Desired Too (12 page)

“Mind if hit the bag?” I asked her.

She smiled. “Nope, it’s all yours. You need tape or gloves?”

I smiled back. “Nope, I’m good.”

She nodded. “Cool. Let me know if you need any help or a sparring partner. We also have trainers to help you work out or get into shape, not that you aren’t already.” She smiled shyly and I smiled back as she continued, “If you have any questions about the equipment, a trainer, or anything else, my husband over there can help you out.”

I looked over as she pointed to this fine ass white man holding a brown haired little girl in his arms while another one stood close to his legs. Both little girls were light brown in complexion with golden, thick curly hair that fell freely on each of their heads. They were adorable.

When I got a good look at her husband, it made me frown, and I found myself saying, “Um, is he a fighter here? He looks like a banker or something.”

The woman next to me laughed. “Yeah, he gets that a lot, but he’s the reigning MMA amateur fighter for the last two years.”

My eyebrows rose. “No shit?”

She laughed again, confirming, “No shit.”

I nodded and asked, “What’s his name so I can look him up?”

I suddenly noticed her stand a little straighter with a gleam of pride in her eyes when she said to me, “The Reaper.”

Shit, I must be a glutton for punishment.

I went around his block three time before I finally parked. I had no idea if he was home. Yet, I didn’t let not knowing stop me.

I got out of my car and headed towards the building, thinking,
Fuck it. Whatever happens, fucking happens
this shit needs to end
.

Once I got inside and
off of the elevator, I saw that the door to Lincoln’s condo was cracked. The second that I smelled smoke and heard the baby crying, I moved quickly towards the door. I drew my weapon, as I quickly moved through the door just in time to see Georgia with a fire extinguisher.

She was aiming at the stove and a pan that had flames shooting out of it, threatening to become out of control.

“No! Don’t!” I yelled, knowing it was going to be hell cleaning up that mess. I grabbed a plate that was sitting on the counter and quickly covered the pot and flames.

I moved further into the kitchen, grabbed a towel, and started fanning the detector closest to me. It took a few seconds for the sensor to clear before it stopped. Now all could be heard was a baby’s shrieking cries from deep in the apartment.

Georgia was in panic mode. Her eyes were wide as shit. I could see her chest heaving up and down, extinguisher shaking slightly in her hand.

When she put the extinguisher down, she started moving, I assumed, to go get the baby. I reached her and touched her arm. “Hey, why don’t you have a seat, Georgia? I’ll go get the baby.”

She looked as if she wanted to protest. She glanced back at the open front door, seemingly waiting for someone to come through it at any moment.

I soothed her fears. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. Trust me.”

I moved toward the sound of the baby and found him in a first floor room that I didn’t remember Lincoln having. The baby was wailing his little heart out, probably scared as shit from the noise of the smoke alarms.

“Hey, big guy, is your mother scaring you with her lack of cooking skills?” I asked him in that weird voice adults typically use when they’re talking to babies. I reached for the baby blanket, threw it over my shoulder and then picked him up slowly and brought him to my chest.

He was definitely a big boy. He was about eight pounds when he was born but, shit, it had only been a few weeks since he was born, and he was huge. “What have they been feeding you, buddy?” I chuckled as I headed for the living room.

Georgia was sitting in one of the stools at the island when I walked back into the front room.

“What were you trying to do?” I asked her. “Were you trying to see how quickly you could burn down the building?”

She rolled her eyes, saying, “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Really?” I looked at her skeptically. “Why were you by the stove anyway? And where is Lincoln?”

I was playing with the baby when I realized that she didn’t reply. I turned and looked at her and saw the tears forming in her eyes.

“I don’t know where he is. I think I scared him off.” Then she buried her head in her hands and started crying.

Shit! Now what am I supposed to do?

My eyes darted around the room, waiting for someone to appear and handle the breakdown that Georgia was having. Someone needed to do something because I didn’t know what to do.

Her cries got louder, so I secured the baby in my arm like a football and moved to where she was. I placed her hand in mine, laced our fingers together and led her to the couch.

“Tell me what happened,” I leaned forward, grabbed for the tissue box sitting on the table and placed a few in her hands.

She mumbled a “thank you” wiped her eyes, and then blew her nose.

I brought little man up to my chest and patted his back.

Georgia looked at me with puffy red eyes and smiled. “You are so good with him.”

I’d made a few trips to visit her and the baby without my cousin being around. Too much time had lapsed for us to pull our weapons on each other, but it still could get messy. Lincoln had a thing about loyalty and so did I. His dumb ass should have known that my hands were tied and I had no choice.

I’d tried to tell him, but he was also stubborn as shit, so we still hadn’t addressed the issue.

“He’s a great kid,” I told Georgia.

Georgia nodded and sniffled. “I ran him off, Angel.”

I shook my head. “I seriously doubt that,
Tesoro
.”

She sniffed again. “You don’t know that. You didn’t see how mad he was. I ran him off running my big mouth.”

“Running your big mouth about what?” I asked.

“You.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Georgia…”

Georgia tucked one of her legs underneath the other one and faced me.

“No, Angel, this is ridiculous. You two haven’t spoken in seven months, almost a year. This has gone on long enough. You two are like brothers. He loves you more than he loves his own. He's acting like a dick.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my throat. Georgia cursing was hilarious, and it really didn’t go along with her mannerisms.

“You don’t kiss this baby with that mouth, do you?” I joked.

“Come on. I’m serious. You can call him a dick. It’s okay,” she said as she smiled at me.

“
Tesoro.
” Georgia lets me call her sweetheart in Italian because she has never heard me call another person that. It was easier for her to stomach since it’s in another language because she still hated those terms of endearment, except I was sure when Lincoln called her baby.

“You don’t have to fight my battles for me. I can handle it on my own,” I expressed to her.

“Then handle it, Angel. I’m sick of seeing him mope around this apartment like he lost his puppy.”

I groaned, “I’m the puppy, really?”

She smacked my leg. “Oh, cut it out. I’m metaphorically speaking, asshole.”

“Please, Georgia, enough of the cursing. You will not kiss my nephew with that potty mouth of yours.”

“See, I miss your humor, Angel.”

I shook my head. “I’m the same Georgia.”

“No, you’re not, and neither is he. Admit to me that you haven’t been the same without him and he without you. He needs you, Angel. Hell, both Drakes need you.” Her eyes suddenly started filling again. “He misses you.”

I took her hand in mine. “Drake is my family, my brother, and this shit won’t go on much longer. Why do you think I showed up here today? I figured he’d be here.” That obviously wasn’t good enough to Georgia. She was still pouting, so I added, “Look, Georgia, I understand Drake. I’ve known him for years. And although I’m about sick of his stubborn shit, I respect how he feels. Leave this shit to the two of us, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

She sighed and then finally nodded. “Okay, but you two better handle this shit quickly or there will be hell to pay.”

I laughed. “Okay.”

She grew quiet as I brought the baby down to my lap. I talked to him, watching his little face light up and smile at me. I thought Georgia was just in her own world because she was so quiet, but I should’ve known better. You can’t leave Georgia’s mind to idle. Shit gets crazy in her head.

“You need a girlfriend,” I heard her say.

I couldn’t stop the laugh that fell from my lips. I looked at her, asking, “I need a girlfriend?” I’d repeated it because, shit, I couldn’t believe what the hell I’d just heard.

Georgia touched her son’s little hand that was gripping my finger and replied, “Yes, you need a
girlfriend
; someone that understands you, someone that knows you, that can challenge you. It can’t be that female friend that you sometimes see, either. What’s that one’s name? Lucy?”

I didn’t reply because I didn’t have a clue where this was going. Whatever her goal, I was sure it wasn’t to piss me off. However, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Raquel and her stubborn ass. 

Georgia touched my arm and our eyes met. “You need someone strong with the right amount of sass to put you in your place when you need it, and someone who will ride or die with you no matter what.”

“What makes you think I need that?” I replied curiously.

Georgia shrugged. “Because, it’s time, Angel. Despite who you are and you being an asshole sometimes, you’re a good man. Drake doesn’t tell me everything that goes on in the family, but I’m observant. I know you’re next in line and not Eddie. I can see that Uncle Bruno is tired.” A look of sadness swept over her and it made my heart stop.

“Do you know something that I don’t?” I asked her.

She shook her head frantically. “No, it’s nothing like that. Angel, you can’t tell me you don’t see it either. He seems to want to rest and not worry about the family as much. It’s as if he’s ready to pass on the torch. And I’m not slow to understand that you’re more suited to take over than Eddie.”

I handed her son back to her and turned completely to face her. I asked, “Okay,
Tesoro,
what does that have to do with me having a girlfriend?”

Georgia smiled. “Come on, every great leader needs that great chick by his side; the woman to balance him. I think you need that.”

I scoffed disgruntledly. “Yeah, well, I have to disagree with you on that.”

I mumbled some shit under my breath about women being more pain in the asses than anything. That made Georgia smile even more.

When I heard her say, “Oh shit,” I looked up, thinking that Lincoln had walked into the door. However, the shit-eating grin on her face told me that it was something more terrifying than that.

She said to me, “You’ve found her already.”

I frowned. “Found who?”

“Your soul mate; you’ve found her, didn’t you?” She then scooted closer to me. “Tell me about her. What’s she like? Is she pretty? Well, hell, of course, she’s pretty, right? I mean, you wouldn’t claim a dog for yourself, now would you? Wait, she’s not slutty, is she?”

I stood and moved from her. “Georgia, you’re fucking nuts, do you know that?”

“Come on, Angel. Spill.”

It was time for me to go. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t ashamed to admit that Georgia was right because she
was
. I was just pissed that she could tell.

“Oh, shit. She’s a pistol, isn’t she? She’s already got you up in arms, huh? She got you all pissed off and beating your chest all ‘me Alpha’ and ‘you better listen to me’.” She started laughing. “And you probably deserve every bit of her attitude too.”

I headed toward the door. “Goodbye, Georgia.”

“You know that shit doesn’t work on some females, right? Hell, especially black women,” she added.

I stopped walking, and for a split second, I regretted my visit.

Then I heard more laughter behind me. “Oh my goodness!” Georgia said through her giggles. “She’s black, isn’t she? That’s really why you came over here, isn’t it? Did you want some advice on how to handle us? Is that it?” She stood and started walking towards me, and I swear I couldn’t get to the fucking door fast enough.

“Can I meet her?” she asked.

“Not if you keep acting like this, no,” I said back to her, confirming everything she’d just said.

I turned around and faced her. She was smiling from ear to ear, happy as shit. “Aww, come on, Angel. Don’t be like that.”

I reached for my nephew, kissed his forehead and gave him back to her.

“Listen to me; make sure you keep your distance from Eddie, do you understand me?” I kept my voice even and stern, hoping like hell that I’d get her off that other topic.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t try to change the subject-”

“No, Georgia, I’m serious. Don’t go anywhere with that son of a bitch. I don’t want you to be alone with him at all, do you understand? I don’t trust him, and you know Drake doesn’t either.”

She frowned slightly. However, she didn’t fight me on it. She just simply nodded her reply. If it wasn’t enough that I was insisting with stern sincerity, I’d brought my point home when I used Lincoln’s first name to let her know how serious I was.

“There will never be a reason to go anywhere with him or be anywhere around him without someone from the family present,” I told her. “I, nor my father, my mother or Mama Bella would ever send Eddie for you, and I would never tell him to call you, understand? No one will ever send Eddie for you.”

She nodded frantically, and I could tell I had freaked her out. Georgia was a lot tougher than she looked. She’d been through hell and back. However, she always kept a smile on her face. It was one of the things that I loved about her.

“Okay,” she replied softly to me, letting me know that she understood completely.

“And stop trying to cook without supervision.”

She sucked her teeth and tucked the baby to her waist. “I just wanted to put this pizza in the oven that he made. I didn’t know that there was a pan in the oven when I turned it on. I started smelling something burning, and I pulled out the pan and placed it on top of the stove.”

That didn’t explain about the fire, until she then added, “I didn’t know the eye on top of the stove was still on, and I think the towel was close to the grease in the pan…”