Man of Steel(18)

I had eyes on all my places so that I could watch from my laptop wherever I went, which only a few people knew about, it made for some strange conversations. I liked the fact that my staff thought I was all seeing. It kept their asses on their toes. It only took once or twice of me rehashing something that had gone down verbatim for them to get the idea that there was something else going on other than word of mouth. That coupled with my no nonsense hard as nails approach usually kept them on their best behavior. Once they learned the truth about whether my reputation was honestly earned or just hype, they usually behaved themselves out of fear of reprisal. Can’t ask for more than that, that’s why my drawers were never short and no one was sneaking my supplies out the backdoor.





After making the rounds at my other places it was time to focus on my woman. Pulling my phone I called the house and got her on the third ring.

“You ready short stuff?” She sounded excited as fuck on the other end and I wondered why the hell I’d taken so long?

As a man, this sort of shit was really par for the course. You find a woman that fits you, you put a ring on her finger for convention sake; it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. The hearts and flowers shit was for the woman right? But her excitement was making me feel all giddy and shit, like I wanted it to be more than just a party. “I’ve been waiting for you hurry up.”

“I’m almost to the door, you riding or you want to take the car?”

“I’m wearing a short skirt.”

“We’ll take the truck.”

I hung up on her bark of laughter at my expense. The only time she was allowed on the back of my bike is when she’s wearing jeans. No skirts no dresses, nothing that can fly up with the wind and show off what’s mine. The other sisters might get away with that shit, but that was between them and their men.

She came through the door as soon as I revved the engine outside. I had a sweet dodge ram that was perfect for hauling shit. It would’ve been a man’s truck if not for the fire engine red color that the women in my life had picked out.

Holly and Lily, they pretty much owned my ass and they knew it. On their own they ran circles around me, together they were a force to be reckoned with. “I was thinking we should get lil bit in on this.” I told her as I put the truck in gear and headed down the driveway.

“No question, she’s going to be so excited. We’ve been picking out dresses and everything for a while.”

“Say what now?” this was news to me. How could they have been picking out shit when I’d only just asked her this morning? I reached across the console for her hand and lifted it for a kiss hello. “Yeah, we’ve been planning the wedding for a few months now.” She hid a smirk as she turned her head out the window.

“I didn’t ask months ago.” Was I missing something here?

“Hayden, if I waited around for you to ask we might never have got here. I’m surprised you even thought if it. Holly and I had the talk, I had to square it away with her first after all, and we decided that the best course of action was to do things ourselves and just tell you about it when the time was right. I’m glad you came to the same conclusion on your own though, it feels better this way.”

“Babe, if you wanted to get married why didn’t you just say so?” She looked at me like I was the village dunce, touchy ass woman. “Hold that thought let me call Deanna and let her know we’re coming.” Deanna can be a real pain where Lily is concerned.

This morning’s theatrics wasn’t the first time she’d spewed off at the mouth about Lily and Holly having contact, but we both know that the condition of our custody deal leaned more heavily in my favor than hers and that I was the one giving her a chance to be the mother she claimed she wanted to be.

Every once in a while she forgot that shit and spouted off like she’d lost her damn mind. I’m sure she knew I’d never do anything to harm my kid and that’s why she thought she could get away with shit, but I have the paperwork back home in a safe that could overturn her apple cart any day.





Chapter 12





For the second time that day I found myself having to deal with my ex, a situation that was known to put me in a fucked up mood.

“Deanna is Holly awake?”

“Yes, why?”

“Tell her I’m coming to get her…”

“”Why what’s going on? it’s not your weekend.”

“Don’t be stupid, just have her dressed and ready when I get there.”

“Why? tell me what’s going on.”

There was really no point in hiding the shit, she’d find out sooner or later anyway. “I’m taking her to help me pick out a ring for her stepmother.” The silence on the other end was answer enough. Even with all the shit she’d done I never wanted to hurt her, she was still the mother of my kid, but her hurt feelings weren’t going to stop me from going on with my life.