Page 54 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings

“She took my phone and won’t give it back!” Saga belted, still trying to free himself from his father’s grasp.

“Tavi.” Brick opened his hand, and she rolled her eyes before dropping the iPhone into his palm.

“I was just messing with him. He’s the one that got all tight,” she sneered and tucked her arms over her chest with attitude.

“Didn’t we already talk about you leaving people’s shit alone though?” Staten demanded.

“But he’s got an IG page and won’t let me see it,” Tavi pouted.

“Man, you an opp!” Saga declared. “Always running your mouth and being nosy.”

“Just like your mama,” Staten voiced, watching Tavi’s mouth slip open.

“I am not nosy!”

“What you take his phone for then?” Brick questioned, tossing the device to Saga who caught it.

“Whose side are you on, Uncle Brick?” she asked, glaring up at him.

“Aye, take that little attitude home.” He pointed to the door, and Staten let go of Saga.

“What you got in that bag?” Rogue had snuck up beside me and was trying to go through our food.

“None of your greedy ass business.” Brick nudged him back by his forehead. “Stat… you better get ’em.”

“We heading out. Cambrie made dinner and I have somewhere to be. Let’s roll y’all.” He gathered his children.

Piaget shut the music off but left the volume loud as hell for the next person when they decided to cut it on.

With his arms full of his little soldiers and action figures, Rogue skipped off behind her.

Once they were gone, Brick made sure to lock up.

It was cute seeing him interact with his nieces and nephews.

Most of the time he acted like one of them anyway, so it was easy for them to relate.

He was a family man through and through.

In just the last week, I’d seen him come through for more than one of them.

“You want to eat in the kitchen or upstairs?” he checked with me.

“Upstairs. I want to try and relax before this thing tonight,” I sighed.

“Bet.” He grabbed my bags, and we started up the steps to his room.

Brick kicked off his shoes like he always did and left my bags near the door.

I had a whole room to myself next door, but oddly enough, when I was here, I ended up in the bed or on the couch sleeping with him.

There had been no sex, and the only time we kissed was on camera, but we weren’t lacking in intimacy.

This man liked to cuddle. I was never big on that shit, but now it was hard to sleep when we weren’t up under each other.

Shit was weird. I slipped out of the Chanel slides on my feet and carried our food over to the living room area.

Sinking into the couch, I unpacked the fire ass smelling chicken and arranged our baskets side by side with our drinks beside them.

Lifting the lid to my container, I drooled over the mix of flats and drums covered in buffalo sauce with dipping sauces on the side. I picked up a flat, and Brick sank into the cushions beside me and lifted the remote to the TV from the table.

“Mmm, this is so good.” I popped the top to the blue cheese so I could dip mine, and Brick took a sip of his lemonade.

“There’s a rack in the closet for you with some dresses to try on. I had them arrange all the accessories and shoes and shit for you too for each one. All the dresses match my suit.”

“You realize I’ll eventually have to sleep in my own room, Brick.” I took another bite of the wing, and he briefly side eyed me before clicking around with apps until he came across Paramount Plus.

“You say anything, Six. You capping if you say you can sleep good without me. Yo’ ass be buried in them pillows, snoring and drooling.”

“I do not snore!” I bumped his shoulder.

“You be up in here sounding like Yogi next to a campfire.” Brick reached in his box for a waffle fry.

“Oh, you are lying!”

“Yeah, believe what you want. Matter of fact, I’ll record that shit next time so I got proof.” He decided on a Transformer movie and grabbed his food.

Leaning back, he settled with it in his lap and kicked his feet up on the table.

“So my crazy ass nieces and nephews don’t even seem to faze you. What was it like for you growing up?”

Pausing, I caught a flicker of my past in my subconscious and tossed the bone to my wing aside.

I picked up another one and brought it to my lips.

His eyes were glued to me, waiting on me to elaborate.

Talking about my childhood was awkward with other people.

Most of the time I lied because it was easier than the truth.

For some reason I didn’t want to do that with Brick.

“Chaos, just like that. My brothers and sisters were all older than me though. Our mother wasn’t the domestic kind.

She lived for partying, getting high, and swimming in deep pockets.

My siblings and I learned how to pull cons, pick locks, pick pockets…

If it was a quick way to get cash, she prepared us for it. ” I took a bite off the meaty bone.

“No shit?”

“Yup. I’ve never had a legal job in my life. It was all about the hustle. Before I came here, I was helping her boyfriend sling coke and pills. Some girls jumped me and took the work, and when I went home to tell him, he beat my ass too,” I confessed.

“The fuck?” Brick immediately sat forward with his brows knitted together. “What’s that bitch nigga name? Ya mama ain’t do shit about it?”

“What was she going to do? Fuck up her latest meal ticket?” I quipped with sarcasm. “It doesn’t matter. I got my lick back, and I took off and ended up here.” Shrugging, I didn’t think much of it, but Brick sat forward with a hard grimace darkening his face as he slowly chewed.

By the time I was done eating, I was sleepy as hell, so I stretched out across the couch and grabbed the fleece blanket off the back to cover up.

Brick sat beside me, watching the movie and rolling a blunt.

He’d taken his shirt off, and I was able to view all the many tattoos that were etched across his back.

He propped his phone up on the table and went live as I was dozing off against a pillow.

“Man, shout out to Hatch Box on that meal though! Shit was right on time.”

Brick leaned forward and squinted at the comments rolling in.

“Is that my girl?” he repeated, glimpsing me over his shoulder.

I guess he hadn’t noticed I was even in the frame half sleeping. His warm amber orbs drifted over me, and a half smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

“She looks so chill. Lowkey, shorty the best part of this live. That Hatch Box got her on slump!” Brick chuckled, reading comments, and shook his head.

“Y’all wild. But yeah, lil’ mama here. She always here lately.”

“Like you can sleep if I’m not,” I grumbled, yawning and pulling the covers tighter around myself. “Don’t let him fool y’all. He’s basically holding me hostage!” I yelled at the camera.

“She wish. She ain’t going nowhere.” Brick leaned back and planted a soft kiss against my lips.

For the first time, I didn’t feel like he was putting on a show.

It was so organic the way his lips crushed against mine, and I even kissed him back before slipping into a food coma.

Hours later, I stirred, pleasure tingling my wet middle.

Brick had somehow found a way to invade my dreams lately too, because we were suddenly on the red carpet at this event, and it all felt so real.

Not just the physical place, but what I felt in that moment and what glistened behind his eyes when he looked at me.

It was genuine admiration right before he pulled me against him and knelt to kiss me in front of the cameras.

“Mmm.” A soft moan slipped through my lips while warm hands traveled up my stomach and to my breasts.

My hips wound in slow, fluid motions. The slow flicks of a warm tongue were driving me up the walls to ecstasy and sending a rush of flames through my veins.

“Oh!” I whimpered, mouth slipping open in bliss while my eyes remained shut.

One finger slipped inside me, then two, and the whole time my clit was circled with the tip of his tongue. I knew it was Brick. I smelled him, and this wasn’t a fucking dream.

“Shit like candy, Six,” he mumbled against my lower lips before sending me over the cliff.

My walls clamped around his fingers, and the dam broke.

“Damnnnn,” I heard him whisper before softly pecking my vagina lips again and letting me work through my orgasm.

With clenched fists at my side and a heaving chest, I managed to peel my eyes open and look down.

Brick applied kisses to my inner thighs before sitting up between them.

In my twenty-two years of life, I’d never had anyone touch me like that.

As a little girl, I’d been forced to touch men in certain places, including my own brothers.

It traumatized me so much that I’d repressed it, was what one court-mandated therapist said.

There was a period there where Darlene lost custody of me and I had to live in foster homes, where the abuse would just continue with someone new.

You couldn’t tell me that I hadn’t been handpicked for bullshit with how the deck stacked against me.

I seemed to go from one fucked-up situation to the next.

It made me hard and guarded. The world was my enemy, but especially men.

It’s why I went so hard on Brick when we originally met.

I knew a fuck boy when I saw one, but there was something more grounded about him than any other man I’d ever met.

I take that back, his brothers came very close.

I could tell they lived by a certain code, and a lot of shit I’d witnessed growing up wasn’t tolerated among them.

My siblings treated each other like strangers off the street.

With all of us having different daddies, it meant we got different treatment.

Darlene was a deadbeat mama all around, but she had her moments with certain children where a flicker of nurturing would kick in.

“What’s wrong?” Brick asked, draping himself over me but not pressing his weight down as he searched my face.

When I didn’t answer, his gaze softened. I caught a reflection of myself in his stare, and that shit shook me to my core. Whatever was happening between us was real, and there was no escaping it. It scared me.

“Whoever hurt you, I ain’t him, aight?” he assured me.

With tears in my eyes, I nodded, and Brick brought his face closer to mine to seal his words with a passionate kiss.