Heart of the Hustle

by A'zayler

  “Send our blessings to Vinny, will you?”

  Angel nodded before rising to his feet.

  “Didn’t know he was retiring this soon. We just spoke a few months back and he didn’t mention a thing.”

  “His retirement wasn’t any of your concern. Business is business. His personal life is reserved for those that love him,” Snow responded before Angel could say anything.

  Both men expressed their understanding as Snow and Angel prepared to leave. He was still holding her hand, and she had no desire to pull it away. A few more things were spoken between Angel and the men before they were back on the other side of the door and headed for the elevator.

  “You okay?” Snow asked Angel as soon as the door to the elevators closed.

  His face was long with sadness, but he nodded anyway. Snow could tell that he was lying, so instead of continuing to interrogate him, she walked so that she was directly in front of him and grabbed his other hand in hers. With both of his smooth hands in hers, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

  His eyes came to hers, and the sadness that accompanied them was enough to make her want to shed a few tears, but right then wasn’t the time. She needed to be strong for him.

  “You’re going to be okay. Vinny has lived a full life, Angel.” She gave him a sympathetic look when his eyes glossed over. “Oh, Angel.” She sighed before grabbing his head and pulling it down onto her shoulder. “Don’t be sad, baby. I know it’s hard, but you have to be stronger than this. Everyone that depended on Vinny is going to need you.”

  He nodded against her shoulder, but didn’t say anything. Snow could feel his chest rising and falling against hers, and her heart went out to him. Angel wasn’t like her. She’d been in the streets so long that she was accustomed to taking losses, no matter how they came. Angel was not. His life had been nothing of the sort, so having to watch his father circle the drain was taking a major toll on him, and Snow was positive that he was going to fall apart before it was all over with.

  “I’ll be here, okay?” Snow assured her once best friend. She rubbed her hand up and down his back as the elevator dinged.

  He nodded again, but remained silent.

  When the doors opened, Snow stepped out of his grasp and held his face in her hands. His dark eyes appeared darker, and void of emotion.

  “You’re stronger than you think, Angel, and so am I.” She smiled at him. “I’ll help you take care of everything until you can manage it on your own.”

  “Then what?”

  Snow frowned, unsure of what he was asking.

  Angel exited the elevator and she followed. They were outside walking down the winding sidewalk to his truck before he began talking again.

  “You said you’ll help me take care of things until I can do it on my own,” He looked back at her. “Then what? Once I’m able to handle everything, what are you going to do?” He stopped in front of his truck, blocking her from getting in. “You’re going to leave?”

  Like it had been doing all day, his voice awakened the softer side of her. Snow wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him that she would be there as long as he needed her to be, but she couldn’t. That would be too weak and too girly for her image. Furthermore, Angel was just in his feelings right then. He normally hated the ground she walked on. There was no way in the world he actually wanted her to stay with him.

  “You are, aren’t you?” He squinted his eyes at her.

  Snow looked away for a minute before giving him back her attention. “You want me to?”

  His handsome brown face was sad, but still strong, and a tad bit intimidating as she stood there looking at him. Snow couldn’t explain why she felt like she was in love with him at that moment, but the feeling was so strong, she almost belted out the words. As if maintaining her composure wasn’t hard enough, when he shook his head that he didn’t want her to leave, she nearly bowed out and gave him her heart.

  “You want me to stay?” she asked in disbelief.

  Angel closed his eyes momentarily before opening them and grabbing her by her waist and pulling her to him. With one of his long arms draped loosely around her waist, Snow stood chest to chest with him.

  “I need you to stay,” he whispered into her ear. “I don’t think I can do any of this without you.”

  Take me now, Lord. Snow melted in his embrace. “You can, but I’ll stay until you know that for yourself.”

  Angel released a deep sigh as if he’d been holding his breath, and kissed her forehead. “Thank you, beautiful.”

  “Angel.” His name was a desperate plea on her lips.

  “I know, baby girl. I know.” He hugged her to him before resting his lips on her temple a few times and then finally allowing them to land on her mouth.

  Whatever self-control Snow had left flew out of the window at that moment. Her body weakened for his, and she opened herself up to the passion that he was relaying through his mouth. The softness of his pink lips meshed with the warmth of his thick tongue made her stomach float with butterflies.

  Angel’s mouth was intrusive and controlling as he dominated their kiss. With greedy hands resting on her back, pulling her closer to him, he kissed her with a ferocity that she welcomed wholeheartedly. The way his mouth on hers made her body feel was indescribable, and all Snow wanted was to feel it forever.

  “I don’t want to need you, Emelia.” He pulled back only enough to whisper against her lips.

  Snow wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say to that, so she said nothing. She waited in anticipation of his lips finding hers once again, but when they didn’t, she gathered herself and pulled out of his embrace. Before looking at him, she fixed her clothes and took a deep breath. She needed to make sure she had herself together before his gaze disarmed her, as it had been doing all day.

  When she was finally ready, she looked up and he was staring at her.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.” He spoke remorsefully.

  Snow giggled nervously. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”

  Angel’s smile was soft, and barely there, but she saw it.

  “You ready?”

  Snow nodded before stepping around him and letting him help her into the car. Once she was in, she turned so that she was facing the window, and that was where she remained until they parked next to her car. Before getting out, she looked over her shoulder at him.

  “Don’t overthink this, Angel. You’ve got it.”

  He smiled and grabbed her hand. “As long as I have you too.”

  “Angel.” She said his name with warning, and he smiled before raising his hands in surrender.

  “Sorry. I can’t help it.”

  “Well try to,” she told him, and got out.

  When she was in her car, his truck pulled away. Snow laid her head on her steering wheel and took a few deep breaths. Angel was seriously killing her. One minute he hated her, the next he was kissing her like she’d never been kissed. She wasn’t sure which one she preferred, but judging by the way her stomach was flipping, she was going to have to go with him hating her. At least then she could trust herself. Trust herself not to like him, not to touch him, not to crave him, but most importantly, not to love him. She’d done it before and had vowed never to do it again.

  “What do you mean you’re leaving?” Emelia sat on the edge of Angel’s bed with her heart in her throat.

  Angel kneeled on the floor in front of her. “I got accepted into Clemson University, so I have to leave.”

  “Why can’t you just stay here and go to school?”

  “Clemson has a better program for my major.” He grabbed both of Emelia’s hands. “Why don’t you just come with me?”

  Emelia stood from the bed and walked near the window. “I can’t. My family needs me here.”

  Angel stood to his full height and stared at her. “And I need you there . . . with me. Don’t you want to be with me?”

  “Yes, Angel, but you know I can’t
leave the cartel right now.”

  Angel’s head dropped, and his room grew quiet. “So, you’re going to choose the cartel over me?”

  Emelia grabbed both sides of her head. She hated that this was happening. They’d only been together for a few months, but she was in love with him. So deeply that she could literally feel her heart breaking in her chest. Though they’d been doing their best to keep it a secret, their relationship was the best part of her young life.

  Before getting involved with Angel, all she’d known was the love from her father, but after receiving real love from a man, she never wanted to be without it. Especially the kind of love Angel gave. It was like taking a breath of fresh air. Now it was all about to be taken away, and she could already tell she wasn’t going to be able to handle it.

  “There are schools here, Angel. Please stay with me.” She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly to her. “I don’t want you to go.”

  “I have to. Just come with me.”

  Emelia’s tears began to flow. She couldn’t do that. The cartel may have meant nothing to Angel, but it was everything to her. She loved that life and wouldn’t trade her family for anything or anybody. With regret in her heart, Emelia pulled away from him.

  “Emelia.” Angel called her name and tried to pull her back to him, but she wouldn’t go. “Come with me.”

  “I can’t.”

  He looked at her for a few minutes longer before nodding in defeat. “So, does that mean you can’t be my girlfriend anymore either?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, trying to stop herself from crying.

  “What? Why?”

  Emelia leaned down to grab her backpack from the floor. “Because you’ll find somebody else once you’re there and break up with me. I don’t want to do that.” She sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

  “No, I won’t.”

  “Yes, you will. I know you. They’re going to love you, and you’ll forget all about me.” Emelia shook her head. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” She turned to leave, but Angel grabbed her from behind before she could walk out of his bedroom.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too. Have fun at school.”

  The pain that Snow felt in her chest had lingered on for months and resurfaced whenever she thought about him. It took her nearly a year to be able to hear his name without getting sad again, not to mention all of the heartache she experienced after that. Snow promised herself the day that Angel left for school that she’d never love again, and she’d kept the promise without a problem, until now. Being near him and around him was bringing it all back, and she didn’t know if she could handle it.

  Being friends and coworkers with Angel was one thing, but giving herself to him again was too much to handle. The way she’d loved him back then was stronger than anything she’d ever felt, and she had been a child, so she could only imagine what loving him as a grown woman would do to her.

  Chapter Twelve

  You’re going to learn to listen

  “That’s not what I asked you. I know what’s already been ordered. I asked you to add another.” D’Angelo leaned back in the chair of Vinny’s home office. “Very well. When should I expect it?” He paused and listened to the woman’s voice. “Thank you. I’ll be looking for it.” D’Angelo placed the receiver back onto the hook, ending their call.

  It was about time for him to get things rolling. He’d been sitting back on his thumbs for long enough. He couldn’t possibly take over the streets waiting on his parents to dismiss their feelings for Angel long enough to appoint him the leader. He’d given them enough time to make some changes, and they still hadn’t, so he would.

  “What you doing in here, boy?” Empress walked in with her hands on her hips.

  D’Angelo looked up at her with a smile on his face. “Nothing, just thinking about Daddy. What do you think is going to happen with him?”

  Empress’s face saddened as she walked farther into the room and sat down on the small sofa in the corner. “I wish I knew.”

  D’Angelo hated to make his mother sad, but he needed some sort of distraction. His mother was a very smart woman, and sneaky. If he didn’t throw her mind away off to something else, she probably would have snooped all around behind him, asking a million and one questions along the way to make sure he wasn’t lying. She’d been that way since he was a child. True enough, he was indeed a liar and a crafty person who needed extra supervision, but she didn’t have to make it so blatant.

  “Yeah, that’s something we probably need to figure out sooner rather than later. There’s stuff that needs to be handled.”

  Empress’s facial expression changed immediately. “Things like what, D’Angelo? Your ass is always up to something.” She began looking around the room. “You probably had your ass in here trying to find a way to come up.” She stood and walked toward him.

  D’Angelo had done exactly what he hadn’t wanted to do, but he needed to begin mapping out his game plan. Time was passing too fast, and before long, the cartel would become comfortable with Angel becoming the new leader, and D’Angelo didn’t want that.

  “I ain’t up to nothing, Ma. I’m just saying we can’t sit around letting all Daddy’s hard work go to waste. If we don’t put the right people in place, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

  Empress stood next to Vinny’s desk and leaned on it. “Right people?” She frowned. “I know you’re not trying to talk about Angel.”

  D’Angelo’s entire mood shifted. It was no secret that Angel was Empress’s favorite. Anybody with eyes could see that, but it still irritated him that she didn’t try to hide it from him. The least she could do was pretend to not have a favorite.

  “You love taking up for that nigga.”

  “I’m not taking up for anybody, I’m just trying to gain clarification. You’re just sitting here saying everything but what you really want to say. Open your mouth and tell me what’s on your mind.” She leaned against the desk and folded her arms across her chest.

  “I’m just saying I can help out. Y’all have put Angel in charge, and that nigga doesn’t know shit. I don’t see how y’all would look right over me and go straight to him.”

  “Because he’s more focused than you, D’Angelo. We can’t entrust everything we’ve worked for to you, and then you wind up back in jail or doing some stuff that will get us busted.” Empress shook her head. “You’re just not right for that job, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help in other areas.”

  “Y’all love that nigga Angel. He’s your favorite.”

  Before he could see what she was doing, Empress jumped up and grabbed the bottom of his face. “Listen to me, D’Angelo. You’ve been using that same excuse since you were a child. Stop it now. Just stop it. We don’t favor Angel over you. We favor the things he does. All you do is buck against us and get into trouble, while Angel goes to school and does whatever we ask of him.” Empress squinted her eyes at him. “I love you just as much as I love him. I don’t favor one of my boys over the other. Maybe if you would stop worrying about the way we are with Angel, you could see how we are with you.”

  Empress let his face go and walked back toward the door. “All the money we’ve spent getting you lawyers and paying people off to keep you out of court is love. Continuing to keep you around even when we know you don’t really care for us is love.” She looked at him over her shoulder once more before leaving. “Get out of your feelings so you can see that your family is for you, not against you.” After that, she left.

  D’Angelo watched her retreat out of the office and held his head down on the desk. He’d heard what she was saying and had even thought about that on many days, but actions spoke louder than words. They could tell him all day how they felt, but the things they did for Angel showed him how they really felt.

  “Fuck them. I’m all I got.” D’Angelo rose to his feet. “I want it all, so that’s what I’ma get.” He stretche
d and exited the office.

  He had places to go and people to see. He was done wasting his time at the DeLuca estate.

  * * *

  Angel sat in the back seat of the truck with his mind all over the place, from his father’s health to Emelia being back in his life. He had been doing everything he could to stay away from her, but it was getting harder and harder. For months he’d been doing his best to avoid her, even going out of his way to be mean to her, but that was all starting to become impossible as well.

  Had he known giving up medical school to take over the cartel would have put such a mental strain on him, he probably would have never done it, but it was too late to turn back now. After the night he found out about his father’s health, he fell into a depression. One so strong that he’d even considered giving everything over to D’Angelo, even when he knew that would be equivalent to flushing it down the drain. D’Angelo was too hotheaded, with not an ounce of business savvy. Deep in his feelings, it took nearly two weeks for Angel to come to terms with what he had to do, and when he finally did, he was slapped in the face with yet another hardship.

  Being in love with Snow was something he’d thought he’d gotten over. Apparently, he hadn’t. The love he’d held for her had been so many years ago, he’d thought for sure it had blown away with the wind. How wrong had he been? Just the sight of her made his heart happy, so actually, tasting her lips and touching her body put him into an entirely different state of mind.

  “Going home, sir?” his driver asked from the front seat.

  “Yes, please,” Angel said.

  The driver nodded once before taking the route to Angel’s condo. That was another thing he’d done to help rid his life of Snow. She had been staying down the hall from him at his parents’ house, and it was killing him. He had to watch her walk around in her tight little pajamas every night or bump into her in her towel every morning when trying to get into the bathroom.

  Her presence was consuming him, so he ran. Just like he’d done when they were kids. The way he loved Emelia had him second-guessing everything he’d planned for his life, so the moment he got his acceptance letter to college, he’d been on the first thing smoking out of California. It had hurt like all hell to leave her behind, but that only confirmed that it was the right decision. He was too young to be that deeply involved with anyone.