While he stared at a rock, I ran my hand down the porch column. Kind of backfired because I didn’t realize a butterfly was on it. Shrieking, I jumped and had to keep myself from running for my life. The only thing that stopped me was me trippingover Tim’s foot and him catching me. As the father and son pair laughed at me, Merc shook his head and stepped down off the porch.
“Lord have mercy. Y’all keep my daughter safe. Apparently, she has more than Iman’s ass to worry about.”
I only laughed harder as he pulled me in for a hug and told me he’d see me later.
“Come on,” Marz said, taking my hand into his. “Let’s go for our walk.”
Nodding, I fell in stride next to him, not wanting to immediately ask if everything was okay. By the third time I looked up at him, Marz chuckled and shook his head.
“Do you want to know?—”
“Yes,” I answered quickly, making him laugh again.
“Iman reached out to my uncle, who is Pops’ best friend. He’s been trying to get in touch with me to see what I’m going to do. Even though I’m going to agree to his plan, I’ve been trying to get information on Casper before I do.” He paused and sighed. “I hadn’t told Pops about it because I knew he was going to come in and take over. Karrington told Pops and he’s pissed. Well, he was.”
“Oh no. I’m so sorry, babe. I feel like I’m causing you so much trouble.”
“Nah. Don’t even go there.”
“It’s true,” I whined as I stopped walking and turned to face him. “He probably wants you to let me go huh?”
“No, but even if he did it wouldn’t matter. Just like he went hard behind Mama Neo, I’ma go hard behind you.”
My head shook and eyes rolled as I crossed my arms over my chest. “That was different, Marz,” I muttered while he wrapped his arms around me.
“How?” he asked softly with a relaxed smile before kissing my pout away.
Blinking rapidly, I tried to find the ways our situation was different, but I couldn’t find them. “Oh! It’s different because you said this Casper guy is very dangerous and that he killed Iman’s last enforcer.”
“True… but Bart and Gatlin were dangerous as well. My father knew the risk he was taking for my mama and he still did it. That’s why as upset as he was that I had already made up my mind to work with Iman, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop me, because no one could stop him. More than anything, he was upset because I’m so much like him.”
My head hung as it shook. “Still. I don’t feel good about this, babe. I appreciate what you’re offering to do and sacrifice for me, but if something were to happen to you?—”
Marz tilted my head and kissed my doubts away. “Trust ya man and pray that God keeps me in His hands. If you can do those two things, I’ll always be safe.”
I knew there was no talking this man out of what he wanted to do, so I gave up and surrendered to the kiss. Tossing my arms around his neck, I melted against him as I always did when we kissed.
“I’ma be aight, bae. You don’t have to worry about me,” he assured me, holding me close.
“How can I not? I care about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. We have a long life to live.”
“And I’ma be here to live it. I promise. If I feel like I can’t handle it, I’ll call in my people. I gave Pops my word on that, and I’m giving the same to you.”
“Okay,” I agreed unwillingly, releasing him so we could start walking again.
We ended up walking three miles before going back to the house, showering, and taking a nap. When we got up, he sent the guards home for the evening since he didn’t have anything else planned. As we cooked dinner together, music played in thebackground. One of his favorite songs came on, and when he tried to pull me into his arms for a dance, I laughed and shook my head.
“All I know how to do is line dance, babe. That’s all I got for you.”
Marz laughed until he realized I was serious. “Wait. You ain’t playing, are you?”
“Not at all,” I admitted through my giggle. “I mean, I can groove a little and shake my ass but like two stepping and slow dancing? I’ve never done those things with a man before.”
The confused expression that covered his face tickled me. “What about date nights? Prom? Never?”
“Never,” I confirmed. “For my prom, my date and I stayed long enough to take pictures and dance to one song. I twerked on him which led to his dick getting hard, so we left and?—”
“Yeah, aight. It’s in the past but I’on wanna hear no recollections about you being with another nigga.” Now that made me cackle as he took me into his arms. “Sooo, I’ma lead you,” he decided, expression softening as we softly swayed against each other. “I’ma teach you how to dance.”