Loveshed: Married to the Mafia

by B. Love

  Eira pulled into the parking lot after going through the security check, parking next to his family’s set of cars. They all started to get out one by one, and Eira was so overwhelmed he couldn’t even get out of his car right away. The party didn’t go how they expected it to last night, so for them to show up to see him off…

  With a shake of his head and a chuckle, Eira got out of his car.

  “The hell y’all doing here?” he asked, extending his hand for Cassius to shake.

  “You ain’t think we would let you leave without lighting one up did you?” Chief checked, pulling him in for a brotherly hug.

  “Mane, you out your damn mind if you light up in this parking lot. Weed ain’t illegal in Memphis.”

  “And? How you think we got it in here? You know we don’t give a fuck,” Cassius reminded him.

  All Eira could do was laugh, but his laugh fell when he saw Trisha get out of the back seat of Eiryx’s car. His smile fell as he slowly walked over to her, but it returned the moment they were less than an inch apart. In that moment, nothing or no one else mattered. No one but Trisha.

  “Hey,” she spoke softly, looking up at him with her beautiful brown eyes.

  “What you doing here, Trisha?”

  She smiled, blessing him with her deep ass dimples. If Eira was ever crazy in love with anyone… it was Trisha. She was legit the one that got away. Truth – Eira tried as hard to make things work with Sienna because he felt like it was a mistake choosing her instead of Trisha. Every day of his life, he tried to love her and be there for her as much as he could, to get the same back from her, hoping it would convince his heart that he’d made the right choice.

  But deep down, he always knew it was Trisha.

  And the only reason he never tried harder was because he felt like she deserved better. Better than a street nigga whose family had a drug empire that he cleaned the money for.

  “I let you get away from me once, I’m not going to let that happen again, Eira.”

  He was so caught off guard by her statement it took Eira a while to respond. He didn’t snap out of his trance until she giggled.

  “Don’t play with me, girl. I’ll stay for you.”

  Her giggle had turned into a smile that lingered when she said, “And I’ll go for you.” She looked back into the car and Eira did too. The sight of her bags made his heart skip a beat. “Whatever I need to do to be cleared to go with you, I’ll do.”

  Fuck it. There would be no him without her. If they didn’t approve her leaving with him, Eira would reject the deal and deny ever giving them one name on their list. Period.

  Now that he had a second chance with Trisha, he was going to do whatever it took to capitalize on it. This certainly wasn’t the way he thought it would come about… but he supposed this was his rainbow after the storm of Sienna. Lowering his lips to hers, Eira allowed them to reacquaint themselves with hers after what felt like forever. But he couldn’t even enjoy the kiss because the sound of his family cheering and clapping made him pull away as he laughed.

  “Mane. If y’all don’t gone somewhere. Messin’ up a nigga moves…”

  Chapter 36

  A week after everything went down, things were slowly starting to get back to normal. As normal as they could be at least. No one had seen or heard from James, but they knew exactly where he was. At the hideaway spot. Deciding to leave well enough alone for the time being, they handled business without him. But when he showed his face again, there was no doubt in Chief’s mind that shit would get real all over again. And James knew that too, because he had guards at the hideaway spot twenty-four seven.

  No one would bring him lethal harm, though he deserved it, but they all wanted to beat his ass.

  Eira was cool and adjusted. Having Trisha with him definitely made his transition smoother. They preferred his family not to have any contact with him, but the Salzano and Bruce clan always broke the rules and was with the shit.

  Diem and Deacon were doing their thing. He had spoken to Melinda, Sienna’s mother, a couple of times at this point, getting a strategy in place for how they would bring him into Brensen’s life. Brensen had his moments where he missed his mother, but the family had shielded and covered him with so much love that he barely felt as if there was a lack.

  Eiryx had gone ghost, only stopping by when it was a family gathering or to see Brensen. Both she and Ai needed time to wrap their minds around everything that had happened, and the family understood and respected that.

  Cassius had to be kept on a short leash. If given the opportunity, he would be the first headed to the hideaway spot to get up with James. The only thing keeping him tamed at this point was Treasure’s peace.

  And then there was Chief. All of his time had been devoted to the women in his life. Eventually, he was going to start investing his money in legal businesses, but for now, he wanted to make sure Remington, Estella, and Pamela especially were straight. Tonight, his attention was devoted to Remington. She’d finally agreed to him being her man and accepting the fact that she’d been his woman.

  They were officially a couple… and Chief didn’t think anything could make him happier in this moment.

  As Chief looked over at her across the table, he considered when and how he would propose. It would be anywhere from four to six months from now, now that she’d finally gotten on some act right. He couldn’t blame her, though. Fucking that stripper was stupid as hell. A way for him to convince himself he didn’t like Remington as much as he knew he did. Worse, he didn’t even get a nut.

  But that was cool, because Remington had the best pussy he’d ever had.

  She was the best woman he’d ever had.

  Remington was the kind of woman who took care of her man. The better he treated her the better she treated him. She had everything every other woman in his past lacked. Not only was she beautiful on the outside but she was on the inside as well. Remington was a firecracker who took no shit but she was sweet as hell too. Always willing to do whatever she could for anyone—but she expected the exact same loyalty in return.

  And she was freaky ass hell… just like him.

  Goofy when she wanted to be, serious when she needed to be.

  Always for him, even when she was mad at him.

  She was patient with him, giving the time he needed to become the best version of himself because she knew the potential of the great and faithful man he could be.

  And she was independent on her boss shit… the complete opposite of how she was with Gray. That was his doing, though. He started their relationship with a foundation of money being the only thing he had to offer her, then expected her to see him as something beyond a buck.

  Nah.

  Their bond was real – and special.

  “I been thinking.” Remington wrapped her hand around her glass of champagne with a smile.

  They were on the American Queen riverboat for their date night, eating steak and lobster like that shit was common for him, and Chief was enjoying the fuck out of it. He did the bare minimum for women in his past, but with Remington, he put careful thought into every date he planned for them.

  “About?”

  “Whenever your schedule permits, I’d like for you to join me when I go to Dallas and Vegas to do hair. I know you got your own thing going here, but I feel safe when I’m with you. And you make me smile so much. Even if it’s just once a month…”

  “I’ll be at your side every time you go. Fuck this other shit.”

  Lowering her head, Remington blushed. “Thank you.” When Remington lifted her head, she pushed her straightened, natural hair back. That was Chief’s favorite thing about her. Her thick, long shiny ass hair. If he stared at it too long, he would want to wrap it around his fist as he fed her his dick from the back. Clearing his throat, Chief sat up in his seat to avoid his mind getting too nasty.

  That didn’t work.

  His dick was hard as fuck when they stood to go to the main deck lounge to listen to some
live music. When Remington noticed it, she laughed and teased him by asking if he wanted her to take care of it. Naturally he did, but of course she was going to wait until they were at home or at least in the car. They sat in their reserved seats at the top of the lounge, secluded and away from the eyes of everyone except the couples who had their own box seats to the left and right of them. If this shit wasn’t over soon, Chief was going to give them a show.

  Remington took his hand into hers as the lights lightly dimmed and the pianist began to play. When she sucked his pointer finger into her mouth, Chief looked over at her in pure surprise. She hardly ever did things like that in public, but Chief wouldn’t dare complain. He wrapped his hand around hers and lifted her to her feet, prepared to escort her to the nearest bathroom or closet, but she surprised him again when she pushed him back down into his seat and got on her knees.

  Sitting back fully, Chief relaxed as she went to work unzipping his pants. Still expecting her to back out, he bit back a satisfied moan when she pulled his shaft out and began to circle her tongue around his head. The moment she took him deep within her throat, Chief wrapped his hand around her hair and pulled as he groaned, “You tryna make me propose to your ass tonight, huh?”

  Chapter 37

  When Eiryx received a phone call from Nolan’s Spa confirming her day of pampering, she was sure it was a gift from Martino. He told her that he had no idea what in the hell she was talking about… and that’s when she knew it was Xi. She called him, and he confirmed the reservation had been made and paid for by him.

  They hadn’t talked since he told her the truth, and she hadn’t talked to Martino either. It wasn’t because he wasn’t trying to talk to her, though. Martino had been calling or texting her every day, but that night… she saw clear as day why Trevor didn’t want her to be with him in the past. He was very, very reckless. Still in the streets, she listened as Martino handed his business while he thought she was asleep.

  Eiryx had to keep herself from telling him several times that he was making horrible choices. For one, he was ordering product over the phone without using any type of coded keywords. For all he knew, the person he was talking to could have been recording him to use that against him at a later date. He was paying twice what he should have been paying, and the supplier he was working with had been known to have a low grade of product.

  When she couldn’t take it anymore, she sat up and offered him advice. He damn near flew off his rocker talking about he wasn’t about to take advice from a woman, no matter what family she came from. Even though he realized quickly how disrespectful what he said sounded, it didn’t matter. Eiryx had no intention of being with him on a personal level.

  Eiryx was confident that he’d be catching another charge soon, especially since she found out he’d been locked up twice since he got out after his first bid. And she refused to get caught up in his mess.

  It was risky, deciding to thank Xi in person, but it seemed like the polite thing to do. That’s the excuse Eiryx gave herself when she pulled into his driveway. She couldn’t possibly tell him the truth – that she simply wanted to look at his face. When Eiryx asked if she could stop by and thank him after she left the spa, he told her that was more than okay. That he’d stop and grab some of her favorite items from the Japanese restaurant by his house and they could make a lunch date out of it.

  But… as soon as he said that, Xi quickly corrected it by telling her it was no pressure. Just a chance to put some free food in her stomach. Eiryx didn’t reply, but the thought of having a lunch date with him was nice. Hell, having any kind of date with Xi would have been nice. She’d always had a crush on him but figured it would never come to be. And when he saved her, Eiryx was confident that that was a sign that they were meant to be. Had it not been for Sienna’s scheme, they would still be dancing around each other in different paths avoiding the same destination – love.

  It was that practice of changing her perspective from negative to positive that had become Eiryx’s saving grace. Instead of focusing on what Sienna tried to destroy, she tried to focus on the gift she gave her… an in with Xi. There was no point in Eiryx hating Sienna at this point because she was gone. And without that hate in her heart, she had more room for love. Maybe it would be with Xi and maybe it wouldn’t. But… they owed it to themselves to see what could happen either way, on their own.

  Getting out of her head, Eiryx opened the door to her car and stepped out. By the time she made it to the door, he was opening it and stepping outside. Their smiles were wide and full as they mirrored one another.

  “Is it okay if I hug you?”

  She nodded and braced herself to feel the warmth of his body again.

  As soon as his arms wrapped around her body, Eiryx’s eyes closed as she hugged him back. Her body weakened against his, molding into his frame as she inhaled a deep breath.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, “For everything.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Why’d you do it?”

  “Just wanted to do something for you because you’ve been on my mind every day.” Xi pulled away from her slightly and looked into her eyes. “This isn’t my way of trying to lure you back in. I just… had to do something to feel connected to you.”

  Their eyes remained locked for a few seconds before Eiryx dropped her arms from around him.

  “I’ve been thinking about you a lot too.”

  “Anything good?”

  Eiryx smiled and shook her head. “Yes. After the first day or two, it was all good thoughts.”

  “Come in.”

  Following behind him, Eiryx thought about the last time she was in Xi’s home and the dis-ease it left within her. Trying to get those thoughts out of her head, Eiryx reminded herself of the present moment and how important it was not to dwell on the past.

  When they made it to his kitchen, Eiryx smiled at the setup he had on the bar. All of her favorites were there – sushi, fried rice, bang bang shrimp, and a bowl of Ramen. It was crazy because, they’d yet to have Japanese together. On her way to his house the first time, Eiryx mentioned how much she loved Japanese food. She even rattled off some of her favorites items to make conversation, but she certainly wasn’t expecting him to remember what she’d said.

  After sitting on the bar stool, she took a picture of their feast and uploaded it to her IG. Admittedly, she could have kept Xi’s arm from being in the picture, but quite frankly, she didn’t want to. Before she could even finish eating her first piece of sushi she was getting a FaceTime request from Chief. With a chuckle, she asked Xi if he minded her answering and he said no.

  “I don’t have in my earbuds,” was the first thing she said after accepting the request.

  “Where you at and who you with?”

  Smiling, Eiryx dipped her sushi into the soy sauce Xi provided.

  “I’m at Xi’s place. What’s up?”

  She looked at Chief to gauge his expression. At first, he looked confused, then he smiled. The family had already discussed Xi. He was still competition, but they didn’t see him as an enemy or a threat. Xi had the perfect opportunity to use Sienna and gather information about them to use to his advantage to take out his competition, but he didn’t. Even though he was slow about it, Xi told the truth, and they all appreciated that.

  “I was just trying to see who your little ass was with since it looked like you was at somebody house.”

  She chuckled quietly as her cheeks raised. “I’m good, bro.”

  “Aight. Tell that nigga I said what’s up and your brothers wanna see him. If y’all gon’ be dating and shit, he gon’ have to get grilled like every other nigga do.”

  They stared at each other, mainly because Chief had always been the hardest brother to please. The fact that he was even considering meeting up with Xi meant a lot to her. Twisting her mouth to the side, Eiryx nodded as her eyes misted over.

  “You don’t even know if he wants to date me, crazy, but I’ll tell him.”

>   “Aight cool.”

  Eiryx disconnected the call and wrapped a few ramen noodles around her chopsticks, trying to ignore Xi staring a hole into the side of her face. When she couldn’t ignore it anymore, she looked over at him with a smile.

  “I would love to date you… and be grilled by every one of your brothers.”

  She giggled softly with a nod of her head. “I would love that too.”

  Xi’s head shook as he dropped his chopsticks onto his plate. “I’m sorry, Ree…”

  Silencing him the best way she could think of, Eiryx placed a soft kiss to his lips. She didn’t let them linger there long; afraid she would want Xi to make a meal out of her. Instead, she removed them and allowed her forehead to rest on his.

  “It was sweet of you to go to Sienna to get to me. It was brave of you to save me. And it was noble of you to tell me the truth. That’s all I care about now. If we don’t work, we won’t work because of us, but I’m not holding on to anything in the past.”

  Running his hand down the front of her neck and chest, Xi allowed his hand to settle on her waist. Leaning forward, he kissed her. This time, their kiss was longer. Harder. More tender. As Eiryx cupped his cheek with her palm, she allowed herself to lose herself in this moment and not think too far in the past or future. Instead, focusing only on the beauty of their right now.

  One month later…

  Chapter 38

  Today was supposed to be the proudest day of Ai’s life, and she was proud, just not as happy as she thought she would be. Her and Duke hadn’t spoken to each other in a whole month, but she’d invited him to her graduation still. When she walked across the stage and looked in the direction of her family cheering for her, she didn’t see his face. Ai tried not to overthink it, but his seat would have been next to her mother’s. Trying not to let that get the best of her, Ai gripped her diploma tighter as she walked down the loop in search of her family.