Loveshed: Married to the Mafia

by B. Love

  Gray also reminded Chief a lot of his father. And the fact that he saw Remington first and wanted her from the jump yet had to watch her deal with Gray’s bullshit didn’t sit too well with Chief either. The couple met two years ago. It was after Chief had pointed Remington out at the car lot. Before he could even make his way over to her, Gray was stepping up and offering to buy her anything she wanted off the lot in exchange for her phone number.

  She bit the bait, of course, and they’d been rocking ever since.

  For quite some time, Chief taking Remington from Gray had been a running joke between the two, but the more Chief watched Remington’s light dim when she was with Gray the more serious he became. His breaking point was the sight of Gray forcefully pushing Remington into the wall. Her eyes squeezed shut and she bit down on her lip as her fists balled up. She wouldn’t dare hit him while he had company, but there was no doubt in Chief’s mind that they would be going at it when he left.

  That was one thing he could say about Remington. Though she gave off damsel in distress vibes, she also had no problem holding her own. There were plenty of times where Gray would come out of a private room with a swollen eye or busted lip after trying to talk crazy to her in public.

  Having seen enough, Chief pinched his nose and sighed as he stood and walked over to them. Leaning against the wall next to Remington, he looked into Gray’s eyes. “You stupid or some shit? Let’er go before I beat your ass.” With his jaw clenched, Gray’s head tilted as he unwillingly released Remington.

  Gray licked his lips and rubbed them together as he stood directly in front of Chief. “You got one more time to step between me and my lady before I take offense to that shit, bruh.”

  Chief chuckled as he took Remington’s wrist and pulled her closer to his side. “You can take offense now then, because you know how I come.”

  As angry as Gray may have been, he would never go against Chief. No one in their right mind would. Gray looked from Chief to Remington before sucking his teeth and walking away. Remington released a sigh as her shoulders slumped.

  “I could have handled him but thanks,” she muttered, avoiding Chief’s eyes.

  “You shouldn’t have to handle him.” Her eyes rolled, and before she could get on the offense, Chief asked, “What you put up with this mane for, Remi? You deserve better than that.”

  She scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “And who is going to give me better, Chief? No one is going to fuck with me now because of his crazy ass. I’m marked for life in Memphis unless someone comes here not knowing who he is and takes me away. Besides, everything I have now is because of him. If I leave, I lose everything.”

  Chief couldn’t argue with her logic. The car she had came from Gray. He paid for her to go to school and get her cosmetology license. Gray fronted the money for her shop and gave her a few stacks to start her hair care and bundles line. They lived together, so the house she loved showing off came from his money, too. Literally everything she wanted he gave. It was starting to make even more sense why she put up with his bullshit.

  “You may lose all that materialistic shit, but you’ll have your peace of mind and freedom. And you’re a hustla, so you’ll get it right back.” Remington smiled softly as she squeezed the back of her neck. “You can always come to me, too. Whatever you need – I got you.”

  Nodding softly, Remington closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. She released the sweetest sigh as she held him close.

  “Why wasn’t it you?” she asked.

  Chief’s eyes closed as his arms wrapped tighter around her. “He was quicker, but you know how I feel about you, Remi. That won’t ever change.”

  Remington released him, but Chief’s arms remained around her. She placed her hands in the center of his chest as her head lowered.

  “You hear me, Remington?”

  She nodded before removing herself from his grasp and briskly walking away. This was the last thing Chief needed today. He was still struggling with the loss of Trevor, Eira being locked up, and one of their biggest shipments being intercepted by the DEA. But all of that shit seemed meaningless when it came to Remington. As always, she was at the top of his mind and the bottom of his heart.

  Remington

  When Remington asked Chief to pick her up hours after he left, she wasn’t expecting him to show up so quickly. But that was one of the things she loved about Chief – he always kept his word. He told her whatever she needed he had her. And as he drove her to the Ritz Carlton, Chief was proving yet again that he was a man of his word.

  Shortly after Chief left earlier, Gray returned. His mood had calmed down drastically, but Remington wasn’t ready to play nice yet. His attempts to have sex with her were denied, which led to Gray getting upset all over again. The moment he tossed her onto the bed and tried to choke her out, Gray gave her the perfect opportunity to reach under her pillow and grab the knife she kept there.

  Remington put the knife to his throat, and Gray released her with no hesitation. After fighting with him for so long, Remington finally grew tired of the toxicity. The entire time she paced the bedroom Chief’s words replayed in her mind over and over again. She’d grown tired of asking God to move her mountain – now, she’d have to walk around it or climb it.

  The second Remington told Gray that it was over, his entire demeanor changed. It was like watching someone go through the five stages of grief. Gray went from denial of what she’d said to angry all over again to bargaining with promises of change to sadness filling him to the point of tears to acceptance. That acceptance lasted the entire time she packed, but as she made her way out of their bedroom, that acceptance was replaced with anger all over again.

  He told her that she couldn’t take anything with her that he’d purchased, so that left her with not even the clothes on her back. She tossed on an old t-shirt and a pair of sweats, then put her belongings in a plastic bag because she’d thrown away all of her old purses when she moved in with him. It was his bright idea to update her clothes, shoes, and bags. Remington thought it was cute in that moment – being spoiled by him. But she saw now just how foolish it was to become so dependent on a man.

  At the hotel, Remington was in for a rude awakening when she tried to use her credit card to pay for her room and it was declined. Every card she tried was declined – even her bank cards.

  “Son of a bitch,” she grumbled, completely forgetting Chief was next to her until he grabbed her arm.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “He canceled all my cards, and I never carry more than a hundred dollars in cash.”

  The sigh Chief released as he pinched his nose was a clear warning to Remington that he was trying to put a handle on his anger. The last thing she wanted was for him to be upset because of her situation. Chief had never been the kind of man to let a feeling consume him. He did what he had to do to deal with the feeling then released it. If he got too upset, he would find Gray and beat his ass. Had they not been good friends, that would have been okay with Remington, but she wouldn’t dare come between the two.

  Unless it was in the form of Chief coming and cumming between her legs.

  He was too loyal for that, though.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Chief offered.

  “No. I can’t let you do that.”

  His head tilted as he released another sigh. “Then how do you want me to handle this shit, Remi? Because I’m going to handle it.”

  Her hand went to the top of her head as she closed her eyes. Remington took a few deep breaths as she thought over her next move. She couldn’t go to her parents… they would only say they told her so. She couldn’t go to her friends… they would clown her and try to get their boyfriends to beat Gray up. Her only option was to take advantage of Chief’s offer until she was back on her feet with enough cash to rent a room somewhere.

  Opening her eyes, she smiled at the sight of Chief staring at her. He was always patient with her, even if he was
n’t patient with anyone else. Remington cursed the day she chose money and flash over feelings and attraction. In that moment, Gray seemed like the better pick because of his willingness to spend thirty thousand dollars on a car to impress a woman. But she learned very quickly that what Gray lacked in the bedroom, in his emotions, and his overall character he tried to make up for with money.

  But Chief?

  Chief was a made man.

  His power, money, status and success had been guaranteed through his family before he ever had to work a day in his life. Now, he spent his days capitalizing and building his dynasty. Not only was he secure financially, but he had a heart of gold. A temper and bit of a problem being reckless when upset, but hey, who didn’t have a flaw?

  And he was fine, too.

  He could have been a long-lost twin to the rapper The Game. They had the same skin tone, buff build, round nose, and tight eyes. Chief’s body was covered in tattoos, and his hair was currently in that tapered nappy style… connecting with a beard that Remington had to keep herself from consistently trying to grab.

  “Do you mind if I crash at your place until the weekend? If I find a shop to work out of for the next couple of days, I can make more than enough money to get a hotel room for the rest of the month.” Chief’s stance was sideways, but when she made her request, he stood directly in front of her. “If I can’t, I totally understand. I’ll go to one of my girlfriend’s houses. I just don’t want to hear anyone’s mouth during this transition.”

  Chief cupped her chin and tilted her head back. “You know how long I been waiting to get you in my space alone? You ain’t ever gotta ask.” Remington’s smile widened when he took her by the hand and told her, “Let’s go.”

  As much peace as his presence and help filled her with, Remington wasn’t naïve – she knew this was a situation that she’d gotten herself into and would need to get herself out of. Completely relying on Chief, though it would make this easier, would only put her in another position to take a loss. And that wasn’t to say that Chief would do her the way Gray did, but she wasn’t one hundred percent sure.

  Yes, they were different men, but they were close friends at the end of the day. There had to be some similarities within them that binds them at this point.

  As they rode to Chief’s home, he gave her the space necessary to think. Gray had already told her that she could pretty much kiss the shop goodbye, which meant she would have to find another place to do hair for her and break the news to her stylists. Remington hadn’t done hair for the past year. She simply didn’t have to. The bulk of her income came from her hair care products and the bundles she sold. Her stylists paid booth rent too, but she didn’t charge them much because she didn’t have to.

  Now, she didn’t have access to any of the money she’d made or the money Gray gave because her accounts were linked to his. And even if she wanted to try to take him to court and prove that the business was in fact hers, everything was in his damn name.

  Just thinking about the mountain was daunting, but by the time they arrived, she had enough courage to ask God to give her the strength to climb it. As Chief pulled into the driveway, she noticed that there were several other cars parked there as well. Now was certainly not the time to be rude or make demands, but Remington was not in the mood or right headspace to be around other people.

  The house was huge enough though for her to be confident that she could find a place to crash without having to deal with anyone. It reminded her of the mansion on Greenleaf. Before Chief could open his door, Remington grabbed his hand and stopped him.

  “Um… I didn’t know you had company, and I don’t want to impose.”

  Chief smiled as he looked towards the house. “This ain’t my crib; this Rock and Mama E crib. Since Trevor died, they want all of us here until the funeral.”

  Great. Remington almost slid down into her seat thinking about the pressure that was about to be on her around them. Not only was this a hard time for her, but it was twice as hard for this family too. She hadn’t even thought about Trevor and Chief’s mental and emotional state when she made her request.

  “Shit. I’m so sorry, Chief. That completely slipped my mind. Let me call Taylor.”

  Before she could hit the call button, Chief was pulling her phone out of her hand. “I’m good. Being around you makes me feel better. Besides, the house is big as hell. Everyone has their own wings. The only common areas that we all share are the living room and the kitchen. I ain’t gon’ let nobody fuck with you, Remi.”

  That eased her nerves enough for her to nod softly. Chief got out of the car and opened her door before grabbing the one bag she was able to leave Gray’s house with. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the front door. His head nodded towards the guard that was standing in front of it before he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  Remington expected to run into someone in his family, but the bottom level of the house was completely empty. That was good – seemed like everyone was to themselves. At least right now. They went upstairs and to the right of the hallway. Chief opened the double doors, and Remington had to keep from gasping at the spacious sight before her. It was as if there were several smaller homes inside of a really big one.

  In Chief’s wing, he had his own living room that was decked out with comfortable couches and recliners, plush rugs, a bathroom with a garden tub that Remington couldn’t wait to soak in, and a large bedroom. He told her to make herself comfortable, and while she thought that would be in a room alone, Remington found herself following him back into the living room.

  Remington sat as close to him as she could on the couch. His hand went to her thigh while the other cut the TV on. She watched as he flipped through channel after channel before opening the Netflix app and starting the first movie that popped up. Leaning forward, Chief grabbed the small brown box that was on top of his coffee table. He opened it, and Remington chuckled at the weed, cigar, and lighter that was tucked inside.

  “Roll that for me,” Chief requested, handing her the box.

  She did as he asked while he stepped out of the wing. It took her hardly no time to break the weed down and remove the small amount of seeds that were inside. Once she had it rolled, she licked the edge and closed the blunt, then put it on top of the box on the table.

  While she waited for Chief to return, she scrolled through her contacts. As much as she hated group chats, she sent all of her stylists one letting them know what was going on. She also gave them permission to call her first thing in the morning if they wanted to talk about things one on one. Afterwards, she made a status on Facebook and a post on Instagram looking for shops for her stylists to work out of until she got her new shop up and running.

  She wasn’t too much worried about herself at the moment. Once she had them taken care of, then she would try to find herself something. When Chief returned with a bottle of champagne and some takeout menus, Remington put her phone on do not disturb.

  “Champagne?” Remington smiled as he handed her the plastic cup and menus.

  “This is cause for celebration.”

  Her smile turned into a chuckle as she watched him pick the blunt up from the table.

  “Celebration? What exactly are we celebrating, Chief?”

  “You finally let that sucka ass nigga go and linked up with a real one.”

  As much as she wanted to check him all she could do was giggle and shake her head. “I’m staying with you temporarily. Don’t apply that pressure, Chief.”

  “Whatever, man. You been mine and you gon’ be mine. I’ll give you space to figure shit out though.”

  There was not a tinge of humor in his voice, eyes, or face. He was dead fucking serious. And as much as Remington hated that, it turned her on.

  “But what about Gray? Isn’t that one of your best friends?”

  Chief shook his head as he lit the blunt. “I been hanging around him to keep tabs on you. The nigga is reckless as hell and I got too much shit on my plate
to be getting caught up with him. So if the choice is you or him…” His eyes locked with hers. “It’ll always be you, boo.”

  As he leaned forward, Remington licked her lips in preparation of his kiss, but she found herself disappointed when he merely pecked the side of her mouth. And he knew what he was doing too because he smiled when he pulled back.

  After they decided on pizza, mozzarella sticks, and wings, Remington popped the champagne and poured them both a glass. As they rotated the blunt, she hummed under her breath Mahalia Jackson’s “Don’t Move My Mountain” until her nerves began to truly settle. Truth of the matter was, she wasn’t fucked up about her relationship being over at all. Remington had never loved Gray – just the way he took care of her financially.

  There would be no need for a period of healing her heart and getting over him. That ship had long since sailed.

  They continued to smoke until there food arrived, and since they were sharing two blunts and drinking champagne, Remington had a slight buzz by the time they started to eat. It was nothing close to having her tipsy, so high she wanted to laugh the night away before going to sleep, or out of her right mind – just enough to have her smiling with low eyes and feeling good.

  A serious case of the munchies had them scarfing down everything they’d purchased and going down to the kitchen for ice cream, too. When they came back up, they started talking about themselves.

  Chief gave her a more detailed look into his life. He shared with her his family tree and how all of his siblings were related by four different parents. The role he played in the family business. And the smaller facts that she already knew, like he was thirty-two and would be thirty-three in July, which was four months away.