you are. Like I said, I ain’t shit alone, none of us are. But with my boys next to me few could get the best of us ‘cuz we’re a fucking unit. Just sayin
’
that you may be all those things she said, but you and I both know you ain’t shit without her.”

Then he left.