Page 15 of Rich Forever: Zo & Remy

Judah got up and picked up where Trouble left off. “Since your roles will be different, I need you to find me replacements for security.”

Sanchez spoke up, “I have a cousin, boss. His name is Hollow.”

“Is he stupid? Cause my patience is really thin nowadays. You know, they said niggas sacrifice their family when they get a little wealth. What he do to you?” Judah asked with a straight face, and the whole room went silent before we erupted into laughter.

He looked around at us with a scowl like he was dead ass serious, and that made it funnier.

Sanchez just shook his head and said, “Never mind, man.”

“Nah, we can talk. Send him my way,” Judah said before we wrapped up the meeting.

We all stood up to leave when Jaxon came over to me and shook my hand.

“Well deserved, my boy.” We embraced.

“Appreciate you, man,” I said as we walked out, side by side. “Come to the truck. I have something to show you.” I hadn’t known we were meeting. I’d been meaning to hit Jax up all morning to tell him I had something to run past him.

His demeanor shifted as we walked to the truck. I took him to the back and popped the trunk. Inside was a black duffle bag. I opened it, pulled out a gift bag, then reached in for the box holding the diamond ring for Remy. When Jaxon saw the velvet box, his face lit up.

I opened the box and showed him the pear-shaped, canary diamond ring with the infinity band that I had purchased for Remy.

He whistled as soon as he saw it. “That’s a yellow diamond? I know that costs a grip, but that fits her girly ass perfectly.” He chuckled and shook my hand.

He was right; yellow is Remy’s favorite color. It made sense: everything about her was soft, just like it.

“How long has it been nigga? Four? Five months? You proposing already?” He chuckled as he checked the time on his watch, like I was moving too fast.

“Man gone. Eight, nigga. But you ain’t the one to be clowning nobody about the way they love their girl.” I reminded him, wiping the smile off his face.

“I thought we were better than that. You’ve been around us too long.” He said, frowning at me, then broke out into laughter.

“Yeah, I thought so.” I shot back because he had no defense.

“So, when are you proposing? What you got planned?” He asked as I closed the box and put it back into the gift bag.

“Between us, Rem said that if she ever got married, she’d do it in private. She didn’t want the Mafia to have anything to do with her marriage. She said they don’t value love, so she doesn’t want them to bless her union. I got a plan for her proposal, but however she wants to do it after that, I’m down.”

His eyes widened, and I already knew that he was about to tell me that it was a bad idea. “Hell no, nigga. Not after wejustmade you the underboss. When you don’t follow Mafia rules, they make an example out of you. They could force you out of the family or demote you.” He warned me, but I didn’t hear it.

“Aight. But I’mma do whatever she’s cool with.” I doubled down. Being in the Mafia was cool; it provided me a lifestyle that I would have had to work my whole life in Barbados just to have a portion of what I have now. I would have been comfortable,maybe even rich, back home, but here I was wealthy. There was a major difference. But still, I was willing to take that risk.

Jax smiled at me, and I knew he wanted to give me hell, but he couldn’t. Because we had been here just a couple of months earlier with him in the same situation.

“I fuck with that. You know I’m behind you a thousand percent. So, I’m letting you know now, I’m an elite, but I can’t stop the consequences. All I can do is go to bat for you if it comes down to it. I already know Trouble and Judah will do the same.” He warned me. I respected that.

I nodded as we shook hands and parted ways. I slid into the driver’s seat with Remy on my mind. I knew that I would be risking something if we did things the way she wanted to, even though I didn’t know exactly what. But fuck it, whatever she wanted, she got. Rem had a nigga that didn’t play about her on no day. She had been through two situations that the Mafia controlled for the sake of power. That wasn’t this. And if she wanted to do things her way and on her own terms, then it wasn’t a muhfucka walking and bled like me that could tell me otherwise.

***

I pulled up to my condo and walked through the door. The smell of food hit me as soon as I opened it. That was one of the things that I loved about her. She had all these resources at her disposal, and she still wanted to do things herself. She didn’t bother with chefs and housekeepers and barely wanted her detail around. I really believed that if she could trade all this shit to have a normal life, she would.

She heard me turn the knob, and she looked around the kitchen to make sure that it was me. And once she saw me, a grin spread on her face. She was wearing one of my T-shirts andstanding over the stove cooking something. I walked up behind her and slapped her ass, and I pulled her back toward me.

“What you cooking, Ma?” I asked her as I looked around the kitchen and saw all the ingredients she had sprawled on the counter.

“I made beef stew, plantains, and macaroni pie,” Remy said, making me laugh.

“Where you learned that from Rem?” I asked.