“Gideon, ain’t Trick that new nigga tryna cop from us?” Haze asked.
Glimmer’s eyes grew wide.Gideon.She remembered Gideon. She remembered his name more than anything. They hadn’tseen much of one another in the past, but he was most definitely a part of the Laurent family. It clicked for her. Of course this was him. He had always been so abnormally tall and extremely polite whenever she did see him. She secretly had a little crush on him for a hot second way back then. She should have known this fine ass tree of a man was him.
“Yeah, and guess who ain’t gettin’ no deal wit’ us?” Gideon asked. All kindness had left his voice. The room seemed to drop ten degrees because of the coldness within Gideon and Haze.
Glimmer shivered, but she fought past the discomfort in the room and the pain in her body as she shook her head. “You guys don’t understand. Trick is powerful. He’ll kill me and my parents for what I’ve done. I should have never left.”
Glimmer had worked herself up again, and she was on the verge of a panic attack. Kyomi placed a hand on her back and rubbed small circles. “It’s okay. Just breathe. You’re safe.”
“Ain’t nobody gonna get you ’round here, Glimmy,” Deja assured.
Glimmer shook her head. “Y’all don’t understand. Oh, God. And Daddy. I have no way to warn him. He needs to watch his back. Trick has connections in the prison?—”
“Aye, Glimm, on some real shit, you ain’t got nothin’ to worry ’bout. If you ain’t ever listened to shit else I ever said to you, listen to this. We gon’ handle this shit,” Haze said. He looked Glimmer directly in the eyes.
She still felt uneasy though. Trick had her mind gone. She was scared as shit for her life. She shook her head slowly. “It don’t work like that. Trick been wanting me since I barely turned eighteen. Probably even before that. He ain’t gon’ let this go.”
Haze clenched his jaw tightly. Glimmer could tell he was frustrated by her refusal to believe him. When he opened his mouth again, she could tell he had to pull a lot of patience from somewhere to talk to her calmly. “Guess what, Glimmer? I ain’tgon’ let this go either. You just told me your pops think this nigga is the reason my father is dead. This shit goes beyond you at this point, but if you thought I would just hand you back to that grimy ass nigga, you really forgot who the fuck I am. Who we are.”
His words hit her right in the chest. It was clear to her she didn’t know who Haze was anymore, but she did remember who he was at the core. He was always powerful in a way, and he always did whatever the fuck he wanted. It didn’t matter who said what.
She expelled a long breath. “It’s just been so long.” She fidgeted with the blanket covering her lap before she looked up at each of them. “I ain’t seen y’all in so long. I’m not used to people fighting for me.”
“Girl, do you know how long we fought to see you? We begged Mommy every single day. And she tried. She wanted to lay eyes on you just as much as we did. We didn’t let up for a really long time. When we turned eighteen, though, and you never reached out, we figured it was by choice. It’s never been any love lost?—”
“Never,” Deja interrupted Kyomi.
“We still love you the same. We still celebrate your birthday every year. We ain’t ever forgot you. And Haze ain’t just a lil nigga anymore, sis. I don’t know who this Trick nigga is, but I can guarantee he ain’t no match for VK.”
Their words touched Glimmer’s heart. To hear they still celebrated her birthday, when she barely even did anymore, brought her to tears . . . again. She wiped them away and tried to focus. “VK?”
“Vicious Kings,” Haze responded. “It’s our motorcycle club, and we dabble in some other shit too. Shit you ain’t gotta worry about. Just know we ain’t nowhere near the bottom of the food chain, baby sis. You ain’t gotta worry about a thing.”
Glimmer still wasn’t convinced. Trick had taken her father down, who had once been at the very tiptop of that very food chain Haze just mentioned.
“He ain’t gonna stop coming for me,” she repeated.
“I have a suggestion, but I don’t know how you gon’ feel about it, Glimmer,” Gideon said before he sat down on the edge of the bed. Deja and Kyomi scooted over and cuddled up against Glimmer as if they couldn’t get enough of her. “And forgive me. I never introduced myself. I’m Gideon. We met a few times when we were kids.”
He held his hand out, and despite everything going on and the aching in her body, Glimmer felt herself blush. She took his hand with her IV-free hand. “I remember you. I’m Glimmer. It’s nice to meet you . . . again.”
Gideon offered her a smile that completely unarmed her. “I think I have a solution for all this, but I don’t want you to feel like you’re going from one situation to the next where you aren’t in control.”
Glimmer’s brows dipped. “What are you suggesting?”
Gideon peered at her for so long, Glimmer was pretty sure he had a good glimpse into her soul. When he spoke again, the breath was almost knocked completely out of her lungs. “Marry me.”
Everyonein the room stood at attention, waiting for Haze to speak. The large meeting room was where they met when the entire club was in attendance.
Gideon watched as Haze’s heavy black leather boots hit the shiny floor with a thud as he paced. Over the years, Haze learned to think carefully before he spoke. When they were young, he used to let whatever was on his brain fly right out of his mouth. That shit had gotten them both into more trouble than either of them cared to admit, so Gideon was glad that with maturity came thoughtfulness.
Gideon stood by Haze’s side and looked at the Vicious Kings and couldn’t help but smile. He had never been shy about showing his emotions, and he was fully aware that he lookedmenacing until he smiled. He tried to look cheerful as much as possible because he didn’t want to intimidate anyone unless he had to.
The Vicious Kings had become his extended family, and he loved every single person in this room, and the space was packed. Gideon even felt he had a plethora of sisters outside of Kyomi and Deja because some of the VK members had ole ladies that became family too. They called them the queens, and they were spoiled just like that too. Everyone in The Bay knew who the Vicious Kings were, and by proxy, they knew to respect the hell out of the queens.
“By now y’all heard about the woman who came to the compound yesterday.” Haze finally spoke, gaining everyone’s undivided attention. There were murmurs and nods before Haze continued. “Her name is Glimmer. She’s Juke’s daughter.”
“Juke from the East side?” Pup asked with stars in his eyes.
