Page 23 of Breaking the Rules

EIGHTEEN

“Glizzy!” Noble’s voice boomed through his shop. “What’s going on, nigga?”

“Ain’t shit. Trying to figure out your girl’s ride,” Glizzy Black spoke up. “You want her riding around in a Monte Carlo every day?”

“Hell nah. That’ll be her Sunday ride. I need her in something else, something bigger and depending on how many scratches I’ll have on my rims when I get home – not as big as the Escalade.”

Glizzy chuckled. “I do not know what about the curbs women are attracted to. Serenity can’t stay away from them shits.

Every night I pull her car out of the garage, there’s a scratch, and she can’t tell me where it came from.

Pisses me off, but I love her so I ain’t trippin’ over the rims. I know what it is not to have her. Never going through that shit again.”

Noble nodded, enjoying the way Glizzy’s scarred face glowed as he spoke about his wife.

Unlike Noble, Glizzy was a part of the LeFleur Mafia.

In retrospect, the Mafia controlled the whole West Coast. Elections, sports, casinos, weapons, drugs, and everything in between.

The Azul Hearts and Crimson Kings were gangs that fell under that umbrella.

There were smaller crews, but the Mafia was the Mecca, and the Azul Hearts and Crimson Kings were the two warring for decades for the top spot.

As of late, everything had been cool. As long as the gangs stayed separate, the streets were quiet. One upset in the rhythm of things, and blocks were going to be hot again.

“Two years of marriage, you still glowing?”

“Twenty years and I’m still going to be grinnin’ from ear to ear. She’s my world. My heart don’t beat without her, and that’s some real shit.”

“Love is some wild shit. I’ve never done none of this before, my ex was riding around in her own shit, and I might’ve paid for some tires here and there.

I’m seconds away from sending some movers to her place and packing the shit up,” Noble admitted.

“Like in my head, it don’t make no sense to me. Like who falls in love after a fuck?”

“How long ago you hit that?” Glizzy asked.

“Weeks ago at the birthday party, Sincere said was for me, but it was really for himself,” Noble spoke with a half chuckle. “Even after everything being thrown out of fuckin’ alignment, she ruled my brain. Yeah, it was good, but it was the…”

“The safety net. The soft place we can’t get out here. Not just because of our affiliations but as men.”

“That’s it. She looked at me and saw me and didn’t ask for nothing other than me to leave her the hell alone.”

“We see how that shit went,” Glizzy laughed.

“Listen, God got a funny way of rearranging and removing stuff out the way when He needs you in position. When it comes to matters of the heart and soul, our timing don’t matter.

Fall in that shit and stay there. There’s something special about a woman who is being loved correctly. That covering is unreal.”

“I hear you.”

“Good, now come look at this shit, I got a date and she will not pop her pregnant ass up here to cuss me out,” Glizzy spoke, walking deeper into his garage.

“Everything with the Monte Carlo is good, the engine work is on track. Once we get all of that in, we’ll do the paint and put the custom seating in.

Now something for every day. I got a Range Rover Autobiography sprayed with this lavender lush paint.

Shit is fire. Black interior and shoes.”

Glizzy pushed the curtain back, and Noble whistled. “Yeah, that shit is fire. Send Carl the invoice. You can have it delivered next week?”

“Yeah.”

“Aight, thanks big dawg, I appreciate you,” Noble said, dapping him up.

Back inside the JoyRide, he had waiting on him, he checked his phone for the first time since leaving practice.

Savanhi texted him a series of photos. Mostly of Areli enjoying the day he meant for her to enjoy.

The flowers he left for her and his favorite, Savanhi, in a red dress that hugged every curve.

The text under read, “the only thing I found for me, like it?”

Noble grunted. The control it had taken to do things at her rate was about to kill him, but he was holding fast.

Deuce: y’all cooking?

Sassy: yes, two hours in the grocery store with Areli.

Deuce: where’s the dress?

Sassy: hanging up very lonely in the closet. Areli has on three outfits in one

Deuce: let me guess, babygirl has on those princess shoes

Sassy: click clacking all around the kitchen, being bossy

He chuckled.

Deuce: I can’t wait to see it

Sassy: any special requests?

Deuce: you in that dress on the table, other than that, I can’t wait for a real home-cooked meal

Sassy: oh?

Deuce: yeah that type shit

Sassy: I’m a lady, say please

Deuce: please have your fine ass in that dress and on the table promptly after dinner

Sassy: see you when you get here

Noble locked his phone, blowing out a breath of anticipation.

He considered leaving the rounds he had to make for another day.

Unfortunately, after today, handling business and checking in with the places around the city he supported would be nearly impossible.

The Grand Slam Fest and back-to-back home games were going to take up his time.

Once he’d made his rounds, he landed at Carl’s new office.

“I almost had to cuss out your damn accountant,” Carl started. “He asked if you were on steroids or something, all this money you’re spending.”

“I’ve told his square ass a hundred times to stay out of my business. Did you get the building?” Noble questioned.

“I did. Had the designer walk through today to get an idea of what was needed. Got the invoice for the car too. You looked at the house?”

“Drove past after I left the cleaners. How much longer until it’s move-in ready?”

“Two weeks. Anything else you need to get together? Maybe call the lawyer because you’re damn near married.” Carl was joking, but there was a jolt that went through Noble’s being.

“I’m not trying to scare her, but figure some shit out.”

“Like the last one?”

“Nothing like the last one,” Noble stated. “She ain’t nothing like the last one. I gave her a few stacks this morning to take care of her. She used a few hundred on Areli and bought herself one dress. This shit is different. I want to make sure she’s taken care of.”

Carl saw the change in him and, oddly enough, agreed. “I’ll have him work on something. We’ll pull the trigger on that when you’re ready.”

Like a kid who knew he had a huge gift waiting at the house, complete with cake and his favorite meal, Noble bobbed through the door. The aroma of garlic butter steak, medallion potatoes, and sautéed green beans wafted through the air.

“You did a good job,” Areli praised from the kitchen.

Noble rounded the corner to find Savanhi in a high, messy bun, one of his old shirts, and a pair of biker shorts. Areli was in a similar outfit, her pink chef hat covering her hair. This was a sight he could get used to. One he would rush home for.

“Unc-Unc,” Areli screeched, hopping off the pink stool and towards him. She leapt into his arms with full faith that he’d catch her. As he bruised her cheek with kisses, Areli giggled. “Did you know we’re having a fancy dinner? We’ve been slavin’ all day.”

Savanhi cut her eyes at Areli and hummed. “We’ve been slavin’ all day?”

“I’ve been watching you all day, hard work.”

Noble closed the space between him and Savanhi, craning his neck to kiss her forehead.

“Told you he likes smooching you. You Deucey’s girlfriend,” Areli buzzed.

“Deucey hasn’t asked me to be his girlfriend. Deucey also needs to get dressed for dinner because we have requirements.”

“Oh yeahhhh,” Areli said, wiggling out of his arms. “We are wearing pretty dresses, and you are wearing a nice suit. Dinner, dessert, and movies!”

“All night?” Noble asked raising a brow, trying to figure out how to incorporate plans of his own.

“Yep, until I go to sleep with you and Sassy.” Areli’s quip was accompanied by a waltz down the hall. “I’m getting ready, Sassy.”

“Okay,” Savanhi called over her shoulder.

“Being an aunt looks good on you,” Noble teased, hooking her chin.

“She’s bossy. I’d like you to know she spent a lot of your money today. I put what was left over in your top drawer.”

He kissed her lips repeatedly, a frown forming on his face while he boxed her in. “Why you do that?”

“I’m not carrying all that money around, that’s the first thing. The second thing is I have no need for it. I bought a dress and stuff for Areli, but-”

He silenced her with a deep kiss. Something he’d been thinking about all day. Lightly sucking her lips, gliding his tongue over hers, hands around the base of her neck and her soft hands on his skin.

“That was for you to take care of you,” he stated.

“Noble.”

He growled. She rolled her eyes.

“Deuce.”

“Better,” he hummed, peppering kisses over her face.

“I don’t want your money.”

“That’s been verbalized. I also told you I was keeping you. You know what that means? What you need, I provide it. That money is yours.”

“So I’m going to fuck you to pay for it?”

“Uh uh. That’s ‘cause you want it like I do.”

“Mm, you just think I’m going to do what you say?” Savanhi teased, nipping at his full lips.

“Yeah,” he grunted.

“Too bad I’m not your girlfriend,” Savanhi said, nipping his bottom lip and wiggling away. “There’s a little girl who is waiting on me. Go get ready.”

“Ohh you play.”

“I’ve mastered the art of being a tease,” she hummed, switching away.

“Uh-huh, I hear you. I’ll be seeing you too, Sassy.”

“Good ‘cause I like to be seen.”

Dinner went as expected. Areli had her Unc-Unc in a full suit because she requested it. They ate, had dessert, and got through one movie before Areli was passed out between them. Her head on Savanhi’s lap and her feet on Noble’s. He glanced over at Savanhi, who had one eye open herself.

“Sassy,” he groaned her name.

She turned to him. “Deuce.”

“My plate.”